The Globe and Mail - 09.03.2020

BASKETBALL

LeBronJameshasitwrong

onplayinginfrontoffans,

CathalKellysays B

HOCKEY

MapleL eafsholdingon

toplayoffspotinspite

ofthemselves B

SOCCER

ManchesterUnitedtoasts

firstderbydoubleover

ManCityinadecade B

SPORTS

B10-B

OTTAWA/QUEBECEDITION ■ MONDAY,MARCH9,2020 ■ GLOBEANDMAIL.COM

COMPANIES

CIBC......................................B

CLEARWATERSEAFOODS .....B

ENDEAVOURMINING............B

HEXO....................................B

POWERCORP.OFCANADA ..B

PREMIUMBRANDS ................B

QUEBECOR............................B

RBC.......................................B

TDBANK...............................B

Major petrochemical companies

operating in Canada oppose a

looming federal ban on single-

use plastics and believe product

demand should be market-dri-

ven, not prescribed bygovern-

ment regulations.

Dow Inc.andNova Chemicals

Corp.said that while they sup-

port efforts to reduce plastic

waste, they believe bans can lead

to an increase in alternatives

that are worse for the environ-

ment and generate more green-

house gas emissions. The com-

panies are two of Canada’s large-

st petrochemical players in-

volved in the production of

plastics, with facilities in Alberta

and Ontario.

“Bans are limited in their ef-

fect because they do not address

human behaviour related to

waste management or signifi-

cantly reduce the amount of de-

bris that ends up in the environ-

ment,” Dow spokeswoman

Adrianne Lovric said.

Nova’s president and chief ex-

ecutive Todd Karran said that

while the company supports leg-

islation that “drives all materials

to be compostable, recyclable or

recoverable,” the focus should be

on improving recycling pro-

grams and supporting sustaina-

ble innovation.

The Liberal government is

poised to regulate plastics as part

of a national plan to reduce the

amount of packaging that is

overwhelming municipal-waste

programs and polluting water-

ways. With the recent release of a

scientific assessment of plastic

pollution, which provides the ba-

sis for taking regulatory action,

Ottawa is on track to meet its

2021 target for a ban on certain

single-use plastics.

The federal strategy is expect-

ed to include standards to ensure

that some products comprise a

certain percentage of recycled

content, and a move toward

waste programs that require

manufacturers and sellers to

manage the collection and recy-

cling of the plastic they put into

the market.

The production of resins,

which are derived from hydro-

carbons and form the base of all

plastics, is concentrated in Alber-

ta and Ontario. Alberta, which

accounts for nearly 70 per cent

of Canadian natural-gas produc-

tion, is home to the largest hy-

drocarbon processing region in

Canada.

PLASTICS, B

Petrochemical

industrywarns

Ottawaagainst

plasticsban

KATHRYNBLAZEBAUM

EMMAGRANEY

Oil futures suffered their biggest
dailylosssince1991onSundayaf-
ter Saudi Arabia slashed its offi-
cial selling price and announced
plans to raise crude production
significantly, signalling the start

of a price war.

Saudi Arabia cut its OSP for

April for all crude grades to all

destinations by anywhere from

US$ß to US$8 a barrel, sending oil

into a tailspin.

BrentfuturesfellUS$9.95,or

per cent, to US$35.32 a barrel by

Sunday evening, while U.S. West

Texas intermediate ÀWTIÁ crude

fell US$8.99, or 21.8 per cent, to

US$32.29.SaudiArabiaalsosaidit

plans to boost crude output

above 10 million barrels a day Àbà

dÁ in April after the current deal

to curb production between the

Organization of Petroleum Ex-

porting Countries and Russia –

known as OPECÈ – expires at the

end of March, two sources told

Reuters on Sunday.

The kingdom made the moves

after Russia on Friday balked at

OPEC’s proposed steep produc-

tion cuts to stabilize prices hit by

economic fallout from the coro-

navirus. The sources said April’s

production would be significant-

lyhigherthan10millionbàd,pos-

sibly closer to 11 million bàd. In

the past couple of months, Saudi

Arabiahasbeenpumping9.7mil-

lion bàd.

