The Globe and Mail - 02.11.2019

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2019 | THEGLOBEANDMAIL O REPORTONBUSINESS | B15

The CEO ofTC Energy Corp.says

the company is cleaning up and

investigating the cause after an

“unfortunate” Keystone pipeline

leak in North Dakota spilled an es-

timated 1.45 million litres of oil

earlier this week.

North Dakota Governor Doug

Burgum has asked the company

to review its inspection and mon-

itoring in light of the spill, but

Russ Girling defended TC Ener-

gy’s spill response on a confer-

ence call Friday to discuss its

third-quarter results.

“In this instance, our leak de-

tection systems enabled us to re-

motely shut down the pipeline

and our crews moved to the scene

immediately,” he said.

“Today, we are focused on

cleaning up the site, determining

the cause and returning the line

to service.”

The Republican governor

spoke Thursday night to officials

at the Calgary-based company

formerly known as TransCanada

Corp., said Burgum spokesman

Mike Nowatzki.

The conversation came two

days after the company shut

down the pipeline after the leak

was discovered.

Mr. Burgum said in a statement

he “received assurance” from the

company that the spill would be

cleaned up “as thoroughly and

quickly as possible.”

On its website, TC Energy says

the spill has affected about 2,000

square metres of land, or “less

than half the size of a football

field,” and the estimated 9,120

barrels of oil were “approximate-

ly half the size of an Olympic-

sized swimming pool.”

North Dakota regulators said

some wetlands were affected, but

not any sources of drinking water.

The pipeline remained closed

Friday and the cause of the spill

was still unknown, said the state’s

environmental quality chief,

Dave Glatt.

About 15,900 litres of crude oil

have been recovered from the

spill, Mr. Glatt said. Workers were

expected to dig up a portion of the

underground pipeline within the

next few days to inspect it, he

said.

“The company has the spill

contained and nothing is moving

off-site,” Mr. Glatt said.

Crude began flowing through

the US$5.2-billion Keystone pipe-

line in 2011.

It’s designed to carry crude oil

across Saskatchewan and Manito-

ba, and through North Dakota,

South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas

and Missouri on the way to refin-

eries in Patoka, Ill., and Cushing,

Okla.

The pipeline spill and shut-

down come as the company seeks

to build the US$8-billion Keys-

tone XL pipeline that would carry

oil sands oil from Alberta to refin-

eries in Texas. The proposed pipe-

line has drawn opposition from

people who fear it will harm the

environment.

President Donald Trump is-

sued a federal permit for the ex-

pansion project in 2017, after it

had been rejected by the Obama

administration.

TC Energy reported on Friday

its net income slipped in the third

quarter after it sold $3.4-billion in

assets in the first nine months of

the year.

The company said net income

came in at $739-million for the

quarter ending Sept. 30, com-

pared with $928-million for the

same quarter a year earlier.

Adjusted earnings, which ex-

clude a variety of tax impacts

from its asset sales, were $970-

million or $1.04 a share, up from

$902-million or $1.00 a year earli-

er.

Analysts had expected adjust-

ed earnings of $922-million, or 98

cents a share, according to finan-

cial markets data firm Refinitiv.

TC Energy also announced a

$1.2-billion expansion of its west-

ern Canadian gas-gathering sys-

tem called the West Path Delivery

Program, which is to connect with

the US$335-million GTN XPress

Project recently announced by its

U.S. limited partnership, TC Pipe-

Lines LP, to deliver the volumes to

downstream markets.

It said the West Path project is

underpinned by about 260 mil-

lion cubic feet per day of new firm

service contracts with terms that

exceed 30 years, starting in late

2022.

