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Explains how Canada's pulp and paper makers have grown fat on cheap trees, cheap power and political largesse, and describes how to make them more competitive in the 90s. Niche marketing; Embracing new technologies; Diversification; Modernization; Environmental pressure; What is weakening the industry; Integration; Globalization; Conservation.

The article discusses that a financial crisis in Canada has begun because non-bank asset-backed commercial paper has become illiquid in the amount of about $7 billion Canadian dollars. Investors are unable to get their money out for use causing major write-downs. No new investors are stepping up to allow rollover to occur and more paper to be issued.

The article discusses the collapse of the asset-backed commercial paper (ABCP) market in Canada. One company holding frozen ABCP wants the government to investigate ABCP dealers, including Coventree Inc. A memorandum issued to dealers by Coventree on July 24, 2007 may have provided material information investors say should have been shared with them.

The article discusses the impact of the crisis in asset-backed commercial paper financing on Baffinland Iron Mines Corp., a Canadian company that sought short-term financing through the investments. Factors leading to the collapse of the Canadian commercial paper market are discussed, including lack of transparency and the inability of credit rating agencies to evaluate the assets.

Presents information on the performance of stocks in the paper and forest products industry in 2001 in Canada. Discussion of how real consumption of pulp and paper products has continued to fall since January 2001; Concern that profits in the industry could sink even further; Mention of Slocan Forest Products Ltd.; Performance of Bowater Inc.

Evaluates the paper and forest products industries in Canada as of July 8, 2002. Topic of stock prices in the industries; Mention of the Toronto Stock Exchange Paper and Forest Index; Suggestion that Domtar Inc, a producer of paper, might present fewer risks for investors; Discussion of the lumber industry.

Focuses on John Weaver, president and chief executive officer of Abitibi-Consolidated, the world's largest newsprint producer. Problems that have hit the industry; Biographical information; His short term and long term plans for the Canadian company. INSET: From mills to millstones.

This article presents the author's views on Canada's asset-backed commercial paper (ABCP) trusts. ABCPs are short-term papers for funding investments in longer-term assets. The author reflects on problems with Canadian ABCP trusts in the frozen market and why investors are angry and want to know who to blame for their losses. The author also notes the importance of confidence in Canada's financial system.

Focuses on Canadian paper company Abitibi, the world's largest newsprint producer. Background on the company, which traces its history through its six founding companies, primarily Abitibi-Price, Stone Consolidated and Donohue; Comments of Chief Executive officer John Weaver; Financial details; Expansion of the company; Exports.

The article reports on a bioactive paper being designed in Canada, which would help protect humans from bacteria and viruses. The Sentinel Bioactive Paper Network consists of Canadian universities, government and business partners researching the antibacterial product. The hope is for a paper that can detect, warn and destroy bacteria upon contact. Data from the Public Health Agency of Canada is provided and network director Bob Pelton quoted.

The article mentions the popularity of the luxurious wool cashmere which comes from the Asian mountain goat, chyangra. Karl Spilhaus, president of the Boston-based Cashmere and Camel Hair Manufacturers Institute, says "It's probably the finest animal fibre that's really in commercial production. It is also a finite resource--less than 20,000 tons annually--so you can't find a bargain in cashmere, any more than you could in gold or diamonds." The wool also makes great men's clothing. "The most common items are the cashmere sweater, the cashmere scarf and the cashmere sports blazer," says Larry Rosen, chairman and CEO of Canadian men's wear retailer Harry Rosen. Cashmere is so universally associated with luxury that it seems marketers will try to tie any product in with its allure. In 1999, Canadian paint company Sico Inc. launched a high-end interior latex line called Cashmere. Last year, Scott Paper launched a new toilet paper called Cashmere from Cottonelle. The company commissioned eight Canadian designers to come up with the "White Cashmere" collection for the launch of the toilet paper last August, their extravagant one-off runway creations got plenty of attention. Scott Paper now plans to change its brand name from Cottonelle to Cashmere by 2007. Toronto designer Tam Boyko of Heaven Cashmere was one of the contributing designers. Her shawl-collared women's wrap cardigan is the only piece from last year's White Cashmere collection that's available for sale.

