The federal government is holding fast to virtually every restriction it has imposed during the pandemic
With B.C.’s announcement last week that it would be phasing out mask and vaccine mandates, all 10 provinces have now set an effective end-date to their treatment of COVID-19 as a public health emergency. By April 27 — the date when Ontario’s pandemic restrictions become the last to expire — mask, vaccine and physical distancing mandates will effectively cease to exist in Canadian daily life.
Except according to Ottawa. Even as each week yields the end of another provincial COVID mandate, the federal government is continuing to hold fast to virtually every restriction it has imposed over the course of the now two-year pandemic.
Vaccination remains mandatory for any Canadian over the age of 12 looking to board an aircraft, even if it’s a domestic flight. Transport Canada is also continuing to mandate masking aboard flights and in airports.
Government employment remains barred to anyone who can’t provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination — even to employees who are “teleworking” or “working remotely,” according to official guidelines.
While the federal government dropped the requirement for vaccinated travellers to arrange a $150 PCR test in order to enter Canada, crossing the border still remains subject to a raft of pandemic restrictions.
Vaccinated travellers must still arrange a supervised antigen test (home rapid tests aren’t allowed), and they may be randomly selected for another test at the border. Unvaccinated travellers, meanwhile, are still required to undergo mandatory 14-day quarantine, even if they provide a negative test result and aren’t showing symptoms.
In all cases, federal officials have not announced any eventual end-date to these restrictions — or even the metrics by which they would entertain such a thing.
In late February, Tourism Minister Randy Boissonnault told a press conference that “a complete lifting of restrictions at this time isn’t good for Canadians or for Canadian businesses.”
On March 3, Conservative MP John Williamson asked Minister of Health Jean-Yves Duclos in the House of Commons when COVID-19 testing at the border would end. Duclos did not answer the question, and replied only that “Canadians have made the right choice and have been vaccinated and have followed public health measures.”
“It would just be nice for them to discuss what they’re looking for,” said Isaac Bogoch, an infectious disease specialist at Toronto General Hospital.
Bogoch is not entirely onboard with the provincial trend towards lifting COVID mandates, particularly in regards to masking. But he said it would be nice to hear some “transparency” from the federal government on why so many of their mandates remain in place.
“I’m not sure what the federal government is thinking … even if it’s ‘we’re not sure, we’re watching this week by week,’ that’s fine,” he said.
Ottawa’s continued adherence to mandates is spawning increasing pushback from the country’s business sector.
Transport Minister Omar Alghabra announced last Monday that he was lifting an all-out ban on cruise ships docking at Canadian ports, but with the requirement that passengers had to be vaccinated and undergo testing both before and after their trip.
“If (passengers) are fully vaccinated there is no reason why they would still need a rapid antigen or a PCR test,” Walt Judas, CEO of B.C.’s Tourism Industry Association, told CTV at the time.
Last month, when Transport Canada ended PCR testing requirements at the border in favour of antigen testing, Air Canada and WestJet both called on the feds to end testing on vaccinated travellers altogether. “Other countries have moved to eliminate pre-departure testing requirements entirely,” read a tweet from Air Canada at the time.
Last week, a coalition of Toronto-based tourism groups publicly similarly called on the federal government to drop border testing requirements for vaccinated travellers no later than April 1.
“Many countries have recognized the time to remove COVID-19 restrictions for fully vaccinated travellers. To set the stage for a complete recovery, Canada needs to join jurisdictions like the United Kingdom and Switzerland in removing restrictions that are no longer needed,” Lindsay Broadhead, a spokesperson for the Toronto Region Board of Trade, told a Friday press conference.
Federal COVID mandates are indeed making Canada an outlier among its G7 peers, particularly at the border.
The U.K. has no testing requirement on vaccinated travellers entering its borders, and doesn’t require quarantine for unvaccinated travellers. France has similarly dropped testing requirements on vaccinated travellers, and even on unvaccinated travellers if they come from a country with low COVID spread (a list that currently includes Canada).
In lieu of a negative COVID test, U.S. border authorities will currently accept proof of “recovery of COVID-19.” Canada does not have anything similar, and will still require two doses of vaccine even for a traveller who has obtained natural immunity from a COVID-19 infection.
VANDERHOOF, B.C. – British Columbia Conservatives are promising changes they say will bring more stability to the province’s struggling forest industry.
Leader John Rustad announced his plan for the sector a week before the official launch of the provincial election campaign, saying a Conservative government would do away with stumpage fees paid when timber is harvested and instead put a tax on the final products that are produced.
Rustad said Saturday that under a provincial Conservative government, a small fee may be charged upfront, but the bulk would come at the end of the process, depending on what type of product is created.
He also promised to review how wildfires are managed, as well as streamline the permit process and review what he calls the province’s “uncompetitive cost structure.”
“British Columbia is by far the highest cost producers of any jurisdiction in North America. We need to be able to drive down those costs, so that our forest sector can actually be able to do the reinvestment, to be able to create the jobs and make sure that they’re still there to be able to support our communities,” he said.
