Think you’re a business wiz? Prove it.
DON’T CALL IT A ‘STORE’
10. This new “innovation café” in downtown Toronto boasts video walls, selforder kiosks, and experimental beverages including “blueberry lavender lemonade.” It’s operated by a) Tim Hortons b) Starbucks c) Second Cup
11. Another “next-gen” store aiming for buzz rather than sales volume is “The Journey,” a recently opened Sherway Gardens outlet with a faux-rock crevasse for an entrance and a cold room for experiencing Arctic temperatures, but no inventory you can buy and take home. This pilot project was opened by a) Mountain Equipment Co-op b) Canada Goose Holdings Inc. c) Roots Corp.
12. A sprawling pantry studded with eateries, and the first Canadian outlet in a U.S. chain, this latest happening on the Toronto foodie scene is called a) Luxy b) Eataly c) Delity
PRIVACY IN PERIL
13. Last month, the federal privacy watchdog, the Office of Privacy Commissioner of Canada, reported how many Canadians were affected by a security breach in the previous 12 months? a) 2.5 million b) 6.3 million c) More than 23 million
14. In June, the major Quebec banking co-operative Desjardins Group, which has expanded into Ontario, reported a privacy breach it said affected 2.9 million of its members. Last month, Desjardins restated the number of clients affected, to: a) 1.1 million, about one-quarter of Desjardins’ clientele b) 4.2 million, the firm’s entire clientele c) 1.4 million, or about one-third of its clientele
15. Cyber attacks don’t respect borders, of course. The massive July data breach at U.S.-based Capital One Financial Corp., one of the world’s biggest creditcard issuers, compromised the privacy of 100 million Americans and how many Canadians? a) 273,000 b) 738,000 c) six million
THE POT BUST
16. This year’s collapse in the value of shares in marijuana companies is blamed by CEOs in the Canadian industry mostly on a) regulatory uncertainty in the U.S. market b) Ottawa’s slow pace of licensing new production facilities c) governments’ failure to license enough stores
S’LONG
17. In June, turnaround CEO Neil Bruce abruptly ended his four-year tenure at chronically troubled a) Bombardier Inc. b) SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. c) Aecon Group Inc. 18. In July, Bruce Linton, chief spokesperson of the Canadian pot industry, was fired as CEO of which chronically loss-making marijuana company he cofounded? a) Canopy Growth Corp. b) Tilray Inc. c) Aphria Inc.
WHAT’S IN A NAME?
19. TransCanada Corp. of Calgary, formerly TransCanada PipeLines (TCPL), this year adopted yet another name that further diminishes its brand identity. The new name is: a) TCE Inc. b) TC Energy Corp. c) Top Cat Enterprises Ltd.
20. Encana Corp., the mid-size Calgary natural-gas producer, followed suit, with a new moniker that has no meaning at all, according to company management. The firm’s new name is a) Octavis Corp. b) Ovintiv Inc. c) Ocintav Ltd.
21. In contrast, which U.S. retailer this year in vain sought permission from Canada’s Ad Standards council to continue labelling its Rona stores “Truly Canadian” and “Proudly Canadian,” though they have been U.S.-owned since 2016? a) Lowe’s Cos. b) Nordstrom Inc. c) Home Depot Inc.
22. Last month, GTA-based Second Cup Coffee Co. changed its corporate name to a moniker that could mean anything, and is intended to signal the firm’s desire to expand beyond coffee shops. The new name is a) Agora Brands b) Adelphi Brands c) Aegis Brands
23. A few weeks later, the renamed firm spent $9.5 million to: a) launch an organic foods retail chain b) acquire an institutional kitchen-equipment supplier c) buy yet another coffee house chain, Ottawa’s Bridgehead Coffee
OILPATCH MYTHOLOGY
24. Encana’s October announcement that it is relocating to Denver has been called a “tragedy for Canada,” a “death blow” to the Alberta oilpatch, and another sign of capital seeping out of the province. With a market cap of $6.7 billion, the shareholder value of Encana is equal to what per cent of Calgary-based Suncor Energy Inc. and its Petro-Canada retail brand? a) 37 per cent b) 26 per cent c) 11 per cent
25. Last month it was reported that Repsol SA, the giant Spanish oil firm, is considering ramping up its Canadian heavy oil production to replace politically unreliable supplies in Mexico and Venezuela. True or false?
