Latest news with #Halifax-based
Winnipeg Free Press
2 days ago
- Business
- Winnipeg Free Press
Chorus Aviation sees $32.4 million profit in Q2, operating revenue $324.6 million
HALIFAX – Chorus Aviation Inc. says its latest quarter delivered a $32.4 million profit. The Halifax-based company says the second-quarter figure compares with a net loss of $180.6 million a year earlier. Operating revenue totalled $324.6 million, down from $351.2 million in the three months ended June 30. On an adjusted basis, Chorus says it earned $17.2 million compared with $10.8 million a year earlier. The company says its leverage ratio — net debt divided by its trailing 12-month adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization — ended the quarter at 1.5 compared with 1.4 at the end of 2024. Chorus leases planes around the world while providing regional service for Air Canada through its Jazz Aviation subsidiary. Wednesdays What's next in arts, life and pop culture. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 6, 2025. Companies in this story: (TSX:CHR)
Winnipeg Free Press
20-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Winnipeg Free Press
New U of W project a crash course in classic and contemporary works
The University of Winnipeg is launching a first-of-its-kind course that will introduce undergraduate students to classics, religion and Indigenous studies all at once. Four academics will co-teach Introduction to the Humanities — an experimental project that's been five years in the making — this fall. 'This is pretty unique and special, and I think it has the potential to grow into quite the feather in U of W's cap,' said Alyson Brickey, an assistant professor in the department of English. The University of Winnipeg (Ruth Bonneville / Free Press files) Brickey, alongside colleagues in the faculty of arts — associate dean Brandon Christopher, associate professor Melissa Funke and professor Carlos Colorado — designed it together. They plan to take turns assigning famous texts in their respective research areas and delivering lectures to an inaugural cohort of 36. A variety of scholars with other areas of expertise are scheduled to make guest appearances to round out the comprehensive intro to the social sciences. The co-creators took inspiration from Halifax-based University of King's College. Students enrolled in its foundation year program on the East Coast spend all of their time reading and analyzing influential historic books, such as the Bible, Frankenstein and The Communist Manifesto. King's teaches this content in chronological order, but U of W will group lesson plans by theme: beginnings; self and community; love and desire; and endings. 'This might look like a 'great books' course — but in so far as it does, the four of us have been actively thinking about how the traditional canon has excluded important voices who have an awful lot to contribute to the study of big ideas,' said Colorado, a scholar of religion, politics and identity. Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare and Frederick Douglass's famous speech, What to the Slave is the Fourth of July? are on the 2025-26 syllabus. It also features contemporary works, such as North End Love Songs, a 2011 collection from Winnipeg poet Katharena Vermette, and Kendrick Lamar's 2015 Pulitzer Prize-winning album, To Pimp a Butterfly. The associate dean of arts said the setup will require students to both think critically about the lasting influence of historical texts and how modern-day interpretation changes their meaning. For Christopher, who researches Renaissance literature, what's most exciting about the new course is the opportunity to learn from his colleagues on a regular basis. It's rare to be able to sit in on a colleague's lecture, let alone teach alongside them, he noted. 'The way we teach things is often siloed, but nothing happens in a vacuum,' he said, adding that the interdisciplinary nature of the course will allow students to make connections between texts and disciplines, from rhetoric to philosophy. Brickey echoed those comments. She said their goal is to encourage more 'cross-pollination' among professors and students as they consider big questions about the history of human thought. Introduction to the Humanities was designed to be a first-year course spanning two semesters (MULT-1301 and MULT-1302) for a total of 12 credits. Registration is underway. As is standard in foundational humanities classes, there will be an emphasis on essay writing 101 and group presentations. Much of the allotted time will be spent in intimate tutorial settings. Tuesdays A weekly look at politics close to home and around the world. Funke called it 'the ultra U of W experience.' Students are going to get to know each other and four professors 'very well,' in addition to becoming anchored in the community on campus, said the researcher who is interested in Greek literature and gender and sexuality. There are 1,422 courses scheduled to run in 2025-26. Last year, four in 10 students at U of W were working towards an arts major of some kind. Roughly half of all pupils were in an arts classroom on the downtown campus at some point. Maggie MacintoshEducation reporter Maggie Macintosh reports on education for the Free Press. Originally from Hamilton, Ont., she first reported for the Free Press in 2017. Read more about Maggie. Funding for the Free Press education reporter comes from the Government of Canada through the Local Journalism Initiative. Every piece of reporting Maggie produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Hamilton Spectator
