Weekly Regional Business Intelligence | | | Written by Kieran Delamont, Associate Editor, London Inc. | | | Bedfellows no longer: Canadian auto unions adopt zero-tolerance position on U.S. tariffs as UAW backs Trump With Trump’s tariffs set to potentially implode the Canadian auto sector, the Unifor Auto Council and the Independent Parts Suppliers Council held what they called “an emergency joint meeting to address the ongoing tariff threat” in London last week. “This is the fight of our lives,” Unifor president Lana Payne (pictured) told attendees. “We’re going to have to lay it all on the line and be prepared to do whatever it takes. This entire industry is at risk, our plants, our jobs, everything that you have fought to achieve for years. Everything that the people before you fought for.” The two councils signed a joint statement calling the temporary pause to the tariffs “insufficient,” and are calling on the federal government to physically block the relocation of machinery or any other production property purchased with subsidies, public funding or special contribution agreements, and block imports of vehicles from companies that leave Canada. “The federal government must be prepared to use statutory powers to prohibit the importation of any vehicle or automotive good identified as having relocated from Canada because of unjust and illegal tariffs, among other penalties,” the statement said. “Donald Trump wants to ‘take back’ jobs in the auto sector that aren’t his to take. The United States has no claim to our jobs, or our auto industry.” The upshot: Meanwhile, big cracks are starting to form between the American autoworkers and Canadian autoworkers, after United Auto Workers (UAW) union president Shawn Fain (who was boisterous about his disdain for Trump during the president’s campaign) came out in support of the tariffs. Canadian political scientist Sam Gindin told The Globe and Mail that Fain’s move tracked with their historic opposition to free trade agreements, and the longstanding gripe among some in the UAW that Canadian auto plants were stealing American jobs. “By supporting Trump’s tariffs, auto-union leadership is responding to where they think a lot of their members are at. Many auto workers are Trump supporters because they see him as someone who fights for them,” Gindin said. The relationship between labour on both sides of the border will be an interesting one to watch going forward, especially since the auto sector is widely considered the most vulnerable to tariffs, as it is the one most integrated between the United States, Canada and Mexico. Read more: Unifor | The Globe and Mail | | | Fanshawe student union announces discontinuation of Interrobang Fanshawe College’s student paper, the Interrobang, is set to shut down its print and web publishing operations in early April, after the Fanshawe Student Union (FSU) decided to close the paper, citing the need to “allocate the resources toward [other initiatives].” It may not be the final sign-off for the paper, though ― there are a number of students at Fanshawe who are trying to push for a referendum that would ask whether students support a $2 levy to finance the Interrobang outside of the FSU budget. “It’s something super important here at Fanshawe, and they just want to cut it out entirely,” one student told CBC News London. “This is a student-run program, so students should be the number one voice behind [the decision] to shut it down or keep it going,” reporter Briar Wilson added. At the moment, though, the April 4 issue of the paper is set to be its final one. The upshot: It’ll be a major loss if the paper shuts down, especially as it has been one of the better sources on the ongoing programming and faculty cuts at Fanshawe ― they regularly beat professional media outlets to the story on those fronts. In a tight financial environment, you might understand why the FSU would move to cut the paper and its $250,000-ish budget, but recall that it was the Ryersonian student newspaper that uncovered a major spending scandal within that school’s student union back in 2019. “At a time when independent journalism is under threat, and when the impact of Bill C-18 has already hindered the ability of student newspapers to reach their audiences, this decision only further weakens the state of student media in Canada,” said Canadian University Press president Andrew Mrozowski. Read more: CBC News London | Interrobang | | | Northern Commerce acquires pair of U.S.-based firms Northern Commerce has acquired two U.S.-based marketing tech firms ― Virginia-based Freedom Marketing, a digital asset management company, and Wisconsin-based Project 3, a digital marketing consultancy. “These acquisitions bring together the strategic capabilities required to help enterprise brands deliver personalized experiences at scale, and drive outcomes across their digital channels,” Northern said in a released statement. Northen CEO Mark Kelley added, “The addition of Freedom Marketing and Project 3 Consulting significantly enhance our ability to be a strategic partner to our clients in the commercial and public sectors, bringing together world-class consulting and technology capabilities in content supply chain and customer data.” The upshot: This is Northern’s second major acquisition announcement since the arrival of Beringer Capital as a strategic investor, following the acquisition of the firm Yellow Pencil last May. Beringer hasn’t been shy about Northern pushing into new markets, with managing partner Lu Cacioppo calling the company “a platform capable of supporting a robust value creation strategy” and saying they see opportunities in “adding new capabilities to help take Northern to the next level.” Northern founder Michael Delorenzi said that “strategic