On Thursday, indoor social gatherings will again be allowed, large outdoor gatherings can take place and some businesses, such as live music venues and nightclubs, will be able to reopen their doors. There will no longer be capacity limits.
ATU Local 569 President Steve Bradshaw said there are still some questions about whether those masking rules apply to transit centres and other transit properties, but he is on board with the targeted public health measure.
“It’s become clear to us that masks are probably the second-most effective barrier to transmission of the virus, behind only vaccinations,” he said.
Bradshaw said operators have never been tasked with mask enforcement, saying that is a matter for peace and bylaw officers.
COVID-19 case numbers have plummeted in the province in recent weeks, thanks in large part to vaccinations.
Dr. Sean van Diepen, a professor of critical care medicine at the University of Alberta, said case numbers and hospitalization numbers are “really encouraging right now.”
“The clear downturn in the number of cases has really lowered the risk for transmission within the community, so I think it’s a really good time to start moving back on some of the health-care measures,” he said, adding it would be important to be nimble and reinstitute measures if more cases of the Delta or Delta Plus variant are identified.
Van Diepen had two pieces of advice for Albertans as they prepare for reopening: don’t be lulled into a sense of security because of the low numbers if you only have one dose of vaccine, and do what you can to minimize your risk.
“Little things like continuing masking in the indoors if possible, especially with people who may be at intermediate or higher risk of the COVID(-19) variant. I’m going to continue to wear a mask indoors and people can make that decision.”
He said his family is slowly adapting to the new normal, meeting with friends in small groups outside instead of having indoor gatherings and not travelling outside of the city just yet.
Alberta Health Services said a number of COVID-19 units in the Edmonton have closed and been returned to their original use.
Dr. Neeja Bakshi, a COVID-19 unit physician at Edmonton’s Royal Alexandra Hospital, said the unit there will be shutting down in the coming days.
“We wanted to make sure we were maximizing the space for all patients that were coming in,” she said.
“There’s a little bit of apprehension, but I do think that with vaccination rates and where we’re going right now, it is the right move.”
However, Bakshi said she is concerned about the removal of the mask mandate.
“We don’t have everybody vaccinated yet and we know even with the second dose of vaccine, you require two weeks before you’re considered fully immunized,” she said.
“We don’t know who’s vaccinated. We don’t know who could potentially be carrying the variant.”
Bakshi recommends Albertans do a point-of-care assessment to determine what they are comfortable with as the province reopens.
“I’m hopeful most Albertans will continue to do things that seem common sense: washing your hands all the time, wearing a mask in a crowded place – I still think that’s a really good thing as we saw we didn’t have any influenza in the fall (and) we had really low rates of respiratory illnesses in children, and masking was the thing that helped with that,” she said.
“I think as we move into this next phase and turn to reopening, everybody is going to go at their own pace.”
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.