Profiles Canadian newspaper publishers David Black and Conrad Black. The competition between the two; How each got his start in the newspaper business; Careers of both; Biographical information.

This article presents an editorial on how the National Bank of Canada held to a system of credit rating in the midst of the credit crunch. The author maintains National did the right thing when the market for non-bank asset-backed commercial paper (ABCP) froze in August, 2007, and the Montreal, Quebec-based bank bought up pools of debt from funds it controls and through its subsidiary, Altamira Investment Services.

Examines Canada's most unusual paper shuffle, involving New Brunswick's Irving family and their newspapers, `Telegraph Journal' and `Evening Times Globe.' Brothers Jack, Arthur and J.K. Irving; Valerie Millen, general manager, hired to halt the papers' financial slide and make them better; Editor Neil Reynolds; Details; The effect on the province of New Brunswick. INSETS: No business too big or too small (Irving family businesses);All the news that's fit to revile.

The article examines why Canadian legislators assign the majority of securities enforcement and regulation to self-regulatory organizations (SROs) and ad hoc committees. The problem of asset-backed commercial paper being linked to poor investments that required individuals to seek short-term loans is discussed. It is also attested that the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) is guilty of mistreating investors due to conflicts of interest.

The article looks at the history of Sunday newspapers in Canada. Topics include secularization of Canadian labor laws in the 1970s which allowed for Sunday deliveries, the financial situations of newspaper publishers as more people read their news through digital media, and cancellations of Sunday newspaper editions in Canada as of June 2012.

Focuses on Emmie Leung, chief executive officer of International Paper Industries Ltd. of North Vancouver, British Columbia. The success the company has had since 1993; How she got into the business; Company revenues for 1998.

Focuses on Alberta Education, winner of the 1998 Canadian Information Productivity Awards. Development of a system for record keeping; How schools in Alberta are connected to each other and to the Internet; How the system has helped make administration more efficient. INSET: Human Resources Development Canada.

This article focuses on Canada's environmental campaign to cut the use of plastics bag use. By 2012, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty hopes for a 50% voluntary reduction in plastic bag use. This 50% amounts to about 1 billion plastic bags, which will result in a loss of $20 million for plastic manufacturer PCL Packaging.

This article briefly discusses news relating to direct mail marketing in Canada. The development of a direct mail marketing periodical called "Sorted News" by the Canada Post is described. The potential for an increasing volume of direct mail marketing in Canada following the establishment of a do-not-call list that limits telemarketers is noted. The plans for a direct marketing campaign by the Royal Bank of Canada are also described.

Profiles forensic accountant Tedd Avey, the Toronto-based president of Kroll Consulting Group. Details on his job, which is to uncover any suspicious accounting practices of companies; Differences between a forensic accountant and a regular accountant; Observation that venture capitalists and potential business partners are increasingly hiring forensic accountants to investigate companies before they enter a contract, merge, or invest; Details on infamous cases Avey has investigated.

The article focuses on the corporate formality of annual reports. Of particular focus is a report published by Enterprise.com, a Belgium-based consultancy, which ranks 300 international companies based on their annual reports, and how Canadian businesses ranked. Overall, eighteen Canadian companies made the list, with Telus Corp. ranking first. Factors the report considered when compiling the rankings included performance reporting, financial review and management discussion of strategy.

Argues that tariffs on steel are unnecessary in Canada. Complaints of Canadian steel companies about low prices of imported steel; Benefits of low priced steel for consumers and manufacturers; Recovery from low steel prices due to overcapacity and weak markets; Opinion that the government should focus on importers who illegally dump steel.

Discusses the possible results of a readership study of Canada's 'The Globe and Mail' and 'The National Post.' Marketing strategy of the 'Post's' publisher Conrad Black to give away free papers to boost subscriptions; Leak of readership numbers from the Newspaper Audience Databank (NASbank) that the 'Globe's' readership numbers are down; Speculation about whether the owners of the 'Globe' will sell.

