Joe Oliver concerned about a Canada divided over energy

Finance Minister Joe Oliver says he is concerned that divisions within Canada over the energy sector will eventually hold back the country's growth.

In a year-end interview for The Exchange with Amanda Lang, Oliver cited opposition to fracking and to pipelines in some provinces as potential points of conflict.

"It's important to communicate with Canadians that we're not just missing out on a new opportunity. We're potentially also looking at a decline which would adversely affect the Canadian economy and degrade the standard of living of Canadians across the country," Oliver said.

New Brunswick recently announced it would impose a moratorium on fracking and Quebec and Ontario have set conditions for the development of the Energy East pipeline within their borders.

Pipelines critical to economy

Oliver terms the need to get Canadian oil to tidewater so it can be shipped overseas a "critical strategic imperative" for the country.

He said the inability to gain agreement to build the Keystone XL pipeline through the U.S. so far was disappointing, but he believes that a pipeline to secure export markets will eventually go through.

'I haven't heard anybody suggest that the U.S. is about to introduce a carbon tax. I think with the change in the Senate and the House of Representatives, that's an extremely unlikely event'- Finance Minister Joe Oliver

"We have a critical strategic imperative, which is to diversify our markets because 100 per cent of our gas exports, 99 per cent of our oil exports go to the U.S.," Oliver said.

"They've found vast amounts of their own and they're in the process of competing with us on gas," he added.

He upheld the prime minister's view that a carbon tax which would show Canada is moving to combat climate change would not be the right move at this time.

The Obama administration has suggested it is looking for proof that Canada is moving to combat climate change before it would approve Keystone.

"What we have said, what the prime minister has said is 'we'll move with other countries, but this is not the time to disadvantage Canadian industry in a significant way.' It simply doesn't make sense," Oliver said.

Oliver dismisses carbon tax

He insisted Canada is serious about dealing with greenhouse gases and would move when other countries move, but said he doesn't believe there is international pressure to put a carbon tax in place.

"I haven't heard anybody suggest that the U.S. is about to introduce a carbon tax. I think with the change in the Senate and the House of Representatives, that's an extremely unlikely event," Oliver said.

"Why introduce a carbon tax here to show that we are serious about climate change when they haven't done it?" he added.

A 2014 report on Canada's greenhouse gas emissions shows the country will fall short of meeting its 2020 targets that were agreed to in Copenhagen for reducing the emissions that lead to climate change. The world is set to implement tougher emissions targets when delegates gather in Paris next year.

Oliver points out that Canada is "very wealthy" and has an opportunity to prosper even more in the years ahead.

But there are headwinds from Europe and other more troubled economies, even as the U.S. picks up steam.

"The fact that Europe is poised to either start recovering or decline is a concern," he said.

"There are geopolitical issues that have economic and other implications for Canada. We're in pretty good shape, but the international situation is fragile," he said.

Oliver said his goal is to create economic stability for Canadians and that's part of the reason he believes it's important to have balanced budgets and bring down the debt.

"We want to be strong in the event there are international shocks, which are inevitable from time to time," he said.

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Bombardier sells 24 CRJ900 aircraft to undisclosed customer

CRJ900 aircraft intended for medium-range trips

CBC News Posted: Dec 30, 2014 3:05 PM ET Last Updated: Dec 30, 2014 3:10 PM ET

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Dec 31, 2014 10:15 AM ET Dec 31, 2014 10:15 AM ET Dec 31, 2014 10:15 AM ET Dec 31, 2014 10:20 AM ET Dec 31, 2014 10:15 AM ET

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Investors seek safe haven in gold as oil remains at 5-year low

Oil was hovering around a five-year low on Tuesday, but gold made a sharp recovery, up $14 US an ounce to $1197.

Gold spiked $22 in morning trading, breaking through the key $1,200 an ounce level, before sinking lower just before the close.

Investors are seeking out bullion as a safe haven amid uncertainty over European economies and the U.S. dollar. They are concerned about a pending Greek election, which could threaten that country's troubled economy, as well as signs of imminent recession in Russia.

The Canadian dollar moved higher to close at 86.14 cents US after falling yesterday on low oil prices.

The crude contract traded in New York is down 50 per cent since its 2014 high of $107.26 in June. On Tuesday West Texas Intermediate oil was up 14 cents at $53.83 US a barrel, its lowest level since May 2009.

Brent oil, the contract traded in most of the world, slipped by 20 cents to $57.68 and Western Canada Select was trading at a deep discount to the WTI price, $37.55.

Crude oil contracts have fallen due to a glut of oil production and a dampening of global demand as world economies slow.

Tomorrow, the U.S. energy agency will release its survey of oil and natural gas inventories in the U.S. and traders expect to find the oversupply remains.

"What we've seen for the past couple of weeks is inventories are still rising... it could be that we're looking at these low prices as a chance to build our inventories in case the prices do go higher later, and we're piling in at lower levels," said Carl Larry, an oil and gas consultant at Frost & Sullivan.

He said the Canadian industry hasn't been as hard-hit as it might be, because U.S. demand is rising.

"The interesting thing about what's going on with Canada is that, although prices have been going lower, and this goes for the U.S. too, is that demand's been at a record high. This past year, we put more crude oil into our refinery system than we have ever. And what's happening is we're bringing a lot of the imports down from Canada, because they replace a lot of the imports that we bring into the Gulf Coast," he said in an interview with The Exchange with Amanda Lang.

Toronto stocks were lower in the morning, dragged down by the energy sector. They recovered in the early afternoon, but closed the day down 23.88 points at 14,640.04.

Gold stocks and base metals climbed because of the soaring price of gold, with the metals and mining index up five per cent.

However financial and consumer related stocks moved lower, despite good news about consumer confidence.

The Conference Board of Canada index of consumer confidence showed a rebound in confidence in December, after three months of declines in the index.

The results, released Tuesday, indicated consumers are happier about their finances and more  willing to make a major purchases, a positive sign for the retail sector.

In New York, the Dow was down 55.16 points to 17,983.07, the S&P 500 was down 10.22 points at 2,080.35 and the Nasdaq fell 29.47 points to 4,777.44.

New York stocks followed European markets downwards. Greece's early election set for January has increased doubts about the eurozone's economic prospects and the ability of the European Central Bank to reverse the current downturn.

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United Airlines, Orbitz sue travel website for exposing layover pricing glitch

A large U.S. airline and one of the world's biggest online travel agencies are suing an entrepreneur from New York City for developing a web system that can help flyers save money by taking advantage of a loophole in the pricing of flights with layovers.

Aktarer Zaman invented Skiplagged.com, a website that lets users find cheaper flight tickets.

The website's trick is that it combs ticket prices and finds flight routes with layovers that stop in certain cities that end up being cheaper than simply directly flying to that city.

If a traveller wants to fly from New York City to Atlanta, for example, a direct flight would cost a certain amount of money. However, because of the way airlines price their tickets, a flight from New York to Miami that includes a layover in Atlanta might cost less than the New York-to-Atlanta trip.

Under the system, that flyer could book the flight to Miami knowing that it passes through Atlanta, and simply get off the plane there and not complete the last leg — while saving money in the process.

This screengrab from Skiplagged.com shows that a theoretical traveller going from Toronto to Los Angeles last September could have save almost 50 per cent on the ticket price by buying a ticket to another destination that involved L.A. as a layover. (CBC)

Airlines often offer cheaper flight to certain regional hub airports with high traffic volumes, as opposed to more niche destinations where anyone wanting to go there will often pay a premium to do so. 

On a Reddit thread explaining how the website works, Zaman says he stumbled upon the loophole by accident. "It was simply an accidental discovery while searching for flights from NYC to [Seattle]," he said. "I noticed the cheapest had a layover in [San Francisco] but the cheapest for NYC to [San Francisco] was significantly more expensive."

Zaman says the cheapest flight his website has ever been able to find was $25.62 for a flight from Seattle to Orlando. The trick only works if you're travelling without any checked bags (because luggage would end up in your final destination) and it also doesn't work for return trips — if you fail to show up for a leg of the trip, the airline will cancel your return flight, which means you'd have to book two separate one-way tickets.

It's known in the industry as "hidden city" flying and is costing the airlines a lot of money, the lawsuit alleges.

Skiplagged.com "intentionally and maliciously interferes" with their business and so the companies are seeking a legal end to the practices.

The statement of claim alleges "Zaman's acts interfere with and jeopardize Orbitz Worldwide's travel agency agreements with major airlines, from which Orbitz Worldwide earns well in excess of $75,000 in revenue annually."

Zaman says he has made no money from the website, but has already raised $15,000 from donations to aid in his legal defence.

"What Skiplagged does is definitely not illegal, which is why this is not a criminal case," Zaman said.

The case is United Airlines Inc. v. Zaman, docket number 14-cv-9214, and is being heard in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

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Former Tim Hortons CEO Marc Caira named CP's business newsmaker of 2014

Marc Caira was a key player in Burger King's deal to take over Tim Hortons coffee and donut chain. (Michael Charles Cole/CBC)

Debate over the marriage of doughnuts and burgers unfolded in Canadian coffee shops and the corridors of power in Washington, as seemingly everyone had something to say about the pairing of Tim Hortons and Burger King in 2014.

