There’s a Heat Warning for Pictou County as an extended period of hot and humid weather is expected through Thursday. Maximum daytime temperatures of 29 to 33 degrees Celsius are expected with the Humidex at 36 to 38.
Northern Pulp issued a news release Monday night indicating it will initiate a court-supervised sales process for the company’s assets after it was unable to secure funding for a new mill project. The release indicates that the decision follows a comprehensive feasibility study that concluded Northern Pulp could not achieve the 14 per cent internal rate of return required in a settlement agreement with the province to develop a modern bioproducts hub in Liverpool. Proceeds from the asset sale will repay debt incurred throughout the Companies Creditors Arrangement Act process, fund pension plans, and contribute to site maintenance and closure costs. Northern Pulp has been under creditor protection since June of 2020 after it closed its kraft pulp mill in Pictou County.
As Prime Minister Mark Carney prepares to meet with his cabinet today on U-S trade negotiations, he’s processing yesterday’s claim by U-S President Donald Trump that the letters he’s sent to Carney and other leaders about new tariff rates are the actual “deals.”
Trump appeared to be losing patience with his administration’s efforts to make trade deals with other nations.
He’s been sending letters to trading partners, including Canada, threatening to impose higher tariff rates on August 1st.
The letter addressed to Carney last week said Canada would be hit with 35-per-cent tariffs, and again cites fentanyl flows as the justification.
Economists are expecting the pace of inflation will have picked up in June as the Bank of Canada looks for signs of tariff impacts on prices. Statistics Canada is set to report consumer price index data for June today. R-B-C projects annual inflation rose two ticks to 1.9 per cent last month. Senior economist Claire Fan says she expects core inflation — closely watched by the Bank of Canada — will remain stubbornly higher in the June report.