Profiles a number of executives in the lumber industry in Canada. Softwood lumber tariffs; Kruger Incorporated's acquisition of Scott Paper Limited in Montreal, Quebec; Cascades Incorporated and Boralex Incorporated in Drummondville, Quebec; Tolko Industries in Vernon, British Columbia; Others.

In this article the author surveys the Canadian timber industry as it stood in early 2008. A number of experts state that the market for wood and paper products is poor and that investment in timber stocks would be unwise. The purchase of tracts of trees by large institutional investors is described. Some timber stocks and mutual funds are recommended.

The article offers information on the environmental initiatives of Canadian companies that made it to the 2010 Green 30 list of "Canadian Business" magazine. Global human resources consulting and outsourcing firm Hewitt Associates compiled the information provided by the organizations. Highlighted are the key programs, practices, values, leadership behaviours, and actions that enabled the companies to earn high marks from their staff.

The article discusses the newspaper industry in Canada as of March 2013, with information on the trend for digital publishing and reduced revenues from print advertising. Topics include paywalls on newspaper websites which prohibits access except for online readers with a paid subscription, digital subscriptions to news content, and paywall models by newspapers including "The New York Times" and "AllNovaScotia.com."

Discusses how the Canadian company Thomson Corp. became a successful electronic publisher. How Roy Thomson founded the company in 1934; Transformation of Thomson Corp. from a newspaper chain to an international provider of products and services; Consideration of how Ken Thomson reorganized the company between 1985 and 1997; Acquisition of legal, educational, and health publishers; How the Thomson family is the company's principal shareholder; Electronic publishing of legal, financial, educational, and reference material.

Reports on Canadian businessmen Ron Stern and Bob Silver, who have purchased the Winnipeg Free Press and the Brandon Sun newspapers. Background information on the two entrepreneurs; Other holdings of the two.

Reports on the decision of Thomson Newspapers Corp. to sell 21 of its papers located in towns that encircle the media planet in Toronto, Ont. Move as part of a long-term strategic repositioning; Challenges faced by newspaper publishers in Toronto.

This article discusses the financial prospects for the paper and lumber company Abitibibowater Inc. during 2009. The economic issues posed by the decline of newspapers as a means of communication is presented as one issue facing the company. the debt levels held by Abitibibowater, which was formed by the merger of two forest products companies in 2007, are also noted.

The article reports on the career of Canadian entrepreneur Chad Wasilenkoff. Starting with the help of his mom, at age ten he sold used golf balls, video games, bikes and Apple II computers for profit. He attributes his success to his early attempts to find value. The article describes Wasilenkoff's work with Dynasty Metals & Mining, Titan Uranium and Fortress Paper Mills as larger scale financial successes.

The editor comments on business thinkers in Canada. Economists Don Drummond and Gillian Manning wrote a paper, Time to Eliminate the Foreign Property Rule for Canadian Registered Pension Plans, that is well worth reading. It's the most cogent and concise argument I've read against the silly 30% limit on non-Canadian content in our RRSPs. Not only does it deflate the fallacies the 30% limit is based upon--that open borders for RRSP--included assets would create a flight of capital or are somehow unpatriotic--but they also point out that the cap basically benefits nobody. The second mind I wanted to mention is that of Roger Martin, dean of the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. He's also chair of the Institute for Competitiveness & Prosperity, a not-for-profit organization whose mandate is to measure the economic progress of Ontario, but whose findings have relevance for the entire country. Martin recently presented a paper entitled Realizing Canada's Prosperity Potential to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Martin's basic argument is that a "prosperity gap" exists between Canada and the United States, and that the way to close it is to increase our productivity. The other big point Martin makes is that the time is long past due for Canada to revamp its allegedly progressive and needlessly complex tax system--in which, perversely, the lower middle class pays the highest marginal rate of any income group.

