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Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - May 2, 2024, Winnipeg, Manitoba BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY Request for Expression of Interest FOOD SERVICES PROVIDER The Winnipeg Free Press is accepting expressions of interest from experienced and highly-qualified Food Services Providers to provide food services at our facility located at 1355 Mountain Ave. Interested Food Services Providers should submit a written expression of interest including details regarding their experience. We thank all interested applicants for their expression of interest, however, only those under consideration will be contacted. Food Services Providers selected to move to the RFP stage will be invited for a site visit and provided confidential information to allow for completion of a formal proposal. Expression of interest should be submitted by email to: George Denoon Manager, Purchasing and Building Services Winnipeg Free Press George.Denoon@freepress.mb.ca Expression of Interest are to be received by 4:00 pm, Friday, May 3, 2024. WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM ● B7 BUSINESS THURSDAY, MAY 2, 2024 Rogers CEO says company will pursue NHL rights renewal TORONTO — The chief executive of Rogers Communications Inc. says the company plans to pursue a renewal of its rights to broadcast NHL games when its current agreement expires in two years, but offered no hints on whether it will go it alone or seek out a partner. Speaking Wednesday at a lunch host- ed by Canadian Club Toronto, Rog- ers president and CEO Tony Staffieri called the $5.2-billion, 12-year rights agreement a “terrific deal for us” that has helped grow audiences on its Sportsnet channels. That deal is set to conclude after the 2025-26 NHL season. “As we look to contract renewals, it’s something we’re very interested in and something we will chase and certainly expect to be at the table,” Staffieri said. But asked whether Rogers will pitch another exclusive rights arrangement, or look to team up with a partner such as a streaming service to “widen the audience base,” Staffieri played coy. “I always like to talk strategy, espe- cially amongst 250 friends,” he joked in response to the question from Globe and Mail columnist Andrew Willis, who moderated the event. “So we got a ways to go before I can answer that.” The remark comes after Rogers an- nounced last week the company and NHL had reached an exclusive agree- ment with Amazon’s Prime Video to carry Monday regular-season games in Canada for the next two seasons. Rogers and the league said in a joint statement Prime Monday Night Hockey will stream all national, regular-season Monday night games in English for the 2024-25 and 2025-26 NHL seasons. It marks the NHL’s first exclusive broad- cast deal with a digital-only streaming service in Canada. On Wednesday, Staffieri hailed the deal as a way to “bring the game to more fans across more devices.” Asked why Rogers decided to offload content to a streaming service competi- tor, Staffieri noted Rogers owns not just sports television stations, but also pro- fessional sports teams. The 12-year rights deal, which began in 2014, has been “a terrific contract for us in terms of growing Sportsnet and we’ve done a lot to grow the NHL brand and viewership in Canada,” he said. “But we’re also sports owners, and so it’s always in our interest, just like it is for the NHL, to always look to increase audiences and viewership.” Rogers is the owner of the Toronto Blue Jays and has a 37.5 per cent stake in Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment Ltd., which counts the Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto Raptors, Toronto FC and Toronto Argonauts among its properties. Critics of Rogers’ rights deal with the NHL have often taken aim at its price tag amid job cuts at its sports television and radio stations over the past decade. — The Canadian Press SAMMY HUDES ‘New era of prosperity’: oil begins moving on $34B Trans Mountain pipeline expansion C ALGARY — Canada’s energy sec- tor, as well as the country’s main oil-producing province, cele- brated Wednesday as the long-awaited $34-billion Trans Mountain pipeline ex- pansion officially came online. Crown corporation Trans Mountain Corp. issued a statement confirming oil is now moving on the expanded pipe- line, which is currently 70 per cent full as crude continues to be added to the new system. The company said the so-called “Golden Weld,” the final piece of con- struction work required to complete the pipeline, took place April 11 in B.C.’s Fraser Valley, between the commun- ities of Hope and Chilliwack. It said tanker ships will be able to load oil for delivery to Pacific