19-07-2025
- Business
- Hamilton Spectator
Cogeco, Eastlink seek to appeal CRTC decision on wholesale fibre rules
Two telecommunications companies are seeking to appeal a recent CRTC decision that reaffirmed the ability of Canada's Big Three internet companies to resell fibre internet over rivals' networks. In a legal challenge filed at the Federal Court of Appeal on Friday, Cogeco Inc. and Halifax-based Eastlink said the regulator's June decision should be quashed. They alleged that the CRTC rendered an 'effectively arbitrary decision' that ignored key arguments and evidence, while also erring in law and jurisdiction. 'Based on the incorrect conclusion that the Big Three are 'new' service providers, the CRTC allowed the Big Three to co-opt a regulatory framework ... to instead compete against each other and against these truly new, regional, and smaller providers,' the court filing states. Last month, the CRTC ruled that Rogers Communications Inc., BCE Inc. and Telus Corp. can provide internet service to customers using fibre networks built by one another — as long as they are doing so outside their core serving regions. Telus has defended that policy as a way to boost competition in regions where it doesn't have its own network infrastructure, which then improves affordability for customers. Bell and Rogers oppose it, saying the rules discourage the major providers from investing in their own infrastructure. Many regional and independent carriers have raised concerns that it could make it more difficult for them to compete against larger players. They point out the Big Three are able to offer bundled internet, cellphone and TV packages for a discount, while some standalone internet providers cannot. 'The CRTC is stubbornly maintaining a broken ... resale regime that has completely failed to meet its original objective to help new entrants get into the market,' Cogeco president and CEO Frédéric Perron said earlier this week on his company's latest earnings call. 'The CRTC is misusing its power and is favouring telecom giants at the expense of regional players such as Cogeco. It's like forcing regional airlines to let national airlines use their planes. It just doesn't make any sense.' The CRTC said its rules effectively balance the need for both competition and investment, while only having a 'modest' near-term effect on the market share of regional carriers. It said it plans to continue evaluating the effect on the industry, noting there have been 'early indicators of improved competitive intensity' but that the extent to which the new rules 'will ultimately be successful is still unknown.' But Cogeco and Eastlink say the CRTC erred in law 'in a way that irremediably tainted the rest of its analysis.' It said the regulator's decision 'treats the country's largest and most powerful telecommunications service providers as 'new' and reduces barriers to competition for the largest players in the telecommunications market, while increasing these barriers — with potentially fatal effect — for everyone else.' The carriers argued that the commission should 'not have concluded that the Big Three are 'new' service providers, given that they are the largest providers of telecommunications services across Canada.' Cogeco and Eastlink also characterized the CRTC's reasoning for its decision as 'so insufficient that the CRTC breached procedural fairness and effectively rendered an arbitrary decision by wholly failing to acknowledge or address the long-term effects of bundling ... or the incoherence of the policy with the broader regulatory regime.' The framework initially kicked in May 2024 on a limited basis, when the regulator began requiring Bell and Telus to give competitors — including both big and small companies — access to their fibre-to-the-home networks, in exchange for a fee. Those rules initially applied only in Ontario and Quebec, as the CRTC cited a significant competitive decline in those provinces. It noted independent internet providers had been serving 47 per cent fewer customers than two years earlier as many were bought out by larger internet providers. The CRTC announced in August 2024 the rules would be extended to networks owned by telephone companies countrywide. But the federal government then asked the commission to reconsider whether the Big Three providers should be able to act as wholesalers under the rules, citing concern about the viability of smaller internet providers to act as alternatives. The CRTC opened a consultation into the matter and issued a temporary decision this past February that upheld the rules, followed by its final determination in June. The federal cabinet has until Aug. 13 to decide whether to overrule that decision. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 18, 2025. Companies in this story: (TSX:CGO, TSX:BCE, TSX:T, TSX:RCI.B)
Hamilton Spectator
19-07-2025
- Business
- Hamilton Spectator
Cogeco, Eastlink seek to appeal CRTC decision on wholesale rules
