The Daily Chase: Honda nears deal to make EVs in Canada

Here are five things you need to know this morning.

Honda nears deal to make EVs in Canada: Canadian officials are close to a deal with Honda that would see the Japanese carmaker build electric vehicles and their components in Canada. The company already has a presence in Ontario’s manufacturing heartland, with a sprawling complex in Alliston, Ont. Bloomberg reports, citing unnamed sources close to the talks, that a deal is imminent. The main question is what the price tag is. The government has inked similar deals with Stellantis and Volkswagen – the latter came with more than $13 billion in subsidies from various levels of government.

Mass turnover at Gildan board: The up-and-down saga at TSX-listed apparel company Gildan took a significant turn over the weekend as the company announced a new proposed chair of the board, along with a handful of new names to be added in a last-ditch effort to convince investors not to back an activist shareholder’s plans for the company. Gildan’s board has been fighting a battle with investment firm Browning West LP ever since the company abruptly fired long-time CEO Glenn Chamandy and replaced him with Vince Tyra. Browning West wants Chamandy to be reinstated and is proposing an entire new slate of directors for the company. Gildan is now recommending two members of Browning’s proposed slate, along with a new chair and four new directors. Shareholders are scheduled to vote on the matter once and for all on May 28, but one gets the distinct impression after Monday’s news that things are coming to a resolution some time before that.

Wildfire season prompts evacuation near Fort Mac: Officials in Alberta say a 30-hectare wildfire southeast of the oilsands capital of Fort McMurray is out of control, and have told residents of Saprae Creek to prepare for possible evacuation. The warning by the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo comes as a grim reminder that wildfire season seems to be starting early this year. A record-setting number of blazes last year impacted air quality across North America last year, and early indications are that wildfire-prone areas should brace for more of the same. Wildfires have already started burning everywhere from Texas to Australia, and officials have previously noted that snowpack levels in parts of Western Canada are at seasonal lows.