The government of Canada offered the promise of evacuation today to two thousand Canadians stranded in Guatemala. But many of those Canadians say they’re becoming more and more alarmed as time passes without word on when they’ll be allowed to leave.
The Central American nation imposed a sweeping border and airport closure on March 16, stopping all flights in and out. Hilda Rossi, a Guatemalan-born humanitarian aid worker who has lived in Canada for more than 50 years, was due to return to Canada on March 18 and now finds herself stranded.
“It’s like being in a prison,” she said, describing the strict lockdown in the country. She is staying with her 87-year-old sister in Colonia Primero de Julio, a suburb of Guatemala’s capital. “I am really desperate to get home.”
Meds run out
Oakville resident Rossi is president and founder of the aid organization Canadian Central American Relief Effort, which has worked for several years in Guatemala’s impoverished Merendon mountains.
She said she is relieved that a group of 18 Canadian and American volunteers who came to work in the country this year have been able to get out. But Rossi, who is 73, has no idea when she will be leaving herself.
She takes thyroid medication, which has run out, and she has an 82-year-old husband waiting for her at home.
She said the Canadian Embassy gave her two suggestions. The first was that she take a bus to the Mexican border and then try to get a second bus to Mexico City. The second option was a much shorter bus trip (14 hours) to Belize, but went through a particularly dangerous corner of Central America.
Rossi said that, given her health, she did not feel able to do either.
‘Largest repatriation effort … in peacetime’
A total of 1,998 Canadians have registered with the embassy in Guatemala, and there are almost equally large contingents in Honduras and El Salvador.
Hilda Rossi, seen here in a family photo with her 82-year-old husband Riccardo Rossi, says she was due to return to Canada from Guatemala last week and now finds herself stranded. (Submitted by Melody Johnson)
Today, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that some will soon be coming home.
“We’ve also helped secure an Air Canada flight from Spain, as well as Air Transat flights, including two from Honduras, and one each from El Salvador and Guatemala. If you’re a Canadian abroad, register with the government now so we can send you updates and contact you.
“You need to do this if you haven’t done it already.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the government is working with airlines to try and get Canadians who are stuck abroad home. 0:50
Foreign Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne told CBC News this morning that his department had fielded 10,000 calls and 14,000 emails in the previous 48 hours, adding that this was “probably the largest repatriation effort in Canada’s history in peacetime.”
“This scale and the complexity that we’re facing has never been seen before,” said Champagne. “This is a book yet to be written because no one has ever seen anything like that, where you have all these things at the same time, and you’re trying to bring people back to Canada.”
Stranded with a sick baby
Shy-Anne Hickey and her boyfriend of nine years Yan Durand left Montreal on February 24 for a month-long backpacking trip in Guatemala. They brought with them their 8-month-old baby daughter Aly-Rose.
“Little did we know our trip would spin into a nightmare three days before our departure back home to Canada,” she told CBC News, saying the couple “were in a state of panic” after the country’s government decreed the closure of the border and also banned all public transportation.
“We contacted Delta airlines, who at that time cancelled our flight home. They couldn’t help, except tell us that in 21 business days we will get an email with a partial refund.
“We contacted our travel insurance, who referred us to the Canadian Embassy. They couldn’t help either. The SOS email they keep talking about on all the news channels responded with an automated email due to high volume.”
Shy-Anne Hickey, seen here with her partner Yan Durand and their daughter Aly-Rose, says they “were in a state of panic” after Guatemala’s government decreed the closure of the border and also banned all public transportation. (Submitted by Shy-Anne Hickey)
The couple was able to persuade the host of an Airbnb property where they had stayed to allow them to return. That meant a trip by Uber to the village of San Pedro la Laguna, in violation of the country’s ban on transporting tourists.
Hickey said she was appalled to see a police roadblock at the entrance to the village.
“Looking down at my daughter, who was sound asleep in my arms, for the first time in my life I was scared of what could happen.”
On village lockdown
Their Uber driver was able to talk his way through the blockade, and now the couple are in a village where there is a 4 pm to 4 am curfew, with 30-day jail terms for those who violate it. The ban on intercity travel remains in place, making it unclear how the three Canadians would even reach the airport in Guatemala City.
“We are terrified that one of us will get sick, even with all the precautions and isolation. Medical services are very limited in this part of the country. Our daughter was hospitalized various times due to lung issues, so we are terrified. We just want to get back to Canada.”
Hickey said that the baby girl is now sick.
Her sister Lacey Hickey, who is also her neighbour in Bois-Des-Fillion, Quebec, said the family is desperate. They tried to book seats on a flight last week at a cost of $6,000, but were told it was full.
“We’ve asked her if money could help, but she says no, money is not the problem,” said Lacey.