This article criticizes a study accusing Canadian banks of tax fraud. Over the years, I have found that some excellent scholarly papers are worth reviewing in columns to help Canadians think more clearly about public policies. Such is the case of a recent study written by Léo-Paul Lauzon, Marc Gendron and Denis Hasbani at the University of Quebec at Montreal, and entitled Canadian Banks and Tax Avoidance Carried Out in Tax Havens. The authors claim the banks avoided paying $5.7 billion in tax over the 2000-03 period. The authors also (incorrectly) focus only on tax havens, forgetting that most countries have corporate tax rates significantly less than Canada's. How sad it would be if public policy were based on a discriminatory attack on banks rather than on a proper understanding of corporate tax policy.

The author comments on the views of economist Sherry Cooper. She is BMO's economic guru--whose big claim to fame is a PR stint as a hate-mail manager for Paul Volcker, Alan Greenspan's predecessor--is a self-marketing machine. The Bay Street "doctor" introduces herself as the most-quoted economist this side of the border. She also appears on TV hundreds of times per year while writing books, a newspaper column and giving speeches "all over the world." Now, I'm not suggesting Cooper should spend more time studying events. In 2001, Cooper made headlines warning Canada to adopt the U.S. dollar. Cooper insisted nobody on the planet would ever prefer the Canuck buck over Uncle Sam's reserve-quality paper, which is why she said Canada had. to give Washington control of monetary policy before we hit 50¢US. The loonie is now over 80¢US, so Cooper is obviously no Kreskin. Nevertheless, she recently made the papers again by renewing the call for dollarization. Our soaring currency, she argues, simply means Canadians would get a better deal. Maybe. But adopting the greenback (which would have significant political, economic and social startup costs) is still nuts.

Profiles a number of executives from Canada who run conglomerates. The Irving family, which controls the largest oil refinery in Canada; Work of James Pattison for the largest private company in Canada; Global investments of Fred and Ron Mannix in energy, mining, and real estate; Losses of Gerald Schwartz in Celestica Inc.; Paper empire which is run by the Belkin family.

The article discusses counterfeiting in Canada and Wesley Weber, Anthony Caporale, Dustin Kossom and Ryan Hodare who made money in Town of Lakeshore, Ontario. Last year, the Bank of Canada reported a record $12.7 million in counterfeit currency in circulation, up from $4.9 million in 2002. Police don't know much about how Weber's ring distributed its product. Counterfeit currency tends to circulate in the same manner as other illegal commodities.It typically sells on the black market at some fraction of face value. Clever though Weber was at forgery, his compulsive criminal behaviour left him vulnerable. His own lawyer would later describe him as a "one-man crime wave." Weber's recklessness in spending his own product was a big liability, too. His fingerprints were found on the imitation gift certificates he'd passed at the malls. Weber figures the ring had cashed $200,000 in counterfeit. Weber's ring scrambled to keep up with demand; they invested in technology and refined their processes. Output mushroomed, and as the purchases grew, market forces dictated that Weber--who was under house arrest at the time--reduce his price. And this year, another major counterfeit operation was shut down: a joint investigation involving Toronto police, Ontario Provincial Police, Peel Regional Police and the U.S. Secret Service cracked a ring in Toronto in March, seizing almost $3 million in imitation Canadian $10 and $20 notes. INSETS: COUNTERFEIT DETECTION;Stupid counterfeiting tricks.

