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Air Canada, Westjet and Pearson asks feds to drop mandatory COVID tests for arrivals – Toronto Sun

Published

3 years ago

January 18, 2022

Harry Miller

Elimination would free up to 8,000 PCR tests a day, joint letter notes

Publishing date:

Jan 17, 2022 • 1 day ago • 1 minute read • 49 Comments

Travellers walk past a "Mandatory COVID-19 Testing" sign at Pearson International Airport during the COVID-19 pandemic of Toronto, Dec. 18, 2021. — Travellers walk past a “Mandatory COVID-19 Testing” sign at Pearson International Airport during the COVID-19 pandemic of Toronto, Dec. 18, 2021. Photo by Carlo Allegri /REUTERS

Canada should drop the requirement for mandatory PCR testing for airport arrivals, a joint letter by the chief medical officers of health for Air Canada, WestJet and Toronto Pearson airport says.

The elimination of this measure would free up to 8,000 PCR tests a day that could be used more effectively by schools, hospitals and long-term care (LTC) facilities, the letter says.

“As every person travelling to Canada must take a PCR test prior to getting on a plane inbound to Canada and must be fully vaccinated, there is no good public health rationale for a second test upon arrival,” the medical officers say. “We know that the primary concern for Omicron is in the community. By extension, the primary need for testing is in our community — not at our airports.”

The open letter was addressed to federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos, Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott, and both the federal and provincial chief medical officers of health.

The top health officials were asked for permission to revert to surveillance arrival testing of international air passengers.

Mandatory isolation of international arrivals should be required if the traveller is exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19 or tested positive on a surveillance test, but not of arrivals who are asymptomatic after receiving a negative pre-departure test to Canada, the letter says.

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“As the government has ramped up testing at airports for international arrivals, we have seen frontline workers struggle to get PCR tests and lab processing capacity decrease significantly,” the medical officers say. “In the most recent week of reported data, over 123,000 PCR tests were conducted at Canada’s airports with an average positivity rate of 3%.

“Meanwhile, the positivity rate in our communities is now approximately 30% and could be higher due to the underreporting of positivity from a lack of tests.”

aartuso@postmedia.com

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Cineplex reports $24.7M Q3 loss on Competition Tribunal penalty

Published

24 hours ago

November 6, 2024

Anne Joseph

TORONTO – Cineplex Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter compared with a profit a year ago as it was hit by a fine for deceptive marketing practices imposed by the Competition Tribunal.

The movie theatre company says it lost $24.7 million or 39 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with a profit of $29.7 million or 40 cents per diluted share a year earlier.

The results in the most recent quarter included a $39.2-million provision related to the Competition Tribunal decision, which Cineplex is appealing.

The Competition Bureau accused the company of misleading theatregoers by not immediately presenting them with the full price of a movie ticket when they purchased seats online, a view the company has rejected.

Revenue for the quarter totalled $395.6 million, down from $414.5 million in the same quarter last year, while theatre attendance totalled 13.3 million for the quarter compared with nearly 15.7 million a year earlier.

Box office revenue per patron in the quarter climbed to $13.19 compared with $12 in the same quarter last year, while concession revenue per patron amounted to $9.85, up from $8.44 a year ago.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:CGX)

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Restaurant Brands reports US$357M Q3 net income, down from US$364M a year ago

Published

2 days ago

November 5, 2024

Anne Joseph

TORONTO – Restaurant Brands International Inc. reported net income of US$357 million for its third quarter, down from US$364 million in the same quarter last year.

The company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, says its profit amounted to 79 cents US per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with 79 cents US per diluted share a year earlier.

Revenue for the parent company of Tim Hortons, Burger King, Popeyes and Firehouse Subs, totalled US$2.29 billion, up from US$1.84 billion in the same quarter last year.

Consolidated comparable sales were up 0.3 per cent.

On an adjusted basis, Restaurant Brands says it earned 93 cents US per diluted share in its latest quarter, up from an adjusted profit of 90 cents US per diluted share a year earlier.

The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 95 cents US per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:QSR)

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Electric and gas utility Fortis reports $420M Q3 profit, up from $394M a year ago

Published

2 days ago

November 5, 2024

Anne Joseph

ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Fortis Inc. reported a third-quarter profit of $420 million, up from $394 million in the same quarter last year.

The electric and gas utility says the profit amounted to 85 cents per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30, up from 81 cents per share a year earlier.

Fortis says the increase was driven by rate base growth across its utilities, and strong earnings in Arizona largely reflecting new customer rates at Tucson Electric Power.

Revenue in the quarter totalled $2.77 billion, up from $2.72 billion in the same quarter last year.

On an adjusted basis, Fortis says it earned 85 cents per share in its latest quarter, up from an adjusted profit of 84 cents per share in the third quarter of 2023.

The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 82 cents per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:FTS)

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