M&A has always been part of Northern’s strategy and a key driver of our evolution and growth as an organization,” adding that its “approach remains focused on identifying strategic opportunities that align with our vision and delivering a fully integrated solution for our clients.” Read more: Northern Commerce | | | International Test Pilots School partners with Honeywell on new flight test training program London’s International Test Pilots School (ITPS) has partnered with Honeywell Aerospace Technologies with the latter signing up as the first customer for ITPS’s new Hybrid Industry Training Solutions for Flight Test Teams program. Two members of Honeywell’s flight test team will be enrolled in the 18-month course, which ITPS said “drastically reduces time away from the student’s workplace,” and offers a “flexible, affordable and highly effective solution to professional test pilot and flight test engineer development.” David Lohse, CEO of ITPS, said the program came about after they “listened to the aerospace industry and designed a syllabus that directly addresses the need for effective and efficient flight test team training,” and added that Honeywell is “demonstrating its strong commitment to excellence and is equipping its teams with the knowledge, skills and hands-on experience needed to drive innovation and maintain a competitive edge in the aerospace industry.” The upshot: According to ITPS, the hybrid model is a “cutting-edge initiative designed to revolutionize flight test training by combining hands-on experience with the latest advancements in hybrid learning technology.” In a press release, they said the course will be delivered with a “combination of instructor-led online theory courses and hands-on exercises using the school’s diverse aircraft and simulator fleet.” Honeywell’s senior director of flight test operations, Bill Lee, said that the partnership represents “a significant step forward in advancing an industry-first flight test training program,” and that it will “ensure Honeywell’s flight test professionals remain at the forefront of flight-testing standards and innovation so we can continue to bring cutting-edge aerospace products to the market for our customers.” Read more: ITPS | | | London ranks third in country for fast, affordable housing development: CHBA London has ranked third overall for fast, affordable housing development in a new benchmarking study by the Canadian Home Builders’ Association (CHBA) ― the only Ontario city to crack the top 10. In addition to some advantages it holds over other municipalities ― lower development charges and faster approval timelines being two of the biggies ― the report highlighted the city’s ‘ReThink Zoning’ initiative and the move to permit four units per property as standout zoning reform moves. “Last year, we prioritized a number of key initiatives to accelerate London’s housing supply. We’re extremely pleased to see our efforts to implement changes and make improvements are reflected in these positive performance results in addition to helping us meet our critical housing needs,” said Scott Mathers, the city’s deputy city manager of housing. Mayor Josh Morgan said the result was “a testament to the hard work and commitment of city staff, council and our community partners.” The upshot: While London scored well in the report, the overall conclusion the CHBA came to is that there’s still a lot to be done. “Construction activity is not able to keep pace with population growth in the [23] municipalities studied,” they wrote in their summary, adding that development charges have still increased almost everywhere (London was praised for having DCs that were only “moderately high”.) And London still sits as a bit of an outlier when it comes to housing outcomes (i.e., housing is more expensive and less available); it ranked eighth-worst in terms of deteriorating affordability, compared to past studies. Win some, lose some. Read more: CHBA | CTV News London | | | Western’s affiliate university colleges to trim workforces Some staff “trimming” is coming to King’s University College and Huron University College, the schools said this week, as they try to adapt to updated funding projections created by new international student caps and domestic tuition freezes. King’s said it is offering early retirement to some, while Huron told CBC News London it would be leaving some positions vacant ― both doing so to attempt to avoid layoffs. “Like all universities, we’re assessing our financial situation and addressing strategies and responses to a shifting enrolment situation,” said Robert Ventresca, the interim president of King’s. “We’ve offered early retirement…completely voluntary, and it’s designed to help manage costs.” The upshot: Unlike Ontario’s colleges, the international student issue isn’t an existential one for universities and affiliate colleges; their issue has historically been more about funding and tuition freezes from the provincial government. These moves likely stem from the acceptance that changing the funding formula for universities is not something currently very high on the newly re-elected provincial government’s priority list. The good news is that enrollment at the affiliate colleges remains quite strong ― Huron said there’s been a 30 per cent year-over-year growth in domestic enrolment, while King’s says their enrolment is up four per cent. Both said they hope to keep an open dialogue going with the province. “I’m hoping that we can continue to advocate with governments and with the public on the value of higher education,” Ventresca said. Read more: CBC News London | | | Dispatch: March 14, 2025 A summary of recent business appointments and announcements, plus event listings for the upcoming week. View listings here | | | | |