BC Business
Takeoff troublesA disgruntled investor in a YVR-based no-frills airline is now taking legal action over a loan that was supposed to set the stage for a $50-million reverse takeover deal. Inovent Capital Inc. alleged in a letter sent out Thursday that Canada Jetlines had improperly spent a $120,000 loan on business purposes and then failed to repay the loan after the airline terminated its agreement in February. Inovent, which has filed a petition with the B.C. Supreme Court, says that it is entitled to the airline’s assets—which include leased Boeing aircraft—if it fails to repay the loan.
Lost jobsB.C.’s unemployment rate crept up from 5.6 per cent to 6 per cent in February, attributable in part to layoffs in the resource sector, according to data from Statistics Canada. B.C.’s unemployment rate is still below the national average of 6.8 per cent. The province shed 16,500 full-time jobs in February but gained 9,600 part-time jobs, resulting in a net loss of 7,000 positions.
Bottom feedersOne of B.C.’s most lucrative commercial fisheries will open for the season on Saturday, a rare point of consensus between environmentalists and industry. B.C.’s halibut fishery is a rare success story amidst the bouts, whether over herring or farmed salmon, between commercial fishers and B.C.’s First Nations and environmental groups over the sustainability of commercial fishing. The fishery, which accounted for $111 million in wholesale revenues in 2013, was described recently by the David Suzuki Foundation as “one of the high-bar examples in the world of how a multi-species longline fishery should be conducted.”