'Morale is down' in the wake of failed ferry shuffle, says Wabana mayor
Newfoundland and Labrador's Department of Transportation and Infrastructure announced Friday evening that the vessel would stay put after a lengthy protest against its decision to temporarily reassign it to the Bell Island-Portugal Cove route.
Wabana Mayor Philip Tobin said the situation almost pitted the two towns against each other.
"Morale is down … It's frustrating for a lot of residents," Tobin told CBC News.
"We need to work together and hold our government officials accountable for this ferry system."
The rural community, which had been relying on the St. John's area for gasoline, was without the MV Beaumont Hamel for almost a week before it was repaired over the weekend — leaving it with one crowded vessel for days on end.
Tobin said the problem of aging vessels has been deeply affecting his community, but he's still been left in the dark since last week.
He added that the island's main ferry, the MV Legionnaire, has been down for months with no exact repair deadline.
"Communication with government officials, it's not getting better, it's getting worse. And I think they need to be more transparent, more open with leaders in the communities and, you know, work on strategies," said Tobin.
Fogo Island Mayor Andrew Shea said he found out the government was no longer planning to reassign the Astron W to Bell Island from the media on Friday, not government officials.
"The transportation committee hasn't heard … anything about the ferry, whether she's just holding out till we get it cleared up or whether it's, you know, permanent for the summer," said Shea.
The MV Veteran, the ferry that typically serves Fogo Island and Change Islands, went out of service on Friday at noon. It has since been repaired and is back on the water.
Even so, Shea said it's time for a swing vessel that can handle overflow traffic.
On Friday, Transportation Minister Elvis Loveless said he is looking to issue an expression of interest for another swing vessel.
Shea said the region's busiest season is coming up in August and ferry problems might deter them if the province doesn't step in.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBC
20 minutes ago
- CBC
Northern Ontario First Nations group releases report to challenge Métis claims to the region
A new report commissioned by the Wabun Tribal Council says there is no historical evidence of Métis communities on their territory — a direct challenge to the Métis Nation of Ontario's claims to the region and part of the council's effort to build a legal case against those claims. The report was commissioned by the council, which represents six First Nations in northern Ontario, about a year ago and examines documents from 1794 to 1906 to determine if a Métis community existed on the territory claimed by Wabun nations anytime before 1906. Executive Director Jason Batise says its findings support what many First Nations in the region have said for years. "There are no Métis communities, no historic Métis communities, or otherwise in the traditional lands of the Wabun First Nation communities," Batise said. The Wabun Tribal Council represents Matachewan, Brunswick House, Chapleau Ojibwe, Flying Post, Mattagami and Beaverhouse First Nations, whose traditional lands span an area roughly between Chapleau, Kirkland Lake and Timmins. The Métis, a distinct Indigenous people with a shared culture, traditions and language, emerged in the late 1700s in what is now western Canada. Their communities outside this area, including in Ontario, are contentious. An ongoing debate Roughly six years ago, the Metis Nation of Ontario and the provincial government announced the identification of historic Métis communities. One of those communities is the Abitibi Inland Historic Métis Community, located primarily within Wabun territory and the council's main source of frustration. According to Ontario and MNO, this Métis community developed among a scattered series of interconnected trading posts between Moose Factory on the James Bay coast in the north and the Temiskaming region in the south. Batise argues the new report challenges Métis community claims, stating that mixed Indigenous ancestry alone does not constitute a legitimate Indigenous community. To be recognized under the Constitution, the Supreme Court requires clear evidence of historic occupancy and a distinct community structure, which the Wabun report claims is absent, arguing the "tiny and shifting fur trade posts, scattered hundreds of kilometres apart could not have formed a "distinct Métis community." In a statement to CBC News, Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada said "the Supreme Court of Canada affirmed that Métis have an inherent right to self-government." In February 2023, the Government of Canada and the Metis Nation of Ontario signed a Métis Government Recognition and Self Government Implementation Agreement, recognizing the Métis Nation of Ontario as the Indigenous government for communities within Ontario. "We need to respect the First Nation rights holders," Batise said. "If Ontario and Canada want to do business in our territories, they should only be talking to the First Nations." He said it's troubling that the provincial and federal governments continue to recognize Section 35 rights — a constitutional act that recognizes