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More Canadian small businesses are taking to social media to interact with their consumers, according to a BMO study. (CBC)Bank of Montreal says Canadian small business owners are increasingly savvy about using social media such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
BMO says 57 per cent of about 300 business owners contacted for the study said they use social media.
That's up 17 points from 40 per cent in last year's study.
BMO's report is based on a Pollara telephone survey of 301 business owners, conducted between Aug. 22 and Sept. 10.
Nearly 40 per cent of the respondents said they use social media to seek ideas or suggestions
About one-third said they track what's being said about their business and one-quarter check out feedback about their competitors.
About 25 per cent said they were using social media to search for new talent, up 11 percentage points from last year.
BMO's study found Facebook was used by 43 per cent of respondents, while LinkedIn was used by 23 per cent and Twitter by 11 per cent.
By Meagan Fitzpatrick, CBC News Posted: Oct 25, 2013 2:39 PM ET Last Updated: Oct 25, 2013 3:44 PM ET
Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau concluded his first visit to the U.S. capital on Friday after a series of meetings with White House officials and others and following a panel discussion a day earlier where he touted the benefits of building the proposed Keystone XL pipeline.
Trudeau appeared Thursday on a panel with Madeleine Albright, former U.S. secretary of state, and Julia Gillard, Australia’s former prime minister, at a conference hosted by the Centre for American Progress.
The Montreal MP said during the talk that he supports TransCanada’s proposed pipeline that would carry crude oil from Alberta to refineries on the Gulf Coast because it would be good for Canada and the U.S.
He acknowledged that his position may have surprised some in an audience that would have included strong critics of the project.
“There were some people who raised an eyebrow, absolutely,” Trudeau told reporters on Friday. “I'm seen as a strong, young progressive with an environmental background. The fact that I'd be talking positively about the project I think got people thinking about the fact that perhaps it's not as bad as it's been caricatured.”
Trudeau added that the pipeline is “an important energy infrastructure” for both countries, will be good for the Canadian economy and that it must be done in a sustainable and properly regulated way.
A decision on whether the controversial Keystone XL pipeline can go ahead is currently in the hands of U.S. President Barack Obama and it’s not clear when he will make it. Ministers in Harper’s cabinet have made multiple trips to Washington in recent years to lobby for its approval. Alberta Premier Alison Redford is also a frequent visitor.
Now Trudeau has added his voice to the Canadian contingent of Keystone backers who push for its approval while in Washington. “My support for Keystone is steadfast,” he said while talking on a street near the Canadian Embassy.
Not far away there is a bus shelter with an anti-Keystone poster designed by Canadian Franke James in it. James was recently in the city along with Canadian environmentalist David Suzuki for a panel discussion sponsored by the Natural Resources Defence Council. They urged the Obama administration to reject Keystone.
Many environmentalists are opposed to the pipeline and some Americans are against it because they say it won’t create all the jobs its proponents say it will and is more in Canada’s interest than in America’s. Trudeau, however, said the U.S. will benefit from the pipeline.
Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau arrives to speak to reporters during his first official visit to Washington on Friday. (Susan Walsh/Associated Press)“There are lots of American jobs involved and there's lots of opportunities for the United States as well,” he said. “There are many Americans who support Keystone as well, so I'm not particularly worried about it being an unbalanced deal. It's just part of a longstanding working friendship between our two countries.”
While Trudeau is in favour of the Keystone pipeline, he’s not supportive of the proposed Northern Gateway project that would transport oil from Alberta to British Columbia’s coast. “They are very, very different proposals,” the Liberal leader said. Keystone, for example, has been signed off on by Canada’s energy board while the Northern Gateway line would mean bigger risks to more ecologically sensitive areas and to people in B.C. who rely on the water for their livelihoods, he said.
"It's important that we get our resources to market, but it's also important that we understand that it's not just up to governments to grant permits anymore. We have to get communities to grant permission and that's something that we need to spend more time focusing on," Trudeau said.
He was also asked about the Senate scandal dominating politics back home and said he is “very proud” of the motion put forward by his party’s leader in the upper chamber, James Cowan. He said it would encourage an open hearing.
“I’m not being overly controversial when I say I believe in the rule of law and due process and I think that's important that we continue to fight for," said Trudeau.
But when asked about the government’s budget bill that could curtail some federal workers’ right to strike, Trudeau wouldn’t bite. He would only say that he supports collective bargaining and unions generally and that he didn’t want to criticize Harper while abroad. There is a traditional protocol in politics, that when followed, involves politicians not criticizing their country's government while outside their borders.