26. Early this month, leading Alberta oil producer Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. said it will boost its 2020 spending budget by how much to increase production and take advantage of strengthening oil prices? a) $17 million b) $82 million c) about $250 million
27. With Canada-China relations at an all-time low, each of China’s Big Three oil giants — PetroChina, CNOOC and Sinopec a) reduced their total Canadian capital spending by an average of 35 per cent b) recommitted to their existing ownership and capital spending budgets c) sold off a total of 41 per cent of their assets.
28. In December, construction finally began on the controversial Trans Mountain Pipeline between Edmonton and the Vancouver area, how long after planning for the $13-billion megaproject commenced? a) three years b) five years c) eight years
29. Iron Coalition and Project Reconciliation are a) The First Nations groups with the largest batteries of lawyers challenging the pipeline in court b) Indigenous syndicates vying to purchase control of the pipeline from Ottawa for about $7 billion c) Umbrella groups organizing opposition to the pipeline among scores of First Nations across Canada
CLIMATE EMERGENCY
30. Alberta Premier Jason Kenney came to power this year excoriating “the job-killing carbon tax” on consumers put in place by his predecessor. While his government with fanfare promptly scrapped that tax, Kenney has quietly a) put a sales tax on motor oils b) increased rebates to homeowners converting from fossil fuels for home heating to alternative energy sources c) imposed a carbon tax similar to Ottawa’s on Alberta’s major carbon emitters, including coal-fired power producers and the oilpatch
31. In May, the Bank of Canada for the first time issued a report warning of the threat to Canadian economic growth and the stability of the financial system posed by a) cyber attacks b) climate emergency c) Canadian household overindebtedness
32. The introduction in Canada of the world’s first national carbon-pricing system builds on years of progress by B.C., Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba and Newfoundland and Labrador in transitioning away from coal in power production. Today, approximately what per cent of Canadians use carbon-free electricity, mostly sourced from hydro and nuclear? a) 38 per cent b) 62 per cent c) 80 per cent
33. Zero-emission electric vehicles (EVs) currently account for just over one per cent of vehicles on the road worldwide. But by the third quarter of this year, they accounted for 3.5 per cent of Canadian vehicles, rising to seven per cent in Quebec. In which province do zero-emission vehicles account for about 10 per of the total? a) Nova Scotia b) British Columbia c) Alberta
GOBBLE GOBBLE
34. In May, Toronto financier Gerry Schwartz’s buyout shop, Onex Corp., agreed to a friendly $5-billion takeover of a) Auto-parts maker Martinrea International Inc. b) WestJet Airlines Ltd. c) the gasoline retailing arm of Canadian Tire Corp. Ltd.
35. In June, Air Canada paid $520 million a) as its portion of a new joint venture with Lufthansa AG to serve tourist destinations on Mediterranean b) for a 10 per cent stake in Delta Air Lines Inc. c) for Quebec tour operator Air Transat and its parent, Transat AT Inc.
36. Last month, in an all-stock megadeal valued at about $26 billion (U.S.), American discount broker Charles Schwab Corp. bought its chief rival, Ameritrade, from a) Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce b) Bank of Nova Scotia c) Toronto Dominion Bank
37. Late last month, Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. of Laval, Que. made a $7.7-billion takeover offer for which company in a bid to solidify its status as one of the world’s biggest “C-store” operators? a) 7-Eleven Inc. b) Caltex Australia Ltd. c) the convenience-store arm of ExxonMobil Corp.
38. Which giant U.S. car-rental firm, owner of the National and Alamo brands, acquired Toronto-based Discount Car and Truck Rentals, increasing its Canadian presence by about 40 per cent, to just over 1,000 locations? a) Hertz b) Enterprise c) Avis
39. Twinkies maker Hostess Brands Inc. of Kansas City, Mo., this month paid $425 million for which Ontariobased cookie maker to expand into the wellness food sector with the acquired firm’s lineup of sugar-free cookies? a) Dare Foods Ltd. b) Colonial Cookies c) Voortman Cookies Ltd.
