After 10-plus years as a loyal WestJet traveller, Jennifer Hewitt says she is swearing off the Canadian airline after a series of unforeseen flight cancellations left her and her husband still stranded in Jamaica.

“(I’m) very frustrated. I said, ‘I’m not coming back to Jamaica for a while, and if I’m flying, it won’t be WestJet,'” Hewitt said in a phone interview with CTVNews.ca.

Hewitt, 64, flew to the Caribbean island on June 17 to visit friends and family for vacation and was scheduled to return home to Ajax, Ont., on June 29.

“I did not get a cancellation notice from WestJet, so we came (to the airport in Montego Bay),” Hewitt said.

She dropped off her rental car before making her way inside Sangster International Airport, where she said she learned at the WestJet travel desk that her flight home had been cancelled due to the strike by the airline mechanics union. Though the job action ended Sunday, the disruption cancelled more than 1,100 flights and impacted more than 100,000 travellers.

“Unfortunately, as July long weekend is a peak travel period across Canada, limited availability exists both within our network and through alternative carriers, making options for accommodation extremely challenging,” WestJet said in a service update after the strike averted.

For Hewitt, she said she was rescheduled for a departure on Tuesday with American Airlines, which included a seven-hour layover in Miami, Fla. When she returned to the airport for her flight, Hewitt said it was cancelled outright for yet another reason out of the airline’s control: Hurricane Beryl.

The storm developed rapidly into a Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic, but by early Thursday, it reduced to Category 3, though it remains a major hurricane in the area.

According to Hewitt, at the time of Thursday’s interview, Montego Bay is “nice and sunny, as though nothing ever happened.”

“The only thing is that we have no water, we have no light,” she added.

Beryl grounded WestJet flights in Cancun, Montego Bay and Kingston, with flights suspended until at least this Friday. Sangster International Airport said it will temporarily shutter due to the storm, remaining closed Wednesday. Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston and Ian Fleming International Airport in Ocho Rios are also temporarily closed, but have all since reopened, according to the country’s tourism board.

Hewitt and her husband were scheduled on an Air Transat flight Thursday, but due to the airport closures, have been rescheduled to fly out with the airline Friday at around 5:45 p.m.

Each time her flight was cancelled, Hewitt says she was never notified by WestJet – who she says booked all of her subsequent trips – of the flight disruption ahead of time. Additionally, she says it’s been difficult to get a hold of them on the phone.

Each time her flights were cancelled, Hewitt says WestJet never warned her of any disruptions ahead of time – despite being the ones who booked the flights.

“I’m blaming WestJet because we originally booked with them … they’re not even communicating with us, and I tried to call WestJet several times from where I was staying and no, it’s always busy,” Hewitt said. “One time I got through, and I spent three hours on the phone only to get cut off.”

Passengers wait as flights continue to be delayed or outright cancelled at Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay, Jamaica on July 4, 2024. (Jennifer Hewitt)

In a statement to CTVNews.ca, WestJet apologized to all travellers impacted by the mechanics strike on June 28.

“Our teams across WestJet are working diligently to support all impacted guests as quickly as possible,” the emailed statement reads.

The Calgary-based airline added it has been in compliance with the Air Passenger Protection Regulations, with regards to providing alternate travel arrangements to fliers within 48 hours of the flight cancellation.

“If this is not possible, guests are entitled to request a refund to their original form of payment,” the airline said.

The whole ordeal has set Hewitt back financially, particularly with the number of taxi rides she has taken to and from Montego Bay’s airport in hopes of boarding her return flight home. Since she no longer had access to a rental car, she said she paid about $50 in taxi fare to make it back to her relatives – a fare she can no longer afford.

“The taxi, I got to know him, so he’ll wait until I go back to Toronto and send him his money. I haven’t been paying him because I have no money,” Hewitt explained, pointing to the unexpected days off work and the need to pay her bills as part of the reason she cannot currently afford the fare.

Hewitt hopes WestJet will be able to cover the costs that she has incurred during her imposed extended stay in Jamaica.

“I’m just so upset with WestJet because of the way they treated me,” Hewitt said. “(P)eople came on Monday and the airline wasn’t flying, but then they got to go on Tuesday, and I’m like, ‘We’ve been here since Saturday. Why aren’t we going?'”

Travel advisories in place

Fliers are advised to avoid all non-essential travel to Jamaica due to Hurricane Beryl, according to an advisory last updated shortly after noon on July 4. Global Affairs Canada is also urging Canadians to avoid all travel to Haiti and non-essential travel to Union Island in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Carriacou and Petite Martinique in Grenada, and to the east coast of Yucatan Peninsula from Cabo Catoche to Chetumal, including Cozumel, as a result of the storm.

A global affairs spokesperson told CTVNews.ca that there are 1,857 registered Canadians in Jamaica and 10,000 in Mexico.

Alberta native Alecia Repp, who has been living in Playa del Carmen for five years, told CTVNews.ca how Beryl is impacting the area and how it compares to other storms.

“I’ve been through a few hurricanes in this area before, and those ones were actually worse than this,” she said. “Having had those experiences, I’m a little bit more relaxed.”

Repp adds that businesses have boarded up their storefronts and residents have taped over their windows, and all indoor furniture has been brought inside. She said she has stocked up on all her favourite food, water and other essentials to weather the storm.

“I think the main thing that I’ve learned is just not to panic, and if you stay calm and prepare yourself like we’ve been preparing for a few days now, it won’t be that bad,” Repp said.

To Canadians abroad still attempting to return home, Global Affairs Canada advises staying up to date with travel advisories, signing up for the Canadians Abroad service, communicating with family and friends about the situation and staying up-to-date on local news for the latest forecasts.

