TORONTO —
Anti-pipeline protests that have derailed vital freight movement in eastern Ontario and passenger rail travel across Canada are continuing Friday, with the added threat of activists planning to shut down government offices in British Columbia’s capital.
Meetings are scheduled between Indigenous leaders and federal ministers who are looking to negotiate an end to the rail blockades in eastern Ontario and B.C., while business leaders and opposition are calling for immediate action to end the disruptions, which have already seen dozens of arrests.
The protests began last week after the RCMP enforced a court injunction against Indigenous leaders and their supporters who had been halting construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline project, a major piece of a $40-billion LNG Canada liquefied natural gas export project on the B.C. coast.
The 670-kilometre pipeline crosses the traditional territories of the Wet’suwet’en First Nation.
Indigenous leaders in B.C.’s northwest have invited federal and B.C. politicians to meetings, while following through on a promise to ensure a blockade of CN Rail tracks near New Hazelton, B.C. would come down during talks.
The blockade had been in place since Saturday, preventing shipments to the Port of Prince Rupert.
Gitxsan hereditary chief Norm Stephens says the blockade could go back up if the province doesn’t agree to cancel Coastal GasLink’s pipeline permit during the scheduled talks.
Demonstrators who are blocking tracks near Belleville, Ont., a critical corridor linking Montreal and Ottawa with Toronto, say they’re standing with those opposed to the pipeline.
A court injunction has been granted in Ontario that gives the OPP authority to clear the protesters, but as yet no enforcement action has been taken.
Canadian National Railway said Thursday it was starting a progressive shutdown in its eastern freight network due to the blockade, while Via Rail cancelled all service on CN tracks in Canada.
Only two northern Via routes – Sudbury-White River and Churchill-The Pas – will remain open.
Passengers with bookings will receive automatic refunds, and the company will not accept any new bookings before Feb. 21.
In addition to being a major inconvenience to passengers, the disruptions will cause a huge economic hit. The shutdown by CN is largely seen as a move to pressure Ottawa to take action.
While Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the rule of law must be followed and federal Transport Minister Marc Garneau has previously called the blockades “illegal,” the federal government has largely taken a hands-off approach, saying enforcing injunctions against protesters is a provincial responsibility.
Garneau is expected to meet Friday with his provincial and territorial counterparts as well as representatives of national Indigenous organizations to discuss a way forward. He is scheduled to speak at a press conference at 10 a.m.
Meanwhile, the B.C. Supreme Court granted an injunction Thursday that authorizes police to arrest and remove people participating in any further blockades at the legislature building in Victoria. Hundreds of people blocked the entrances to the legislature earlier this week in support of pipeline protests.
There are signs the protests are intensifying.
Hundreds of people marched in an anti-pipeline protest late Thursday afternoon through downtown Saskatoon and as the New Hazelton blockade was coming down, another was going up near the Pitt River bridge in Coquitlam. As a result, B.C.’s TransLink announced Friday morning that the West Coast Express service will not run, and will be replaced by buses.
Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister is demanding that Ottawa provide clarity on future resource development applications, saying the rail blockades show there needs to be a better process.
Pallister made the remarks after an anti-pipeline blockade of a major rail line west of Winnipeg came down. Activists have promised that more protests are coming.
As the turmoil continues, TC Energy, which is building the $6.2-billion pipeline that will take liquefied natural gas from northeastern B.C. to an export terminal now under construction in Kitimat, is proceeding with work at more than 30 sites.
The economic impact of the rail disruption has yet to be fully felt.
CN says the halt may lead to temporary layoffs for eastern Canadian staff and the Teamsters Union, which represents 16,000 works in the rail industry, warns that 6,000 works could be affected.
CN moves $250 billion a year in goods and the shutdown will affect a variety of products, including propane, jet fuel and de-icing chemicals, chlorine for drinking water, and aluminum and lumber needed in the construction industry.
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese technology group SoftBank swung back to profitability in the July-September quarter, boosted by positive results in its Vision Fund investments.
Tokyo-based SoftBank Group Corp. reported Tuesday a fiscal second quarter profit of nearly 1.18 trillion yen ($7.7 billion), compared with a 931 billion yen loss in the year-earlier period.
Quarterly sales edged up about 6% to nearly 1.77 trillion yen ($11.5 billion).
SoftBank credited income from royalties and licensing related to its holdings in Arm, a computer chip-designing company, whose business spans smartphones, data centers, networking equipment, automotive, consumer electronic devices, and AI applications.
