Suncor to Abandon Gaddafi's Libya, and Air Canada Strike to Forcibly End.

Top News Stories for the Day:

Suncor (TSE: SU) has announced that it will be pulling out of Libya indefinitely until the departure of Omar Gaddafi from power. To be sure, it will have to take a write-down on its assets in the country should it take longer than the NATO Allies expect to gain power for the rebels. However, it is probably only a matter of time, whether it be from old-age or unnatural causes, until Suncor can get its pumps in Libya going again and returning cash to shareholders. It is, of course, probably no coincidence that Canada has a number of aircraft bombing Gaddafi's compound and that Canada also has a significant monetary interest in getting the country into Allied-friendly hands.


Air-Canada's (TSE: AC.B) striking workers will soon probably be forced back to work by federal government legislation. Clearly, this would be a huge blow to the union and its activists as the right to strike is the biggest bargaining tool that a union and its workers possess. Our current pro-business Conservative government is making a strong indication to the labour community that it is on the side of big business and the country's shareholders. National business and employee profits first, employee rights, secondary. For investors, this is a huge win as labour costs for airlines, as in most businesses, eat into profits. If you can force labour to work, regardless of their decision to strike, then you have, for all intents and purposes, destroyed the labour movement in the country. Air Canada is a PRIVATE business, and thus its labour situation should be the company's concern, not an issue involving government legislation. 


More information on these two stories from the CBC:
http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/News/Business/1239849460/ID=2002094493


Happy Investing : )