British Columbia Ferry Services Inc. may soon face increased scrutiny from the B.C. ferry commissioner in situations where it offers a “competitive service” such as drop-trailer operations under recently proposed legislation.
Private operators such as Washington Marine Group’s Seaspan Coastal Intermodal and Van Isle Barge Services Ltd. cried foul when BC Ferries began to focus on the drop-trailer market in early 2009 and have alleged unfair competition and pricing, in part due to subsidies and tax exemptions they feel the ferry operator receives from the province.
June 1-7
It may have taken a little longer than planned, but Vancouver-based Vanedge Capital has finally closed its $100 million Vanedge Capital I LP venture fund, the largest pool of capital available for digital media investment in Canada.
Among the fund’s limited partners are Teralys Capital, the BC Renaissance Capital Fund, BDC Venture Capital and Nicola Wealth Management Ltd.
“I think the environment in Canada is still very difficult for funds to go out and raise money,” said Vanedge Capital managing general partner Paul Lee. “But for us, it has now turned from a difficult process to a huge advantage because as a result, there is not that many competing funds.”
June 1-7
On the heels of the first increase in interest rates by the Bank of Canada, farmers should be developing a strategy to deal with a potential doubling of interest rates over the next few years.
Interest rates were at an all-time low, and they could double over the next three years.
Agricultural clients tend to carry relatively large debt loads compared to other industries, because their businesses tend to be capital intensive, so any incremental change in rates can easily affect a farm’s financial position.
June 8-14
Vancouver risks being isolated from a high-speed rail corridor on the West Coast of North America, along with its business and tourism benefits, as efforts to build U.S. portions of the corridor progress faster than any initiatives on this side of the border.
Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson signed a pact with the mayors of Seattle and Portland to push to secure a high-speed railway service through the Pacific Northwest, but the plan still faces many obstacles – physically, financially and politically – before it will be realized.
June 15-21
Entrepreneurs keep trying to succeed at what their predecessors say is an unwinnable battle.
Mike Shannon is the latest businessman to take the plunge and operate a water taxi business direct to Bowen Island from docks at Granville Island and in Coal Harbour.
His English Bay Launch bought the failed and boatless Granville Island Water Taxi venture for $20,000 last November and followed it up in February by assuming the route and clientele of the inactive Coastal Link Ferries.
June 15-21
Widespread misunderstanding over how the HST will affect real estate buyers is sending a shiver through the Vancouver real estate market.
Developers and marketers say that interest rate hikes and stiffened regulations for getting a mortgage have not helped either.
BC Real Estate Association data released June 14 shows that Metro Vancouver residential home sales fell 10.3% in May to 3,202 transactions.
Marketers say that buyers are skeptical about the provincial government’s system of HST rebates and are postponing house hunting until after July 1, when the HST takes effect.
June 22-28
When Richmond-based Novex Couriers’ unveils its two new electric trucks on June 24, the province will have moved a step closer to a future in which electric vehicles (EVs) rule at least part of the road.
In that future, EVs will have smart-grid technology that allows their owners to not only pull power from the grid, but also push unused electricity back into it.
It’s still a distant future, but one that a number of stakeholders, from governments to utilities to local startups in B.C., are helping to slowly realize.
The real boulder that stakeholders are pushing uphill is infrastructure: there are few charging stations in Vancouver.
June 22-28
A sweeping new federal government report has found that B.C. has Canada’s largest cluster of clean-tech companies when compared with national GDP, but the province lags behind other regions when it comes to commercializing that technology.
Despite having one of the oldest clean-tech clusters, B.C. has the fewest clean-tech companies that have fully entered commercial markets: 39% compared with 44% nationally.
With the largest number of companies at the R&D or demonstration stage of maturity, B.C. has lots of potential.
Part of the province’s challenge in commercializing products has to do with markets. According to the report, “in B.C., the U.S. is the dominant early adopter market, followed by Canada and B.C. itself.”
June 22-28
A controversial Bellevue, Washington-based firm that has acquired more than 30,000 patents and raised more than US$5 billion has set up shop in Vancouver with the former head of Microsoft Corp.’s Richmond development centre as its new Canadian president.
Founded in 2000 by former Microsoft executives, Intellectual Ventures Management LLC (IVM) claims it helps inventors ranging from government agencies to universities and individual inventors get fair value for their inventions through partnerships and its patent-acquiring and licensing strategy.
Some members of the United States’ technology and legal communities see IVM as nothing more than a non-practising entity, or patent troll, that can wield its increasingly powerful patent portfolio to squeeze cash from inventors.
June 29-July 5
Canadian credit unions won a major victory last March when Ottawa decided to eliminate the geographic prison provincial credit unions have operated within for decades.
But that newfound freedom will likely have its tradeoffs, especially for B.C. credit unions considering expanding outside the province.
Under the federal budget legislation the House of Commons passed this month, credit unions would essentially be able to create a co-operative bank able to provide financial services anywhere across the country.
However, credit union executives and members will have to consider a host of potential changes that could dramatically alter an institution’s business.
June 29-July 5
1. Telus Corp.
2. Teck Resources Inc.
3. Finning International Inc.
4. Goldcorp Inc.
5. West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd.s