and Asian markets by mid-May. “Trans Mountain has demonstrat- ed that challenging, long linear infra- structure can be built in Canada,” said CEO Dawn Farrell in the statement. “With our project management team and contractors, we were able to build 988 kilometres of new pipeline, 193 km of reactivated pipeline, 12 new pump stations, 19 new storage tanks, and three new berths at Westridge Marine Terminal in Burnaby.” “This is a great day for Canada, to get this pipeline up and running,” Jon Mc- Kenzie, CEO of Cenovus Energy Inc., said on a conference call with analysts Wednesday morning. “The people of Canada are going to see the benefit for a long period of time in terms of increased taxes and royalties and the like.” Alberta Premier Danielle Smith also hailed the milestone, saying in a news release the expanded pipeline means “a new era of prosperity and economic growth.” “The completion of TMX is monu- mental for Alberta,” Smith said. “For Alberta this is a game-changer. The world needs more reliably and sustain- ably sourced Alberta energy, not less.” The Trans Mountain pipeline expan- sion project involved twinning an exist- ing pipeline that runs to the B.C. coast from Alberta. The expansion increases the Trans Mountain system’s shipping capacity to 890,000 barrels per day from 300,000 b/d, and will help open up global export markets for Canadian oil. The increased capacity is also ex- pected to help improve the price Can- adian oil companies receive for their product. But while the project’s completion is being hailed by Canada’s energy sector as a win, it did not come easily. The pipeline expansion was first proposed in 2012 by Kinder Morgan Canada, which encountered so much environmental and Indigenous oppos- ition it ultimately threatened to scuttle the project. The federal government purchased the pipeline for $4.5 billion in 2018 in an effort to get the project over the finish line. Once construction did start, the project ran into numerous delays and budget overruns, with its price tag spiralling over the course of four years to an eye-popping $34 billion. McKenzie said Wednesday he didn’t want to taint “a great day” with too much talk of the project’s challen- ges. But he suggested the difficulties encountered by Trans Mountain are indicative of a broader problem. “I think as a nation, we suffer — and I don’t think I’m saying anything that people don’t already know — from low- er and decreasing productivity, and we need to find ways to get major projects built to get infrastructure built to the benefit of all Canadians,” McKenzie said. “And I think we would all realize that 13 years is far too long for a project of this national importance to get built.” — The Canadian Press AMANDA STEPHENSON DARRYL DYCK / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES The three new berths at the Trans Mountain terminal’s tank farm in Burnaby, B.C., will help boost the pipeline’s capacity by 590,000 barrels per day, the corporation says. Loblaw leadership ‘cautiously optimistic’ about grocery code of conduct LOBLAW Cos. Ltd.’s new chief exec- utive said he’s “cautiously optimistic” the company will be able to come to an agreement on the grocery code of con- duct. “Where it’s going to land, I’m of course not sure, but I’m more optimis- tic now than before that we can land an agreement on the code,” Per Bank told a conference call discussing Loblaw’s first-quarter earnings Wednesday. The grocer has been one of two major holdouts on the code, which is intended to promote fair dealings in the industry. Loblaw and Walmart Canada previous- ly said they couldn’t sign the code as drafted because they were concerned it would raise prices for consumers. Bank told analysts on the call that the company has been working in recent weeks with the committee creating the code. The code is meant to be industry-led and voluntary, but the federal govern- ment has indicated it’s open to making it law instead if the major players won’t all get on board. It’s “well past time” that Loblaw recognizes the benefits of the code, said Annie Cullinan, a spokeswoman for agri-food minister Lawrence Mac- Aulay. “We hope that their ‘cautious opti- mism’ translates into a prompt commit- ment to adopt and adhere to” the code, she said in an email. “After years of work and support from the majority of industry partners, it’s well past time Loblaw recognize the benefits of bringing more fairness, transparency and stability to our gro- cery sector and supply chain.” Michael Graydon, CEO of the Food, Health & Consumer Products of Can- ada association and chairman of the interim board for the code, said in an email that he shares Bank’s optimism, and that discussions with the company have been “very productive.” Bank’s