Washington | Reuters — Top NAFTA negotiators from Canada and the U.S. increased the pace of their negotiations Thursday to resolve final differences to meet a Friday deadline, with their Mexican counterpart on standby to rejoin the talks soon. Despite some contentious issues still on the table, the increasingly positive tone contrasted with U.S. President […] Read more
Canada, U.S. push toward NAFTA deal by Friday
Trump, Trudeau upbeat about prospects for NAFTA deal by Friday
Washington | Reuters — The leaders of the U.S. and Canada expressed optimism on Wednesday that they could reach new NAFTA deal by a Friday deadline as negotiators prepared to talk through the night, although Canada warned that a number of tricky issues remained. Under pressure, Canada rejoined the talks to modernize the 24-year-old North […] Read more
Canada rejoins NAFTA talks, deal seen as possible this week
Washington | Reuters — Canada’s top trade negotiator joins her Mexican and U.S. counterparts in Washington on Tuesday in a bid to remain part of a revamped trilateral North American trade pact, as U.S. officials expressed optimism a deal could be reached this week. But Ottawa will be under pressure to accept new terms on […] Read more
CP talks said stagnating as strike deadline looms
Montreal/Vancouver | Reuters –– Canada’s biggest rail union said no progress had been made in negotiations on Friday with Canadian Pacific Railway to reach a deal before a Saturday deadline as worries about a potential strike weighed on the country’s crude oil prices. If the two sides fail to reach a deal, a strike is […] Read more
China money, market spur Canadian blueberry deluge
Richmond, B.C. | Reuters — An aging mansion sits vacant on an estate outside Vancouver, the garage overtaken by a blueberry sorter and a walk-in cooler packed with the fruit. The owner, an investor from mainland China, leases the estate to Fred Liu at such a bargain the farmer grows blueberries in its fields even […] Read more
Court rules medical marijuana users can grow their own
Vancouver | Reuters — A federal court judge in Vancouver on Wednesday ruled that medical marijuana patients have the Constitutional right to grow their own cannabis, striking down a ban introduced by Canada’s previous Conservative government. The court suspended its decision for six months to give Ottawa time to respond. A group of British Columbia […] Read more
Prince Rupert to boost container handling capacity
Vancouver | Reuters — Maher Terminals Holding Corp. said Tuesday it would boost container-handling capacity by more than half at the Port of Prince Rupert, under an expansion of its container terminal at the northern British Columbia port. The Fairview Container terminal will be expanded to more than 1.3 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) per […] Read more
Vancouver port resumes most operations after container fire
Vancouver | Reuters — Port Metro Vancouver said Thursday that operations had resumed at most port facilities shut down by a shipping container fire the day before, but that its Centerm container terminal was still closed. The chemical fire, which prompted a massive emergency response late on Wednesday and shut down a large portion of […] Read more
B.C. resident positive for H7N9 avian flu
Vancouver | Reuters –– A British Columbia resident has tested positive for the H7N9 avian flu virus in the first documented case of the infection in a human in North America, the federal government said Monday. The person had returned to Canada from China and is recovering from the illness in self-isolation, the Public Health […] Read more
Canada’s West Coast ports offer little relief from U.S. delays
Vancouver | Reuters — Gridlock at U.S. West Coast ports that has forced McDonald’s to ration French fries at its Japanese restaurants and interrupted supplies to retailers such as Lululemon is unlikely to be alleviated by routing cargoes through Canada, whose Pacific ports face their own problems. Capacity is already limited at Canada’s largest port, […] Read more
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