TORONTO —
As a plane of relieved Canadians evacuated from the virus-plagued cruise ship in Japan flies back home, dozens of others are being left behind.
Rose and Greg Yerex from Port Dover, Ont. tested positive for COVID-19 in their final days aboard the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship. The federal government has said it is better for them and dozens of other infected Canadians to be treated locally in Japan rather than return home with the virus.
“Both my husband and I are actually physically feeling great,” Rose Yerex told CTV News Channel from their hospital room in Nagoya.
Despite testing positive, the couple has not shown any signs of the illness and is being kept in a section of the hospital dedicated to patients without symptoms. Even though they were not deemed well enough to fly home, they don’t require medical treatment.
“The problem is that there’s no treatment for this. We are asymptomatic, so what you can only really do is treat the symptoms — if there are any — and basically let this this run its course,” Rose Yerex said.
Forty-seven of the 250 Canadians on the ship tested positive for the virus. The total number of cases on board the ship was 634, or roughly one in six of the 3,700 people on board.
Rose and Greg were surprised to end up in the hospital together. Initially, Greg tested positive for the virus, but Rose was negative. They planned on having Rose return to Canada while Greg stayed in Japan for treatment.
Then, on one of the final days of quarantine, Rose was tested again. Her results came back positive.
It was difficult news, especially after 14 days sequestered in their cabin.
“It was a total surprise and we had maybe a couple hours’ notice so I could pack up,” she said.
Greg described the experience as “surreal.”
“It’s like my whole world is topsy-turvy, because what I should be doing and what I want to be doing, I can’t do.”
While the Yerexes remain in Japan, their friend Kate Bedding is on her way back home to Canada. Bedding and the other evacuees were tested on the ship one last time by Canadian medical personnel Friday before being given the all-clear to fly home.
The Canada-bound flight left Tokyo International Airport at 4:30 a.m. local time and is scheduled to land in Trenton at 4 a.m. EDT on Friday.
Once home, evacuees will undergo more testing at a military base in Trenton, Ont. before being relocated to a hotel and conference centre in Cornwall, Ont. for another two weeks of quarantine.
Health Minister Patty Hajdu said it’s possible that some evacuees may be able to leave quarantine sooner than the designated two-week period if they continue to test negative for the virus and don’t have any symptoms. Hajdu said that will be determined by the chief public health officer of Canada on a case-by-case basis.
Bedding admits that leaving her friends behind was difficult.
“I’m leaving my two friends here in Japan, and I’m a little hesitant to leave without them,” Bedding said, becoming emotional.
Two cruise ship passengers – a Japanese man and woman in their 80s – have died in hospital, officials confirmed Thursday. Their deaths are the first from the ship.
Globally, the novel coronavirus has killed more than 2,100 people and infected 76,000 others since it was identified on New Year’s Eve.
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
