The Watch
LATITUDE
AECON GROUP INC. REMAINS CANADIAN- OWNED—BECAUSE NATIONAL SECURITY A controversial deal between Canadian construction company Aecon Group Inc. and China’s CCCC International Holding Inc. has been quashed by the Government of Canada. Last year, the 140-year-old firm announced its decision to be acquired by the state-run Chinese company for $1.5 billion, pending government approval. While the acquisition could have helped pave the way to freer trade with China, analysts warned that it could also put Canada’s trading relationship with the U.S. at risk. After its assessment of the deal, the federal government announced that it would block the sale, citing threats to national security. U.S. ANNOUNCES JAW-DROPPING TARIFFS ON CANADIAN METAL—BECAUSE NATIONAL SECURITY Many Canadians were left shaking their heads and rolling their eyes at the U.S. administration’s decision to impose—for reasons of national security—a 25 per cent tariff on steel and a 10 per cent tariff on aluminum. Because the U.S. is the biggest buyer of Canadian steel and aluminum, the move will have major impacts on our soil and theirs. A resulting trade war, very likely underway now, would harm all kinds of complexly connected industries. Calling President Donald Trump’s national security rationale “unacceptable,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hit back by imposing $16 billion worth of tariffs on a long list of U.S. imports. They’ll stay in place until the U.S. lifts its tariffs on Canadian metals. Canada calls the retaliatory measure the biggest trade action we’ve taken since the Second World War. President Trump has also imposed new tariffs on metal imports from the European Union and Mexico. Already in place were tariffs against China.
SMART GRID PROJECT GETS RESEARCH BOOST FROM GOVERNMENT OF CANADA Incorporating clean energy into the electrical grid remains challenging, especially the more intermittent generation that comes from the wind and sun. The smarter the grid, the better it is at managing demand, saving money, and improving reliability and efficiency. The Government of Canada likes the sound of making grids smarter. It’s announced an investment of $949,000 for a next-generation project aimed at finding ways, including better storage, to integrate clean energy without compromising grid stability and reliability. Called Power Simulator (SimP), the project is a piece of standardization and experimentation infrastructure for smart grid technologies, says a story in Canadian Consulting Engineer . Although SimP is a project of Natural Resources Canada and Hydro-Québec’s research institute, the research infrastructure will become open and available to academic and industry interests.
SMARTENING UP THE GRID Canada’s electrical grid needs an upgrade for dealing with clean energy—that’s the premise behind an investment in experimentation and standardization from the Government of Canada. The wires in this photo are in the heart of coal country, near Hanna, Alberta, and the Sheerness Generating Station, about 200 kilometres northeast of Calgary.
SUMMER 2018 PEG | 61
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