Legislative, Regulatory & Legal

Massive deal reshapes Canadian oil and gas sector Calgary-based Cenovus Energy has announced that it has entered into a merger agreement with Husky Energy Inc.

Health Canada continues to add new products to its growing list of recalled hand sanitizers, included a product is has deemed counterfeit.Hand sanitizer is an important category for c-stores and the ideal last-minute purchase at check-out.Most recently, Health Canada warned a counterfeit version of the authorized Daily Shield hand sanitizer had been found for sale at a Dollarama store in Thunder Bay.The product may not be effective at killing bacteria and viruses, and may pose serious risks to health.It also says the product is suspected to contain methanol, which is not authorized for use in hand sanitizers and could cause severe adverse reactions or death when ingested.The counterfeit version is labelled with NPN 80098979, Lot 6942; Expiry May 2023 and is sold in a 250 mL format.The agency also recently pulled two Sanix products for containing methanol: Prairie Potions' Purify Hand Sanitizer and Antibacterial Spray.Last Best Brewing and Distilling Hand Sanitizer and Rocky Mountain Soap Company's Nomad Hand Sanitizer (Lemongrass) are both being recalled for missing risk statements, in additions to containing unauthorized technical-grade ethanol.Since June, Health Canada has recalled more than 100 hand sanitizer products, often for containing unauthorized ingredients or improper labelling. For the latest recalls, visit the Health Canada website.To find out if the hand sanitizer you're selling is safe, CLICK HERE to search by brand name. 

Unionized workers at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Canada have voted to approve a new three-year contract, Unifor said Monday.

When asked to briefly summarize her experience as the 2019-2020 NACS chair, Julie Jackowski didn't have to pause to think.

Workers to find out this week about jobs at Come By Chance Last May (2020), Irving Oil announced they would purchase the Come By Chance oil refinery owned by the New York-based investment group Silverpeak.

The Trudeau Liberals sought Friday to get ahead of growing economic concerns linked to rising COVID-19 case counts, vowing new and revamped business supports to keep workers on payrolls and maintain job gains threatened by the pandemic's second wave.The government plans to provide direct rent support to commercial tenants at a projected cost of $2.2 billion through the end of the year, rather than flowing the money through landlords who were not keen on a previous version of the program.A wage subsidy program will cover up to 65% of eligible costs through December, costing the treasury $6 billion over that time, and $11 billion more to a well-used loan program by providing an added $20,000, half of which would be forgivable.Even though many businesses have reopened, a number are not at full capacity while others worry about surviving a second wave.

Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson says six single-use plastic items that aren't easily recycled and already have more environmentally friendly alternatives will be the first to go under Canada's new restrictions on plastics.

If you took up vaping to avoid the taxes on cigarettes, your luck just ran out.A 20% tax on vaping products was a key feature of the Newfoundland and Labrador budget September 29, which aimed to focus as much as possible on community health and prevention.Vaping has so far escaped the province's sin tax net, even though research suggests the practice can present significant health risks, especially for teens and young adults.The province also added an extra 10 cents in taxes per gram of loose tobacco and five cents per cigarette.The budget also allocated $1.7 million for school initiatives, awareness campaigns and cessation programs to help reduce tobacco use and vaping.

A man who pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the gas-and-dash death of an Alberta gas station owner has been sentenced to seven years in prison.Mitchell Robert Sydlowski, 29, appeared Friday by video link in the Court of Queen's Bench in Wetaskiwin, Alta.Sydlowski, who is from Spruce Grove, Alta., was charged with second-degree murder but pleaded guilty in August to the lesser offence, as well as failing to remain at the scene of a fatal accident.“It goes without saying that this is a tragic situation,'' Justice John William Hopkins said as he delivered Sydlowski's sentence during an online court hearing.An agreed statement of facts submitted in the case said 54-year old Ki Yun Jo was killed after Sydlowski sped off in a stolen cube van without paying for $198 of fuel.

A new survey finds that young people have been vaping less frequently since the COVID-19 pandemic began.The survey, conducted by the Lung Association of Nova Scotia and Smoke-Free Nova Scotia, finds that respondents decreased vaping to five days per week from six, on average.They also cut back to an average of 19 vaping episodes per day, down from 30.There has been a major push by all levels of government to introduce regulations designed to curb youth vaping.The survey funded by Heart & Stroke also found the decrease in vaping frequency is most notable in British Columbia and Ontario.The researchers say it may be related to warnings of potential complications from COVID-19 for e-cigarette users.The survey heard from more than 1,800 respondents between 16 and 24 years old, and found most begin vaping at around the age of 15.