The US$11-billion deal helped Tim Hortons' former chief executive Marc Caira secure the title of The Canadian Press Business Newsmaker of the Year for 2014, in an annual survey of editors and broadcasters.

"Caira (love him or not) did something major and unexpected this year. Now coffee drinkers, and coffee servers, will have to wait for the consequences," said Doug Cudmore, business editor at the Toronto Star.

Caira received 18 of the votes from 50 editors and news directors across the country who participated in the annual survey. He was trailed by TransCanada chief executive Russ Girling with 13 votes, and Guy Laurence, the new head of Rogers Communications, with seven votes.

Joe Oliver, Stephen Poloz ranked second and third

Outside the Top 3, federal finance minister Joe Oliver and Bank of Canada head Stephen Poloz each received four votes, while Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. chief executive Hunter Harrison, the late Jim Flaherty, former Quebecor publisher Pierre Karl Peladeau and the latest head of Quebecor, Pierre Dion, each received one vote.

But it was Caira and his role in negotiating the deal to sell Tim Hortons just as the chain prepared for its 50th anniversary that topped the list.

"There was an unexpected shock Hortons was being sold at all and also being sold to an American company," said Warren Beck, news director at 1380 CKPC and The Jewel 92.

The takeover didn't just make news in Canada.

Miami-based Burger King Worldwide Inc. faced criticism in the U.S. by some who perceived the deal to be hinged on relocating its head office to Canada for a lower tax bill, a practice known as a corporate tax inversion.

The company denied paying lower taxes was even one of its considerations for buying the Canadian coffee chain, but it added fuel to a debate in Washington.

New regulations were enacted last fall to remove some benefits for U.S. companies, and make the tax inversion process more difficult, but the Tim Hortons takeover was already sealed.

Tim Hortons wasn't shopping for a suitor last March when Burger King made its first offer, but Caira was a willing participant in the courting process and pushed for the U.S. chain to increase its bid three times.

For about five months, he quietly negotiated alongside his board, while making changes at Tim Hortons designed to inject new energy into menu boards that had grown stale over the years.

Revamped menu

Caira offered a different perspective on the business, coming from a background at food and beverage manufacturer Nestle. His knowledge allowed him to focus on what he did best, and let the rest of the management team dedicate time to their priorities.

"I don't have to be strong operationally, I bring strengths in other areas," Caira said in a conversation about his career held by Foodservice and Hospitality Magazine last May.

"My responsibility is to build on the solid foundation that this brand enjoys today and try to bring it to the next level — not alone, but with the help of my colleagues."

Caira, born in Cosenza, Italy, graduated from Seneca College in Toronto and immediately began his career at Nestle for an annual salary of $12,500, though he admits he was mostly attracted by the perk of a company car.

He rose through the ranks, becoming president of Nestle Food Service Canada, and then after a brief stint at Parmalat, returned to Nestle to climb the rungs of its global operations where he oversaw expansion of the company's hot and cold beverage division.

For him, that was nearly enough, and after more than 35 years in the business, Caira announced his retirement with the intention of returning to Canada.

But he was pulled back into the fray by Tim Hortons interim CEO Paul House.

"The Tim Hortons brass was interested with him for a long time," said Rosanna Caira, Marc's cousin and an editor at trade magazine publisher Kostuch Media.

"I think he felt there was a challenging component to that job."

What now for Tims?

Caira joined Tim Hortons saying he wanted to think like a customer, and within months began to make dramatic changes in Tim Hortons' business strategy.

He turfed the Cold Stone Creamery ice cream stores, a foray into frozen treats that never really caught on in a country known for its winter weather.

Then he introduced dark roast coffee, the first time Tim Hortons offered an alternative to its signature blend, and revamped the menu to attract more lunch customers.

"They realized they were getting maxed out in Canada and had to do something," said Maureen Atkinson, senior partner at retail consulting firm J.C. Williams Group.

"He made some pretty substantial changes to start with."

Caira's legacy at Tim Hortons, however, will almost certainly rest on the takeover, a deal that has raised questions about whether Burger King will respect the significance of the Canadian brand and the culture around it, Atkinson said.

Also uncertain is how staff at Tim Hortons' head office in Oakville, Ont. will be affected, as they are not protected under a five-year promise from Burger King to maintain current job levels at Tim Hortons franchises across Canada.

"I'm not 100 per cent sure this is the best deal, and whether it's best for the company," Atkinson said.

Burgers and doughnuts have made strange bedfellows in the past, and with the 1995 merger of Tim Hortons with Wendy's sputtering out little more than a decade later, some outsiders have little confidence in these two companies thriving together either.

In the case of Wendys, the shareholders pressured executives to focus on burgers and cash in on Tim Hortons success with a public offering.

"On the surface, there's no reason to expect this will click any better," said Kevin Grier, an independent food and industry analyst at Kevin Grier Market Analysis and Consulting.

In December, Tim Hortons embarked on what Caira labelled the "next chapter" in its corporate history, under the leadership of a Burger King executive who oversaw the company's expansion into Asia.

Caira, who now holds the role of vice-chairman of Restaurant Brands International the new name of the combined company, told shareholders that he believes the move will pave the way for a more aggressive expansion of Tim Hortons in international markets.

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Tattoo artist creates booming business concealing scars

Samira Omar pushes back her headscarf to reveal burn scars that swirl along her face and neck. Her hands are also dotted with colourless patches where her skin was scorched.

The 17-year-old says she was the victim of a horrific bullying incident in August. She says four classmates she thought were her friends, beat her and then doused her with boiling water.

Basma Hameed before and after tattooing the burn scars on her own face (Courtesy of Basma Hameed)

"I remember I looked into the mirror when I was calling for help and I could see my skin completely hanging off me," says the soft-spoken girl. "It just felt as if I'd been through hell and back."

She thought she'd be scarred for life. But then Omar heard about para-medical tattoo specialist Basma Hameed. She didn't hold out much hope because she'd been let down before when she consulted specialists.

"It was just like, am I going to go in and just have another plastic surgeon or dermatologist tell me 'oh, you're not going to get colour back?'" she said.

But Hameed told Omar that she could restore her natural skin colour. While inspecting the scars, she said, "We'll make sure we cover all of these areas. But it will take a series of treatments."

One step at a time

Over time, Hameed will camouflage Omar's burns by tattooing them with ink that blends with her natural skin tones.

"When she told me she could actually get my pigments back and find a skin colour that could match my actual skin colour, it's just a big sigh of relief," Omar says.

Patients from around the world seek out Hameed's skills. She started her Toronto clinic in 2011 and recently opened a second location in Chicago. In addition to scar victims, she also treats people with vitiligo — a skin disease that causes loss of pigment — and breast cancer survivors who need redrawing of their nipples or eyebrows that disappeared during chemotherapy.

"I think that I'm good at para-medical scar camouflage because I was able to work on myself, and I was able to see the process of it," she says.

Hameed's painful journey

When Hameed was just two years old, she was badly burned by hot oil in a kitchen accident in her native country, Iraq. She endured more than 100 painful procedures —from plastic surgery to laser treatments. But half her face remained scarred with red discoloration from third degree burns. She was advised nothing more could be done.

'I think that I'm good at para-medical scar camouflage because I was able to work on myself.'- Basma Hameed, para-medical tattoo specialist

"I was told by my plastic surgeon that I needed to take my money and go on a vacation. For me, I felt like that wasn't the end of the road. I truly believed that something else did exist. So I did a lot of research, and of course I went to school. I made sure I knew what I was getting myself into."

What she was getting into was an emerging form of cosmetic tattooing. Hameed discovered the procedure when she got an eyebrow tattooed to replace the one she had lost from the burn. She decided if tattooing could replace eyebrows, then why not her original skin colour?

"When I started working on my face, I was extra careful. I wanted to make sure that I was going to get the right result," she says.

Patient transformation

Hameed not only transformed her own face, but she also started what is now a booming business, helping transform the lives of others.

On this day, she is treating Nafi Nzambe, who burned her hand in a cooking accident. Hameed carefully chooses the right colour to match Nzambe's skin and began tattooing the white marks left by the burn.

When asked what she thinks of Hameed, Nzambe lights up. "She's good! So I can smile now because of her."

Nzambe shows a section of the scar where Hameed has planted pigment as proof. "It's like my normal skin," she says, "So I have hope."

Artistry and empathy

Hameed is also giving hope to Omar, who she is treating for free through her charity, the Basma Hameed Survivors Foundation.

It's a big relief for Omar, who is still trying to cope with what happened to her. She says police are investigating her bullying case, which happened near London, England, her home at the time. She has since retreated back to her birthplace, Canada.

"When I hear her story, I felt like I relate so much," says Hameed. "I wanted to reach out to and help as much as possible."

She has to wait a few more months to treat Omar because the scars are still fresh. But she already has a way to help. She shows the young woman how to apply scar concealer. Hameed developed the product — again by experimenting on herself.

After, Omar stood in the mirror, smiling. "It's a great finish, honestly, thank you so much," she tells Hameed with renewed confidence.

"I am proud of myself for not giving up but what I'm mostly proud of is the reaction [I get] from people," says Hameed.

