Wed, April 24, 2024 at 9:35 AM EDT
Business
‘Sad to see:’ Edmonton’s Chinatown losing business after killings, rise in crime
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EDMONTON — The 97 Hot Pot restaurant in Edmonton’s Chinatown used to be crowded on weekends, with some customers lining up and craving slow-cooked veggies, lamb and beef.
But that hasn’t been the case lately.
Manager Vincent Lau says the killings of two workers from nearby shops last monthand years of social disorder in the century-old downtown neighbourhood have scared away many regulars.
“Business has died down significantly in the last few weeks,” said Lau, who lives a 15-minute walk from the restaurant.
“Chinatown has been here for a long time, so it’s sad to see. Being able to have a safer area would welcome more guests and more citizens to this part of the city.”
Wen Wong, executive director of the Chinatown and Area Business Association, said the district in the McCauley neighbourhood has been deteriorating over the last 20 years.
The decline worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the oldest bakery in the community was burned to the ground and multiple other cases of arson and vandalism followed.
Edmonton police said there has been an increasing trend of violence, disorder, and property crime in areas including Chinatown, the downtown, and the transit system.
Wong said years ago, many Chinatown businesses stayed open late into the night to serve a busy clientele. Many close now by 6 p.m. and, during the day, operate with their doors locked so customers have to knock to get in.
“We surveyed our members and close to 100 per cent said Chinatown is extremely dangerous, especially at nighttime,” said Wong, adding he doesn’t walk outside at night.
Lau said the killing of Ban Phuc Hoang and Hung Trang a few blocks away from his restaurant has made it difficult to attract customers. Hoang was working inside his electronics store when he was attacked. Trang was found dead outside the autobody shop where he worked.
Lau said some of his larger male workers have been regularly walking servers out to their cars after shifts “because we’re scared of what might happen.”
Wong said addiction and mental health issues have worsened and more people have been in the area to access nearby social service centres.
Volunteers have been collecting as many as 300 needles a month in the community, which is just a few blocks from Edmonton’s safe drug consumption sites, he said.
“I don’t understand why and how safe injection sites and these centres were all placed near Chinatown,” Wong said.
“We have a lot of homeless who come in and they don’t want to leave,” Lau added.
“We have to call the police, which sometimes takes up to an hour. By that time, they have made a mess.”
Wong said he counted 150 businesses operating at the start of the pandemic and today there are about 120.
Children of many of the business owners tell their parents they don’t want to continue running their family shops because of how challenging it has become, he said.
“We are having less and less Chinese owners, because they are getting old. It’s hard for the Chinese community.”
Lau and Wong agree two solutions would help Chinatown become the colourful, tourist-friendly and vibrant neighbourhood it was once: more security and fewer social service centres in the area.
Mayor Amarjeet Sohi announced a plan last week to address crime. It includes $1 million to revitalize Chinatown, grants for businesses to upgrade their security, more public washrooms downtown and help for owners doing cleanup.
In the long term, the city plans to urge the province to stop releasing mental health patients and those released from provincial corrections facilities onto the streets. This, after questions have been raised about why the man charged with killing Hoang and Trang was dropped off in Edmonton by RCMP when a bail condition stated he could only be in the city for an addictions treatment program.
The city also wants to decentralize social services now concentrated near Chinatown over five years.
Edmonton police said it is also creating a strategy to increase community safety along with more officers in downtown areas.
Wong said 12 security officers in cars, on bikes and on foot have been patrolling the area from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., seven days a week since the funding was released. It will cover their costs for up to six months.
He’s not sure about what will happen after that.
“We hope we will see a big change for the better.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 18, 2022.
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This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Meta and Canadian Press News Fellowship.
Fakiha Baig, The Canadian Press
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Business
Oil Firms Doubtful Trans Mountain Pipeline Will Start Full Service by May 1st
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Oil companies planning to ship crude on the expanded Trans Mountain pipeline in Canada are concerned that the project may not begin full service on May 1 but they would be nevertheless obligated to pay tolls from that date.
In a letter to the Canada Energy Regulator (CER), Suncor Energy and other shippers including BP and Marathon Petroleum have expressed doubts that Trans Mountain will start full service on May 1, as previously communicated, Reuters reports.
Trans Mountain Corporation, the government-owned entity that completed the pipeline construction, told Reuters in an email that line fill on the expanded pipeline would be completed in early May.
After a series of delays, cost overruns, and legal challenges, the expanded Trans Mountain oil pipeline will open for business on May 1, the company said early this month.
“The Commencement Date for commercial operation of the expanded system will be May 1, 2024. Trans Mountain anticipates providing service for all contracted volumes in the month of May,” Trans Mountain Corporation said in early April.
The expanded pipeline will triple the capacity of the original pipeline to 890,000 barrels per day (bpd) from 300,000 bpd to carry crude from Alberta’s oil sands to British Columbia on the Pacific Coast.
