Alberta Chapter Update

At CIRI Alberta’s November luncheon, Cody Battershill, Founder of Canada Action Coalition, urged the audience to act to protect the oil and gas and resource sectors from coast-to-coast. He asked attendees to raise their voices in a “clear, respectful fashion” to help Canadians understand the importance of the resource sector to national prosperity.

Canada Action Coalition is a federally registered non-profit advocacy group.

Battershill spoke about policies that impact Canada’s ability to export oil, and the cost of these policies, which he said was approximately $100 million per day. He argued that Canadian oil is being targeted by a very sophisticated, coordinated, well-planned and well-funded activist campaign.

From his perspective, there are several ironies in this scenario. Blocking Canadian exports has no impact on global oil consumption, and Canada has higher transparency and human rights rankings than many other top oil exporters, as well as tougher environmental standards, he said. He directed people to a website called howcanadaranks.com.

Battershill urged a no tolerance policy for misleading images and words, and requested that attendees get educated and make their voices heard on this issue by calling their political representatives and going online.

British Columbia Chapter Update

The BC Chapter began the year with a mentorship breakfast featuring Brent Charleton, CEO of EnWave Corporation. Past mentorship breakfasts have been among our most popular events and this year was no exception. Charleton was able to share stories and tips about how he started his career as an IRO and successfully navigated his way to the top.

Stay tuned for upcoming events! We look forward to seeing you soon.

Ontario Chapter Update

The Ontario Chapter hosted its annual holiday get-together in mid-December, with over 50 members joining for some ping pong and networking. The Chapter's next networking event will coincide with its AGM on April 17, 2019. This event will also include an opportunity for some media training over drinks.

In January, CIRI Ontario co-hosted an Economist update with FEI Canada. Leslie Preston, Senior Economist, TD Bank, provided an outlook on the ‘Year of the Deal’. She highlighted event risks (trade war, Brexit, U.S. debt ceiling, USMCA) and their potential impacts on the economy. 

In upcoming months, CIRI Ontario members will have the opportunity to hear a view from the Street, a capital markets update and an overview of the impact of AI/Blockchain on IR.

Quebec Chapter Update

Every IRO’s routine includes building presentations about the business to educate shareholders or bring to management’s attention some insights about financial market participants. PowerPoint is a tool we all think we master, just like we think we know how to build a good presentation…and then we meet Karl Genest, President and Owner, PrezExpert Inc.! Genest provided some great insights into how effective presentations should be designed and showed the audience some of his work.