Nine out of 10 Canadian energy sector executives believe oil prices will remain strong for the next three to five years, according to the results of a recent survey. Conducted between April 5 and April 18 by ATB Capital Markets, the survey polled 80 executives representing oil and gas exploration and production companies, energy services companies and institutional investors. Ninety-one per cent of the executives polled said they anticipate the West Texas Intermediate benchmark crude price to average above US$75.99 per barrel for a period of three to five years. Eighty-eight per cent of oil an ..read more

Statistics Canada says wholesale sales, excluding petroleum, petroleum products, and other hydrocarbons and oilseed and grain, fell 1.1 per cent to $81.4 billion in March. The agency says the overall decline came as sales were down in three of the seven subsectors it tracks. The motor vehicle and motor vehicle parts and accessories subsector posted the largest drop as sales fell 5.8 per cent to $13.4 billion in March. The motor vehicle industry group dropped 7.0 per cent to $10.6 billion as several auto plants undertook retooling work, while the new and used motor vehicle parts industry group ..read more

A Quebec-based union says its application to represent hundreds of Amazon.com Inc. workers at a warehouse in the province has been certified by the province’s Administrative Labour Tribunal. The Confédération des syndicats nationaux says it’s the first time in Canada that employees have unionized at an Amazon warehouse. However, the union says it expects Amazon to appeal the decision covering workers at the DXT4 warehouse in Laval. The union says workers at the warehouse will hold their first general assembly to adopt a constitution and bylaws and elect representatives in the coming days. It s ..read more

DETROIT — Amazon’s self-driving robotaxi unit is being investigated by the US government’s highway safety agency after two of its vehicles braked suddenly and were rear-ended by motorcyclists. Image: Zoox, Inc. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in documents posted on its website May 13 it will evaluate the automated driving system developed by Zoox. Both crashes happened during the daytime hours, and the motorcyclists suffered minor injuries. In both cases, the agency confirmed that each of the Amazon vehicles was operating in autonomous mode leading up to the crashes. Th ..read more

The odds of a June interest rate cut from the Bank of Canada appear to have fallen after the latest jobs report from Statistics Canada showed employment jumped by 90,000 last month. The jobs gain far surpassed forecasters’ expectations and marked the largest employment increase in more than a year. The federal agency’s labour force survey on Friday shows the unemployment rate held steady at 6.1 per cent last month, while the employment gains were driven by part-time work. James Orlando, TD’s director of economics said the headline jobs number was a “real shocker” and that it “wasn’t even in th ..read more

The federal government is asking a labour tribunal to review whether a strike by rail workers would jeopardize Canadians’ health and safety. Prompted by concerns from industry groups, the request to the Canada Industrial Relations Board from Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan may push back a potential work stoppage that could otherwise start less than two weeks from now. The tribunal is set to examine agreements between workers and management abut what critical work must continue in the event of a strike or lockout, with any stoppage on pause until a decision on that issue is made. Last week, empl ..read more

Most British Columbia drivers will get a vehicle insurance rebate of $110 this year and basic renewal rates will remain frozen until at least March 2026. The Crown-owned Insurance Corporation of BC is in good financial shape and in a position to offer rebates totalling $400 million, Premier David Eby said Wednesday at a news conference that began to the strain’s of AC/DC’s “Back In Black,” a reference to the corporation’s financial position. “This will be the sixth year of zero per cent basic rate increases, no change to the basic rate,” he said. “This is the fourth rebate ICBC has b ..read more

TOKYO (AP) — Nissan’s profit for the fiscal year through March jumped 92 per cent to 426.6 billion yen ($2.7 billion) as sales grew in all major global markets except China, the Japanese automaker said May 9. Annual sales surged nearly 20 per cent to 12.7 trillion yen ($81.5 billion), Nissan Motor Co. said. For the January-March quarter, profit at Nissan, based in the port city of Yokohama, edged down slightly to 101.3 billion yen ($650 million) from 106.9 billion yen. Quarterly sales rose 13 per cent to 3.5 trillion yen ($22 billion) for the maker of the Leaf electric car, Infiniti ..read more

HONG KONG — China’s exports and imports returned to growth in April, suggesting that demand is improving despite an uneven economic recovery, according to customs data released May 9. The report showed exports grew 1.5 per cent in April compared to a year earlier, after falling 7.5 per cent in March, the first contraction since November. Imports surged 8.4 per cent in April, beating analysts’ expectations and up from a 1.9 per cent decline in March. China has introduced various policy support measures in recent months to support growth and boost confidence in the world’s second-largest ec ..read more

ISTANBUL — A cargo aircraft made an emergency landing at Istanbul Airport on May 8 after its front landing gear failed. Photo by Steve Halama on Unsplash A video on social media showed the Boeing 767 belonging to FedEx Express using the back landing gear and then dipping its nose with the front portion of the fuselage. The plane was on the last leg of its flight from Paris to Istanbul when the pilots realized the front landing gear failed to open, state-run Anadolu Agency said. A Boeing cargo plane made a dramatic landing without its front landing gear at Istanbul Airport on Wednesday after i ..read more