The Federal Government of Canada bought the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion (TMX) from Kinder Morgan back in 2018, together with related pipeline and terminal assets. That cost the federal government $3.3 billion (C$4.5 billion) at the time. Since then, the costs for the expansion of the pipeline have quadrupled to nearly $23 billion (C$30.9 billion).
The expansion project has faced continuous delays over the years. In one of the latest roadblocks in December, the Canadian regulator denied a variance request from the project developer to move a small section of the pipeline due to challenging drilling conditions.
The company asked the regulator to reconsider its decision, and received on January 12 a conditional approval, avoiding what could have been another two-year delay to start-up.
Business
Tesla profits cut in half as demand falls
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Tesla profits slump by more than a half
Tesla has announced its profits fell sharply in the first three months of the year to $1.13bn (£910m), compared with $2.51bn in 2023.
It caps a difficult period for the electric vehicle (EV) maker, which – faced with falling sales – has announced thousands of job cuts.
Boss Elon Musk remains bullish about its prospects, telling investors the launch of new models would be brought forward.
Its share price has risen but analysts say it continues to face significant challenges, including from lower-cost rivals.
The company has suffered from falling demand and competition from cheaper Chinese imports which has led its stock price to collapse by 43% over 2024.
Figures for the first quarter of 2024 revealed revenues of $21.3bn, down on analysts’ predictions of just over $22bn.
But the decision by Tesla to bring forward the launch of new models from the second half of 2025 boosted its shares by nearly 12.5% in after-hours trading.
It did not reveal pricing details for the new vehicles.
However Mr Musk made clear he also grander ambitions, touting Tesla’s AI credentials and plans for self-driving vehicles – even going as far as to say considering it to be just a car company was the “wrong framework.”
“If somebody doesn’t believe Tesla is going to solve autonomy I think they should not be an investor,” he said.
Such sentiments have been questioned by analysts though, with Deutsche Bank saying driverless cars face “technological, regulatory and operational challenges.”
Some investors have called for the company to instead focus on releasing a lower price, mass-market EV.
However, Tesla has already been on a charm offensive, trying to win over new customers by dropping its prices in a series of markets in the face of falling sales.
It also said its situation was not unique.
“Global EV sales continue to be under pressure as many carmakers prioritize hybrids over EVs,” it said.
Despite plans to bring forward new models originally planned for next year the firm is cutting its workforce.
Tesla said it would lose 3,332 jobs in California and 2,688 positions in Texas, starting mid-June.
The cuts in Texas represent 12% of Tesla’s total workforce of almost 23,000 in the area where its gigafactory and headquarters are located.
However, Mr Musk sought to downplay the move.
“Tesla has now created over 30,000 manufacturing jobs in California!” he said in a post on his social media platform X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday.
Another 285 jobs will be lost in New York.
Tesla’s total workforce stood at more than 140,000 late last year, up from around 100,000 at the end of 2021, according to the company’s filings with US regulators.
Musk’s salary
The car firm is also facing other issues, with a struggle over Mr Musk’s compensation still raging on.
On Wednesday, Tesla asked shareholders to vote for a proposal to accept Mr Musk’s compensation package – once valued at $56bn – which had been rejected by a Delaware judge.
The judge found Tesla’s directors had breached their fiduciary duty to the firm by awarding Mr Musk the pay-out.
Due to the fall in Tesla’s stock value, the compensation package is now estimated to be around $10bn less – but still greater than the GDP of many countries.
In addition, Tesla wants its shareholders to agree to the firm being moved from Delaware to Texas – which Mr Musk called for after the judge rejected his payday.
Business
Stock market today: Nasdaq futures pop, Tesla surges after earnings with more heavyweights on deck
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Tech stocks rose on Wednesday, outstripping the broader market as investors welcomed Tesla’s (TSLA) cheaper car pledge and waited for the next rush of corporate earnings.
The Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) rose roughly 0.6%, coming off a sharp closing gain. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) was up 0.2%, continuing a rebound from its longest losing streak of 2024, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) fell 0.1%.
Tesla shares jumped nearly 12% after the EV maker’s vow to speed up the launch of more affordable models eclipsed its quarterly earnings and revenue miss. That cheered up investors worried about growth amid a strategy shift to robotaxis and the planned cancellation of a cheaper model.
The results from the first “Magnificent Seven” to report have intensified the already high hopes for Big Tech earnings, that the megacaps can revive the rally in stocks they powered. The spotlight is now on Meta’s (META) report due after the market close, as the Facebook owner’s shares rose after the Senate voted for a potential ban on rival TikTok. Microsoft (MSFT) and Alphabet (GOOG) next up on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Boeing (BA) reported better than expected first quarter results before the opening bell with a loss per share of $1.13, narrower than the $1.72 estimated by Wall Street. Shares rose about 2% in morning trade.
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