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Oil's wild ride in 2014 signals return to volatility

After five years in which oil traded in a narrow band around the $100 US a barrel mark, crude markets returned to volatility this fall.

Back in late June of this year, oil was trading at $107 US a barrel. At year end, it was headed below $54 a barrel.

The months in between tell the story of how changes in supply and demand can lead to wild and unpredictable swings in the price of a commodity.

Geopolitical tensions earlier this year had the effect of pushing oil prices to a peak. It pushed through $100 a barrel in March because of tensions in the Ukraine and then in June, ISIS moved in on oilfields in Iraq, threatening to cut off supplies. Crude hit a peak for the year of $107 a barrel for the West Texas Intermediate contract.

'After many years of being the top performers in the country, the resource-rich provinces are going to experience significantly slower growth and so the oil patch is going to suffer quite significantly'- TD  Bank chief economist Craig Alexander

But this summer, markets began to see the downturn in Europe and Japan were worse than previously realized. At the same time, emerging markets, particularly China, began to lose steam after propelling global growth for the past five years.

"We are seeing significantly slower growth in the emerging economies around the world, so the global economy isn't growing at a very strong pace and this is the initial reason why oil prices started to fall," says Craig Alexander, senior economist with TD Bank.

OPEC and supply

On the supply side, the OPEC oil cartel, which uses its production quota to manipulate prices, was keeping production level in the face of interrupted supply from some of its members, including Libya and Iraq. On Nov. 27, OPEC said it would maintain that level at 30 million barrels a day despite a world oversupply of oil.

Over the past five years, the high price of oil has encouraged investment in a lot of non-conventional sources of crude, including oilsands and offshore oil. But the biggest change was the growth of U.S. shale oil, which was being pumped at such record output that U.S. oil production hit a 45-year high.

A glut of supply and a reduction in demand are the recipe for lower prices and that's exactly what we've seen this fall, a 45 to 50 per cent drop in oil prices.

"The initial drop that we saw in oil from $100 to the low $70s was actually fully justified on grounds the world economy was so much weaker," Alexander said.

"I think the drop we've seen from the low $70s to below $60, that's actually been more of a story about the fact that we haven't seen a cut in supply."

The last such steep price drop in oil was in 2008, when the financial crisis drove down demand. Since then, oil prices have been relatively stable, despite geopolitical tensions.

Where is the bottom?

As the world came out of the 2008 recession, demand for oil grew, but supply was kept in check by disruptions in Iraq and Libya and OPEC's management of the flow of oil.

Many analysts are predicting those days are over and crude markets are returning to the volatility that had been their hallmark for decades.

Predictions for oil prices next year vary from heading still lower to the $40 range to bouncing upwards to closer to $70. No one is forecasting $100 for quite some time.

Randy Ollenberger, an equity research analyst at BMO Capital Markets Canada, says oil price volatility will continue into 2015.

Oil has dropped before

"I don't think we're near bottom yet. My view is that world prices will probably continue to get lower here just because of the fundamentals – at this point in time we need to really see a reduction in supply and we're probably not going to see that until the second half of the year," he says.

He points to historic downturns in oil prices, such as we saw in 1985, 1998 and 2009. There are similarities to 1985 and 1998 in the tension that is apparent between OPEC and non-OPEC producers.

'The best cure for low prices is low prices, but it takes some time to work its way through'- CIBC chief economist Avery Shenfeld

Some American producers have accused OPEC of being "at war" with the U.S. industry, trying to drive U.S. producers out of the sector with lower prices.

Ollenberger doesn't see it that way. He forecasts continued demand for higher priced oil as the world recovers its growth trajectory.

In the meantime, oil companies cannot cut off production on big projects quickly.

Companies still investing

Although some U.S. and Canadian producers have announced they will reduce their levels of investment next year, many are going ahead with long-planned projects..

Even with Western Canada Select, the price paid for oilsands oil, trading below $40 US a barrel, Canadian companies still have expansion plans, Ollenberger said. They're planning for the future right now, though they may review their spending plans at the end of the first quarter of 2015, when they have a better handle on where prices are going.

"If you look at the large oil companies that make up the bulk of the activity levels and employment levels — Cenovus, Suncor, Canadian Natural Resources — they're all in very strong shape, balance sheets are strong and their cash flow is underpinned by very strong assets, so they can certainly survive this downturn," he said.

That doesn't mean there's not less capital going into oil investment – analysts have predicted $1 trillion could be pulled out of the sector worldwide in the coming year.

"The best cure for low prices is low prices, but it takes some time to work its way through," says Avery Shenfeld, chief economist at CIBC.

"The loads on multi-year oilsands projects don't really affect supply in the next year or two. We will see some pullback in areas that are much more immediate – in conventional oil, but it's going to take some time," he said.

Shenfeld says ISIS is still a "wild card" that could step up geopolitical tensions and impact oil supply.

And there are signs that falling oil prices are boosting growth in Europe, which could mean more demand in the year ahead.

So while OPEC still dominates the production of conventional oil, non-conventional sources such as the oilsands and offshore oil will likely be needed in the years ahead, Shenfeld said.

"When I look at the world, they're going to need the kind of oil that Canada produces, that Brazil produces – it's expensive oil, but it will come back," he said.

Alberta's oil production has been so heated over the last few years that it's seen steep production cost rises. There is a shortage of skilled labour and housing costs are soaring.

A period of lower prices could cool that situation, though governments at both the provincial and federal level will be hurting because of lower oil prices.

"Even in places like Alberta, you've heard the finance minister reflecting that maybe it would be nice if Alberta's economy wasn't so oil-centric," Shenfeld said.

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Holiday cross-border shopping down, Canadian sales up, retail council says

Canadians did less cross-border shopping this holiday season compared to previous years, says the Retail Council of Canada.

The council says Canadians did a lot of shopping overall.

"The exchange rate put a dent in cross-border shopping," said Michael Leblanc, a spokesman for the council.

The loonie was worth less than 90 cents US in the weeks leading into Christmas, and is now hovering around 86 cents.

Mark Satov, president and founder of Satov Consulting in Toronto, also said the falling loonie likely kept people home.

"When you do a price parity comparison, and you go and see what that jacket is selling for in Buffalo, it's getting more and more expensive as the Canadian dollar drops," he said.

So, Canadians spent more at home, for a few reasons, Leblanc said.

"The lower price of gas put more disposable income on the table, so that probably meant a few more presents under the tree," Leblanc said.

Oil prices have fallen well over 40 per cent since the summer. Just a week before Christmas, the average cost of gasoline in Canada dropped below $1 a litre. It had not been that low in 4½ years.

The mild weather across the country also helped sales, Leblanc said.

In Windsor, Ont., with Detroit less than two kilometres away, no snow was recorded leading up to Christmas. During the week before Christmas, temperatures were above average.

Noah Tepperman, who co-owns a local furniture and appliance store in Windsor, says sales are definitely better this year than last year.

"The Boxing Day promotion was one of our all-time best in terms of not only customer traffic, but certainly customer purchases, without question," Tepperman said. "It was the best since the economic downturn of  2007, 2008, so we really are just pleased."

According to Moneris, Canada's largest processor and acquirer of debit and credit card payments, sales were up this year overall.

Comparing this year's last Saturday before Christmas to last year's final Saturday before Christmas:

• The amount spent per transaction was up by about 10 per cent.
• Total dollars were also higher, up by about four to five per cent.

Looking at numbers from the start of December, spending was also higher. It was up by about 5.6 per cent in the first two weeks of December, compared to last year.

Spending on clothes and apparel was slightly higher, while electronics purchases were down.

Did you do more or less local holiday shopping this year?

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Holiday debt stress? Try paying it off in an avalanche — not a snowball

Canadians who are staggering under a hefty debt load may find that burden even heavier when their post-holiday credit card statements arrive.

"A lot of people find themselves in financial trouble after the holidays because they really don't make a plan beforehand," says Laurie Campbell, chief executive of Credit Canada Debt Solutions.

"They get carried away with the emotions. They feel like they have to keep buying ... so, come the new year, they get their credit card statement in mid-January and they realize they've really blown it."

There are a number of strategies for debt repayment, among them the snowball and avalanche methods. Experts recommend taking stock of your personality to determine which strategy is best for you.

"Which approach is better depends on who you are," says Blake Elyea, a senior vice-president with Grant Thornton's consumer insolvency team in Vancouver.

'Snowball' method tackles small debt first

The snowball approach, popularized by U.S. radio and TV personality Dave Ramsey, involves tackling your debts from smallest to largest.

Knocking off the smallest balances first — while maintaining the minimum payments on all the other debts — gives the debtor some "quick wins," making it a good approach for those who need to see some instant results in order to stay motivated, says Elyea.

"We all like instant gratification," says Elyea. "We want to see that we're making progress."

'Avalanche' involves paying highest interest first

In contrast, the avalanche method involves tackling the highest interest rate debts first — an approach that can save you money on interest payments, but may require more willpower if your highest-interest debts are also the largest ones.

"Mathematically that's the best approach," Elyea says. "However, you're not going to see the instant results necessarily as quickly with that approach. It's going to take more discipline."

