Latest news with #Porter
Yahoo
a day ago
- General
- Yahoo
Conservative MP Damien Kurek calls on colleagues to 'fight for Canada' as he steps down for Poilievre
OTTAWA — With a wave of his black cowboy hat and a call for all Parliamentarians to 'fight for Canada,' Alberta Conservative MP Damien Kurek made a heartfelt final address in the House of Commons Thursday before stepping aside for leader Pierre Poilievre. Flanked by a few dozen of his Conservative colleagues after question period, the MP for Battle River—Crowfoot said that politics had been a 'wild, wild ride' for him and his family as he called on his constituents to support Poilievre in the upcoming byelection. During his 10-minute speech, he called on MPs to fight together for Canada, argued that Alberta deserves a 'fair voice' within the federation, threw the occasional barb at the Liberals and joked that stepping down was a more complicated process than expected. 'I didn't know it would be quite so much work to resign,' the hulking Kurek said with his emblematic booming voice, earning laughs from MPs in the chamber. Kurek was first elected in the rural Alberta riding in 2019 and was handily re-elected in April with over 80 per cent of the vote. But when Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre lost his longtime Ottawa riding of Carleton, Kurek announced he would step aside to allow the party head to run in his stead. Kurek said he will resign as soon as House of Commons rules allow it, likely meaning in late June. He's also promised to run again in Battle River—Crowfoot in the next federal election. 'I don't plan to retire from politics, but I am stepping aside to ensure that this byelection is triggered,' he said. Porter CEO battling CRA over tax bill from 'significant losses' from 'high-risk' pandemic trading Quebec Liberal MP Francis Scarpaleggia elected new Speaker of the House of Commons The reason why Kurek is the Conservative MP stepping aside for Poilievre appeared to come from NDP MP Gord Johns, who expressed his condolences to Kurek for his father's passing in the last year and wishing him well in taking over the family farm. 'He's going to do well with it, and we wish him well as a farmer, supporting Canadians so we get our food, and the work that he does around his farm,' Johns said. 'I thank the member for the very kind words,' Kurek replied. 'And I think it emphasizes that in this place, we can trade passionate partisan barbs, we can passionately disagree, but that doesn't mean that there's hatred toward each other.' His farewell speech was briefly heckled by Liberal MPs, one of which loudly booed his announcement that he was resigning to allow Poilievre to run and another who loudly lamented the cost of a byelection (estimates vary from $1.7 million to $2 million). The comments pushed Conservative MP Michael Barrett to cross the aisle and apparently scold them before Johns and some Liberal MPs jumped in to lower the temperature. While responding to later well-wishes from the Liberals, NDP, Bloc Québécois and Greens, Kurek acknowledged that he was excited to be back on the family farm — and far from opposing party benches. 'I look forward to being able to spend a little bit more time in a tractor cab. The good thing about being in a tractor cab, Mr. Speaker, is that it doesn't heckle you,' he said. Kurek also repeatedly thanked his wife Danielle, who was watching from the visitors' gallery, for supporting his time in politics and noted that he looked forward to spending more time with his three sons. He then finished with a call to action for all MPs. 'As Danielle and I move on to what is a bit of an unexpected chapter of our lives, I would ask each and every person in this House: fight for Canada, fight for what's right, and do so boldly and strongly, because that's the least we can do for the people that send us here.' 'I plan to be back, God willing, but in the meantime, I look forward to being the best husband, the best dad and the best rural farmer that I can possibly be,' he added. He then stood up, waved his trademark black cowboy hat in the air, and walked out of the House of Commons. National Post cnardi@ Get more deep-dive National Post political coverage and analysis in your inbox with the Political Hack newsletter, where Ottawa bureau chief Stuart Thomson and political analyst Tasha Kheiriddin get at what's really going on behind the scenes on Parliament Hill every Wednesday and Friday, exclusively for subscribers. Sign up here. Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark and sign up for our politics newsletter, First Reading, here.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Home insurance protects against climate change. But report finds millions are missing out.