“I feel that when I'm on a foreign trip, on foreign soil, my primary role is as a representative of Canada and a representative of the Canadian people and I try not to be too critical,” Trudeau said.
Trudeau has travelled to more than 80 countries but had never been to Washington. He met with White House officials including Gene Sperling, director of the National Economic Council, and Jason Furman, who chairs the President’s Council of Economic Advisers, during his visit.
One of his goals on the trip was to build relationships that will be important in the years to come, Trudeau said, as he works toward a bigger goal – becoming prime minister.
There are growing signs that the stalled Mackenzie Valley pipeline project could get a new lease on life.
The federal government has quietly dusted off a $500-million socio-economic fund that would kick in if the project goes ahead. The Mackenzie Gas Projects Impact Fund was set up in 2006 but has remained dormant. It was included and updated in this week's budget implementation act.
The fund is not operational yet, but the timing means it's ready to go if construction starts on the pipeline.
Development of northern resources has been priority for Prime Minister Stephen Harper since he was elected in 2006. His government in 2009 set up the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency (CanNor), for which Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq is responsible.
The government "is committed to fostering a strong, prosperous and dynamic northern economy," Aglukkaq's office said in a written response to questions from CBC News.
"Should the CanNor minister be named responsible at some point for the fund, as the regional economic development agency for the North, the agency is well-positioned to deliver this fund on behalf of northern communities."
At the same time, there are signs the project may be commercially viable.
Imperial Oil and its partners are looking at options to turn the 1,200-kilometre northern gas pipeline into an liquefied natural gas project. LNG, as it is often called, is natural gas that's cooled to -162 C. This shrinks the volume of the gas by 600 times, making it easier to store and ship.
"As we look at strategic options for the Mackenzie resource one of the things we are looking at is … could gas from the Mackenzie potentially play a role in an LNG development scenario?" said Imperial spokesman Pius Rolheiser.
Imperial and its partners, Royal Dutch Shell, ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil and the Aboriginal Pipeline Group, received final approval from the National Energy Board in 2011 for the $16.2 billion project after more than six years of regulatory review. The pipeline was originally designed to carry natural gas down the Mackenzie Valley to Alberta and the U.S.
A glut in natural gas and slumping prices put the project on hold.
But earlier this year, Imperial and its majority partner Exxon Mobil Corp. applied for an LNG export permit from a future terminal in either Kitimat or Prince Rupert, B.C. The companies would draw from the gas fields they own in Canada, like those in the Mackenzie Delta.
"So in our assessment of a potential LNG project, one of the things we are looking at is, could gas from the Mackenzie Delta play a role in an LNG scenario?" said Rolheiser in an interview from Calgary. "But at this point we are in the early stages and we have not made any decisions on that."
(CBC)The main forces behind this burst of activity are price and timing. Imperial has to report to the NEB on its decision to construct the pipeline by the end of this year and must provide an updated cost estimate. It has to start construction by the end of 2015.
And there is a growing market in Asia for liquid natural gas. While Rolheiser emphasizes that a decision has not been made, a source close to the project says the LNG option is very much in play.
"We are looking at all options here and there is more than one option for this pipeline," said the source.
Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver just got back from a trip to China and South Korea, where he spent a lot of time talking about LNG. He says Canada's natural gas resources are an "immense economy opportunity that can benefit all Canadians."
And the pipeline would help tap that potential.
"That is why we are supportive of this important resource development opportunity, with a focus on supporting jobs, economic growth, environmental protection and constructive relationships with First Nations communities," Oliver wrote in an email to CBC News Thursday.
All this is very good news for the Northwest Territories that has been holding out hope for the on-again, off-again pipeline since the 1970s.
"We are hearing that the proponents are interested in seeing the Mackenzie gas get to market, which is a very positive sign for us, with a resource that has been stranded in the Mackenzie delta for forty years," said N.W.T. Industry Minister David Ramsay.
Ramsay said he has not officially heard that the project is definitely going ahead, but he's optimistic.
"Any talk of us getting a resource like to that to market is something we are encouraged to hear," he said in an interview from Yellowknife.
Ramsay said he hopes to get more details in early November.
The majority of people in the territory support the project because of the economic development it would bring. Aboriginal groups own one-third of it as part of the Aboriginal Pipeline Group.
While Imperial won't speculate on chances of the pipeline carrying LNG, Rolheiser notes the company has spent considerable time and money on this project and doesn't want to squander it.
"We made a significant investment in terms of our relationship with the people of the North as represented by the Aboriginal pipeline group and that is a terribly important asset to us," he said.
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