and affirms existing treaty rights — for what he called "non-existent communities." Métis Nation of Ontario rejects report The rejecting of the basic facts of history to support Métis denialism in Ontario needs to end, said Jacques Picotte, Métis Nation of Ontario Regional Councillor for the Abitibi Inland Historic Métis Community. In a statement to CBC News, Picotte points to the period leading up to the signing of Treaty 9 in 1906, where Métis in the Abitibi Inland region petitioned to be recognized as a distinct group and to be provided Métis Scrip, similar to what communities in western Canada were provided. "These half-breed petitions from the Abitibi Inland region, like those signed by half-breeds at Penetanguishene, Sault Ste. Marie and elsewhere in Ontario, were ignored by the Crown," Picotte said in his statement. Notably, government officials in the early 20th Century repeatedly recognized the injustice "half-breeds" in Ontario faced." The First Nations that make up Wabun Council are signatories to Treaty 9 and Picotte believes to honour that agreement, which states signatories "will maintain peace between each other and between themselves and other tribes of Indians… whether Indians, half-breeds or whites," Wabun council needs to sit down and talk with the Métis. "'If treaties are sacred and solemn documents signed by Indigenous peoples and the Crown, which the MNO acknowledges they are, why are some First Nations choosing to ignore some of the words in their treaties as well as parts of the history that led to the making of their treaties in Ontario?" asked Picotte in his statement. He said the leadership of Wabun First Nations have already spent over $250,000 on a previous report on the same topic. "After spending all of that money and after years of attempting to discredit the MNO, nothing has changed. The facts of history will not change because a new 'expert' has been paid to peddle the same Métis denialism," Picotte said. In 2021, the Métis National Council –– comprised of the Ontario nation, the Métis Nation-Saskatchewan, the Otipemisiwak Métis Government and the Métis Nation British Columbia — commissioned an expert panel whose mandate was to investigate the seven historic Métis communities in northern Ontario. According to MNO's website, "the final report unambiguously confirms generations of shared culture, kinship, and political alliances between Métis communities in Ontario and those further west." A broader legal and political dispute The Ontario government is required to consult with Indigenous peoples when it comes to mining and forestry and other developments on their territory, which includes Métis communities in northern Ontario – something the Wabun Tribal Council has opposed. As for the Métis Nation of Ontario, it maintains it has a right to be consulted is based on its historic and ongoing presence in the province and that all Indigenous peoples should be respected equally. The new report, Batise said, will form part of a broader legal challenge against both the provincial and federal governments, "on the existence of MNO's claims of historic Métis communities in our area." "We're being careful," Batise said. "We want to have our research tidy and concise when we finally launch our claim." Picotte said despite the new report, the negotiated agreements between Canada and the Métis of Ontario remain in place. "Métis communities in Ontario — and the MNO as a federally recognized Métis government — aren't going anywhere," he said.
CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
Tesla's quarterly results: what are investors and fans looking for?
A Tesla electric vehicle is seen leaving a Tesla showroom and service centre in Ottawa on Friday, Aug. 30, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Patrick Doyle Tesla is likely to post its biggest drop in quarterly revenue in more than a decade on Wednesday, as the EV maker grapples with issues including increased competition, a lack of new models and consumer backlash against CEO Elon Musk. Here are the top five issues investors, analysts and Tesla fans are watching closely. Will Musk be distracted by politics? Musk formed a new U.S. political party, the America Party, earlier this month, after a public feud with President Donald Trump over a tax-cut and spending bill. Three months ago, when he was still allied with Trump, Musk said he was pulling back from working in the president's administration. Founding the party has rekindled worries that Musk will be distracted from business as it faces mounting competition, especially in its key China market, and as he tries to turn Tesla into a robotics and AI company. Musk said on Sunday that he was back to working seven days a week and sleeping in the office when his small children were away. How fast can robotaxi services expand? Last month, Tesla launched a small trial of its self-driving taxi service in Austin, Texas, with roughly a dozen of its Model Y SUVs and several restrictions, including safety supervisors in front passenger seats. Tesla enthusiasts lauded the efforts, although videos showed some driving mistakes. Musk has said the service would reach the San Francisco Bay Area 'in a month or two,' depending on regulatory approvals, but Tesla has not applied for necessary permits to test or deploy driverless vehicles, regulators in California told