In the housing market, homeowners insurance has become the embodiment of the effects of climate change. Over the past several years, more frequent and more expensive severe weather events have strained insurance companies, even as skyrocketing premiums punish homeowners' wallets. Now, new research proves what many observers have assumed but rarely quantified: Insurance does shield homeowners from financial trouble in the wake of weather disasters, but existing guidelines for coverage are nowhere near adequate for the scale and scope of potential perils. Even more concerning, insurance costs may soon become too much for homeowners to afford. More: Homeownership used to mean stable housing costs. That's a thing of the past. The research comes from a report called "Climate, the Sixth 'C' of Credit," released May 19 by First Street, a climate risk financial modeling organization. 'I really wanted to prove that insurance is working, where homeowners have insurance,' Jeremy Porter, head of climate implications for First Street, said in an interview with USA TODAY. To do that, First Street looked at dozens of severe weather events since 2000. In incidences of wildfire and severe wind, few homeowners faced distress. Floods are a different story, however. Homeowners' insurance does not cover flood damage, so any property that's considered at risk of flood needs to carry flood insurance. But FEMA, the federal agency tasked with assessing what parts of the country are at risk, drastically underestimates the number of properties that should be covered, Porter said. First Street reckons there are 17.7 million properties that should be covered by mandatory flood insurance – more than double the 7.9 million that lie in FEMA's 'Special Flood Hazard Areas.' The discrepancy, Porter said, is because FEMA does not account for severe precipitation in its models. The states with the most of these additional properties are Texas, Pennsylvania, California, New York and Ohio. While First Street's analysis found a vast majority of counties across the country has a greater number of properties in a flood risk area than what has been defined by FEMA, the most striking findings are the places where the gap between the assessments is the biggest. For example, Letcher County in Kentucky has about 11.4% of its properties in FEMA's special flood hazard area. First Street puts that figure at 60.6%. That difference of nearly 50 percentage points is the widest margin of any county, according to a USA TODAY analysis of the report's data. Kentucky contains six of the top 10 counties with the biggest gaps between the assessments. Some in Virginia and West Virginia complete the ranking. In two-thirds of the floods First Street examined, uninsured homeowners were found to have experienced so much financial distress that damage from extreme weather eventually led to foreclosures. A foreclosure is the most extreme outcome of housing market distress, but it's also the easiest to track, Porter said. That means that all the various steps along the way – from mortgage delinquencies to defaults to cures – may also be occurring in storm-damaged areas, without being recorded. First Street uses Hurricane Sandy, which battered New York City in 2012, as an example of this phenomenon. There were nearly 400 more foreclosures in the area hit hardest by Sandy, the report shows. The areas hardest hit by Sandy had suffered during the subprime crisis – when some homeowners were charged exorbitant mortgage interest rates – and subsequent recession, and home prices had not yet started to rise again. That's another important component of the foreclosures First Street tracked: areas where home prices are rising tend to avoid falling into distress. But it's important to note that where foreclosures are seen, undamaged properties are at risk just as much as damaged ones are. That's partially because a bad storm will impact a community overall, Porter said – services like transportation will go down, people will be unable to get to work, businesses will stay closed. Insurance costs will also likely rise, and the value of even undamaged homes may increase more slowly. 'It's almost like insurance not only protects the property, but it protects the community in a lot of ways,' Porter told USA TODAY. For all the benefits that insurance can provide, the key challenge is that it's expensive – and getting more so. From 2000 to 2013 or so, homeowners' insurance made up about 3% to 4% of the average monthly mortgage bill for Americans, First Street data show. But premiums have skyrocketed since that time, and now account for over 10% of mortgage payments.'There's an indirect effect of additional cost of homeownership that people didn't expect to have when they first took out their mortgage, which is being indirectly driven up because of the increasing severity and frequency of climate risk,' Porter said. First Street's analysis of homeowner costs found that every 1% increase in an insurance premium is associated with a 1% increase in likelihood of foreclosures. As the researchers write, 'the only thing proven to prevent foreclosure is getting so expensive that it is causing foreclosures.' First Street isn't focused on policy implications in the research report, Porter said, but given the political climate in Washington and the threats to many of the agencies that help Americans rebuild in the aftermath of disasters, it's hard not to draw conclusions. 'Any reduction in resources is only going to exacerbate the problems that we're seeing today,' he said. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Home insurance protects against climate change. But millions miss out.
Time of India
a day ago
- Business
- Time of India
ETtech Deals Digest: Startups raise $1.06 billion in May, up 12% on-year
Startups raised about $1.06 billion in funding between May 1 and 30, marking a 12% increase from the same period last year, when they had raised a total of $950 million across 189 rounds. This month, startups, primarily in the early and late stages, secured funding through 79 rounds, according to data from market intelligence platform Tracxn. ETtech In April 2025, startups raised around $1.02 billion from 104 rounds. Last week—from May 24 to May 30—startups raised around $147.7 million. ETtech Top deals of the month Live Events PB Healthcare Services : PB Fintech's affiliate, PB Healthcare Services, raised $218 million in its first major equity infusion. The round was led by US-based venture capital (VC) firm General Catalyst, with participation from PB Fintech and another institutional investor. Discover the stories of your interest Blockchain 5 Stories Cyber-safety 7 Stories Fintech 9 Stories E-comm 9 Stories ML 8 Stories Edtech 6 Stories ETtech Porter : On-demand logistics platform Porter raised $200 million in a funding round led by private equity (PE) firms Kedaara Capital and Wellington Management. The round, comprising both primary and secondary transactions, propelled Porter into the unicorn club with a valuation of between $1.1 billion and $1.2 billion. Euler Motors: The electric commercial vehicle manufacturer raised around $75 million in a round led by Hero MotoCorp. British International Investment (BII), the UK government's development finance institution, also participated. ETtech Citykart : Value fashion retailer Citykart raised around $63 million in a funding round comprising both primary and secondary transactions, with participation from TPG NewQuest and A91 Partners. Routematic: Corporate transport solutions platform Routematic raised $40 million in a Series C funding round led by Fullerton Carbon Action Fund and Shift4Good.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Porter Airlines Inaugurates Nonstop Montréal-Newark Service