Aramco should maximize its

output and sell more crude to

protect its market share, the

sources said, speaking on condi-

tion of anonymity due to the sen-

sitivity of the matter.

OIL,B

OildivesasSaudiArabiastartspricewar

Kingdomcutssellingpriceandboosts crudeoutputafterOPEC-Russiaproductiondealcollapses

SCOTTDISAVINO
RANIAELGAMAL

SÁNDORFIZLI/THEGLOBEANDMAIL

TECHNOLOGY

Portag3hiresSiliconValleystar

ChrisO’Neill B

OPINION

CorporateCanadadraggingits

feetongenderdiversity B

GLOBEINVESTOR

ETFsnowoutnumberstocks

ontheTSX,TimShufeltwrites

B

Royal Bank of Canadaissplittingop-

erations for its global trading busi-

ness Monday as it responds to the

coronavirus outbreak, which has in-

tensified quickly in North America

and Europe in recent days.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Com-

merce and Toronto-Dominion

Banksaidtheywerealsoconsidering

preventativemeasures,whileseveral

large U.S. banks have begun to shift

their trading operations off site.

RBCwilldivideitstradingfloorsin

Toronto, New Dork, New Jersey and

London, spokesperson Andrew

Block said in an e-mail to The Globe

and Mail.

“This is a precautionary measure

to ensure we are able to smoothly

and seamlessly continue serving our

clients,” Mr. Block said.

“We recently tested these process-

es globally and the tests were suc-

cessful.”

CIBC will also move “some” of its

trading floor team members in To-

ronto and New Dork this week to

backup work locations as part of its

business continuity plans, spokes-

person Trish Tervit told The Globe.

TD confirmed it is currently eval-

uating its business continuity plan,

and said it will likely introduce mea-

sures this week that could include

separatinggroupsofemployeessuch

as sales and trading staff.

The measures are being taken by

financial institutions as the number

of coronavirus cases has surpassed

100,000 globally.

BANKS,B

RoyalBanktosplitglobaltradingstaff

asaviruspreventionmeasure

CLAREO’HARA

WEALTHMANAGEMENTREPORTER

Canadianemployersareimplement-

ing new policies around personal

travel as the coronavirus outbreak

stretches into March break season,

with many warning employees who

choose to travel to risky areas to stay

away from work when they get

home.

A wide range of Canadian busi-

nesses – including Maple Leaf Foods

Inc., Intact Financial Corp., Wealth-

simple Inc., health-benefits startup

League Inc., and Aancity Credit

Union – are requiring workers who

travel to areas designated as high

risk by leading health authorities to

self-quarantine at home for two

weeks upon their return and not to

come in after that if they have any

symptoms of the virus.

StatisticsCanadasaysMarchisthe

busiest month, after December, for

Canadians returning from interna-

tional destinations, and with school

springbreaksslatedforthelastweek

or two of the month, depending on

the province, companies across the

country are trying to limit employee

exposure to the virus that causes the

disease COAID-19.

Since the early days of the out-

break, employers have been restrict-

ing some international business

travel and have tightened up those

policies in recent weeks.

For example, LinkedIn and Open-

Texthavepulledoutofexternalcon-

ferences or events. Now, some com-

paniesarealsotakingacloserlookat

personal travel.

MARCHBREAK,B

Sincetheearlydaysofthecoronavirusoutbreak,employershavebeenrestrictingsomeinternationalbusinesstripsand

arenowexpandingthosepoliciestodealwithemployees’personaltravel.AARONVINCENTELKAIM/THEGLOBEANDMAIL

Newpolicyforemployeestravellingduring

Marchbreak:Don’tcomebacktotheoffice

CHRISTINEDOBBY

CORPORATELAWREPORTER

[CORONAVIRUS]

MERGERSANDACQUISITIONS

RivalslooktoreelinClearwaterSeafoods B