Ontario commuters scrambled to make last-minute changes to their travel plans on Sunday as protesters continued their blockade of two crucial VIA Rail routes, part of a demonstration against a natural gas pipeline being built more than 4,000 kilometres away.
VIA Rail said 18 of its trains were cancelled Sunday, affecting service between Toronto and Montreal, as well as Toronto and Ottawa in both directions. Canadian National Railway traffic was also blocked along the corridor east of Toronto.
The blockade in Tyendinaga Mohawk territory took over the tracks Thursday night in solidarity with demonstrators in northwest B.C., where Indigenous people and supporters are protesting the construction of a pipeline that crosses Wet’suwet’en territory. The Ontario protest, which began Thursday, is based where a road intersects with rail tracks about 20 kilometres east of Belleville and 60 kilometres west of Kingston.
RCMP officers there have been arresting people for breaching a court injunction related to opposition to the 670-kilometre Coastal GasLink pipeline.
VIA on Sunday said service on the two critical routes would not continue “until the issue is resolved,” according to a public statement. It said ticket holders would be automatically reimbursed for cancelled trips.
CN says it has been granted an injunction order to remove protesters from the site near Belleville.
First Nations members of the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory block train tracks servicing Via Rail, as part of a protest against British Columbia’s Coastal GasLink pipeline, in Belleville, Ontario, Canada February 8, 2020.
Alex Filipe /
Reuters
Delayed commuters on Sunday complained of the cancellations, with some expressing frustrations over missed family events or cancelled trips to return home for the work week.
“I tried to go see my boyfriend who I haven’t seen in over a month,” said one Twitter user. “I heard stories while getting my refund at Union (Station) of a woman missing a wedding, a family missing a funeral …”
Ontario Provincial Police say they’re continuing to monitor the demonstration.
On Saturday, more protesters in Toronto disrupted Canadian Pacific Railway traffic downtown and momentarily blocked GO Transit trains on the Barrie line.
Photos from the protest site from Thursday night on social media showed a large dump truck equipped with a plough blocking tracks at a rail crossing. The distinctive red-backed flag of the Mohawk Warrior Society had been affixed to the top of a long, upright crossing barrier and a hand-painted sign read: “#RCMP get out.”
By Friday, the vehicles were not on the tracks but had been pulled back to the tracks’ edge. There was a report of a sofa being on the tracks Friday morning.
Facebook messages associated with the protest said the tracks will reopen when the RCMP leave Wet’suwet’en territory.
First Nations members of the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory block train tracks servicing Via Rail, as part of a protest against British Columbia’s Coastal GasLink pipeline, in Belleville, Ontario, Canada February 8, 2020.
Alex Filipe /
Reuters
In a Friday report by the National Post, Chief Donald Maracle of the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte said he has had no communication with the protesters. The protest is an action by individuals in the community and is not a band council action or stemming from a council decision, he said.
A second request for comment from Maracle was not answered on Sunday.
The Coastal GasLink pipeline feeds into a $36-billion liquefied natural gas project that was approved by Prime Minster Justin Trudeau at the end of 2018. TC Energy, the Calgary-based company building the pipeline, has signed benefit agreements with the roughly 20 First Nations who reside along the route.
The project has received broad consent from Indigenous communities, including elected Wet’suwet’en officials, but hereditary chiefs have strongly opposed its development.
With files from Adrian Humphreys, National Post, and The Canadian Press
CALGARY – TC Energy Corp. has lowered the estimated cost of its Southeast Gateway pipeline project in Mexico.
It says it now expects the project to cost between US$3.9 billion and US$4.1 billion compared with its original estimate of US$4.5 billion.
The change came as the company reported a third-quarter profit attributable to common shareholders of C$1.46 billion or $1.40 per share compared with a loss of C$197 million or 19 cents per share in the same quarter last year.
Revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 30 totalled C$4.08 billion, up from C$3.94 billion in the third quarter of 2023.
TC Energy says its comparable earnings for its latest quarter amounted to C$1.03 per share compared with C$1.00 per share a year earlier.
The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 95 cents per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
BCE Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter as it recorded $2.11 billion in asset impairment charges, mainly related to Bell Media’s TV and radio properties.
The company says its net loss attributable to common shareholders amounted to $1.24 billion or $1.36 per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with a profit of $640 million or 70 cents per share a year earlier.
On an adjusted basis, BCE says it earned 75 cents per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of 81 cents per share in the same quarter last year.
“Bell’s results for the third quarter demonstrate that we are disciplined in our pursuit of profitable growth in an intensely competitive environment,” BCE chief executive Mirko Bibic said in a statement.
“Our focus this quarter, and throughout 2024, has been to attract higher-margin subscribers and reduce costs to help offset short-term revenue impacts from sustained competitive pricing pressures, slow economic growth and a media advertising market that is in transition.”
Operating revenue for the quarter totalled $5.97 billion, down from $6.08 billion in its third quarter of 2023.
BCE also said it now expects its revenue for 2024 to fall about 1.5 per cent compared with earlier guidance for an increase of zero to four per cent.
The company says the change comes as it faces lower-than-anticipated wireless product revenue and sustained pressure on wireless prices.
BCE added 33,111 net postpaid mobile phone subscribers, down 76.8 per cent from the same period last year, which was the company’s second-best performance on the metric since 2010.
It says the drop was driven by higher customer churn — a measure of subscribers who cancelled their service — amid greater competitive activity and promotional offer intensity. BCE’s monthly churn rate for the category was 1.28 per cent, up from 1.1 per cent during its previous third quarter.
The company also saw 11.6 per cent fewer gross subscriber activations “due to more targeted promotional offers and mobile device discounting compared to last year.”
Bell’s wireless mobile phone average revenue per user was $58.26, down 3.4 per cent from $60.28 in the third quarter of the prior year.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada Goose Holdings Inc. trimmed its financial guidance as it reported its second-quarter revenue fell compared with a year ago.
The luxury clothing company says revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 29 totalled $267.8 million, down from $281.1 million in the same quarter last year.
Net income attributable to shareholders amounted to $5.4 million or six cents per diluted share, up from $3.9 million or four cents per diluted share a year earlier.
On an adjusted basis, Canada Goose says it earned five cents per diluted share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of 16 cents per diluted share a year earlier.
In its outlook, Canada Goose says it now expects total revenue for its full financial year to show a low-single-digit percentage decrease to low-single-digit percentage increase compared with earlier guidance for a low-single-digit increase.
It also says it now expects its adjusted net income per diluted share to show a mid-single-digit percentage increase compared with earlier guidance for a percentage increase in the mid-teens.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