The results were also helped by the absence of losses related to SoftBank’s investment in office-space sharing venture WeWork, which hit the previous fiscal year.
WeWork, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2023, emerged from Chapter 11 in June.
SoftBank has benefitted in recent months from rising share prices in some investment, such as U.S.-based e-commerce company Coupang, Chinese mobility provider DiDi Global and Bytedance, the Chinese developer of TikTok.
SoftBank’s financial results tend to swing wildly, partly because of its sprawling investment portfolio that includes search engine Yahoo, Chinese retailer Alibaba, and artificial intelligence company Nvidia.
SoftBank makes investments in a variety of companies that it groups together in a series of Vision Funds.
The company’s founder, Masayoshi Son, is a pioneer in technology investment in Japan. SoftBank Group does not give earnings forecasts.
Shopify Inc. executives brushed off concerns that incoming U.S. President Donald Trump will be a major detriment to many of the company’s merchants.
“There’s nothing in what we’ve heard from Trump, nor would there have been anything from (Democratic candidate) Kamala (Harris), which we think impacts the overall state of new business formation and entrepreneurship,” Shopify’s chief financial officer Jeff Hoffmeister told analysts on a call Tuesday.
“We still feel really good about all the merchants out there, all the entrepreneurs that want to start new businesses and that’s obviously not going to change with the administration.”
Hoffmeister’s comments come a week after Trump, a Republican businessman, trounced Harris in an election that will soon return him to the Oval Office.
On the campaign trail, he threatened to impose tariffs of 60 per cent on imports from China and roughly 10 per cent to 20 per cent on goods from all other countries.
If the president-elect makes good on the promise, many worry the cost of operating will soar for companies, including customers of Shopify, which sells e-commerce software to small businesses but also brands as big as Kylie Cosmetics and Victoria’s Secret.
These merchants may feel they have no choice but to pass on the increases to customers, perhaps sparking more inflation.
If Trump’s tariffs do come to fruition, Shopify’s president Harley Finkelstein pointed out China is “not a huge area” for Shopify.
However, “we can’t anticipate what every presidential administration is going to do,” he cautioned.
He likened the uncertainty facing the business community to the COVID-19 pandemic where Shopify had to help companies migrate online.
“Our job is no matter what comes the way of our merchants, we provide them with tools and service and support for them to navigate it really well,” he said.
Finkelstein was questioned about the forthcoming U.S. leadership change on a call meant to delve into Shopify’s latest earnings, which sent shares soaring 27 per cent to $158.63 shortly after Tuesday’s market open.
The Ottawa-based company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, reported US$828 million in net income for its third quarter, up from US$718 million in the same quarter last year, as its revenue rose 26 per cent.
Revenue for the period ended Sept. 30 totalled US$2.16 billion, up from US$1.71 billion a year earlier.
Subscription solutions revenue reached US$610 million, up from US$486 million in the same quarter last year.
Merchant solutions revenue amounted to US$1.55 billion, up from US$1.23 billion.
Shopify’s net income excluding the impact of equity investments totalled US$344 million for the quarter, up from US$173 million in the same quarter last year.
Daniel Chan, a TD Cowen analyst, said the results show Shopify has a leadership position in the e-commerce world and “a continued ability to gain market share.”
In its outlook for its fourth quarter of 2024, the company said it expects revenue to grow at a mid-to-high-twenties percentage rate on a year-over-year basis.
“Q4 guidance suggests Shopify will finish the year strong, with better-than-expected revenue growth and operating margin,” Chan pointed out in a note to investors.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
TORONTO – RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust says it has cut almost 10 per cent of its staff as it deals with a slowdown in the condo market and overall pushes for greater efficiency.
The company says the cuts, which amount to around 60 employees based on its last annual filing, will mean about $9 million in restructuring charges and should translate to about $8 million in annualized cash savings.
The job cuts come as RioCan and others scale back condo development plans as the market softens, but chief executive Jonathan Gitlin says the reductions were from a companywide efficiency effort.
RioCan says it doesn’t plan to start any new construction of mixed-use properties this year and well into 2025 as it adjusts to the shifting market demand.
The company reported a net income of $96.9 million in the third quarter, up from a loss of $73.5 million last year, as it saw a $159 million boost from a favourable change in the fair value of investment properties.
RioCan reported what it says is a record-breaking 97.8 per cent occupancy rate in the quarter including retail committed occupancy of 98.6 per cent.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
