Utility companies are making headway in their efforts to restore power to hundreds of thousands of people across Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia and the Maritime provinces.
In many parts of the country, including Ontario and B.C., officials are urging motorists to avoid travel if possible as treacherous winter conditions continue.
Western and northern parts of Canada are facing another day of extremely cold temperatures, while in some places, rainfall will create flood risks due to the frozen ground.
260,000 without power in Ontario, Quebec
In Ontario, upwards of 60,000 customers were without power on Saturday, mostly in eastern and southern parts of the province, as well as north past Thunder Bay.
Hydro One crews had restored power to thousands of properties but were hampered by high winds, blowing snow and blizzard-like conditions which continue to cause outages. The utility company warned that some customers may face ongoing restoration delays.
The Ontario Provincial Police were urging people to stay off the roads if possible, after massive pileups and hundreds of other collisions on Friday amid icy road conditions with very low visibility.
A snowplow vehicle is towed amid a winter storm in Canfield, Ont., on Saturday. (Carlos Osorio/Reuters)
There were multiple closures along Highway 401 on Saturday, while many other highway sections throughout southern parts of the province remained closed. Keep up to date with the latest closures on the 511 Ontario website.
Fort Erie, at Ontario’s border with Buffalo, N.Y., declared a state of emergency Saturday afternoon. About 15,000 residents were without power, while flooding caused evacuations, and travellers and truck drivers were stranded near the Peace Bridge border crossing.
Chatham-Kent, in the province’s southwest, also declared a state of emergency after road conditions led to multiple crashes and left hundreds of people stranded. It was urging people to stay off the roads so plows and tow trucks could attempt to clear snow and abandoned vehicles.
Snow squalls, blizzard conditions continue in Ontario, Quebec
Gerald Cheng, meteorologist for Environment and Climate Change Canada, says motorists need to take extreme care on Saturday as conditions remain hazardous due to snow and strong winds.
In Quebec, more than 200,000 customers were without power on Saturday, with the Capitale-Nationale around Quebec City and Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean regions hit hard. Hydro-Québec said it was hopeful about conditions improving throughout the day as crews continued restoration work.
Highways around Montreal were blocked by multi-vehicle pileups on Saturday. Across the province, roads were covered in ice and snow, with zero visibility in some places.
Environment Canada is warning blizzards, strong winds and other stormy weather in parts of Ontario and Quebec will likely continue into Christmas.
Most flights and ferries resumed service on Saturday, although some delays have been reported, according to Vancouver airport officials and B.C. Ferries.
Crews will continue to work throughout the day to repair damage caused by the latest <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/BCStorm?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#BCStorm</a> to restore impacted customers in the <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/LowerMainland?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#LowerMainland</a> & <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/FraserValley?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#FraserValley</a>. We’ll share updates, including estimated restoration times once available, on our site: <a href=”https://t.co/pNqTY0TNLv”>https://t.co/pNqTY0TNLv</a> <a href=”https://t.co/KJnL5YxKbX”>pic.twitter.com/KJnL5YxKbX</a>
However, there are now rainfall warnings for most of Vancouver Island, Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. And the provincial River Forecast Centre issued a flood watch for the Lower Mainland and Central, West, and South Vancouver Island, including Victoria, on Saturday.
Travel advisories remain in place for many provincial highways, urging motorists to take only essential trips. DriveBC said people on Highway 3, in particular, should be prepared for avalanche risk and road closures. The Sea to Sky Highway, north of Vancouver, was closed as of 11:30 a.m. due to multiple crashes.
Power outages in Atlantic Canada
Tens of thousands of people were without power in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island on Saturday, but crews managed to restore electricity to several thousand customers throughout the morning.
More than 9,000 customers in Nova Scotia were without power on Saturday. High winds, rain and storm surges were expected to hit Cape Breton throughout the day.
The storm surge at high tide had water washing over the boardwalk at MacCormacks Beach in Eastern Passage, N.S., on Saturday morning. (François Pierre Dufault/Radio-Canada)
In New Brunswick, more than 20,000 customers were without power on Saturday, and N.B. Power warned some might have to spend Christmas without electricity. Environment Canada has issued a storm surge warning in the Bay of Chaleur from Miscou Island to Campbellton, where coastal flooding, beach erosion, minor infrastructure damage and coastal road washouts are expected.
In P.E.I., strong winds were easing on Saturday. Flights at Charlottetown Airport have resumed, and the Confederation Bridge, which was closed to all traffic Friday night due to high winds, has reopened. Maritime Electric crews were working to restore power to about 2,000 properties and hoped to have them all reconnected by the end of Saturday.
Newfoundland and Labrador escaped the brunt of the winter storm, but parts of the province are expected to face heavy downpours, strong winds and storm surges throughout Saturday.
Travel troubles continue
U.S.-bound border crossings at Niagara Falls (the Lewiston/Queenston, Rainbow and Peace bridges) were closed, according to the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission. Vehicles were still able to enter Canada at those border crossings. Current border wait times are posted on the Canada Border Services Agency website.
Hundreds of passengers were stranded on Via Rail trains on the Quebec City-Windsor corridor from Friday night into Saturday morning. In a statement, Via Rail told CBC News that power outages and fallen trees made it impossible to move some of the trains.
The rail operator said it was trying to keep stuck passengers comfortable while it searched for alternative transport, and it promised them full refunds. More rail delays were expected on Saturday.
Passengers trapped on Via Rail trains running between Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto
Hundreds of passengers have been trapped on VIA Rail trains running between Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto. Kelly Crowe, who is stranded on a Via Rail train, talks about the ongoing situation.
In a tweet, federal Transport Minister Omar Alghabra called the Via Rail situation “unacceptable” and said the government was in contact with the rail operator “to resolve all issues safely and efficiently.”
A CN train derailed near Grafton, Ont., and was blocking a rail crossing. It was not immediately clear if bad weather was responsible. CN said the cause was under investigation and that the crossing was likely to remain closed for at least 24 hours.
At Vancouver International Airport, arrivals and departures were returning to normal after two storms caused major disruptions this week. However, the airport warned passengers that their flight schedules could change and to check the latest flight information with their airline.
To Canadians affected by winter weather across the country — please stay safe. Crews are working hard to clear roads, restore power, and bring services back online. Let’s check in on our friends and neighbours to ask how they’re doing and see if they need anything.
“We’re almost back to a full schedule. Some cancellations are coming through because of weather events in other parts of the country, other parts of the continent,” the airport’s CEO, Tamara Vrooman, told journalists on Saturday.
WestJet’s operations resumed at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport on Saturday morning, as well as at Vancouver’s airport on Friday night, but dozens of Saturday flights were cancelled. The airline was dealing with a backlog of luggage in Calgary due to cancelled flights but was ramping up delivery services to reunite bags with their owners.
Elsewhere in Canada
The weather continues to be frigid in parts of Yukon, Northwest Territories, northern B.C. and the Prairies, with temperatures in the –40s or –50s C, depending on the region.
If your home is without power, do not use outdoor heating equipment indoors, like fuel-burning heaters, lights, generators or portable stoves, as these can cause asphyxiation or carbon monoxide poisoning if used inside.
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