comments came as the par- ent company of Loblaws and Shoppers Drug Mart raised its quarterly divi- dend by 15 per cent to 51.3 cents per share and reported its first-quarter profit and revenue rose compared with a year ago. The retailer said its profit available to common shareholders increased al- most 10 per cent year over year to $459 million, or $1.47 per diluted share, for the quarter ended March 23. Revenue totalled $13.58 billion, up from $13 bil- lion a year earlier. Food retail same-stores sales rose 3.4 per cent, while drug retail same-store sales increased four per cent, with front store same-store sales up 0.7 per cent and pharmacy and health-care services same-store sales up 7.3 per cent. “Our strong same-store sales com- bined with a lower internal inflation rate clearly highlights the strength of our discount banners, private label brands and PC Optimum offers,” Loblaw chief financial officer Richard Dufresne said. On an adjusted basis, Loblaw said it earned $1.72 per diluted share in its latest quarter, up from an adjusted profit of $1.55 per diluted share a year earlier. Bank said the company’s discount stores continue to drive growth as cus- tomers are “voting with their feet.” “I think the shift to discount will continue over the next many years,” he said, though it will likely do so at a slower pace. The company plans to continue ex- panding its discount store footprint this year. Earlier this year, it announced a $2-billion capital investment plan that it said would result in more than 40 new discount stores, among other reloca- tions, renovations and new pharmacy care clinics. The grocer’s financial results landed on the same day that a month-long boy- cott of the company is set to start. Though it’s unclear how widespread the boycott will be, more than 60,000 people have joined the Reddit group organizing the boycott of all Loblaw- owned stores as frustration and distrust of Canada’s major grocers intensifies. In a previous interview about the boycott, Bank acknowledged the com- pany’s reputation is not where it was pre-pandemic, and said it’s something Loblaw is looking to rebuild. The company reached out to boycott organizers to set up a meeting with Bank, a Loblaw spokesperson con- firmed. Boycott organizer Emily John- son said a meeting has been scheduled. This quarter the company launched mobile phone plans under their No Name brand. “Our mobile services business ac- tually grew faster than our credit card business in the quarter,” Bank told ana- lysts, adding that the launch is an ex- ample of the company using its “scale and scope” to provide value to custom- ers. — The Canadian Press ROSA SABA Trump awarded 36 million more Trump Media shares WASHINGTON — Former U.S. president Donald Trump has secured an additional US$1.6 billion worth of shares in Trump Media, according to a regulatory filing this week. Based on the company’s stock hitting certain price bench- marks, Trump was awarded an additional 36 million shares in the company that owns his social media platform Truth Social. That brings his total ownership to more than 114 million shares, which based on Wednesday’s closing stock price, are worth about US$5.2 billion. For now, the value of those shares is considered “paper wealth.” Trump is prohibited from selling any shares for six months after Trump Media went public without securing a waiver from the company’s board. Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nom- inee, now owns close to two-thirds of the company’s out- standing shares. Trump Media & Technology Group shares have surged in the past couple of weeks and closed Tuesday at US$49.93. Trump only needed the stock to be above US$17.50 each for 20 consecutive trading days to secure the new shares. The stock Wednesday tumbled 9.6 per cent, closing at US$45.13. Trump Media got its place on the Nasdaq after merging with a company called Digital World Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC. These type of mergers offer young companies quicker and easier routes to getting their shares trading publicly. On March 26, the first day of trading after Trump Media closed the merger, shares in the newly combined company reached nearly US$80 each before closing at US$57.99. Less than a week after its flashy stock market debut, Trump Media disclosed it lost nearly US$58.2 million last year, sending its stock tumbling more than 21 per cent. The 2023 losses marked a stark decline compared with the profit of US$50.5 million the company reported for 2022, according to a regulatory filing. Truth Social launched in February 2022, one year after Trump was banned from major social platforms following the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. — The Associated Press MATT OTT ;