If you're going to adopt the avalanche approach, Campbell recommends checking your balance regularly so you can see the progress you are making. She also suggests enlisting the help of a mentor or a friend to help you stay on track and giving yourself little rewards along the way, such as a night out or dinner at a nice restaurant.

"It's kind of like a diet," says Campbell. "If you don't give yourself a little bit of a reward every now and again it's very easy to get discouraged, feel like it's not working, trash it completely and go back to your bad spending habits."

Reminding yourself of your long-term goals — things you want to do after you pay off debt such as go on vacation or purchase a house or a car — can also keep you motivated, says Campbell.

Different options

Although the avalanche method will save money on interest payments compared with the snowball technique, Elyea says any strategy that involves taking stock of your financial situation and actively tackling your debt load is a good one.

"If you have a structured way you're going to approach your debt, either method is going to get you there," says Elyea. "One might take you a bit longer than the other."

Joshua Moore, a 27-year-old Toronto resident and recent graduate, says he plans to use the snowball method to whittle away at his debts, which include student loans, one credit card, a student line of credit and a number of personal debts owed to family and friends.

In total, Moore, who recently completed a post-graduate degree, has accrued over $50,000 in student-related debts. His plan is to get rid of the "pesky stuff" first, such as the credit card and the personal loans, so that he can build momentum and consolidate all of his loans into one or two sources.

"I just want to get the source of debt focused in one place, instead of getting different bills from all sorts of different places and having to worry about keeping track of a whole bunch of different debts," says Moore.

Even if he were aggressively attacking his government student loan, which is nearly $42,000, it would take him about nine years to pay back — a disheartening fact, says Moore.

"I know the student loans aren't going to go away," he says. "My goal is to get rid of those other sources first before I take on the big, bad guy."

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Canadians resolve to pay down debt above all else in 2015, CIBC poll suggests

Debt repayment was cited as the No. 1 financial goal for Canadians next year in a poll commissioned by CIBC. (Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press)

Paying down debt will be a New Year's resolution for a growing number of Canadians, according to an annual poll by CIBC.

Twenty-two per cent of Canadians said paying off what they owe is their top priority for 2015, up from 16 per cent last year. Debt repayment has been cited as the top financial priority in CIBC's annual survey for five years in a row.

After paying down debt, 12 per cent of respondents said building savings will be their top priority for 2015. Ten per cent said paying bills or getting by will be at the top of their to-do list, while budgeting or managing day-to-day spending was most important to 9 per cent of those polled.

Canadians' daily financial concerns take precedence over planning for the future, according to the poll. Retirement planning was a top priority for just 5 per cent of respondents, down 2 per cent from last year's poll. CIBC says that's a worrying trend.

"While it is encouraging that paying down debt is important to Canadians, it is also important not to lose sight of longer term goals like retirement planning," warns Christina Kramer, CIBC's executive vice president of retail and business banking.

The poll found that debt repayment is becoming more of a priority for those getting close to retirement. Twenty-five per cent of Canadians aged 55 to 64 said debt repayment was their top goal in the coming year, up from 14 per cent in 2014.

CIBC recommends that Canadians focus on achieving more than one financial goal at the same time, for example using extra funds from reduced debt to boost their retirement savings.

The poll was conducted via telephone by Nielson, between November 13 and 17. It surveyed 1,014 Canadians, and has a margin of error of 3.1 per cent, 19 times out of 20.

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Greece faces snap election after failure to elect president

Greece will hold early national elections on Jan. 25, stoking concerns over the future of the country's financial bailout, after lawmakers failed to elect a new president in a third and final round of voting Monday.

The conservative-led coalition government's candidate for the presidential post, 73-year-old former European commissioner Stavros Dimas, garnered 168 votes from parliament's 300 seats — short of the 180 votes needed to win.

According to the country's constitution, parliament must now be dissolved within 10 days. Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said national elections will be held "at the soonest possible date" — Sunday, Jan. 25.

"The country has no time to waste," he said in a televised address just after the presidential vote. "I am here to guarantee that the country continues on a safe course ... so that the sacrifices made and the (economic) recovery are not endangered."

The government's fall — two and a half years into its four-year mandate — comes among deep uncertainty over the debt-ridden country's international bailout. Investors sold off Greek stocks Monday, with the Athens stock exchange's benchmark general index losing 7.3 per cent in midday trading, after falling as much as 11.3 per cent just after the vote.

Investors are worried that the main left-wing main opposition Syriza, which is consistently ahead in opinion polls, might try to renege on the terms of the bailout deal that is keeping the country afloat.

Syriza has pledged to roll back some of the reforms the country has implemented in order to qualify for billions of euros in rescue funds from other eurozone countries and the International Monetary Fund — although it has recently somewhat softened its rhetoric about unilaterally pulling out of the bailout deal.

"The main opposition party today forced elections," senior conservative lawmaker Dora Bakoyiannis said. "Elections at the worst possible moment for the country's economy."

Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras said Monday's vote marked a "historic day for Greek democracy."

"When the majority of the people is determined to end the policies of the bailout agreements and austerity, then lawmakers can do no else than respond to their duty to keep in line with the will of the people," he said.

"Today Mr Samaras' government, which for two and a half years plundered our society and had already decided and committed to take new measures, belongs to the past," Tsipras added. "With the will of our people, in a few days, the austerity agreements will also belong to the past.

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Greece faces snap election after failure to elect president

Greece will hold early national elections on Jan. 25, stoking concerns over the future of the country's financial bailout, after lawmakers failed to elect a new president in a third and final round of voting Monday.

The conservative-led coalition government's candidate for the presidential post, 73-year-old former European commissioner Stavros Dimas, garnered 168 votes from parliament's 300 seats — short of the 180 votes needed to win.

According to the country's constitution, parliament must now be dissolved within 10 days. Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said national elections will be held "at the soonest possible date" — Sunday, Jan. 25.

"The country has no time to waste," he said in a televised address just after the presidential vote. "I am here to guarantee that the country continues on a safe course ... so that the sacrifices made and the (economic) recovery are not endangered."

The government's fall — two and a half years into its four-year mandate — comes among deep uncertainty over the debt-ridden country's international bailout. Investors sold off Greek stocks Monday, with the Athens stock exchange's benchmark general index losing 7.3 per cent in midday trading, after falling as much as 11.3 per cent just after the vote.

Investors are worried that the main left-wing main opposition Syriza, which is consistently ahead in opinion polls, might try to renege on the terms of the bailout deal that is keeping the country afloat.

Syriza has pledged to roll back some of the reforms the country has implemented in order to qualify for billions of euros in rescue funds from other eurozone countries and the International Monetary Fund — although it has recently somewhat softened its rhetoric about unilaterally pulling out of the bailout deal.

"The main opposition party today forced elections," senior conservative lawmaker Dora Bakoyiannis said. "Elections at the worst possible moment for the country's economy."

Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras said Monday's vote marked a "historic day for Greek democracy."

"When the majority of the people is determined to end the policies of the bailout agreements and austerity, then lawmakers can do no else than respond to their duty to keep in line with the will of the people," he said.

"Today Mr Samaras' government, which for two and a half years plundered our society and had already decided and committed to take new measures, belongs to the past," Tsipras added. "With the will of our people, in a few days, the austerity agreements will also belong to the past.

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Biggest marketing fails of 2014: Apple, Coors and more

Bad luck, bad judgment and horrendous timing turned some creative marketing campaigns into PR disasters this year. Here's a roundup of some of the more remarkable ones.

Apple pays $100M to gift customers with U2's first recording in 5 years

Result: Customer fury and the need for a 'removal button.'

Apple's gift of U2's Songs of Innocence

Apple CEO Tim Cook took to the stage with Irish rockers U2 in September, announcing that all half-a-billion iTunes subscribers would be getting the band's new Songs of Innocence recording for free, as a gift.    

But Bono cheekily pointed out someone would have to pay, and it would be Apple. "We're not going in for the free music around here," he declared, while the crowd laughed.

No one was laughing a few days later when the folly of the gesture became evident. Many customers didn't appreciate that the company loaded their personal devices with unwanted music, without permission. Some young users didn't even know the band. American rapper Tyler the Creator likened the discovery of the record to waking up to a pimple or a venereal disease.

The fiasco wound down after Apple created a special button to remove the songs, and Bono apologized via a Facebook Q&A session for fans. "Oops, sorry about that," he said, sounding quite sincere and rather embarrassed.

Some analysts commented that the $100-million US pricetag was just a drop in the bucket to Apple (which had $155 billion in cash reserves at last count), but the incident surely put a dent in the company's renowned cool factor.

Coors Light search and rescue campaign

Result: Snarled traffic in downtown Toronto and nasty tweets on social media

A Coors Light publicity stunt involved leaving suitcases around Canadian urban centres, but the campaign was a bust in Toronto, when one of the packages was flagged as suspicious. The resulting police investigation caused traffic mayhem. (CBC)

​

It seemed like a good idea at the time:  a Coors Light campaign would "rescue" Canadians from a dull summer by planting prize-filled briefcases all over the country. Finders would tweet a picture of themselves and add a code to collect the loot.  

But when a police officer noticed a case attached to a metal railing in downtown Toronto, a fun marketing idea turned into transit hell. Traffic was frozen as police investigated.  

