Canadians should postpone or cancel any plans for non-essential travel abroad as government and health officials step up their fight to contain the spread of the new coronavirus disease known as COVID-19.
Incoming air travel will also be restricted to landing at certain airports and all cruise ships carrying over 500 passengers are barred from docking in Canada until later in the summer.
Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s chief public health officer, said in a press conference on Friday that there are now 157 cases of the virus in Canada and that the time has come for Canadians as well as event organizers to cancel their plans and limit their social interactions.
“My advice is to postpone or cancel all non-essential travel outside of Canada. This means reconsidering your vacations,” Tam said. “By making the choice to stay at home and not travel outside of Canada, you are protecting yourself, your family and doing your part to slow the spread of the virus.”
Story continues below advertisement
Dr. Howard Njoo, deputy chief of public health, said the Public Health Agency of Canada is changing its recommendation now because of several recent developments in the global response to the virus.
“What’s happened recently is more and more countries have been involved and the WHO has declared a global pandemic,” he said.
“Now, cases are also being reported in Canada having had travel to the United State and Europe and that’s why now, we’re at the point of changing our advice.”
Health Minister Patty Hajdu said the country is in a “critical time” right now to try to “flatten the curve,” or slow the rate of transmission in order to avoid overwhelming the public health system’s ability to respond and treat patients.
She also added the warning against travel outside of Canada is because of both the risk of potential transmission and the risk of being stranded in a country that shuts down its own borders or whose public health system cannot handle the number of cases.
0:56 Coronavirus outbreak: Canadian health official advises against all non-essential travel outside country
Coronavirus outbreak: Canadian health official advises against all non-essential travel outside country
Transport Minister Marc Garneau said the government is also taking additional measures to ban cruise ships carrying more than 500 people from stopping in Canada until July 1, 2020. That comes on the heels of a warning from Tam not to travel on cruise ships.
Story continues below advertisement
“These decisions were not easy to make,” he said. “We are aware of the impacts they will have.”
Public Safety Minister Bill Blair was also at that press conference and said the government is going to restrict international arrivals to land only at certain airports in an effort to try to concentrate screening and border security resources.
The announcements came after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hinted in an interview with CBC’s The Current on Friday morning that such measures were coming.
He said much of the power right now rests on Canadians themselves but that the government was also considering urging against any foreign travel.
“Instead of feeling completely powerless, Canadians do have a capacity to affect how this unfolds in Canada and, to a certain extent, around the world,” he said.
“We are looking at making a recommendation that people not travel outside the country except for exceptional purposes. That’s an announcement that will likely come later today.”
1:48 Coronavirus outbreak: Quebec lays out new measures to stop spread of COVID-19
Coronavirus outbreak: Quebec lays out new measures to stop spread of COVID-19
Trudeau gave the interview from his home in Ottawa, where he is in isolation for the next 14 days.
His wife, Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, tested positive for the new coronavirus on Thursday.
Trudeau said he is feeling fine and has no symptoms.
He was asked several times about why he is not being tested for the coronavirus given his wife has tested positive.
In particular, he was asked whether he was concerned he could have transmitted the virus without having any symptoms given he was also at a conference in Toronto where an attendee tested positive for the virus.
“We did discuss that with the public health authorities and the fact that I have no symptoms whatsoever of the coronavirus means that, according to them, there is no risk for the people I might have worked with over those days,” he said.
1:45 Canadian military shifts to pre-pandemic planning: Gen. Jonathan Vance
Canadian military shifts to pre-pandemic planning: Gen. Jonathan Vance
Public health officials around the world are grappling with the spread of the new virus, which has infected more than 135,000 people worldwide and killed 4,981.
In Canada, there are 138 confirmed cases and one death.
The Canadian military said on Thursday night its members are no longer allowed to travel internationally for work or personal travel.
In a directive circulated to members, Lt.-Gen. Jean-Marc Lanthier said he was speaking on behalf of Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Jonathan Vance in informing members that as of Friday, there military was rescinding any authorizations members may have received to travel abroad.
Story continues below advertisement
“It is recognized that the execution of this direction will be messy and complex,” Lanthier acknowledged.
The military said some exceptional circumstances will be evaluated.
Vance had said earlier in the month that the military was shifting to pre-pandemic preparedness mode to get ready for any requests it could receive to assist in the response to the outbreak, which the World Health Organization has now declared a pandemic.
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.