New route is the airline's fourth nonstop service to New York area TORONTO, May 30, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Porter Airlines is expanding its New York network with the inauguration of non-stop service between Montréal Trudeau International Airport (YUL) and Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) on June Up to two daily roundtrip flights are operated on Porter's 78-seat De Havilland Dash 8-400 aircraft, meaning no middle seats for all passengers. Daily flights will now operate year-round based on strong demand seen for the summer schedule. This is the third nonstop route to Newark offered by the airline, joining Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport (YTZ) and Ottawa (YOW). Porter recently launched a fourth route to the New York area with daily nonstop Toronto Pearson (YYZ) to LaGuardia service. The scheduled flight times are as follows: Route Departure Arrival Days of Operation Montréal to Newark 1:10 p.m.* 6:35 p.m. 7:20 p.m. 2:50 p.m.* 8:15 p.m. 9:00 p.m. Daily* Mon - Fri, Sun Sat Newark to Montréal 10:45 a.m. * 4:15 p.m. 12:25 p.m.* 5:55 p.m. Daily All times local*Operating June 25, 2025, until September 7, 2025 Passengers will enjoy Porter's signature elevated economy experience, featuring complimentary beer and wine, and premium Canadian-made snacks. Added benefits such as enhanced legroom, priority boarding, checked baggage, and dedicated check-in are available à la carte through the PorterClassic fare or all-inclusive in PorterReserve. The route expands Porter's presence in the New York metropolitan area, joining the airline's existing Newark services and recently-launched Toronto Pearson - LaGuardia route. Connections via Montréal give passengers easy access to Porter's coast-to-coast domestic network, including Halifax, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver. Passengers can explore Europe through our partner Air Transat's network via Montréal. Flights are available for booking at Quotes: "This route reinforces our commitment to serving both of these popular cities. Travellers connecting through Montréal now have even more options when further exploring Canada and the United States with Porter." - Andrew Pierce, vice president, network planning and reporting, Porter Airlines "ADM Aéroports de Montréal is very pleased to be helping Porter expand its transborder offering at YUL Montréal-Trudeau International Airport by adding Newark Liberty International Airport to its service. While continuing to meet the needs of various traveller groups, this new addition by Porter also provides a range of options for passengers departing from YUL." - Karl Brochu, Vice President, Airport Operations and Air Services Development at ADM Aéroports de Montréal. About Porter Since 2006, Porter Airlines has been elevating the experience of economy air travel for every passenger, providing genuine hospitality with style, care and charm. Porter's fleet of Embraer E195-E2 and De Havilland Dash 8-400 aircraft serves a North American network from Eastern Canada. Headquartered in Toronto, Porter is an Official 4 Star Airline® in the World Airline Star Rating®. Visit or follow @porterairlines on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. View source version on Contacts Media contact:Porter Airlinesmedia@ Sign in to access your portfolio
Business Wire
a day ago
- Business
- Business Wire
Porter Airlines Inaugurates Nonstop Montréal-Newark Service
TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Porter Airlines is expanding its New York network with the inauguration of non-stop service between Montréal Trudeau International Airport (YUL) and Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) on June Up to two daily roundtrip flights are operated on Porter's 78-seat De Havilland Dash 8-400 aircraft, meaning no middle seats for all passengers. Daily flights will now operate year-round based on strong demand seen for the summer schedule. This is the third nonstop route to Newark offered by the airline, joining Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport (YTZ) and Ottawa (YOW). Porter recently launched a fourth route to the New York area with daily nonstop Toronto Pearson (YYZ) to LaGuardia service. The scheduled flight times are as follows: Passengers will enjoy Porter's signature elevated economy experience, featuring complimentary beer and wine, and premium Canadian-made snacks. Added benefits such as enhanced legroom, priority boarding, checked baggage, and dedicated check-in are available à la carte through the PorterClassic fare or all-inclusive in PorterReserve. The route expands Porter's presence in the New York metropolitan area, joining the airline's existing Newark services and recently-launched Toronto Pearson - LaGuardia route. Connections via Montréal give passengers easy access to Porter's coast-to-coast domestic network, including Halifax, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver. Passengers can explore Europe through our partner Air Transat's network via Montréal. Flights are available for booking at Quotes: 'This route reinforces our commitment to serving both of these popular cities. Travellers connecting through Montréal now have even more options when further exploring Canada and the United States with Porter.' - Andrew Pierce, vice president, network planning and reporting, Porter Airlines 'ADM Aéroports de Montréal is very pleased to be helping Porter expand its transborder offering at YUL Montréal-Trudeau International Airport by adding Newark Liberty International Airport to its service. While continuing to meet the needs of various traveller groups, this new addition by Porter also provides a range of options for passengers departing from YUL.' - Karl Brochu, Vice President, Airport Operations and Air Services Development at ADM Aéroports de Montréal. About Porter Since 2006, Porter Airlines has been elevating the experience of economy air travel for every passenger, providing genuine hospitality with style, care and charm. Porter's fleet of Embraer E195-E2 and De Havilland Dash 8-400 aircraft serves a North American network from Eastern Canada. Headquartered in Toronto, Porter is an Official 4 Star Airline® in the World Airline Star Rating®. Visit or follow @porterairlines on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
