Copper Theft Disrupts Phone Lines, Canada Seeks Solutions

0:00These are ripping copper wire from phone and internet lines across Canada, leaving folks without service during emergencies. In one case up in Claren to near St. John's, residents couldn't even dial 911 because of spotty sale coverage in no landlines. Cops busted three people with 90 kilograms of stolen wire, charging them with theft over $5,000. Copper prices are sky high right now, fueling this mess. Bell reported 1,275 thefts from its network in 2025, up about 40% from the year before. Roger saw outage hours from vandalism, including these hits, jumped 400% since 2022. Scrapyard owners are catching heat on social media, even though many check IDs to block thieves. But with patchy rules across provinces, crooks just drive across borders, like from New Brunswick to Nova Scotia or Quebec to offload their haul without hassle. One dealer in Alberta has to report every sale to police, but that's not everywhere.

1:01Folks in the industry and politicians are pushing back. A conservative MP from Ontario introduced a bill last month to make it a crime for scrap dealers to handle known stolen metal with fines up to $10,000 and up to two years in jail. Hong Kong groups backed tougher penalties for messing with critical lines and won uniform rules nationwide. Bell even won $24,000 in damages from a Quebec court after one theft knocked out 94 customers for over a day. Until provinces sync up their laws, these outages will keep hitting homes and safety lines hard, so stay plugged in however you can. Local news, powered by AI. This is Canada News Today, I'm Corey with The Story.