Business

The company behind the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion is worried it won’t complete the project on schedule. Workers lay pipe during construction of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion on farmland, in Abbotsford, B.C., on Wednesday, May 3, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck<

Pipeline pressure mounts as Trans Mountain struggles to meet deadline

B.C. First Nation letter suggests great need to alter pipeline route and be finished by Jan. 1

The company behind the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion is worried it won’t complete the project on schedule. Workers lay pipe during construction of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion on farmland, in Abbotsford, B.C., on Wednesday, May 3, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck<
Tyler Basham paints the grass outside a house in Maple Ridge, B.C. on Thursday, August 17, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Paint it green: B.C. firm offering lawns Mother Nature won’t allow

Tinted Turf Grass Solutions spray-painting away the browns of our ongoing drought

Tyler Basham paints the grass outside a house in Maple Ridge, B.C. on Thursday, August 17, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
FILE - Packages pass through a scanner at an Amazon fulfillment center, Aug. 3, 2017, in Baltimore. Amazon has been quietly raising the amount some customers need to spend on its site to get free shipping. To qualify for no-cost deliveries, some Amazon customers who don’t have Prime memberships now need to spend $35, up from $25 previously. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

Amazon quietly raising spending threshold for free shipping

Consumer watchdog group says change observed in some markets, not others

FILE - Packages pass through a scanner at an Amazon fulfillment center, Aug. 3, 2017, in Baltimore. Amazon has been quietly raising the amount some customers need to spend on its site to get free shipping. To qualify for no-cost deliveries, some Amazon customers who don’t have Prime memberships now need to spend $35, up from $25 previously. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)
(AP Illustration/Peter Hamlin)

How PayPal is using AI to combat fraud, and make it easier to pay

Artificial intelligence has been the buzzword of 2023 ever since ChatGPT made…

(AP Illustration/Peter Hamlin)
U.S. manufacturer Kimberly-Clark says it is exiting the consumer facial tissue business in Canada this month. Boxes of Kleenex tissues are displayed in a pharmacy, Monday, April 19, 2021 in New York. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Mark Lennihan

Kimberly-Clark pulling Kleenex tissues from store shelves in Canada

The company made cuts in 2018 that resulted in more than 5,000 workers leaving the company

U.S. manufacturer Kimberly-Clark says it is exiting the consumer facial tissue business in Canada this month. Boxes of Kleenex tissues are displayed in a pharmacy, Monday, April 19, 2021 in New York. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Mark Lennihan
Ella is a 17-month-old yellow lab who started her position as welcome ambassador at the Oak Bay Beach Hotel earlier this summer. (Christine van Reeuwyk/News Staff)

VIDEO: Oak Bay hotel greeter dog loves to ‘post up in the sunshine’

Ella’s a ‘sweet girl’ who inspires smiles from staff and guests

Ella is a 17-month-old yellow lab who started her position as welcome ambassador at the Oak Bay Beach Hotel earlier this summer. (Christine van Reeuwyk/News Staff)
FILE - A Peloton bike sits on Nov. 19, 2019, in San Francisco. Peloton managed to beat sales expectations during its fiscal fourth quarter, but the exercise equipment maker reported a bigger loss than anticipated partly due to recall costs and a shift in consumer spending. Shares plunged more than 27% before the market open on Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

Peloton 4Q sales top Street, but posts bigger-than-expected loss partly on recall costs

Peloton managed to beat sales expectations during its fiscal fourth quarter, but…

FILE - A Peloton bike sits on Nov. 19, 2019, in San Francisco. Peloton managed to beat sales expectations during its fiscal fourth quarter, but the exercise equipment maker reported a bigger loss than anticipated partly due to recall costs and a shift in consumer spending. Shares plunged more than 27% before the market open on Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)
Due to the high fire risk this summer, the final three weekends of fireworks were cancelled at Butchart Gardens in Brentwood Bay. (Butchart Gardens/Facebook)