"Awesome. You're the reason it took me an extra 20 minutes to get home from work. I'll continue avoiding your beer," tweeted one peeved commuter. "How did it not occur to anyone that this might be an unwise idea?" demanded another.

Forest Kenney of Molson Coors says the company did alert local police across the country about the promotion well ahead of time, but the police officer who noticed the briefcase was off-duty, and apparently not in the loop. The company quickly moved the contest to one that could be better controlled at bars.

Kenney deemed the promotion a success in some ways. "People were excited about it," he told CBC News. "For quite a few people outside the City of Toronto, the program will be remembered in a good way."

Marketing prof tracks marketing fails 

David Soberman teaches marketing at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Business, and takes note when these sorts of marketing disasters happen. He tells his students that high-achieving companies take risks.

"If you go for the low risk, conservative approach, you do what everyone else is doing, and then your product isn't differentiated. It doesn't stand out. Marketing is all about standing out," Soberman says.

But what about when companies stand out for the wrong reasons? Can their brand be damaged?

"Most of these situations create a temporary lack of confidence and trust in the company, and usually the company has to make an effort to regain confidence of the consumers," says Soberman. "In the long term you really have to have what I would call a repeated pattern of making mistakes to do lasting damage."

Lenovo Canada mistakenly advertises a $1,400 laptop for $279  

Result: Thousands of disappointed customers complain to Competition Bureau, and term the disaster 'Lenovo-gate'

Lenovo disappointed customers after mistakenly advertising a laptop for sale for $279. The company refused to sell the devices at that price, which resulted in a complaint to the Competition Bureau. (Ron Harris/Associated Press)

It was bad enough that thousands of Canadians paid for the laptop, only to have their orders cancelled. But then the May 2014 offer remained on the website for 48 hours after it was flagged.

One disappointed buyer told CBC News at the time "considering they're a computer company, I'm pretty sure their IT department should have been able to fix this, not taken two days."  

Outrage built to the point where a formal complaint was made to the Competition Bureau. An online petition at change.org demanding that the company honour the low price drew 6,000 signatures, but Lenovo was unmoved. The most it would do was to offer an apology and a $100 discount towards the next purchase made by affected customers.  

Perhaps most galling, it was the second such pricing error of 2014 at the Chinese computer maker. In March, Lenovo's S5000 tablet had been advertised in China at 50 per cent off. In that case, the company gave 110,000 buyers the deal.  No such luck in Canada.

Malaysian Airlines' My Ultimate Bucket List Contest

Result: The most colossal what-were-they-thinking moment of 2014

An advertisement for Malaysian Airlines' bucket list contest. Many deemed the contest in poor taste as the airline company had had recently lost two plane loads of passengers. (CBC)

You'd think the marketing team at Malaysian Airlines would have avoided any association with death when designing a new promotion, given that hundreds of passengers lost their lives on two hugely publicized and tragic flights.

But no. Somehow a contest called My Ultimate Bucket List got off the drawing board and into public view. Pundits were appalled that the airline would use the phrase "bucket list," since it's widely used to refer to the list of activities people want to enjoy before they die, or "kick the bucket." The campaign was launched after the disasters. And quickly nixed.

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Ruble falls as Russian economy shrinks

The Russian currency extended its losses on Monday after a report showed the economy has started shrinking in annual terms for the first time since 2009 as the country is buffeted by falling oil prices and Western sanctions.

Meanwhile, the government, which has been scrambling to support the ruble and the economy, announced fresh steps to keep the banks afloat.

The ruble has been one of the world's worst performing currencies this year and was down another 5 per cent on Monday, trading at 56 rubles per U.S. dollar in early afternoon in Moscow, wiping off some of the gains it made last week.

The fall came as the Economic Development Ministry issued a report showing the economy shrank by 0.5 per cent in November compared with a year earlier. The ministry attributed the year-on-year decline in the economy, Russia's first in five years, to a sharp drop in manufacturing and investment.

The economy has been buffeted by a combination of lower prices for the country's crucial oil exports and the impact of Western sanctions.

Stabilizing the ruble is a priority for the country's monetary authorities. The Central Bank in past weeks raised its key interest rate to 17 per cent and said it will offer dollar and euro loans to banks so they can help major exporters that need foreign currencies to finance operations.

The bank's foreign currency reserve has now dropped below $400 billion US for the first time since August 2009, as the government has been selling the currency on the market to support the ruble.

Many Russian companies and banks have been locked out of Western capital markets following the sanctions imposed on the country for its involvement in Ukraine.

The government on Monday announced new steps to prop up the banking sector. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev told a government session that he has just signed a decree to provide a total of 1 trillion rubles ($19.6 billion US) to Russian banks. The list of the banks and the amount that each of them will receive is expected drawn up by mid-January, according to Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov.

Shuvalov said the measures should help "the banking sector be more stable in the new circumstances and safeguard it from new shocks if they do occur," he was quoted by Tass.

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Bombardier signs $484 million Paris train deal

The Canadian Press Posted: Dec 29, 2014 9:20 AM ET Last Updated: Dec 29, 2014 9:25 AM ET

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Dec 29, 2014 10:15 AM ET Dec 29, 2014 10:15 AM ET Dec 29, 2014 10:15 AM ET Dec 29, 2014 10:20 AM ET Dec 29, 2014 10:15 AM ET

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Obama 'reckless,' North Korea says in row over The Interview movie

North Korea blamed its recent internet outage on the United States on Saturday and hurled racially charged insults at U.S. President Barack Obama over the hacking row involving the movie The Interview.

North Korea's powerful National Defence Commission, which is headed by country leader Kim Jong-un and is the nation's top governing body, said Obama was behind the release of the comedy that depicts Kim's assassination. The commission described the movie as illegal, dishonest and reactionary.

"Obama always goes reckless in words and deeds like a monkey in a tropical forest," an unidentified spokesman at the commission's Policy Department said in a statement carried by the country's official Korean Central News Agency.

The White House's National Security Council declined to comment Saturday.

North Korea has denied involvement in a crippling cyberattack on Sony Pictures but has expressed fury over the comedy. Sony Pictures initially called off the release of the film, citing threats of terror attacks against U.S. movie theatres. Obama criticized Sony's decision, and the movie opened this past week.

It wasn't the first time North Korea has used crude insults against Obama and other top U.S. and South Korean officials. Earlier this year, North Korea called U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry a wolf with a "hideous" lantern jaw and South Korean President Park Geun-hye a prostitute. In May, the North's official news agency published a dispatch saying Obama has the "shape of a monkey."

A State Department spokeswoman at the time called the North Korean dispatch "offensive and ridiculous and absurd."

In the latest incident, the North Korean defence commission also blamed Washington for intermittent outages of North Korean websites this past week. The outages happened after Obama blamed the Sony hack on North Korea and promised to respond "in a place and time and manner that we choose."

The U.S. government has declined to say whether it was behind the internet shutdown in North Korea.

According to the North Korean commission's spokesman, "the U.S., a big country, started disturbing the internet operation of major media of the DPRK, not knowing shame like children playing tag." DPRK refers to the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

The commission said the movie was the result of a hostile U.S. policy toward North Korea, and threatened the U.S. with unspecified consequences.

North Korea and the U.S. remain technically in a state of war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty. The rivals also are locked in an international standoff over North Korea's nuclear and missile programs and its alleged human rights abuses.

A United Nations commission accuses North Korea of a wide array of crimes against humanity, including murder, enslavement, torture, imprisonment and rape.

The U.S. stations about 28,500 troops in South Korea as deterrence against North Korean aggression.

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Japan approves $29B economic stimulus plan

Japan's cabinet approved 3.5 trillion yen ($29 billion US) in fresh stimulus Saturday for the ailing economy, pledging to get growth back on track and restore the country's precarious public finances.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is wrapping up his second year in office hard-pressed to salvage a recovery that fizzled into recession after a sales tax hike in April.

The stimulus plan endorsed by the cabinet includes 600 billion yen ($5 billion US) earmarked for stagnant regional economies. It also lays out Abe's vision for countering longer term trends such as Japan's surging public debt and a declining and aging population.

"A strong economy is the wellspring of Japan's national strength," said a summary of the plan released by the government.

It pledged to restore vitality to local regions to enable young Japanese "to have dreams and hopes for the future."

Heavy debt load

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called a snap election, saying he wanted to win a public mandate for a key tax decision. (Koji Sasahara/ Associated Press)

But the document also acknowledged the narrow policy options open to Japan's leaders given the country's massive public debt, which is twice the size of the economy.

The government is sticking to its pledge to balance its budget by 2020, despite a recent decision by Abe to defer a tax hike due for next year until April 2017.

Abe has sought to spur growth and end a long spell of deflation through aggressive monetary easing and increased public spending. He also promised to undertake bold steps to break through the "bedrock" of Japan's vested interests and bureaucracy, but has made little headway in areas such as labor and farm sector reforms.

After taking office for a third term following a snap election earlier this month, the prime minister faces growing pressure to show that his "Abenomics" strategy for nurturing growth through inflation can succeed.

The Democratic Party of Japan, the leading opposition party, issued a statement Saturday expressing its disappointment with the stimulus plan, which it said relied on old pork barrel tactics that have failed in the past.

