Minister angered over vandalism causing phone outages in La Tuque, Que.
Minister angered over vandalism causing phone outages in La Tuque, Que.
Fiber optic cables. FILE PHOTO - pexels
Despite the thousands of kilometres that separate Quebec from Germany and Belgium, that didn't stop federal minister François-Philippe Champagne from reacting strongly to the major blackout that deprived residents of La Tuque, in the Mauricie region, of their access to residential telephone lines and the Internet for several hours on Saturday.
"Vandalism of telecom infrastructure is illegal and unacceptable," the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry said in a tweet at noon on Sunday, in reaction to the news that affected some 10,000 residents.
Du vandalisme sur les infra de télécom, c'est illégal et inacceptable.
Content que la panne majeure qui touchait La Tuque est maintenant finie. J’ai parlé au PDG de Bell et au maire hier pour et prendre des mesures pour que de tels actes n’arrivent plus.https://t.co/5GbwjR8Lc0
— François-Philippe Champagne (FPC) 🇨🇦 (@FP_Champagne) December 4, 2022
The situation was worrying enough for the Sûreté du Québec to ask people to use their mobile phones to contact 911 in case of an emergency.
The City of La Tuque said the major outage was over by early Saturday afternoon on its Facebook page.
The outage left Télébec customers in the La Tuque area without access to phone and Internet for a few hours early in the day.
"The outage was caused by an act of vandalism on Bell's fibre optic cable that took place last night in the Grand-Mère sector of Shawinigan," the city's notice said in the morning.
Champagne said he has spoken to the relevant authorities.
"I am happy that the major breakdown that affected La Tuque is now over. I spoke to the CEO of Bell and the mayor yesterday to take measures so that such acts do not happen again," he said on his Twitter account on Sunday.
The problem had no impact on Sogetel subscribers.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Dec. 4, 2022.
The federal government is pledging to increase health funding to Canada's provinces and territories by $196.1 billion over the next 10 years, in a long-awaited deal aimed at addressing Canada's crumbling health-care systems with $46.2 billion in new funding.
After raising interest rates eight consecutive times, Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem told an audience in Quebec City on Tuesday that inflation is showing signs of 'turning the corner' and that the coming year 'will be different.'
Residents digging through a collapsed building in a northwest Syrian town discovered a crying infant whose mother appears to have given birth to her while buried underneath the rubble from this week's devastating earthquake, relatives and a doctor said Tuesday.
An Ontario man is being accused of changing his name, profession and life story multiple times to potentially more than 100 women online before leaving some out thousands of dollars, a CTV News Toronto investigation has found.
Canadians now believe they need $1.7 million in savings in order to retire, a 20 per cent increase from 2020, according to a new BMO survey. The eye-watering figure is the largest sum since BMO first started surveying Canadians about their retirement expectations 13 years ago.
Three men who disappeared after planning to rap at a Detroit party were killed by multiple gunshots, police said Tuesday, five days after their bodies were found in a vacant, rat-infested building.
A report from British Columbia's coroner says a prominent anti-vaccine and COVID critic died in 2021 of a drug overdose, although he also tested positive for the illness post-mortem.
Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands announced Tuesday that they plan to provide Ukraine with at least 100 refurbished Leopard 1 battle tanks, a pledge that comes as Kyiv anticipates a new Russian offensive around the anniversary of its invasion.
An Ontario man is being accused of changing his name, profession and life story multiple times to potentially more than 100 women online before leaving some out thousands of dollars, a CTV News Toronto investigation has found.
Nearly five years after Matthew Staikos was gunned down in Toronto, the family of the tech CEO has renewed a $250,000 reward in the unsolved murder case.
A former medical student who claims he fatally shot a fellow student in self-defence during a drug deal in Halifax denied Tuesday he planned to kill the man and steal the marijuana he was carrying.
London police are searching for three suspects who allegedly broke into a home in the downtown core on Monday and assaulted an occupant with a baseball bat, before stealing cash and drugs.
Multiple robbery, weapons and drug charges have been laid against a man and a woman who police allege robbed a Walmart in Goderich last month, according to Huron County OPP.
The federal government is pledging to increase health funding to Canada's provinces and territories by $196.1 billion over the next 10 years, in a long-awaited deal aimed at addressing Canada's crumbling health-care systems with $46.2 billion in new funding.
An Ontario man is being accused of changing his name, profession and life story multiple times to potentially more than 100 women online before leaving some out thousands of dollars, a CTV News Toronto investigation has found.
The federal government is pledging to increase health funding to Canada's provinces and territories by $196.1 billion over the next 10 years, in a long-awaited deal aimed at addressing Canada's crumbling health-care systems with $46.2 billion in new funding.
The Tsuut'ina Police Service, which serves a community west of Calgary, says it has spoken with more victims of former Dances With Wolves actor Nathan Chasing Horse and additional charges will be laid against him in the coming days.
The Special Investigation Unit (SIU) is appealing for witnesses after an arrest in Stratford sent a 34-year-old man to hospital for treatment of a serious injury.
A passenger plane packed with donations and emergency supplies is set to travel from Vancouver, B.C., to Istanbul on Tuesday, as the death toll from Monday’s 7.8 magnitude earthquake in Turkiye and Syria surpasses 6,200.
A report from British Columbia's coroner says a prominent anti-vaccine and COVID critic died in 2021 of a drug overdose, although he also tested positive for the illness post-mortem.
The federal government is pledging to increase health funding to Canada's provinces and territories by $196.1 billion over the next 10 years, in a long-awaited deal aimed at addressing Canada's crumbling health-care systems with $46.2 billion in new funding.
The federal government is pledging to increase health funding to Canada's provinces and territories by $196.1 billion over the next 10 years, in a long-awaited deal aimed at addressing Canada's crumbling health-care systems with $46.2 billion in new funding.
Two people have died in a serious single-vehicle crash in Kingsville, a third person was injured and transported to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
The federal government is pledging to increase health funding to Canada's provinces and territories by $196.1 billion over the next 10 years, in a long-awaited deal aimed at addressing Canada's crumbling health-care systems with $46.2 billion in new funding.
Windsor police say one person has been arrested and they are looking for another suspect after a man was beaten near downtown, resulting in life-threatening injuries.
A forensic pathologist offered her expert opinion on how Catlin Goodwill’s three-month-old son died suddenly in October 2017, during testimony on the second day of trial.
The federal government is pledging to increase health funding to Canada's provinces and territories by $196.1 billion over the next 10 years, in a long-awaited deal aimed at addressing Canada's crumbling health-care systems with $46.2 billion in new funding.
The federal government is pledging to increase health funding to Canada's provinces and territories by $196.1 billion over the next 10 years, in a long-awaited deal aimed at addressing Canada's crumbling health-care systems with $46.2 billion in new funding.
There is a new sign of financial issues with an Ottawa construction company that suddenly closed, leaving customers with unfinished projects unable to recoup their losses.
A forensic pathologist offered her expert opinion on how Catlin Goodwill’s three-month-old son died suddenly in October 2017, during testimony on the second day of trial.
Fiber optic cables. FILE PHOTO - pexels