State of emergency prompts Butchart Gardens to cancel summer fireworks

Night illuminations will still glow at the Brentwood Bay tourist attraction

Due to the high fire risk this summer, the final three weekends of fireworks were cancelled at Butchart Gardens in Brentwood Bay. (Butchart Gardens/Facebook)
<div>The Canadian trucking industry faces a shaky market as cargo volumes and freight rates continue to fall in the wake of soaring pandemic highs. A transport truck carries a cargo container at port in Vancouver, on Friday, July 14, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck</div>

Canada’s trucking industry facing leaner times as consumer demand drops

Costs have shot up while freight rates have plummeted

<div>The Canadian trucking industry faces a shaky market as cargo volumes and freight rates continue to fall in the wake of soaring pandemic highs. A transport truck carries a cargo container at port in Vancouver, on Friday, July 14, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck</div>
Members of the media watch Russia's President Vladimir Putin address via videolink the 2023 BRICS Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

Iran, Saudi Arabia to join China and Russia in the BRICS economic bloc

6 nations invited to join in move that could double membership

Members of the media watch Russia's President Vladimir Putin address via videolink the 2023 BRICS Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
Starbucks’ Pumpkin Spice coffee pods are displayed at a Target store, Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2023, in New York. The latte that made pumpkin spice a star is turning 20. And unlike the autumn days it celebrates, there seems to be no chill in customer demand. Starbucks’ Pumpkin Spice Latte goes on sale Thursday in the U.S. and Canada. It’s the coffee giant’s most popular seasonal beverage, with hundreds of millions sold since its launch in 2003. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

Starbucks’ Pumpkin Spice Latte turns 20, beloved by millions, despised by some

Drink is the coffee giant’s most popular seasonal beverage

Starbucks’ Pumpkin Spice coffee pods are displayed at a Target store, Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2023, in New York. The latte that made pumpkin spice a star is turning 20. And unlike the autumn days it celebrates, there seems to be no chill in customer demand. Starbucks’ Pumpkin Spice Latte goes on sale Thursday in the U.S. and Canada. It’s the coffee giant’s most popular seasonal beverage, with hundreds of millions sold since its launch in 2003. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE), Sheri Meyerhoffer, holds a news conference in Ottawa on Tuesday, July 11, 2023. Canada’s corporate-ethics watchdog has announced an investigation into whether Walmart, Hugo Boss and Diesel have forced labour in their supply chains. Sheri Meyerhoffer, who is the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise, issued three reports Thursday that say each company hasn’t done enough to demonstrate the products they sell in Canada are free of slave labour. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Canadian ethics czar opens forced-labour probes against 3 big companies

Walmart, Hugo Boss, Diesel need to demonstrate products are free of slave labour: Ombudsperson

Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE), Sheri Meyerhoffer, holds a news conference in Ottawa on Tuesday, July 11, 2023. Canada’s corporate-ethics watchdog has announced an investigation into whether Walmart, Hugo Boss and Diesel have forced labour in their supply chains. Sheri Meyerhoffer, who is the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise, issued three reports Thursday that say each company hasn’t done enough to demonstrate the products they sell in Canada are free of slave labour. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
Upcoming Tombo restaurant is under renovations while the Agrius sign still hangs above on Yates Street. (Ella Matte/News Staff)

Wave of new Victoria restaurants taking over space of closed eateries

La Taqueria on Fort Street is the latest to close down

Upcoming Tombo restaurant is under renovations while the Agrius sign still hangs above on Yates Street. (Ella Matte/News Staff)
The stationary aisles are expected to be busier this year as parents and students stock up on back-to-school essentials, though their baskets may be a little less full. A parent shops for school supplies deals at a Target store, Wednesday, July 27, 2022, in North Miami, Fla. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Marta Lavandier

Back-to-school shoppers expected back in stores but pulling back spending

Biggest chunk of school shopping dollars will go towards stationary, survey suggests