Reuters this month. Investors will want to know how the expansion can go forward. Where is the cheaper Tesla? When Musk shifted his focus to robotaxis, he canceled plans to build a new, cheaper EV platform. Tesla had promised to start producing the first of more affordable EV models by the end of June, but the company has not yet confirmed if it has met that target. Investors are keen for an update on those plans. Sources had told Reuters in April that a stripped-down version of the Model Y was likely to be delayed by months. Analysts have already cut their 2025 delivery estimate for the cheaper car to below 50,000 vehicles, from 63,500 at the start of the year, according to eight of them polled by Visible Alpha. Can the Model Y refresh boost sales? Tesla rolled out a refreshed version of the Model Y this year, a move investors hoped would recharge flagging sales. Deliveries of the SUV and its Model 3 compact sedan - Tesla's volume drivers - plunged in the second quarter. While Tesla blamed a January production pause to retool plants, some analysts have said the re-styling - including new front and rear light bars and a touchscreen for back-seat passengers - was not enough to boost demand. Investors will want to know Musk's view of the rollout to date and going forward. With total deliveries falling 13.5 per cent to 384,122 units in the second quarter, the second straight quarterly decline, revenue is expected to fall 11.2 per cent year-on-year, despite aggressive discounting and low-cost financing. How soon will regulatory credit dwindle? Sales of regulatory credits - a silent profit engine for Tesla - are set to dry up after recent legislation. Tesla earned US$2.8 billion in 2024 from such credits sold to legacy automakers to help them comply with emissions rules. Without them, the company would have reported a loss in the first quarter of this year. Analysts expect pressure on Tesla and they are already resetting their revenue estimates for the year. --- Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru and Abhirup Roy in San Francisco; Editing by Peter Henderson and Matthew Lewis
CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
Ottawa doubles down on threat to reduce Toronto's housing funding following sixplex vote
Housing and Infrastructure Minister Gregor Robertson responds to a question during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Monday, June 9, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick Toronto City Council's recent decision to permit low-rise sixplexes in nine wards, instead of across the city as initially proposed, could cost it nearly $30 million in federal housing funding. In a letter to Mayor Olivia Chow, Housing Minister Gregor Robertson expressed his 'disappointment' in council's June 25 vote to limit the multi-unit residential buildings to wards in downtown Toronto, East York, and Scarborough North. The remaining wards have the option to join later. He said the decision 'goes against the level of ambition' that was committed to in Ottawa's three-year Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) agreement with the city, which was inked in December 2023. 'The agreement signed between Toronto and Canada laid out an aspirational plan to create new affordable housing. Specifically, Milestone 7.3, aimed to permit residential buildings with up to six dwelling units, which would allow Toronto to issue 11,780 additional permits over the life of the agreement,' Robertson wrote in the letter dated July 21. Robertson encouraged the city to 'revisit' the measures they could implement to restore the 'ambitious scope' of the agreement, which earmarked $471.1 million to develop more housing. The city has already received $235.56 million of that money. Toronto is expecting a third payment in March 2026 and a final payment at the end of that year --so long as it achieves its goal of building 60,980 net new permitted homes by then. However, in a letter in March by then housing minister Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, the feds threatened to cut 25 per cent of its annual funding payment (or roughly $30 million) if the city failed to follow through on sixplexes across the city, among other objectives. Robertson doubled down on that threat in his letter to Chow, which has been added to the agenda of this week's council meeting. 'I will underscore the possibility of reduced funding if the City of Toronto does not present solutions that ensures the spirit of the agreement is met,' he wrote. In response, Mayor Chow said the city will not only meet but exceed its target of building 60,980 new homes over the course of the agreement. Chow added that approval timelines in Toronto are now over 80 per cent faster compared to the previous five-year average for major zoning approvals. Moreover, she said the city is getting more shovels in the ground than any other city in the country and expanding permissions for more housing. On the sixplex front, Chow said she added a motion at Wednesday's council meeting to waive development charges for these multi-unit housing complexes to make them cheaper and easier to build, adding that she supports the move citywide. 'We will keep advancing policies that address the housing crisis. There is much more work to do, and I look forward to continuing to work in partnership on our shared goals,' Chow said.
