If the credit card machines at hardware stores had any power right now, Yellowknifers would be buying pitchforks.
By 5:10pm on Sunday, the city’s residents had been plunged into at least six separate power outages in one 24-hour span. In Behchokǫ̀, which is on the same hydro system, residents reported a similar fate.
(Yes, we’re editing the number of outages and the time as we go. It could be a long night.)
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Neither the NWT Power Corporation, which generates power for Yellowknife, nor Northland Utilities, which distributes it, had any firm answers regarding what was happening.
“We are continuing to investigate the cause of the outages,” a power corporation spokesperson wrote in a Facebook comment shortly before 5:30pm. “A fallen tree or branch on the transmission line from Snare Hydro is one of the possible causes into which we are looking but we have yet to confirm whether this is the case.”
The North Slave region was experiencing a windy weekend, leading some residents to speculate that gusts of up to 60 km/h may have downed trees and interfered with supply.
The Snare hydro system provides electricity to both Yellowknife and Behchokǫ̀. The two each exist in their own miniature grid, an island of intermittent electricity ordinarily backstopped by diesel generation that seemed conspicuous by its absence on Sunday. Unlike southern Canada, the North Slave can’t rely on power from anywhere else if hydro and diesel both go down.
On Sunday, an outage beginning shortly after 11:30am lasted for more than an hour, punctuated by the briefest of restorations for some customers at around 12:10pm before resuming.
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Power began returning for some Yellowknife customers at 12:40pm, only to disappear again at 1:05pm, amounting to a fourth separate outage since the opening blackout, which came on Saturday evening.
The fifth came after 4pm and the sixth an hour later, turning what had been a murmur of online grumpiness into a torrent that might have powered the city, if only NTPC could dam it. Dammit.
“Seriously, again?” one resident wrote. Others wept for Sunday muffins and pies that would have been more thoroughly baked had they been left in a cupboard.
“Come on now. My cabbage rolls are on the line here,” another resident tweeted.
Beyond the culinary consequences, anyone with sensitive electronic equipment (or, say, a radio station to operate) would be understandably concerned about the impact of multiple blackouts.
Will Gagnon, who left a climate science role at the NWT’s Department of Infrastructure earlier this year, tweeted: “More than 4 power outages in less than 24h. Maybe it’s time we pressure @NTPC_News to innovate?”
Earlier on Sunday afternoon, the power corporation said “efforts to restore stable power are being hampered by several factors” and an investigation had begun into both the outages and the delayed restoration of power. Of particular interest will be what happened to Yellowknife’s Jackfish diesel power plant, which usually restores power in a matter of minutes when hydro transmission fails.
In a tweet, Northland Utilities said Sunday’s citywide outage was due to a “loss of generation supply” from the power corporation, but did not elaborate.
At least one store, Yellowknife’s Book Cellar, gave up.
Due to the ongoing issues with @NorthlandUtil, we are now closed for the day. We tried but after three separate outages it is no longer fair for our staff to stay and be unable to work. Our apologies.
By 6:30pm, Yellowknife’s Capitol Theatre had also called it a day, abandoning stop-start film screenings and citing a danger of damage to its equipment.
The loss of power simultaneously in Yellowknife and Behchokǫ̀ could suggest a broader problem with the transmission of power from the Snare hydro network, which supplies both communities, though ordinarily diesel generators are available to swiftly kick in.
A small area of downtown Yellowknife had already been earmarked for a Sunday morning power outage to allow Northland to carry out some work, though the only notification for any businesses in the area appeared to have been a tweet on Thursday.
The outages come as the power corporation seeks to increase power rates in many areas of the territory, including a rate increase in Yellowknife – forecast at around 3.5 percent over two years – that would first affect distributor Northland but would then almost certainly be passed on to Northland’s customers in the city.
On one hand, customers point to service interruptions like the weekend’s outages and ask how price increases can possibly be justified. On the other, the power corporation has long argued that the outages are in part a consequence of ageing infrastructure and a lack of cash to perform urgently needed upgrades and replacements.
TORONTO – Canada Goose Holdings Inc. says it has signed a deal that will result in the creation of its first eyewear collection.
The deal announced on Thursday by the Toronto-based luxury apparel company comes in the form of an exclusive, long-term global licensing agreement with Marchon Eyewear Inc.