WELL, IF FACEBOOK WON’T DO IT…
40. This month, the international arm of Telus Corp., the Vancouver telecom giant, paid $1.3 billion for control of Berlin-based Competence Call Center, which a) pioneered the use of satellites in conference calls b) uses advanced internet connections to run high-efficiency call centres c) monitors websites and social media platforms on behalf of corporate clients across Europe to remove fake accounts, spam, hate speech and other inappropriate content
HIGH FLIGHT
41. The long tradition of aerospace engineering in the GTA continues with the announcement this month that this company will employ about 3,000 workers making long-range executive planes at a new $350-million plant at Pearson International Airport. Which company? a) Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. b) Bombardier Inc. c) Dassault Aviation S.A.
42. In September, Purdue Pharma, the company widely believed to have triggered the opioid crisis that claimed the lives of approximately 10,000 Canadians — victims of opioid overdoses — between 2016 and 2018 a) was merged out of existence, combining with a larger firm in the face of massive liability claims — a common occurrence in product-liability crises b) filed for bankruptcy after reaching a $12-billion (U.S.) settlement with state and local governments suing it over the toll from opioids c) rebranded itself as Harmony Health Solutions Inc. and discontinued its notorious OxyContin prescription painkiller
43. Purdue was not alone in the manufacture and distribution of a powerful opioid that the medical community was falsely told was less addictive than painkillers of similar potency. Which other Big Pharma companies are implicated in the crisis, and now face more than 2,300 lawsuits in the U.S.? a) Johnson & Johnson, the U.S. drug and consumer products giant b) Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. of Israel, world’s biggest generic drugmaker c) Mallinckrodt PLC, a leading British pharmaceutical house d) Endo International PLC, a Dublinbased generic drugmaker e) Allergan PLC, a Dublin-based specialty drugmaker f) Cardinal Health Inc. of Ohio, a giant drug wholesaler g) McKesson Corp. of Texas, a leading drug distributor h) AmerisourceBergen Corp. of Pennsylvania, a leading U.S. drug wholesaler i) all of the above.
THE HUAWEI QUANDARY
44. In its charm offensive to convince Ottawa not to ban its equipment from next-generation, or 5G, telecommunications networks, China’s Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. has a) partnered with Canadian telecoms to provide internet access to rural and Far North communities b) boosted its already considerable R&D spending in Canada by 15 per cent this year, adding about 200 R&D jobs c) said in December it plans to relocate its large R&D facility in the U.S, whose government is hostile to the company, to Canada d) has begun research on “next-nextgen” 6G technology at its Ottawa R&D centre e) all of the above.
45. Advanced telecom gear from Huawei, the only global supplier to remote communities, could save Canadian lives by providing crucial information for evacuating forest fire and other natural-disaster zones; and is also used by Chinese authorities in co-ordinating the capture and incarceration of tens of thousands of Chinese Muslims. True or false? 46. Criticism of Huawei as a potential agent of Beijing in spying on other countries has become so acute that Huawei felt the need this year to pay employees worldwide a bonus equal to a month’s salary, to raise morale and curb defections. True or false?
47. In its looming decision on whether to ban or approve Huawei equipment in Canada’s nascent 5G networks, all but one of Canada’s partners in the “Five Eyes” intelligence network is pressuring Canada to ban Huawei. Which is the outlier? a) New Zealand b) the U.S. c) Britain d) Australia
THE BREXIT DILEMMA
48. Canada has spent more than a year quietly negotiating with British trade officials the basic principles of a Canada-U.K. free trade deal in the event Britain quits the European Union (EU). True or false?
49. In the recent U.K. general election, Boris Johnson promised voters a postBrexit “super-Canada-plus” trade deal with the EU by the end of 2020. Johnson’s deal would replicate and embellish the Comprehensive and Economic Trade Agreement (CETA) between Canada and the EU. Since negotiations with the EU cannot begin until Britain officially quits the EU — the latest deadline is Jan. 31, 2020 — Britain will have just 11 months to negotiate such a deal by year-end 2020. The 1,600-page CETA agreement took how long to negotiate and ratify? a) six months b) two years c) seven years
IF YOU SAY SO
50. “(It) encourages us to look beyond the obvious and expand our thinking; challenging us to think more deeply, increase our perspective, and open the flow of communication.” Who made that comment in December? a) Swiss couturier Joachim Klatz, on the anticipated impact of new uniforms he designed for the Croatian Armed Forces b) Times of London reviewer Scott Feldman on metaphysicist Adam Wilfrid-Whyte’s latest book, “Reflections on a Discarded Bath Mat” c) Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, on Pantone’s selection of “Classic Blue,” a matte royal blue, as the Colour of the Year for 2020