A representative for the Bank of Montreal (BMO) is speaking publicly for the first time since an 12-year-old Indigenous girl and her grandfather were handcuffed while trying to open an account at the institution.
The incident, which touched off allegations of racial profiling, took place on Dec. 20, and saw Bella Bella man Maxwell Johnson, 56, and his granddaughter handcuffed by Vancouver police, after bank staff were “unable to validate” their government-issued ID.
LISTEN: CKNW’s Lynda Steele speaks with BMO executive Erminia Johannson
Erminia Johannson, group head of North American personal banking and U.S. business banking, spoke with Global News and CKNW on Thursday, after the bank announced a new Indigenous Advisory Council.
“We made a mistake here. Let’s be very clear. I want to make sure that is understood,” said Johannson.
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“We are sad. We are broken ourselves in the sense of saying this should not have happened on our shift.”
But Johannson rejected the allegation that racism was in any way involved in the call to police reporting an alleged fraud.
“Our validation process identified a serious issue in the actual identification. This is where we should have stopped. I will keep repeating it and say our mistake was picking up the phone and calling the police,” she said.
“We set off a spark — I’ll use that language — that had unintended consequences that were extreme in this case. And we are heartfelt, sad, disappointed, embarrassed and apologetic on this situation.”
0:59 Attempt to open bank account ends in handcuffs for B.C. girl and grandfather
Attempt to open bank account ends in handcuffs for B.C. girl and grandfather
Johannson added BMO had conversations with “hundreds of Indigenous leaders, customers, employees” and conducted a review of what took place, and determined the incident “cannot be characterized” as racist.
Johnson told Global News that he provided Indian Status Cards, his own BMO bank card and a birth certificate, but that the teller told him “one or two numbers didn’t add up,” prior to the police being called.
Vancouver police have said they received a 911 call about a fraud in progress, identifying a South Asian man and 16-year-old girl as suspects.
Johannson did not answer directly when asked if there would be any repercussions for the employee or employees who phoned police, setting off the “spark.”
“Right now that employee is not in that branch as we speak,” she said.
“We’re all accountable for this. We’re taking action and we’re going to get this right.”
2:09 BMO demonstrators demand justice for B.C. Indigenous man and girl
BMO demonstrators demand justice for B.C. Indigenous man and girl
Johannson said the bank has apologized to Johnson, but added BMO will have to “meet, talk, and do more than an apology.”
She also pointed to the bank’s new Indigenous Advisory Council, which includes eight Indigenous leaders from across Canada, as a commitment to review and improve BMO’s policies and work towards reconciliation.
Johnson, a member of the Heiltsuk Nation, declined an interview with Global News to comment on Johannson’s remarks. Instead he referred to his lawyer, who also declined comment.
In a statement, the Heiltsuk Nation said the appointment of the new council is “marred” by BMO’s continued denial that the incident involved racial profiling.
“Denying racism will not move us forward. This moves us backwards,” the nation said, adding it has yet to hear from BMO or the Indigenous Advisory Council.
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“While today’s announcement would normally be a good first step, it’s hard to put weight on this advisory council because it has been assembled so quickly – it feels very much like a reactive gesture or public relations effort.”
The Heiltsuk Nation added Johnson would be commenting after the weekend.
Chief Patrick Michell of the Kanaka Bar Indian Band, the sole B.C. member of the new council, said he believes the body can have a positive effect.
“People are disappointed and angry about this and I don’t blame them. The Bank of Montreal has accepted responsibility for this and they’ve come up with a strategy moving forward,” he said.
“I’m looking at this incident, what happened — that’s yesterday. I’m more focused on making sure it doesn’t happen again tomorrow.”
1:56 Investigation ordered into handcuffing of grandfather and granddaughter
Investigation ordered into handcuffing of grandfather and granddaughter
Michell said he wasn’t sure when the council would start its work, but that the first priority would be looking at the bank’s policies and practices.
He also said there were no plans as of yet to speak with Johnson or his granddaughter, but that he was open to the idea.
Johnson has previously indicated that he may file a human rights complaint over the incident.
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British Columbia’s Office of the Police Complaints Commissioner has also ordered an investigation into the Vancouver police’s handling of the incident.
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.
