China’s oil sands woes risk becoming another irritant on Trudeau’s official visit 

Justin Trudeau heads to China this morning for the start of his official visit. While the dispute over canola imports is expected to be a major sticking point, China’s energy investments could also weigh on the talks.  As one expert told BNN's Jameson's Berkow CNOOC inherited a “lemon” when it bought Nexen for $15 billion in 2012. On top of that, Stephen Harper’s decision to slap restrictions on M&A in the oil sands has cast a chill on foreign direct investment.  And Canada’s inability to develop pipeline infrastructure in a timely, efficient manner is also a turn off for Asia. 

Taking a step back from the oil sands for a moment, if you missed Catherine’s chat with former Goldman Sachs Asia Vice-Chair Ken Courtis on Friday, go watch it on BNN.ca.  As far as he’s concerned, Canada is “nowhere [with China] and we’ve got to get somewhere.”  He argued China is “too big to bully”, and suggested Canada would be welcomed if it demonstrates an interest in joining the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. 

Carson Block on Canada's vulnerabilities 

Muddy Waters Research Founder Carson Block spoke to BNN late Friday afternoon. It’s slated for broadcast this morning in the 9:00 a.m. ET hour. You won’t want to miss what he has to say about Canada. 

Canada Post latest 

Fear not, job action by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers has been postponed. Labour Minister MaryAnn Mihychuk said this morning she is “very happy” with how negotiations are going, and that both sides are on board to keep talks going until midnight. A rotating ban on overtime was the planned job action of choice by CUPW.  I’m interested to find out how much OT the average postal union employee works. 

Canadian auto workers hand union strike mandate 

Sticking with the labour theme, Unifor employees have authorized strike action if the union fails to agree to terms with the Detroit Three automakers before Sept. 19. The votes were convincing (97.1 per cent at GM, 98.9 per cent at Ford, 99.0 per cent at Fiat Chrysler). This should come as no surprise whatsoever. It’s a standard step in the negotiating process. 

Hollande urged to intervene in SNC unit sale 

We learned last Wednesday that SNC-Lavalin has received an offer for its business unit in France; this morning, La Presse is reporting the mayor of Brive-la-Gaillarde is calling on French President Francois Hollande to get involved in the matter, warning the would-be-buyers for the French unit are offering no long-term guarantees for the business.  You can find the full report here.

Releases/events:

-Notable data: U.S. personal income and outlays (8:30 a.m. ET)

-9:00 a.m. ET: National Energy Board panel session on Energy East begins in Montreal

Every morning Commodities host Andrew Bell writes a ‘chase note’ to BNN's editorial staff listing the stories and events that will be in the spotlight that day. Today's note was written by BNN's Managing Editor Noah Zivitz. Have it delivered to your inbox before the trading day begins by heading to www.bnn.ca/subscribe.