It said DPJ lawmakers would push for policies "investing in people," to help improve incomes and boost growth.

Bond-buying to spur inflation

Japan's central bank is buying up to 80 trillion yen ($660 billion US) in assets each month, mostly government bonds, to help spur inflation, but so far has not attained its target of 2 per cent price increases overall.

Data released Friday showed inflation eased slightly in November as incomes and household spending dropped.

Since wage increases have not kept pace with inflation, rising share prices and corporate profits have done little to stimulate consumer demand, apart from a rush of purchasing ahead of the April tax hike.

The stimulus endorsed Saturday is to be paid for out of previously unused budget allocations. Instead of the "trickle down" approach of many earlier policies, some support planned for local governments will be handouts to be used as shopping vouchers to entice people to spend more.

Overall, 1.2 trillion yen ($10 billion US) will go to consumers and businesses and 1.7 trillion yen ($14.1 billion US) is allocated for disaster prevention and reconstruction of stricken areas, such as the northeastern coast, which is still recovering from the devastation of the March 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster.

The plan is packed full of goodies, such as help for rice farmers due to price declines and relief for truckers and fishermen from high fuel costs. But it also includes items addressing social ills, such as measures against suicide and child abuse.

The government will also provide funds to back loans to small and medium size businesses that have struggled with rising costs thanks to a weakening of the yen, which has boosted the prices Japanese pay for energy, food and other imported goods.

Another key aim is to ensure improved job prospects for younger Japanese in regions that are suffering from severe population decline as job seekers crowd into the cities.

The government set targets for creating new jobs and for encouraging city dwellers to move to the countryside. One proposal calls for moving some government research institutes to the provinces, and away from Tokyo.

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Bell and Rogers team up to buy WirelessWave, TBooth Wireless chain

Two of Canada's biggest communications companies have reached a deal to share control of a chain of cellphone stores that includes WirelessWave, TBooth Wireless and Target Mobile.

Rogers Communications Inc. and BCE Inc., the corporate parents of Rogers and Bell Canada, respectively, say they have reached a deal that would see each company own 50 per cent of Burnaby, B.C.-based Glentel Inc.

Although not a household name itself, Glentel owns 494 retail locations across Canada that operate under the names WirelessWave, Tbooth wireless, Wireless etc. and Target Mobile.

Glentel also operates 735 locations in the U.S., and 147 in Australia and the Philippines.

The company was already selling both Rogers- and Bell-linked phones and plans, but also sold products from feeder brands like Chatr, Fido, SaskTel and Virgin Mobile.

Rogers had earlier filed a court injunction trying to block BCE from buying Glentel outright. As part of the deal announced this week, Rogers will drop that court proceeding and instead buy half of Glentel itself.

Financial terms for the new Rogers/Bell deal were not disclosed, but as part of Bell's original deal for Glentel, BCE would pay about $670 million in cash, stock and debt to buy Glentel outright.

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Top 10 business stories of 2014: Tim Hortons deal to plunging oil

The move by U.S. fast food giant Burger King to gobble up venerable Canadian coffee chain Tim Hortons made big headlines this year. But it wasn't the only business story that dominated the news cycles in 2014. Here's our list of the most-read stories we told you about in the past 12 months on CBCNews.ca Business.

10: Carry-on chaos

​First, it was WestJet that irked passengers by announcing it would start charging $25 to check in a bag, but Air Canada quickly followed suit. Passengers were angry about the seeming cash-grab, and even the airlines' frontline staff started to complain about having to enforce the unpopular rule, slowing down the check-in process even more.

It was certainly a talker with our readers, and one thing is for sure — as airlines move toward a model of a-la-carte air travel, you can expect to see more of these fees with your ultra-cheap base fare.

9: TFSA pitfall

When the government introduced Tax-Free Savings Accounts in the 2009 tax year, they were heralded as a boon for savers and the biggest new retirement tool since the RRSP. Five years in, however, it seems a small number of Canadians are finding themselves accidentally breaking a small rule.

The Heartbleed bug exposed as many as 900 Canadians' SIN numbers to hackers, Canada's tax agency admitted this year. (Shutterstock)

Namely, if you put money in to a TFSA but take it out in the same year, you can't put that money back into the TFSA later in the year without being deemed to have overcontributed. That's what happened to more than 50,000 Canadians this year, CRA says.

That's a small figure compared to the 10 million Canadians who have a TFSA, but still a good lesson to remember. And another great reason why using a TFSA as a simple cash savings account isn't always the best idea.

8: Heartbleed nabs Canadian SINs

Speaking of taxes, another one of our biggest stories this year was our report in April that about 900 Canadians may have had their SIN numbers stolen from the tax agency's database because of a weakness related to the Heartbleed security bug. Heartbleed made thousands of websites vulnerable to attack, but none had a higher ability to do harm than the tax man's.

7: Outrageous fees

Our web story accompanying a recent Marketplace episode touched a nerve, as we reported the five most outrageous fees Canadians say they're fed up with. From bank fees to ticket surcharges, seat-selection charges and worst of all, fees for not having a paper bill, it was an issue that clearly resonated with Canadians. And it's also one sure to not go away any time soon.

6: 'Atrocious' investment advice

Personal finance issues were a recurring theme, and that was best manifested in this CBC exclusive we brought you in February, uncovering just how many so-called investment advisers give their clients incorrect, misleading and in some cases terrible investment advice.

A lack of regulation, a needlessly complicated complaints process and a troubling lack of knowledge of the issue were cited.

5: 10 tax myths

Returning to the tax theme, this service piece by the CBC's Tom McFeat was widely shared on social media, dispelling some of the myths that cost Canadians real money come tax time. Everything from whether or not you're more likely to be audited if you file online (spoiler: you're not) to the notion that a raise may not be worth it because it'll bump you up into the next tax bracket (definitely not true).

4: Target misses mark

Canadians had high hopes for Target when it launched here in 2013. But the retail chain's story for 2014 was one of stumbles — not successes. From higher-than-expected prices to empty store shelves, it wasn't smooth sailing. One of our most-read stories this year looked at what lessons the chain's failures can have for other troubled retail companies. Another one looked at exactly what went wrong to make Target miss the mark here.

3: Citronella bug spray banned

A story we brought you in August about how Health Canada would ban the use of citronella insect repellents starting next year got huge pick-up this summer. But you may not have heard the update, which we reported just this week, that the agency has reversed its decision, and the products can be sold pending review. 

Burger King's whopper of a deal to buy Tim Hortons was one of the biggest business news stories we covered this year. (David Donnelly/CBC News )

​

The science is still out on this one, but it's all the more reason to read up on the issue in December, before the mosquitoes come back with a vengeance in a few short months.

2:  Oil's collapse

It's since fallen to below $60 US, but it was big news when Goodman Sachs, the world's biggest investment bank, said oil would drop to $70 a barrel. Oil was over $105 in July before a supply glut pushed the price down almost 50 per cent in a slide that continues today. We've written on the issue just about every day for the last pwo months, but our story on Goldman's call resonated more than any others.

The world is currently producing somewhere between about a million and three million more barrels of oil than it needs every day, so the issue is sure to be in the news through 2015. Check back with our website often for more, and until then check out some of our better explainers on the topic here, here and here.

1: Burger King gobbles Tim

It came out of nowhere, and Burger King's $20-billion bet on Canada's Tim Hortons blew away all other business stories this year in terms of the number of clicks. It's often said that Tims is a national institution in Canada, so perhaps the obsession with the story makes sense.

It's a done deal now, given the OK by shareholders of both companies, and regulatory bodies on both sides of the border. But don't worry, the new company says it has no plans to phase out the Timbit or the double-double any time soon. They promise.

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Canada's mining sector braces for another challenging year

Canada's mining sector is bracing for another challenging year in 2015 as slower growth in China is expected to continue to dampen selling prices for many metals.

Iron ore suffered the biggest drop in the past year, losing nearly half its value to reach the lowest price in more than five years. Some expect the price could fall further — perhaps to US$60 per tonne — on increased supply from Australia and Brazil by giants like Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton, outpaces demand.

Coal, silver, potash, copper and lead prices also weakened in the past year.

Not all metals and minerals suffered. Nickel was the big winner, with prices rising 17 per cent following Indonesia's ban on exports. Other gainers were uranium, aluminum, zinc and diamonds.

Although mining is in a multi-year global slump, prices are significantly higher than they were a decade ago, said Pierre Gratton, president of the Mining Association of Canada.

"It's a cyclical industry and we have to weather this," he said in an interview.

Next upswing could be significant

Gratton said mining companies are very focused on reducing costs and will benefit from both the weakened Canadian dollar and dramatically lower energy prices.

Although mining is in a multi-year global slump, prices are significantly higher than they were a decade ago, according to Pierre Gratton, president of the Mining Association of Canada.

"They've seen this a million times. They will weather this and prepare for the next upswing and when (it) comes I think the general view is it is going to be pretty significant."

China consumes almost half of the world's base metals. Even though its pace of growth has slipped, one of the world's largest economy and other emerging countries, such as India, will need more metal to make consumer goods and build housing to accommodate a growing middle class, and the shift in population to urban from rural.

Just increasing the rate of car ownership will propel demand for iron, aluminum and other metals.