The governing New Democrats meanwhile, say eliminating stumpage fees would inflame the softwood lumber dispute with the United States and hurt forestry workers.
In a statement issued by the NDP, Andrew Mercier, the party’s candidate in Langley-Willowbrook, said Rustad failed to support the industry when he was in government under the former BC Liberals.
“Not only will Rustad’s old thinking and recycled ideas fail to deliver, his proposal to eliminate stumpage would inflame the softwood lumber dispute — punishing forestry workers and communities,” Mercier said, accusing Rustad of ignoring the complexity of the challenges facing the industry.
The softwood lumber dispute between the U.S. and Canada stretches back decades. In August, the U.S. Department of Commerce nearly doubled duties on softwood lumber.
International Trade Minister Mary Ng has said Canada has taken steps to launch two legal challenges under the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement.
Rustad said a provincial Conservative government would push hard to get a deal with the United States over the ongoing dispute “whether it’s with the rest of Canada or by itself.”
He said his party’s proposed changes are in the name of bringing “stability” and “hope” to the industry that has seen multiple closures of mills in rural communities over the last several years.
Most recently, Canfor Corp. decided to shutter two northern British Columbia sawmills earlier this month, leaving hundreds of workers unemployed by the end of the year.
According to the United Steelworkers union, Canfor has closed 10 mills in the province since November 2011, including nine in northern B.C.
Jeff Bromley, chair of the United Steelworkers wood council, said Saturday the idea of changes in favour of taxing the final product has been floated in the past.
He said the finer details of the Conservative plan will be important, but that the system needs to be improved and “new ideas are certainly something I’d be willing to entertain.”
“Something needs to happen, or the industry is just going to bleed and wither away and be a shadow of its former self,” Bromley said.
“Politics aside, if (Rustad) can come up with a policy that enables my members to work, then I would be supportive of that. But then I’m supportive of any government that would come up with policies and fibre for our mills to run. Period.”
When Canfor announced its latest closures, Forests Minister Bruce Ralston said the sector was a “foundational part” of the province and the current NDP government would work to support both local jobs and wood manufacturing operations.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 14, 2024
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — The San Francisco 49ers placed All-Pro running back Christian McCaffrey on injured reserve because of his lingering calf and Achilles tendon injuries.
The move made Saturday means McCaffrey will miss at least four more games after already sitting out the season opener. He is eligible to return for a Thursday night game in Seattle on Oct. 10.
McCaffrey got hurt early in training camp and missed four weeks of practice before returning to the field on a limited basis last week. He was a late scratch for the opener on Monday night against the Jets and now is sidelined again after experiencing pain following practice on Thursday.
McCaffrey led the NFL last season with 2,023 yards from scrimmage and was tied for the league lead with 21 touchdowns, winning AP Offensive Player of the Year.
The Niners made up for McCaffrey’s absence thanks to a strong performance from backup Jordan Mason, who had 28 carries for 147 yards and a touchdown in San Francisco’s 32-19 victory over the New York Jets. Mason is set to start again Sunday at Minnesota.
After missing 23 games because of injuries in his final two full seasons with Carolina, McCaffrey had been healthy the past two seasons.
He missed only one game combined in 2022-23 — a meaningless Week 18 game last season for San Francisco when he had a sore calf. His 798 combined touches from scrimmage in the regular season and playoffs were the third most for any player in a two-year span in the past 10 years.
Now San Francisco will likely rely heavily on Mason, a former undrafted free agent out of Georgia Tech who had 83 carries his first two seasons. He had at least 10 touches just twice before the season opener, when his 28 carries were the most by a 49ers player in a regular-season game since Frank Gore had 31 against Seattle on Oct. 30, 2011.
The Niners also have fourth-round rookie Isaac Guerendo and Patrick Taylor Jr. on the active roster. Guerendo played three offensive snaps with no touches in the opener. Taylor had 65 carries for Green Bay from 2021-23.
San Francisco also elevated safety Tracy Walker III from the practice squad for Sunday’s game against Minnesota.
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BRUSSELS – Canada walked away with some hardware at the Diamond League track and field competition Saturday.
Alysha Newman finished third in women’s pole vault, while Marco Arop did the same in the men’s 800-metre race.
Newman won a bronze medal in her event at the recent Paris Olympics. Arop grabbed silver at the same distance in France last month.
Australia’s Nina Kennedy, who captured gold at the Summer Games, again finished atop the podium. Sandi Morris of the United States was second.
Newman set a national record when she secured Canada’s first-ever pole vault medal with a bronze at the Olympics with a height of 4.85 metres. The 30-year-old from London, Ont., cleared 4.80 metres in her second attempt Saturday, but was unable conquer 4.88 metres on three attempts.
Arop, a 25-year-old from Edmonton, finished the men’s 800 metres with a time of one minute 43.25 seconds. Olympic gold medallist Emmanuel Wanyonyi of Kenya was first with a time of 1:42.70.
Djamel Sedjati, edged out by Arop for silver in Paris last month, was second 1:42.87
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 14, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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