Metrolinx spent $21K entering its own communications team into awards
Ontario’s provincial transit agency is facing criticism and questions — including from the minister responsible for its work — after spending tens of thousands of dollars entering its own public relations content into awards programs.
Metrolinx, which runs the GO Transit network and leads the government’s transit expansion projects, has a large communications team responsible for promoting its work in Toronto and southern Ontario.
Data shared by the agency with Global News shows its communications department has spent $21,483.93 in the last year entering into various awards.
“No prize money was generated,” a spokesperson said.
In a statement, Metrolinx said it had entered nine communications awards programs in various categories, “including public service, education and discovery, history, and social responsibility.”
A spokesperson for Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria blasted the agency for its spending and said his office would immediately order them to stop after learning about the costs through questions from Global News.
“This is an unacceptable use of taxpayer dollars and Minister Sarkaria has sent a letter to direct Metrolinx to immediately stop all entries going forward,” the spokesperson wrote in a statement.
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“We are delivering the largest transit expansion in North America and Metrolinx needs to remain focused on building the critical infrastructure our growing province needs.”
Metrolinx confirmed the money spent came from its existing communications budget and defended the move as necessary for its professional development.
“It is standard for public and private sector organizations to apply to award programs as part of their communications practices,” a spokesperson for the transit agency said.
“Investment in awards consideration is similar to investments in training or technology — the entry process encourages teams to reflect, measure outcomes, and articulate the impact of their communications.”
Commercials and other marketing materials from Metrolinx may also have been entered into awards, the agency said, but those entries would have been done by the companies contracted to produce the commercials and therefore would not have cost the taxpayer.
The transit agency is responsible for working on projects like the Eglinton Crosstown LRT and the Finch West LRT, neither of which has an official opening date. Metrolinx, whenever asked, has refused to disclose them.
Ontario Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner said the Metrolinx communication team should focus on pushing out information on existing, delayed projects rather than entering into awards.
“The communication on the Eglinton Crosstown has been horrendous, so I can’t imagine them winning an award for communications that have essentially said we want to communicate that we have nothing to communicate,” he said.
Metrolinx also recently saw a deal that was supposed to run for almost a quarter of a century fall apart less than three years after the initial paperwork was signed.
It said it was working on an “amicable settlement” to end that contract — but has declined to answer questions about the cost or why the deal fell apart.
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
SEATTLE – Blue Jays designated hitter George Springer left Game 5 of the American League Championship Series due to a right knee injury.
Springer was hit by a 95-m.p.h. pitch thrown by reliever Bryan Woo in the seventh inning of Friday’s game at T-Mobile Park. Toronto led 2-1 at the time.
Springer was replaced in the lineup by Joey Loperfido, who was added to the 26-man roster on Thursday after outfielder Anthony Santander was ruled out with a back injury.
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Springer was hit in the side of the knee and immediately crumpled to the ground in the batter’s box. A team trainer, joined by manager John Schneider, came out of the dugout for assistance.
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The 36-year-old Springer got to his feet and tested the leg by slowly walking to first base before deciding to leave the game.
Springer, who drove in Toronto’s first run of the game in the fifth inning, is hitting .256 in the post-season with three homers and six RBIs. He hit .309 in the regular season with 32 homers and 84 RBIs.
Following the game Jays manager John Schneider said X-rays were negative on Springer’s knee.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2025.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
SEATTLE – The Seattle Mariners are one win away from a berth in the 2025 World Series.
The Mariners scored five runs in the eighth inning to defeat the Toronto Blue Jays 6-2 on Friday night at T-Mobile Park to take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven American League Championship Series.
With the Jays leading 2-1 heading into the home half of the eighth inning, Seattle star Cal Raleigh tied the game with a solo home run off reliever Brendon Little to tie the game 2-2.
Then with the bases loaded Eugenio Suarez hit his second homer of the night off reliever Seranthony Dominguez to give the Mariners a 6-2 lead.