In the meantime, industry observers say mining companies are cautious about new investments until they get a better sense of when conditions will improve.

"We are seeing people looking further out and more optimistic in the 2016-2017 time frame," said Jackie Przybylowski of Desjardins Capital Markets. "People are positioning themselves now, to take advantage of those longer term positive markets and just sort of hanging in there until then."

BMO Capital Markets forecasts its commodities price index for metals and minerals will decrease nine per cent this year to its lowest level since 2009, but then increase about four per cent in 2015.

The bank expects precious metal prices will face further downward pressure from the rising U.S. dollar. Copper should decrease further but industrial metals like aluminum and zinc which rallied in 2014 should "consolidate" those gains in 2015.

Gold price expected to remain stable

Gold remains the top metal export in Canada even though its price has slipped from a 2011 peak of $1,921 US to about $1,270 US today, down about 10 per cent in the past year. Analysts expect the price will remain relatively stable over the next two years.

Copper prices have been falling, but global supply will slip after Zambia's tax change to increase royalties prompted Barrick Gold Corp. (TSX:ABX) to halt operations at its Lumwana copper and gold mine. Other global miners have cancelled projects in Africa's second-largest copper producing country.

Meanwhile, the outlook for diamonds sparkles, prompting new investments in the Northwest Territories and Quebec.

Rio Tinto, which holds a 60 per cent stake in Diavik near Yellowknife, says it will spend US$350 million over four years to develop the mine, with production from the expansion expected to start in late 2018.

Quebec's 1st diamond mine

Stornoway Diamond Corp. (TSX:SWY) plans to develop Quebec's first diamond mine, a $1-billion project that will see production begin in 2017.

Royal Nickel (TSX:RNX) is also working on its Dumont nickel project, in northwestern Quebec, that it says will become one of Canada's largest base metal mines.

"When the mining cycle turns — and it will turn — we have one of the few projects that can deliver a substantial amount of value to the market over the next few decades," said CEO Mark Selby.

Not all areas of the country are doing so well. Quebec's iron ore producing Labrador Trough, in the far north, is struggling as low prices have forced Cliffs Natural Resources to close its Bloom Lake mine and several exploration companies to slow their development plans.

ArcelorMittal, which invested $1.6 billion to increase its annual concentrate production capacity to 24 million tonnes, said lower prices is forcing "a structural change" for the iron ore industry to lower costs to offset the possibility of further drops.

Iron ore project struggling with costs

The Labrador Trough also faces higher transportation costs to Asia, along with higher labour and energy costs than Australia's iron region and Brazil.

"This context has forced us to accelerate our strategy and attain our real potential a lot quicker than predicted," said Pierre Lapointe, vice-president at ArcelorMittal Mining Canada.

He said one way to "ease our pain" is to extend liquefied natural gas north, a move that would cut costs by two to five per cent.

Quebec Energy and Natural Resources Minister Pierre Arcand said that's one of the priorities of the government as it relaunches Plan Nord, a multibillion-dollar northern development plan that was initially introduced in 2011.

He said the province is also keen to support the construction of multi-user railway and port infrastructure, and is working with the Ontario government to extend electricity to distant communities.

"(We) cannot wait until there is a mining boom and everything becomes uncontrollable," he said of the need for development.

Copper, nickel mines surviving

Other regions of Canada face differing prospects.

British Columbia's coal regions have suffered from lower prices, but areas of the province with copper are surviving. So too has the copper and nickel producing Ontario cities of Sudbury and Timmins.

Saskatchewan has faced a tougher year because of weaker potash prices, but could do better if Japan's nuclear plants come back on stream to support higher uranium prices.

Ontario's Ring of Fire remains largely just a great mining potential until the required transportation infrastructure for the mineral development in northwestern Ontario is built. Ontario wants the federal government to match its $1-billion commitment to build transportation infrastructure for the mineral-rich region.

The remote region to the west of James Bay holds one of the world's richest chromite deposits, discovered in 2007, along with nickel, copper and platinum — deposits worth an estimated $60 billion.

However the region lacks both an electrical grid and a transportation corridor and faces daunting public infrastructure costs estimated well in excess of $1 billion.

Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE:CLF) withdrew last year and just last month the American company's new CEO told the Financial Post he has "zero hope" the deposit will be developed in the next 50 years.

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Get a U.S. gift card you don't want? Walmart.com will take it

A pilot program will see Walmart accept U.S. gift cards from 200 other stores as trade-in for a Walmart gift card. (wikipedia.org)

Walmart's U.S. website is testing out a pilot program that will let shoppers trade in gift cards from other retailers and get a gift card that can be used at Walmart instead.

Starting Christmas day, the world's largest retailer says it will start let its customers trade in unwanted gift cards from more than 200 retailers, airlines and restaurants in exchange for a Walmart card that can be used to make purchases in-store or online.

"We recognized that this was an opportunity," Walmart spokesman Ravi Jariwala said. "A large number don't get redeemed. We figured this was a good way to get gift cards in the hands of more customers."

The program will only apply in U.S stores for now, but a Canadian could theoretically apply if they had a U.S. gift card and a U.S. billing address to make purchases in American stores or on the U.S. website.

Walmart says it plans to repurpose and then resell the gift cards it takes in at a discounted rate on their own website.

The deal does come with a catch in that Walmart isn't offering full value for the gift cards.

A gift card at Amazon.com can be redeemed for only 95 per cent of its value in Walmart store credit. For Staples, the figure is 90 per cent and for Gap, up to 85 per cent. For some brands, a Wal-Mart gift card will be worth just 70 per cent of the original card.

Retail consultancy CEB TowerGroup says about $1 billion worth of gift cards given out every year never get redeemed. Walmart, on the other hand, says 95 per cent of the gift cards it sells every holiday season are fully used up by February.

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It's National Egg Nog Day: How 'days' are used to market food

Aside from being Christmas Eve, Dec. 24 is also National Egg Nog Day. In fact, there are many food-related holidays that come up over the year.

National Doughnut Day is probably the oldest national food day and bears the distinction of being proclaimed by a charity, rather than a food manufacturer or related marketer. In Canada, Tim Hortons celebrated the day on June 6 of this year by giving away a free doughnut to anyone who said, "Happy National Doughnut Day."

Of course, some food holidays are proclaimed by politicians. National Ice Cream Day was signed into law by U.S. president Ronald Reagan on July 9, 1984.

But most are just marketing gimmicks, like National Ice Cream Cone day, which was invented by Sonic Drive-in.

Similarly, National Root Beer Float Day was made up by this marketer.

Every June 10 is National Iced Tea Day, toasted in this ad by Lipton's new spokesmen, Carl and Stu.

As you might have suspected, there's a food-related holiday for every day on the calendar. This one was June 14.

Or this one on Dec. 17.

While national food days can be proclaimed by politicians, charities, product marketers and industry associations, it turns out most of them were made up by a single U.S. food blogger.

In 2006, John-Bryan Hopkins noticed there were only 175 food holidays, so he decided to fill in the rest of the calendar himself. He made up National Onion Rings Day, National Tater Tots Day, National Froot-Loops Day, and this one that falls on March 6:

Of course, it's only natural that food marketers would jump on the national day bandwagon as a way to promote their products.

But even in the absence of brand marketing, the holidays and their associated products attain high awareness thanks to local media who are always hungry to have something fresh to talk about on air.

---

Bruce Chambers is a syndicated advertising columnist for CBC Radio.

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The Interview gets Canadian online release

The Interview is now available in Canada for rent or purchase online. 

"Canada!!! You can now watch The Interview! Please enjoy," Canadian actor Seth Rogen, one of the film's stars, tweeted Christmas Eve. "It was made in your country."

The online release will include the following sites:

The controversial comedy will also be available for rent on its own dedicated website at a cost of $6.99.

Sony says it is seeking other partners and platforms for an even wider release. 

Sony Pictures had earlier announced the film would also be available for rent or purchase online Wednesday, but only in the U.S. That announcement came a day after it said The Interview would be screened in indie U.S. theatres starting Dec. 25, 

"It was essential for our studio to release this movie," said Sony Entertainment's chief executive, Michael Lynton, in a statement, "especially given the assault upon our business and our employees by those who wanted to stop free speech."

Sony's sudden U-turn

The announcement is just the latest in Sony's abrupt U-turn over the release of the Vancouver-born Rogen's satire on North Korea.

Sony pulled the movie last week after hackers linked to North Korea threatened violence if it didn't, and major theatre chains decided not to screen it.

Then suddenly on Tuesday, Sony authorized the release of the movie to some 200 independent U.S. theatres with screenings beginning on Christmas Day.

That's down from an original planned release of 3,000 cinemas nationwide.

A Sony representative told CBC news that the entertainment company was looking at releasing the movie in Canadian theatres, but there were no screenings planned for Dec. 25.

Although the film is available online for Canadians, U.S. cinemas are showing The Interview that are within driving distance for passport-holding ​Canadians — including the Palace 9, in Burlington, Vt.​, which is offering free popcorn to any moviegoer who brings a copy of the U.S. Constitution.