In a year when prices for lumber and pulpwood hit their lowest levels in a decade, forestry companies such as Canfor Corp. were already smarting. On top of that, Canfor had to pay $107.6 million in punitive duties in fiscal 2002 due to Canada's softwood lumber dispute with the US. The Vancouver company--the largest softwood lumber producer in Canada and fourth-largest in the world--still managed to carve out a profit of $11.5 million on revenue of $2.1 billion. CEO David Emerson is fighting a more grassroots campaign: to change the image of forestry. Since signing on as CEO in 1998--after overhauling the Vancouver International Airport Authority--he has led Canfor's initiative to gain certification from the Canadian Standards Association and American Forest & Paper Association. Tim Hortons is one of Canada's top 75 companies of all time because the food chain makes the best darn coffee in the country. It qualifies because, although it's been owned by American giant Wendy's Internat

Examines value investing and suggests that the ugly ducklings of equities may be poised to turn into beautiful profitable swans. Why `value' stocks (those in the bottom quartile of the market as measured by their price in relation to book value) have not paid off in Canada since the start of the bull market in late 1990; Attention now being paid to cyclical companies; How papers, base metals and steels are now poised to recover; More.

The article reports on the efforts of currency makers to stay ahead of counterfeiters by combining the latest developments in chemistry, physics and material science. New bills will be introduced by Canada and the U.S. in 2011, with U.S. officials unveiling a new 100 U.S. dollar bill which features a wide ribbon as an anticopying measure. On the other hand, Australia has adopted a plastic bill.

Discusses a paper written by Canadian Industry Minister Allan Rock on innovation strategy and improving productivity. View of Rock that Canada must increase its spending on research and development and encourage the growth of several world-class technology clusters; Belief that Rock's innovation strategy provides few new creative ideas and fails to ask tough questions like which past policies have failed Canada.

Comments on the sale of Canada's 'National Post' newspaper by founder Conrad Black. Opinion that, through the paper, Black did a service to Canadian journalism; Speculation regarding the future of the paper under liberal owners.

The author reports on economic predictions that have been made regarding the Canadian forestry industry in 2009. Financial difficulties that the lumber industry experienced which led to the elimination of more than 27,000 jobs in 2008 are mentioned, including problems the industry had with the mountain pine beetle. The opinions of the Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) regarding governmental industry bailouts are presented.

This article reports on the 2008 subprime financial crisis in the U.S. and Canada and the near-failure of investment bank Bear Stearns. When Bear Stearns was struggling to fund its operation, the U.S. Federal Reserve orchestrated the shift in its control to the firm JPMorgan. The article discusses the significance of this event to Wall Street history, as well as similar problems with asset-backed commercial paper trusts in Canada.

This article reports on the 76th annual conference of the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) in 2008 and the commodities sector in the Canadian economy. The article discusses the participants in the conference, including entrepreneurs and celebrities associated with the mining industry. The booming commodities market and its connection to the paper asset and mortgage problems in North America are addressed, as well as when commodity prices are expected to begin falling.

Shawinigan has spawned more than "little guy" Jean Chrétien. The town is the cradle of Quebec's industrial might. In the first decades of the 20th century, Shawinigan Water and Power (SWP), the province's largest-and last-private hydro-electric company, exploited the Saint-Maurice River system's raging waterfalls to lure electricity-hungry industries like aluminum and pulp and paper to the region. SWP's other major contribution to Quebec's economy was in chemicals, producing acetone (used in British bombs during the First World War) and acetylene, a fuel for Montreal's street lamps, later used to make solder. In fact, SWP was a highly diverse company that influenced many sectors of Quebec's economy, says Claude Bellavance, director of the Centre d'études québécoises at the Université du Québec in Trois-Rivières, and author of a 1994 book on the company.

Focuses on the effort of Conrad Black, chairmen of Southam Inc., to launch a new daily Canadian newspaper in 1998. Black's work as a newspaper owner; How Black has never launched a newspaper from the bottom up; The uncertainty surrounding Black's decision.

The article looks at the decline of the personal cheque in Canada as of 2013, discussing Westminster Savings Credit Union customers' option of depositing a paper cheque using a smartphone app (mobile device application) and offering statistics about the history and economics of personal cheques.

The article discusses Canadian small-cap companies whose average one year return was 41% which was better than the medium-and large-cap stocks. Aurelian Resources Incorporated, on the Investor 500 list for the first time, had a return of 1,099.7%. Enterra Energy Trust had a loss of 62.4%. There are 49 small-cap industries including paper, biotechnology, airlines, and hotels.