The humiliation, and comeback, of Michael Cooper + MORE Mar 9th

Knocked down by the Alberta slump, a real estate star rebuilds, slowly

VANCOUVER _ Trans Mountain is seeking an injunction against a group of anti-pipeline activists protesting construction at two terminals in Burnaby, B.C.
A notice of civil claim filed in B.C. Supreme Court before the start of a hearing today is asking that named individuals, along with John Doe, Jane Doe and “persons unnamed,” be restricted from coming within 50 metres of the facilities.
The Calgary-based company says protesters have obstructed roads that it requires to access the Westridge Marine Terminal in order to build a new dock complex with three berths.
It says activists also obstructed workers at the Burnaby Terminal, where it plans to install 14 new storage tanks, an enhanced storm water treatment system as well as clear trees, for which it has received approvals.
Trans Mountain says since the end of November and nearly every day since, protesters have caused delay and financial harm to the company, with the goal of stopping the entire project, which has received approval from the federal government…

VANCOUVER _ Real estate experts in British Columbia predict residential home sales will dip this year but remain well above the province’s 10-year average, although they warn rising interest rates could leave some B.C. households “vulnerable.”
The British Columbia Real Estate Association has released its 2018 first quarter housing forecast, showing residential sales are expected to fall 8.6 per cent to 94,855 units this year, with the decline continuing into 2019.
The projected skid follows the 7.5 per cent decrease recorded last year but the association says residential sales in B.C. are still well above the 10-year average of 84,800 units.
Strong employment growth, consumer confidence and more workers moving to B.C. are credited for the booming housing market over the last four years, including 2016, when a record 112,209 homes changed hands.
But the association predicts the pace of sales will cool due to several factors, including a five-year qualifying rate for a mortgage that is forecast to reach 5…

HALIFAX _ Celebrity businessman Kevin O’Leary has been ordered to pay legal fees to a philanthropic organization that is suing him over allegations he backed out of a speaking engagement and cost the group more than $25,000.
The decision, handed down Wednesday by Nova Scotia Supreme Court Judge Mona Lynch, rejects O’Leary’s attempt to dismiss the suit or move it to another jurisdiction, and awarded $3,500 in costs to the Canadian Lebanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The chamber had been seeking $12,000 in costs, while O’Leary suggested legal costs of $1,000 after failing to have the suit dismissed after a half-day hearing last Dec. 7.
In her analysis, Lynch said she was made to consider facts around the wealth of O’Leary, the brash star of the ABC show “Shark Tank” and former panellist on CBC’s “Dragon’s Den.”
“The plaintiff asks me to consider that the defendant is a wealthy man who touts himself as a leading high-tech entrepreneur and investment guru; who prefers to be called ‘Mr…

CEO Daniel Potter and lawyer Blois Colpitts were found guilty in stock manipulating scheme more than a decade after company’s collapse