BC Business
Harper’s gift to LNGPrime Minister Stephen Harper had good news for multinational LNG investors Thursday, announcing from Surrey that the federal government will be offering a tax break on LNG investments: 30 per cent for equipment used to liquefy natural gas and 10 per cent for buildings at LNG faculties. Harper told media the tax breaks for investors such as Petronas and Chevron will cost the federal government roughly $50 million. “Our government is committed to providing the right conditions so that industries and businesses can succeed and compete in the global economy, by lowering taxes, cutting red tape and encouraging entrepreneurship,” Harper said in a release. The tax break will apply to investments made after the announcement until 2025. An earlier analysis from 2013 estimated it could add up to $2 billion in savings.
In need of a golden gooseIt was a bad quarter for the world’s biggest gold miner, Vancouver’s Goldcorp Inc., which lost US$2.4 billion in Q4, almost entirely the result of a US$2.3-billion writedown in Argentina. Despite the failure of that South American mine, which the company attributes to local inflation among other financial factors, “We’re in great shape looking into 2015 with higher production and lower costs,” CEO Chuck Jeannes told the Financial Post. In his defence, this year’s annual net loss of US$2.2 billion wasn’t as bad as 2013’s US$2.7 billion loss.
Getting back into the gameOne of the founders of BioWare—a hugely popular Edmonton-headquartered video game studio owned by EA—Greg Zeschuk, who retired from the company over two years ago, has reemerged. It was announced Thursday morning that Zeschuk is the new chair of Biba, a Vancouver-based mobile gaming company that makes augmented-reality apps for kids. The apps will transform actual playgrounds into more adventurous locales. A spaceship, for example. Here’s hoping adults can play too. (via Gamesindustry.biz)