The terms and value of the agreement were not disclosed, but Marchon produces eyewear for brands including Lacoste, Nike, Calvin Klein, Ferragamo, Longchamp and Zeiss.
Marchon plans to roll out both sunglasses and optical wear under the Canada Goose name next spring, starting in North America.
Canada Goose says the eyewear will be sold through optical retailers, department stores, Canada Goose shops and its website.
Canada Goose CEO Dani Reiss told The Canadian Press in August that he envisioned his company eventually expanding into eyewear and luggage.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
Almost seven years since news broke of an alleged conspiracy to fix the price of packaged bread across Canada, the saga isn’t over: the Competition Bureau continues to investigate the companies that may have been involved, and two class-action lawsuits continue to work their way through the courts.
Here’s a timeline of key events in the bread price-fixing case.
Oct. 31, 2017: The Competition Bureau says it’s investigating allegations of bread price-fixing and that it was granted search warrants in the case. Several grocers confirm they are co-operating in the probe.
Dec. 19, 2017: Loblaw and George Weston say they participated in an “industry-wide price-fixing arrangement” to raise the price of packaged bread. The companies say they have been co-operating in the Competition Bureau’s investigation since March 2015, when they self-reported to the bureau upon discovering anti-competitive behaviour, and are receiving immunity from prosecution. They announce they are offering $25 gift cards to customers amid the ongoing investigation into alleged bread price-fixing.
Jan. 31, 2018: In court documents, the Competition Bureau says at least $1.50 was added to the price of a loaf of bread between about 2001 and 2016.
Dec. 20, 2019: A class-action lawsuit in a Quebec court against multiple grocers and food companies is certified against a number of companies allegedly involved in bread price-fixing, including Loblaw, George Weston, Metro, Sobeys, Walmart Canada, Canada Bread and Giant Tiger (which have all denied involvement, except for Loblaw and George Weston, which later settled with the plaintiffs).
Dec. 31, 2021: A class-action lawsuit in an Ontario court covering all Canadian residents except those in Quebec who bought packaged bread from a company named in the suit is certified against roughly the same group of companies.
June 21, 2023: Bakery giant Canada Bread Co. is fined $50 million after pleading guilty to four counts of price-fixing under the Competition Act as part of the Competition Bureau’s ongoing investigation.
Oct. 25 2023: Canada Bread files a statement of defence in the Ontario class action denying participating in the alleged conspiracy and saying any anti-competitive behaviour it participated in was at the direction and to the benefit of its then-majority owner Maple Leaf Foods, which is not a defendant in the case (neither is its current owner Grupo Bimbo). Maple Leaf calls Canada Bread’s accusations “baseless.”
Dec. 20, 2023: Metro files new documents in the Ontario class action accusing Loblaw and its parent company George Weston of conspiring to implicate it in the alleged scheme, denying involvement. Sobeys has made a similar claim. The two companies deny the allegations.
July 25, 2024: Loblaw and George Weston say they agreed to pay a combined $500 million to settle both the Ontario and Quebec class-action lawsuits. Loblaw’s share of the settlement includes a $96-million credit for the gift cards it gave out years earlier.
Sept. 12, 2024: Canada Bread files new documents in Ontario court as part of the class action, claiming Maple Leaf used it as a “shield” to avoid liability in the alleged scheme. Maple Leaf was a majority shareholder of Canada Bread until 2014, and the company claims it’s liable for any price-fixing activity. Maple Leaf refutes the claims.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
Companies in this story: (TSX:L, TSX:MFI, TSX:MRU, TSX:EMP.A, TSX:WN)
TORONTO – TD Bank Group, which is mired in a money laundering scandal in the U.S., says chief executive Bharat Masrani will retire next year.
Masrani, who will retire officially on April 10, 2025, says the bank’s, “anti-money laundering challenges,” took place on his watch and he takes full responsibility.
The bank named Raymond Chun, TD’s group head, Canadian personal banking, as his successor.
As part of a transition plan, Chun will become chief operating officer on Nov. 1 before taking over the top job when Masrani steps down at the bank’s annual meeting next year.
TD also announced that Riaz Ahmed, group head, wholesale banking and president and CEO of TD Securities, will retire at the end of January 2025.
TD has taken billions in charges related to ongoing U.S. investigations into the failure of its anti-money laundering program.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
