National Business

VANCOUVER — The British Columbia Real Estate Association says the sharp increase in mortgage rates is pushing the province's home sales down "a path to normalizing," although it estimates a balanced market is at least a year away.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate on Thursday confirmed Jerome Powell for a second four-year term as Federal Reserve chair, giving bipartisan backing to Powell's high-stakes efforts to curb the highest inflation in four decades.

MONTREAL — Quebecor Inc. is mulling a move into the wireless market outside Quebec, with CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau saying Shaw Communications Inc.'s wireless business offers one potential avenue.

TORONTO — During Wednesday's Conservative leadership debate in Edmonton, candidate Pierre Poilievre said he would remove Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem if he were to be elected prime minister.

CALGARY — Crescent Point Energy Corp. hiked its quarterly dividend by more than 40 per cent Thursday and said it will soon be in a position to increase shareholder returns even more when it hits its net debt target likely later this year.

One of Canada's biggest retailers is using customer data mined through its loyalty program and credit cards to drive sales and counter the potential demand impact of rising prices. Canadian Tire Corp. Ltd.

BERLIN — The U.N.’s top human rights body has overwhelmingly passed a resolution calling on its investigators to specifically look into possible rights abuses and violations in northern Ukraine shortly after Russia’s invasion.

Ayanna Inniss believes the co-op movement could be part of the solution to this country's housing affordability crisis.

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — With a new report saying full power from Newfoundland and Labrador's Muskrat Falls hydro project is at least a year away, the head of the province's Crown energy corporation says there's a backup plan in place.

DETROIT (AP) — Mercedes-Benz is telling the owners of more than 292,000 vehicles in the U.S. to stop driving them due to a problem that could cause the brakes to fail.