With files from Sarah Plowman and The Associated Press 

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The Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) says it is reopening five retail locations for one day next week to allow bar and restaurant owners to buy alcohol amid a strike by thousands of its employees.

On Friday, the Crown corporation informed its wholesale customers that it will open five LCBO retail stores in unspecified key locations on July 10 to facilitate licensee in-store shopping by appointment.

“We appreciate the unique needs of bars and restaurants that may not have been able to stock up in advance or place larger orders,” the LCBO said in a statement.

The Crown corporation added that there is also an option to ship smaller orders to licensees free of charge. The LCBO noted that wholesale customers can use a separate online ordering system.

“We have a contingency plan in place and the LCBO is continuing to receive and fulfill wholesale orders,” the Crown corporation said.

Jasveen Rattan, the director of policy and government relations with Ontario Restaurant Hotel & Motel Association, welcomed LCBO’s move to open five stores next week.

“It’s really critical for the business operations of restaurants, hotels, and bars that operate. And we’ve provided our concerns, and they have listened,” Rattan said in an interview with CP24 on Friday afternoon.

“We’re happy to hear that there are contingency plans in place. However, we’ll see what happens as they unfold. I mean, the reality is that business isn’t gonna be as normal. Everything is going to be changed, and operators are gonna have to adjust during this period of time.”

All LCBO stores are closed for two weeks after more than 9,000 employees represented by the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) walked off the job on Friday for the first time.

The union has said that the main point of contention at the bargaining table is the Ford government’s expansion of alcohol sales to grocery stores and convenience stores, especially increased access to ready-to-drink cocktails.

OPSEU is worried that the expansion could threaten the future of the LCBO and lead to job losses.

Meanwhile, the government said it was “more committed than ever” to expand alcohol access to more stores later this summer.

The LCBO said it was disappointed that the union initiated a strike. On Thursday, before the strike deadline, the Crown corporation released details of its most recent offer, which it said met some of the union’s demands, including wage increases and more full-time jobs.

“We remain hopeful that we can quickly reach an agreement that is fair to our employees, while enabling the LCBO’s continued success in a changing marketplace,” the Crown corporation said.

If a deal hasn’t been reached by July 19, the LCBO said it will just reopen 32 stores for in-store shopping, operating three days a week with limited hours.

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The Canadian telecommunications industry wants stiffer penalties for copper wire thieves, who they say are repeatedly causing outages that can leave thousands of customers without service when they cut the wire off telephone poles to sell for scrap metal.

The number of incidents grew by about 200 per cent annually from 2021 to 2023, according to estimates from the Canadian Telecommunications Association. It says the service interruptions can become a matter of public safety when customers can’t use their phones to call 911.

“It’s not a victimless crime,” said Eric Smith, senior vice-president of the Canadian Telecommunications Association.

Copper wire is typically used in traditional telephone and DSL internet lines, but thieves have been known to remove everything off a utility pole, including fibre-optic cables.

“It’s a bit of a life safety issue [for thieves] as well,” said Brian Lakey, vice-president of the Telus Reliability Centre of Excellence and co-chair of the Canadian Telecom Network Resiliency Working Group.

“They cut everything, so they may cut through copper, they may cut through fibre, they may cut through power lines, and if they cut through power lines, they may get electrocuted.”

A problem everywhere

Outside of the industry, it can be hard to get national numbers about copper theft. The RCMP doesn’t track this crime specifically, but according to the latest available data from Statistics Canada, metal theft (which includes copper wire, along with other things like manhole covers) grew 56 per cent between 2018 and 2022.

It’s not just a problem in Canada. Last month, a bridge in Los Angeles went completely dark after people stripped it of wiring, and copper theft has become a major source of damages and delays for Europe’s railway operators.

The growing concern around copper wire theft has coincided with a steep climb in the price of the commodity, which reached $11,000 US a ton this spring.

Copper is used in low-carbon technologies like electric cars and generators. It’s become increasingly sought-after as countries seek to lower carbon emissions, though supply hasn’t been enough to meet demand.

“For those reasons, copper has been at very high historical levels,” said Bart Melek, global head of commodity strategy with TD Securities. He said there’s recently been a decline in prices, but the commodity’s long-term outlook is strong.

Stopping theft

Perspectives vary on the best way to crack down on copper theft.

Right now, thieves in Canada can face up to 10 years in prison if the value of the material they steal or disrupt is more than $5,000.

Smith said “most people” who steal copper end up getting charged with theft under $5,000, which he doesn’t believe is enough of a deterrent.

“We’re asking for stiffer penalties,” said Smith.

There are other ideas, too. Bell has tried taking its fight against copper theft to the civil system, launching lawsuits against alleged thieves.

Some provinces, such as Alberta and B.C., have brought in their own legislation to crack down on copper theft, requiring sellers to use government ID in order to sell at scrap metal yards.

Dov Dimant, owner of Vancouver’s Capital Salvage, thinks that requirement has likely helped a bit, though it isn’t foolproof.

“Generally, thieves aren’t going to have current ID, so by insisting that everyone has ID, that eliminates a lot of people that can’t get their act in order,” said Dimant.

He’s less sure if ramping up penalties will make much of a difference. Dimant said the reason people risk their safety to rip out copper wire is that they’re desperate, and he thinks they either wouldn’t care about the risk of greater punishment or would simply move on to stealing something else.

“Attacking the theft issue of metal is kind of a Band-Aid solution to a larger problem,” said Dimant.

“The deeper problems, in my opinion, are drug addiction and mental health … so until we start combatting the roots of the problem, people are going to be stealing it.”

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