Two telecommunications companies are seeking to appeal a recent CRTC decision that reaffirmed the ability of Canada's Big Three internet companies to resell internet over rivals' networks. In a legal challenge filed at the Federal Court of Appeal on Friday, Cogeco Inc. and Halifax-based Eastlink said the regulator's June decision should be quashed. They alleged that the CRTC rendered an 'effectively arbitrary decision' that ignored key arguments and evidence, while also erring in law and jurisdiction. 'Based on the incorrect conclusion that the Big Three are 'new' service providers, the CRTC allowed the Big Three to co-opt a regulatory framework ... to instead compete against each other and against these truly new, regional, and smaller providers,' the court filing states. Last month, the CRTC ruled that Rogers Communications Inc., BCE Inc. and Telus Corp. can provide internet service to customers using networks built by one another — as long as they are doing so outside their core serving regions. Telus has defended that policy as a way to boost competition in regions where it doesn't have its own network infrastructure, which then improves affordability for customers. Bell and Rogers oppose it, saying the rules discourage the major providers from investing in their own infrastructure. Many regional and independent carriers have raised concerns that it could make it more difficult for them to compete against larger players. They point out the Big Three are able to offer bundled internet, cellphone and TV packages for a discount, while some standalone internet providers cannot. 'The CRTC is stubbornly maintaining a broken ... resale regime that has completely failed to meet its original objective to help new entrants get into the market,' Cogeco president and CEO Frédéric Perron said earlier this week on his company's latest earnings call. 'The CRTC is misusing its power and is favouring telecom giants at the expense of regional players such as Cogeco. It's like forcing regional airlines to let national airlines use their planes. It just doesn't make any sense.' The CRTC said its rules effectively balance the need for both competition and investment, while only having a 'modest' near-term effect on the market share of regional carriers. It said it plans to continue evaluating the effect on the industry, noting there have been 'early indicators of improved competitive intensity' but that the extent to which the new rules 'will ultimately be successful is still unknown.' But Cogeco and Eastlink say the CRTC erred in law 'in a way that irremediably tainted the rest of its analysis.' It said the regulator's decision 'treats the country's largest and most powerful telecommunications service providers as 'new' and reduces barriers to competition for the largest players in the telecommunications market, while increasing these barriers — with potentially fatal effect — for everyone else.' The carriers argued that the commission should 'not have concluded that the Big Three are 'new' service providers, given that they are the largest providers of telecommunications services across Canada.' Cogeco and Eastlink also characterized the CRTC's reasoning for its decision as 'so insufficient that the CRTC breached procedural fairness and effectively rendered an arbitrary decision by wholly failing to acknowledge or address the long-term effects of bundling ... or the incoherence of the policy with the broader regulatory regime.' The framework initially kicked in May 2024 on a limited basis, when the regulator began requiring Bell and Telus to give competitors — including both big and small companies — access to their networks, in exchange for a fee. Those rules initially applied only in Ontario and Quebec, as the CRTC cited a significant competitive decline in those provinces. It noted independent internet providers had been serving 47 per cent fewer customers than two years earlier as many were bought out by larger internet providers. The CRTC announced in August 2024 the rules would be extended to networks owned by telephone companies countrywide. But the federal government then asked the commission to reconsider whether the Big Three providers should be able to act as wholesalers under the rules, citing concern about the viability of smaller internet providers to act as alternatives. The CRTC opened a consultation into the matter and issued a temporary decision this past February that upheld the rules, followed by its final determination in June. The federal cabinet has until Aug. 13 to decide whether to overrule that decision. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 18, 2025. Companies in this story: (TSX:CGO, TSX:BCE, TSX:T, TSX:RCI.B) Note to readers:This is a clarified story. A previous version said the appeal only covered wholesale fibre rules. In fact, it applies to all types of telecom networks.
Toronto Star
19-07-2025
- Business
- Toronto Star
Cogeco, Eastlink seek to appeal CRTC decision on wholesale rules
Two telecommunications companies are seeking to appeal a recent CRTC decision that reaffirmed the ability of Canada's Big Three internet companies to resell internet over rivals' networks. In a legal challenge filed at the Federal Court of Appeal on Friday, Cogeco Inc. and Halifax-based Eastlink said the regulator's June decision should be quashed.
