Her daughter is only 14. But Air Canada still left her to fend for herself at the airport
Diomerys O’Leary wants Air Canada to change its policies after the airline cancelled Eva’s flight and left the unaccompanied girl in Toronto’s airport, without food or a place to sleep. (Ted Dillon/CBC)
Diomerys O’Leary was already nervous about letting her daughter fly alone, but she never imagined Air Canada would abandon the girl in Canada’s biggest airport after cancelling the last leg of her trip home.
An email on Jan. 18 notified O’Leary that her daughter Eva’s flight from Toronto’s Pearson International Airport to St. John’s was cancelled due to a labour disruption at the Newfoundland and Labrador airport, and rescheduled for two days later.
Then came the flood of texts from her panicked daughter, saying Air Canada told her she was on her own to find a place to sleep, food and transportation.
“She was crying and desperate, asking me ‘What do I do?’ … I just couldn’t believe it,” O’Leary told Go Public.
Like other airlines — WestJet and Air Transat among them — Air Canada offers a for-fee service subject to certain conditions, where staff help kids flying on their own. But that service is not available for multi-leg trips such as Eva’s.
That meant O’Leary was forced to try to get Eva’s travel plans sorted remotely, as her daughter worried about where she would stay that night, how she would afford dinner, and when she would be able to get home.
But even though her daughter’s now back home in St. John’s, O’Leary said she still isn’t satisfied.
After hearing from Go Public, Air Canada offered her a $500 travel coupon “as a goodwill gesture,” which O’Leary says she declined, saying, “it was never about the money.” Read more
Why are plastic bags from Canada ending up as litter in India?
A wrapper from a package of soft drinks sold in Canada has made its way to India. (Gil Shochat/Radio-Canada)
A new investigation by Radio-Canada’s Enquête shows that while Canada has become one of the biggest exporters of recyclable paper to India, that’s not all we’re sending there.
Journalists found that much of what is supposed to be paper being sent to the country actually contains tonnes of plastic bags, some of which litter the Indian landscape. They are often burned as a fuel source.
The city of Montreal is considered among the worst offenders when it comes to shipping off contaminated bales of paper. Read more
Much ado about mittens as Team Canada fans call out high prices for Lululemon’s Olympic gear
Lululemon is facing some criticism for its Olympic gear pricing this year, which includes the pair on the left, which sell for $68 a pair. The mittens on the right were a viral hit for HBC in 2010, when they sold like hotcakes for $10 a pair. (Lululemon.com/Larry MacDougal/The Canadian Press)
A pair of red mittens emblazoned with the letters CAN over the fingers selling for $68 is drawing ire from some Canadians who are upset about the high cost of official Olympic merchandise at Lululemon.
The company purchased the exclusive rights to sell the official swag last fall, but many Canadians have taken their griping online, complaining the prices are well above what average Canadians can afford.
The mittens in particular are drawing unfavourable comparisons with the iconic red and white maple leaf mittens that were a runaway hit for previous Olympic sponsor HBC. They sold for $10 a pair during the 2010 Games in Vancouver.
In a statement, Lululemon told CBC News the higher prices are due to their commitment to making the “highest-quality products.” Read more
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HALIFAX – Ottawa is negotiating a $500-million bailout for Nova Scotia’s privately owned electric utility, saying the money will be used to prevent a big spike in electricity rates.
Federal Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson made the announcement today in Halifax, saying Nova Scotia Power Inc. needs the money to cover higher costs resulting from the delayed delivery of electricity from the Muskrat Falls hydroelectric plant in Labrador.
Wilkinson says that without the money, the subsidiary of Emera Inc. would have had to increase rates by 19 per cent over “the short term.”
Nova Scotia Power CEO Peter Gregg says the deal, once approved by the province’s energy regulator, will keep rate increases limited “to be around the rate of inflation,” as costs are spread over a number of years.
The utility helped pay for construction of an underwater transmission link between Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, but the Muskrat Falls project has not been consistent in delivering electricity over the past five years.
Those delays forced Nova Scotia Power to spend more on generating its own electricity.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
TORONTO – Roots Corp. may have built its brand on all things comfy and cosy, but its CEO says activewear is now “really becoming a core part” of the brand.
The category, which at Roots spans leggings, tracksuits, sports bras and bike shorts, has seen such sustained double-digit growth that Meghan Roach plans to make it a key part of the business’ future.
“It’s an area … you will see us continue to expand upon,” she told analysts on a Friday call.
The Toronto-based retailer’s push into activewear has taken shape over many years and included several turns as the official designer and supplier of Team Canada’s Olympic uniform.
But consumers have had plenty of choice when it comes to workout gear and other apparel suited to their sporting needs. On top of the slew of athletic brands like Nike and Adidas, shoppers have also gravitated toward Lululemon Athletica Inc., Alo and Vuori, ramping up competition in the activewear category.
Roach feels Roots’ toehold in the category stems from the fit, feel and following its merchandise has cultivated.
“Our product really resonates with (shoppers) because you can wear it through multiple different use cases and occasions,” she said.
“We’ve been seeing customers come back again and again for some of these core products in our activewear collection.”
Her remarks came the same day as Roots revealed it lost $5.2 million in its latest quarter compared with a loss of $5.3 million in the same quarter last year.
The company said the second-quarter loss amounted to 13 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Aug. 3, the same as a year earlier.
In presenting the results, Roach reminded analysts that the first half of the year is usually “seasonally small,” representing just 30 per cent of the company’s annual sales.
Sales for the second quarter totalled $47.7 million, down from $49.4 million in the same quarter last year.
The move lower came as direct-to-consumer sales amounted to $36.4 million, down from $37.1 million a year earlier, as comparable sales edged down 0.2 per cent.
The numbers reflect the fact that Roots continued to grapple with inventory challenges in the company’s Cooper fleece line that first cropped up in its previous quarter.
Roots recently began to use artificial intelligence to assist with daily inventory replenishments and said more tools helping with allocation will go live in the next quarter.
Beyond that time period, the company intends to keep exploring AI and renovate more of its stores.
It will also re-evaluate its design ranks.
Roots announced Friday that chief product officer Karuna Scheinfeld has stepped down.
Rather than fill the role, the company plans to hire senior level design talent with international experience in the outdoor and activewear sectors who will take on tasks previously done by the chief product officer.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, are set to resume today as a strike that has stopped most services drags into a second week.
No timeline has been set for the length of the negotiations, but Joe McCann, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they are willing to stay there as long as it takes, even if talks drag on all night.
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people unable to navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last Tuesday, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
Hundreds of drivers rallied outside TransLink’s head office earlier this week, calling for the transportation provider to intervene in the dispute with Transdev, which was contracted to oversee HandyDART service.
Transdev said earlier this week that it will provide a reply to the union’s latest proposal on Thursday.
A statement from the company said it “strongly believes” that their employees deserve fair wages, and that a fair contract “must balance the needs of their employees, clients and taxpayers.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