Here are some of the closest, by province (including approximate driving times):

British Columbia:

• Stanwood Cinemas 5, Stanwood, Wash.(1 hour, 50 minutes from Vancouver).
• Ark Lodge Cinemas, Seattle, Wash. (3 hours from Vancouver).
• Plaza Three Cinemas, Oak Harbor, Wash. (2 hours from Vancouver).

Saskatchewan:

• Grand Theater 6, Williston, N.D. (3½ hours from Regina).

Manitoba:

• Fargo Theater 2, Fargo, N.D. (3½ hours from Winnipeg).

Ontario:

• Phoenix Theatres State-Wayne, Wayne, Mich. (30 minutes from Windsor).
• State Theatre, Ann Arbor, Mich. (51 minutes from Windsor).
• Tower City Cinemas, Cleveland, Ohio. (2 hours, 41 minutes from Windsor).
• The Dunkirk Movieplex 59, Dunkirk, N.Y. (1 hour, 15 minutes from Niagara Falls).
• Dipson Flix 10 Stadium, Lancaster, N.Y. (45 minutes from Niagara Falls, starting Dec. 26).
• American 5, Canton, N.Y. (1 hour from Cornwall).

Quebec:

• Merrill's Roxy, Burlington, Vt. (1½ hours from Montreal​).
• Palace 9, Burlington, Vt. (1½ hours from Montreal, starting Dec. 31).

New Brunswick:

• ​Hollywood Cinemas, Bangor, Me. (3 hours from Saint John).
• Caribou Cinema 4, Caribou, Me. (2 hours from Fredericton)​.

Theatregoers are advised to confirm listings and times before heading out this holiday.

Problematic plot

The Interview stars Rogen and Hollywood actor James Franco as American tabloid TV journalists. But their plans to interview North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un are derailed when they're recruited to assassinate him.

Actors James Franco, left, and Vancouver-born Seth Rogen star in The Interview, which depicts the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. (Kevin Winter/Getty )

​Emails between Rogen and Sony Pictures chief executive Amy Pascal, leaked earlier this month, ​revealed that scenes in the movie showing the North Korean leader's head exploding were problematic for the CEO of Sony's Japanese parent company, who apparently asked the graphic depictions be toned down.

The plot also angered the North Korea government, which condemned the film for months and called the cyberhack against Sony a "righteous deed."

In a Twitter message Tuesday, Rogen expressed relief that his long-awaited project will finally be seen by audiences.

"The people have spoken! Freedom has prevailed! Sony didn't give up!" said Rogen, who also wrote the screenplay for the film.

Meanwhile, North Korea said it likely will have no "physical reaction," just condemnation, to the release of the film.

A North Korea diplomat to the United Nations told The Associated Press on Wednesday that his country opposes the film's release online and in over 300 U.S. theatres this week. But diplomat Kim Song said his country has no relation to the hacking and can prove it. He also expressed frustration that the U.S. refused North Korea's offer of a joint investigation.

He called the film an "unpardonable mockery of our sovereignty and dignity of our supreme leader."

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Bloom Lake hit with record environmental fine

The Bloom Lake iron ore mine is now owned by Cliffs Resources.

A mining company has plead guilty to 45 charges under the fisheries act and will pay a $7.5-million fine for improperly releasing pollutants into fish-bearing waters.

Bloom Lake General Partner Ltd. has been ordered to pay the fine because the Triangle Tailings Pond dam breach in May 2011 and other environmental accidents over a period of 18 months, Environment Canada said Wednesday.

The iron ore mine is located southwest of Labrador City but is in Quebec. In one instance, more than 14,500 litres of ferric sulfate was dumped into water frequented by fish. "On a number of occasions," Environment Canada said in a release Wednesday, "the company did not inform the Department of releases, contrary to regulatory requirements and omitted to take samples and conduct analyses as required under the regulations."

Of the total fine, $6.83 million will be directed to a federal government fund that's aimed at making sure those who cause environmental damage or harm to wildlife take responsibility for their actions by supporting projects that benefit the environment. That's the biggest amount that a Canadian company has ever been ordered to contribute to that fund.

The mining operation was supposed to be expanding following a $5-billion deal in which the company changed hands. But earlier this year, the U.S.-based owner, Cliffs Natural Resources, cancelled those plans because of plunging commodity prices.

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TSX, loonie finish in green as Christmas break begins

Major stock indexes in Canada and the U.S. finished in the green on Wednesday in a shortened trading session before markets wrapped up for the Christmas break.

The TSX gained 13.28 points to 14,607.31 on a trading day where volumes were far below normal levels. Financials, gold and materials stocks all gained, even as commodity prices weakened — gold lost $4.50 to trade at $1,173 an ounce, and oil lost another $1.27 US to close at $55.85 a barrel.

Oil prices have fallen dramatically in recent months, but this week, natural gas joined the sell-off. The price has hit a low of $3 at times this week, its lowest level in more than two years.

The reason? Unseasonably warm weather is reducing demand for the heating fuel during the key winter months. "A resurgence in cold weather, and the resultant jump in demand, could still lead to large price spikes during January and February," Capital Economics analyst Tom Pugh said in a research note Wednesday.

The Canadian dollar was just barely higher, but it was enough to keep its head above the 86-cent mark.

U.S. stocks also took part in the Santa rally, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing above 18,000 for the second straight day. The close above 18,000 on Tuesday was an all-time record for the Dow, before it set a new record on Wednesday.

If that holds until the end of the year, the Dow will have gained about nine per cent in 2014, far better than what most analysts were expecting this time last year.

After slumping late in the year as oil declined, the TSX has rallied to a gain of about 1,000 points since the middle of December, and is currently up about seven per cent on the year as a whole.

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It's National Egg Nog Day: How 'days' are used to market food

Aside from being Christmas Eve, Dec. 24 is also National Egg Nog Day. In fact, there are many food-related holidays that come up over the year.

National Doughnut Day is probably the oldest national food day and bears the distinction of being proclaimed by a charity, rather than a food manufacturer or related marketer. In Canada, Tim Hortons celebrated the day on June 6 of this year by giving away a free doughnut to anyone who said, "Happy National Doughnut Day."

Of course, some food holidays are proclaimed by politicians. National Ice Cream Day was signed into law by U.S. president Ronald Reagan on July 9, 1984.

But most are just marketing gimmicks, like National Ice Cream Cone day, which was invented by Sonic Drive-in.

Similarly, National Root Beer Float Day was made up by this marketer.

Every June 10 is National Iced Tea Day, toasted in this ad by Lipton's new spokesmen, Carl and Stu.

As you might have suspected, there's a food-related holiday for every day on the calendar. This one was June 14.

Or this one on Dec. 17.

While national food days can be proclaimed by politicians, charities, product marketers and industry associations, it turns out most of them were made up by a single U.S. food blogger.

In 2006, John-Bryan Hopkins noticed there were only 175 food holidays, so he decided to fill in the rest of the calendar himself. He made up National Onion Rings Day, National Tater Tots Day, National Froot-Loops Day, and this one that falls on March 6:

Of course, it's only natural that food marketers would jump on the national day bandwagon as a way to promote their products.

But even in the absence of brand marketing, the holidays and their associated products attain high awareness thanks to local media who are always hungry to have something fresh to talk about on air.

---

Bruce Chambers is a syndicated advertising columnist for CBC Radio.

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TSX up 161 points, Dow sets record on strong GDP numbers

Toronto stocks soared on Tuesday and the Dow and S&P 500 indexes closed at record highs after upbeat gross domestic product reports out of both the U.S. and Canada.

The TSX/S&P index was up 161.65 points to 14,594 after Canadian GDP expanded by a stronger-than-expected 0.3 per cent in October. The TSX is now up seven per cent on the year.

GDP gains were recorded in mining and oil and gas extraction, sectors that most might expect to be hurt by lower oil prices, as well as manufacturing, Statistics Canada said.

The numbers out of the U.S. were even stronger, with the economy growing at an annualized rate of five per cent in the July-September period, the fastest since 2003.

That propelled the Dow through the 18,000 level for the first time as trading opened on Tuesday. The main New York index closed up 64 points to 18,024.

The broader S&P 500 index also continued its string of gains, up 3.63 points to 2,082. It also is in record territory and could rack up a 13 per cent gain for 2014 if it holds its value. The Nasdaq was down 16 points to 4764.

In addition to the GDP numbers, there was good news on the consumer front, with U.S. shoppers spending 0.6 per cent more in November as incomes began to rise amid a surge of hiring.

On the downside, factory orders did not grow as much as expected and house sales were off in November.

Analysts say the run-up in New York stocks is a classic "Santa Claus rally" in which stocks run up with just a few trading days left in the year.

"You have to understand that U.S. economic output is at an all-time high and corporate profits are at an all-time high," Cameron Hinds of Wells Fargo Bank said.

"Bull markets typically don't die purely of old age, they tend to die of recessions and overvaluation and perhaps policy mistakes, and we don't see any of those on the horizon."

U.S. stocks have been rising for five years and the market has bounced back after a rough patch earlier this month.

Oil was enjoying a rebound after weeks of volatility. The West Texas Intermediate contract traded in New York was up $1.91 cents to $57.17 US a barrel and Brent crude was up $1.58 cents to $61.68 US.

The Canadian dollar edged higher to 85.98 US, propelled by the improvement in oil prices.

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