THECANADIANPRESS

TC ENERGY (TRP)

CLOSE:$67.18,UP79¢

TCEnergy

defends

responseto

pipelinespill

DAN HEALINGCALGARY

U.S. job growth slowed less than expected
in October as the drag from a strike atGen-
eral Motors Co.was offset by gains else-
where and hiring in the prior two months
was stronger than previously estimated,
offering some assurance that consumers
would continue to support the slowing
economy.
While the Labour Department’s closely
watched monthly employment report on
Friday showed the unemployment rate
picking up from near a 50-year low of 3.5
per cent last month, that was because of an
influx into the labour force in a sign of con-
fidence in jobs markets.
The report came on the heels of data
this week showing a further slowdown in
economic growth in the third quarter as a
trade tensions-induced slump in business
investment deepened. Manufacturing’s
struggles appear to have persisted early in
the fourth quarter, with a survey on Friday
showing a measure of factory activity re-
maining in contraction territory for the
third straight month in October.
The U.S. Federal Reserve cut interest
rates on Wednesday for the third time this
year, but signalled a pause in the easing cy-
cle that started in July when it reduced bor-
rowing costs for the first time since 2008.
“The current economic expansion looks
set to continue at least through the first
part of next year despite the trade-war

drag,” said Gus Faucher, chief economist at

PNC Financial in Pittsburgh. “Today’s solid

jobs report means that the Fed, after cut-

ting its policy rate three times since the

summer, is likely to keep rates steady in

the near term.”

Non-farm payrolls increased by 128,000

jobs last month, with manufacturing shed-

ding 36,000 positions – the most since Oc-

tober, 2009,the government’s survey of es-

tablishments showed. Striking workers

who do not receive a paycheque during the

payrolls survey period are

treated as unemployed. The

strike by about 46,000 work-

ers at GM plants in Michigan

and Kentucky ended last Fri-

day.

Job growth last month was

also held back by the depar-

ture of 20,000 temporary

workers hired by the govern-

ment for the 2020 Census. Ex-

cluding the strike and these

temporary hires, economists

estimate payrolls increased

by about 190,000.

The economy created

95,000 more jobs in August

and September than previously estimated.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast

payrolls rising by only 89,000 jobs in Octo-

ber.

The dollar was little changed against a

basket of currencies on the employment

report, while U.S. Treasury prices fell. U.S.

stocks were trading higher.

Job growth is slowing this year, averag-

ing 167,000 a month compared with an av-

erage monthly gain of 223,000 in 2018, in

part because of the nearly 16-month trade

war between the United States and China,

which has undermined business invest-

ment.

The U.S.-China trade war continues to

cast a pall over the longest economic ex-

pansion, now in its 11th year.

The Institute for Supply Management

(ISM) said its index of national factory ac-

tivity rose to a reading of 48.3 last month

from 47.8 in September, which was the

lowest level since June, 2009, when the re-

cession was ending. A reading below 50 in-

dicates contraction and October marked

the third straight month that

the index broke below the 50

threshold.

The index had declined

for six straight months. Al-

though the ISM’s forward-

looking new orders subin-

dex increased last month, it

remained in contraction ter-

ritory. The survey’s factory

employment index rose to

47.7 in October from 46.3 in

September.

Solid consumer spending

blunted some of the drag on

the economy from weak

business investment to limit

the slowdown in growth to a 1.9-per-cent

annualized rate in the third quarter. The

economy grew at a 2-per-cent pace in the

April-June quarter.

With the labour market steadily push-

ing up wages, consumers are likely to con-

tinue carrying the economy. Average hour-

ly earnings increased six US cents, or 0.2

per cent last month after being unchanged

in September. That kept the annual in-

crease in wages to 3 per cent in October.

REUTERS

People queue for a UPS job fair in New York on Friday. Job growth in the United States is slowing so far in 2019, averaging 167,000 each
month compared with an average monthly gain of 223,000 last year.SPENCERPLATT/GETTYIMAGES

U.S.labourmarketdrags

inOctoberamidGMstrike

0lidein•obgrowth,though

lessthaneïpected,{ollows

woesinmanu{acturings ector

LUCIA MUTIKANIWASHINGTON

Thecurrent

economicexpansion

lookssettocontinue

atleastthrough

thefirstpartofnext

yeardespitethe

trade-wardrag.