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Ernie Clement’s RBI single in the sixth inning off Mariners’ reliever Bryan Woo scored Alejandro Kirk from second base to snap a 1-1 tie and give the Jays a 2-1 lead. Kirk led off the inning with a double.
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Suarez hit a second-inning solo home run off Blue Jays’ starter Kevin Gausman to give the Mariners an early 1-0 lead.
The Jays load the bases in top of fourth with none out — Nathan Lukes hit a double, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was intentionally walked, and Kirk walked. But Daulton Varsho struck out and Clement grounded into a double play to end the inning.
George Springer’s long double off Mariners’ reliever Matt Brash of Kingston, Ont., scored Addison Barger in the top of fifth to tie the game 1-1.
Mariners starter Bryce Miller worked four innings of four-hit ball, giving up one run and two walks. He had four strikeouts.
Kevin Gausman worked 5 2/3 innings, gave up three hits, one run, three walks and had four strikeouts. Louis Varland worked 1 1/3 innings of no-hit ball, before Little and Dominguez collectively gave up two hits and five runs.
Mariners starter Bryce Miller worked four innings of four-hit ball, giving up one run and two walks. He had four strikeouts.
Game 6 is Sunday night at Rogers Centre in Toronto. Right-handed rookie Trey Yesavage will start for the Jays, while the Mariners haven’t named a starter yet.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
The Canada Border Services Agency said Friday it had resolved the third outage in less than a month affecting some airport traveller inspection kiosks, after the head of the agency called the repeated equipment failures “not acceptable.”
The CBSA said the outage affecting inspection kiosks at Toronto Pearson International Airport, Calgary International Airport and Edmonton International Airport was resolved around 3 p.m. eastern time, six hours after it was first reported.
An agency spokesperson told Global News that kiosks were also impacted at Toronto’s Billy Bishop International Airport and Ottawa International Airport, but those systems were brought back online earlier Friday.
“This failure was caused by an unexpected technical issue during maintenance work,” the spokesperson said in an email. “It was not the result of any cyberattack.
“We thank travellers for their cooperation and apologize for any inconvenience experienced.”
Earlier Friday, CBSA president Erin O’Gorman said the agency works with its partners “relentlessly” to prevent outages and has contingency plans in place.
“It’s not acceptable that they go down, and we are working with our partners to make sure they don’t go down — and when they do, that we are ready to put them back up again,” she told reporters at a border security announcement in Niagara Falls, Ont.
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Friday’s outage came after a similar failure on Oct. 2 that affected Toronto Pearson as well as Montreal Trudeau International Airport, Ottawa International Airport and Calgary International Airport for about three hours.
That outage came days after kiosks went offline due to what CBSA called “unforeseen technical problems during routine systems maintenance” on Sept. 28.
The agency has said the recent outages also affected commercial processing at some land border crossings.
Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree said Friday he has tasked O’Gorman to report back to him within 30 days on “some of the challenges that we have been facing recently,” but added that agency staff are tasked to ensure outages are resolved quickly.
“I can assure Canadians that our systems work, our systems work effectively,” the minister said.
“Of course, there may be at times some outages and as soon as we find out, we make every effort to fix it in an expedited timeline.”
During the outages, international arrivals at affected airports have been rerouted to in-person customs inspection booths, leading to delays for travellers.
“Safety and security standards are upheld at all times, with border services officers working to verify travellers’ identities, receive their declarations, and conduct any additional screening warranted by each traveller’s individual circumstances,” the agency told Global News.
“The CBSA works closely with airport management to expedite traveller processing, minimize delays and complete verifications as required.”
Manual processing was also enacted for commercial traffic at land border crossings, leading to delays for vehicles that persisted for days after the outages were resolved.
The CBSA said at the time that it was working with Shared Services Canada, the Crown agency that provides IT services across government, to reduce the risk of future outages.
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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