The stationary aisles are expected to be busier this year as parents and students stock up on back-to-school essentials, though their baskets may be a little less full. A parent shops for school supplies deals at a Target store, Wednesday, July 27, 2022, in North Miami, Fla. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Marta Lavandier
FILE - A sign outside the Activision building in Santa Monica, Calif., June 21, 2023. Microsoft revamped its bid to buy video game maker Activision Blizzard on Tuesday Aug. 22, 2023, to appease British competition regulators, who are the last major hurdle to closing one of the biggest deals in tech history. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File)

UK approval last hurdle for mammoth Microsoft Activision takeover

Microsoft budges on video game streaming rights in push for UK to approve Activision Blizzard deal

FILE - A sign outside the Activision building in Santa Monica, Calif., June 21, 2023. Microsoft revamped its bid to buy video game maker Activision Blizzard on Tuesday Aug. 22, 2023, to appease British competition regulators, who are the last major hurdle to closing one of the biggest deals in tech history. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File)
The federal government in Ottawa is pushing back against the latest U.S. decision to keep imposing duties on Canadian softwood lumber. Trade Minister Mary Ng, shown in this Thursday June 15, 2023 file pjhto, says Canada plans a judicial review of last month’s Treasury Department assessment of the levies, which she calls unfair, unjust and illegal. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Lars Hagberg

Canada wants judicial review of latest U.S. softwood lumber duties

Canada’s trade minister calls levies unfair, unjust and illegal

The federal government in Ottawa is pushing back against the latest U.S. decision to keep imposing duties on Canadian softwood lumber. Trade Minister Mary Ng, shown in this Thursday June 15, 2023 file pjhto, says Canada plans a judicial review of last month’s Treasury Department assessment of the levies, which she calls unfair, unjust and illegal. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Lars Hagberg
The Central Okanagan is facing weeks without tourism during its peak season after British Columbia’s premier imposed bans on travel to wildfire zones. A man sits in the parking lot outside an evacuation centre for those forced from their homes due to wildfires, in Kelowna, B.C., Saturday, Aug. 19, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Travel ban in parts of B.C. disrupting tourism as raging wildfires burn

‘If you look at the entire 12 months of the year, August is typically the busiest month’

The Central Okanagan is facing weeks without tourism during its peak season after British Columbia’s premier imposed bans on travel to wildfire zones. A man sits in the parking lot outside an evacuation centre for those forced from their homes due to wildfires, in Kelowna, B.C., Saturday, Aug. 19, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
A sign board in Toronto shows the closing number for the TSX on Thursday, October 29, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn

5 things to watch for in the Canadian business world in the coming week

Finance Department is expected to release its latest reading on federal government spending and revenue

A sign board in Toronto shows the closing number for the TSX on Thursday, October 29, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn
The McDougall Creek wildfire near West Kelowna continues to grow Friday morning after growing significantly overnight. Vernon businesses are stepping up to help those affected by evacuation orders. (Grant Rammel/Facebook)

B.C. businesses pitch in wildfire support to Okanagan evacuees

Hair washes, free food and discounts are being offered to evacuees

The McDougall Creek wildfire near West Kelowna continues to grow Friday morning after growing significantly overnight. Vernon businesses are stepping up to help those affected by evacuation orders. (Grant Rammel/Facebook)
Thirteen goats from Vancouver Island Goatscaping were put to work cleaning up the bank at a home on Walkem Road in Ladysmith last week. The goats were hired by the property owner as the boulevard and embankment had become quite overgrown with ivy and other invasive species. (Duck Paterson photo)

Goats get to work on Vancouver Island invasive species control

V.I. Goatscaping hired to bring herd to tame Ladysmith property

  • Aug 18, 2023
Thirteen goats from Vancouver Island Goatscaping were put to work cleaning up the bank at a home on Walkem Road in Ladysmith last week. The goats were hired by the property owner as the boulevard and embankment had become quite overgrown with ivy and other invasive species. (Duck Paterson photo)