GUS FAUCHER

CHIEFECONOMIST,

PNCFINANCIAL

The Desjardins Group’s private data
breach is more widespread than was be-
lieved, and actually hit 4.2 million mem-
bers, the banking co-operative’s chief ex-
ecutive said on Friday.
President and chief executive officer
Guy Cormier told a news con-
ference that the revised
number – which represents
the entirety of the Levis,
Que.-based organization’s
membership – of victims.
Desjardins initially report-
ed in June that 2.9 million
customers had been impact-
ed by the theft – 2.7 million
individuals and 173,000 busi-
nesses in Ontario and Que-
bec.
Quebec provincial police
provided Desjardins with the
news on Thursday.
“This is not a new breach,
this is the same breach with
the same employee who did
the same pattern, but the bad
news today is that the SQ
[Quebec provincial police] is
sure that it’s for the whole
group and all the 4.2 million members,”
Mr. Cormier said.
On Friday, Desjardins wasn’t in a posi-
tion to specify whether more of its busi-
ness clients were also affected. Mr. Cormier
said any members who weren’t contacted
previously will be notified, beginning Nov.
4.
The co-operative said it would offer any
clients who had been victims of identity

theft access to lawyers and experts and re-

imburse them for certain expenses in-

curred as a result.

Mr. Cormier said that he hopes the pub-

lic takes notice of the efforts taken in the

past four-and-a-half months.

“I think they saw that Desjardins was re-

ally pro-active on that side,” Mr. Cormier

said.

“It’s really bad that yester-

day we received this informa-

tion from the SQ , but I think

compared to June 20, our

members can see, and they

saw Desjardins was standing

up and that’s what I hope

they see.”

In September, Quebec

Provincial Police questioned

17 people of interest and con-

ducted multiple property

searches as part of an investi-

gation dubbed “Portier.”

The force said it met with

91 witnesses around Quebec

City, Montreal and Laval ar-

eas, but didn’t make a formal

arrest.

Desjardins has said that a

single employee – since fired

• was allegedly responsible
  for the breach detected in De-
  cember 2018.
  A police spokesperson said on Friday
  the investigation into the breach was con-
  tinuing.
  In addition, the Office of the Privacy
  Commissioner of Canada and Quebec’s Ac-
  cess to Information Commission are also
  investigating.

THECANADIANPRESS

Desjardinsleakaffected

4.2millionmembers

JULIEN ARSENAULTMONTREAL

Thisisnotanew

breach,thisisthe

samebreachwith

thesameemployee

whodidthesame

pattern,butthebad

newstodayisthat

theSQ[provincial

police]issurethat

it’sforthewhole

groupandallthe4.2

millionmembers.

GUY CORMIER

DESJARDINSGROUP

PRESIDENTANDCEO

FORTIS REPORTS

$278-MILLION

THIRD-QUARTER PROFIT

ST. JOHN’SCanadian utility

companyFortis Inc.says it

earned $278-million in the

third quarter to stay roughly in

line with a year earlier.

Fortis says the earnings for

the quarter ending Sept. 30

work out to 64 cents a share,

compared with earnings of

$276-million or 65 cents a

share last year.

Adjusted net earnings were

$287-million, or 66 cents a

share, compared with $277-

million or 65 cents a share last

year.

Earnings per share were in

line with analyst expectations

according to financial markets

data firm Refinitiv.

In the quarter, the company

announced a five-year spending

program of $18.3-billion, up by

a billion dollars from the prior

year’s plan, as Fortis looks to

move to cleaner energy and

strengthen its networks.

The company says the in-

vestment will help boost its

base rate from $28-billion this

year to $34.5-billion in 2022 and

to $38.4-billion in 2024.

Fortis says it is well ahead of

its goal of reaching 30-per-cent

renewable power in Arizona.

In British Columbia, its goal

is to reduce emissions by 30

per cent by 2030.

It’s also working in British

Columbia to capture natural

gas from landfills for an energy

source.

THE CANADIAN PRESS