B.C. Premier John Horgan has told Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum to back down from attempting to stop ride-hailing companies from operating in the city.
“I think the way forward for Surrey and for Mr. McCallum is to listen to the citizens of his community who want to competition,” Horgan said.
“Not to destabilize and put people out of business but to provide a range of options for the travelling public.”
Speaking for the first time publicly since ride-hailing hit the road in British Columbia, Horgan said the rules are clear: municipalities cannot block companies from operating.
McCallum told reporters on Monday that by-law officers would be issuing fines of $500 to ride-hailing drivers picking up in the community. So far Uber is the only company that has decided to operate in Surrey.
The world’s largest ride-hailing company filed for an injunction with the Supreme Court of British Columbia on Tuesday to stop the City of Surrey from issuing what the company calls “illegal tickets.”
“The city’s actions are unfair to local residents who want to earn money and support their families. It is also unfair to those who need a safe, affordable and reliable ride,” Uber’s head of western Canada Michael van Hemmen said.
“Our preference is to work collaboratively with municipalities, and we are doing so across the region. However, Uber must stand up when drivers and riders are being bullied and intimidated, especially when the province has confirmed drivers have the legal right to use Uber’s app, and to earn money driving with the app.”
Uber says the injunction application is based on the fact Surrey does not have the authority to prevent ride-hailing companies from operating in the municipality and that McCallum has publicly stated that even if there was a Transportation Network Service business licence, which there is not, the city will not issue a business licence to a ridesharing company.
“Uber is hopeful that the city will immediately cease issuing illegal fines, and allow drivers to continue to provide safe, affordable, reliable rides to riders in Surrey without harassment, as the region collaboratively works on inter-municipal business licencing,” van Hemmen said.
The provincial government introduced legislation in 2019 allowing ride-hailing vehicles to operate. It took the Passenger Transportation Board (PTB) more than four months to review, and eventually approve, the applications of Lyft and Uber.
The two companies have been operating in Vancouver and at Vancouver International Airport since Friday.
“You want to make sure you are protecting the existing industry but not protecting it from competition,” Horgan said.
“This is a free market economy, people understand that. I understand the mayor of Surrey opposes that view. We believe the Passenger Transportation Board has done a very good job of balancing all of the interest of the travelling public as well as the existing industry.”
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.