A man wearing a face mask as a precaution against the spread of the new coronavirus walks near a bus station in Guatemala City, Thursday, March 19, 2020. As part of emergency measures due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Guatemalan government has restricted public transportation. (Moises Castillo/The Associated Press)
Shy-Anne Hickey said she is now full of regrets and doubts.
“I’m sitting here in my bed, tears rolling down my cheek, looking at my eight-month daughter, who doesn’t have a clue.
“How did I not know to protect you more? How did I not know to go home earlier? How did the president of Guatemala not let us leave and bring you to safety …
“Since March 16th, I feel like a prisoner of my own decisions. It is rare to find food. Markets are closed. Groceries stores are empty … We are living off rice, eggs, pasta and bread.”
More people than seats
Although Guatemala has approved one evacuation flight, neither Air Transat nor any other airline in the world has a plane that could accommodate even half of the Canadians looking to return.
Passengers waits for a charter flight coordinated by the U.S. embassy at La Aurora airport in Guatemala City, Monday, March 23, 2020. (Moises Castillo/The Associated Press)
Air Transat’s largest Airbus A330s can only handle 363 passengers.
If those are used for the three Central American evacuations, the flights already authorized by the three local governments could bring out only 1,452 of the 5,264 Canadians who are present in the three countries and who have registered with the Canadian Embassy.
The Central American governments would have to approve about a dozen more flights to be able to bring out all Canadians who have registered with the embassy.
Foreign Affairs Minister François-Philippe Champagne says there are unprecedented consular challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic and he’s negotiating one-to-one with jurisdictions where there are no inbound or outbound flights to bring Canadians home. 3:39
Today, Champagne acknowledged that it will be difficult to get everyone out.
“It’s almost like a chess game. Every time that something is closed we need to find a way to bring our people [home] and that’s what we’re doing on a 24-hour, seven days basis,” he said.
About one million Canadians have made it back to the country since borders began to close around the world — approximately half of them from the United States.
“But we have to admit that there will be Canadians who won’t be able to come back home and we’ll do our utmost to support them wherever they might be,” said Champagne.
Both the Rossi and the Hickey families say they remain unclear about the basic facts of the repatriation flights — when they are, how they will know if they have seats, and how they are supposed to get to an airport that is officially closed in the middle of a transportation freeze.
VICTORIA – The British Columbia government says it is taking steps to ensure tree fruit growers are compensated for past harvests after the closure of a co-operative that had served farmers for almost 90 years.
It says the Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC is “redirecting” about $4 million in provincial funding that will be used to ensure co-op members receive money they are owed.
The province says the foundation will pay growers in the coming weeks and then recoup the funds at the end of the court process involving the BC Tree Fruits Cooperative that filed for creditor protection last month.
In July, the co-op, which processed, stored, packaged and sold fruit for 230 member farms, announced it was shutting down after 88 years of operation.
It says it has more than $58 million in liabilities.
The agriculture ministry says it is has also provided $100,000 to the BC Fruit Growers Association that will go toward food-safety certification that was previously done by the co-op.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Jesse Marsch issued Canada’s men’s soccer squad a challenge — get physical.
The edict came after the Canadians surprised many at this summer’s Copa America tournament, making it through to the semifinals. As his players departed for their professional clubs, the head coach wanted them thinking about continued growth.
“I challenged them to be more physically present in the matches that they played in,” Marsch said. “I’ve tried to encourage all the players to sprint more, to win more duels, to win more balls, to be more dynamic in matches.”
When Canada reconvened for a pair of friendlies last week, the coach saw some players had already heeded his call, including Vancouver Whitecaps product Ali Ahmed.
The 23-year-old midfielder started in both Canada’s 2-1 victory over the United States on Saturday and Tuesday’s 0-0 draw against Mexico.
“I’m really happy for him,” Marsch said. “I think he’s still young and still has a lot of room and potential to continue to grow.”
Playing under Marsch — who took over as head coach in May — has been a boon for the young athlete, currently in his second full season with Major League Soccer’s Whitecaps.
“Jesse has a very clear way of playing,” Ahmed said. “And I think the way we’ve been training and the way we’ve been growing as a group, it’s been helpful for me.”
The reward of getting minutes for a national team can spur a player’s growth, including Ahmed, said Whitecaps head coach Vanni Sartini.
“Of course that fuels him inside to say ‘Hey, I want to be a better player. I want to get to that stage,'” said Sartini.
Vancouver had six players — including Ahmed — away on international duty during its 0-0 draw against Dallas FC on Saturday. The absences are a good problem to have, Sartini said.
“Because we have players that are close to the national team, we have a lot of players that development is faster, better, bigger than it would have been if they hadn’t been called,” he said.
Born in Toronto, Ahmed came up through the Whitecaps’ academy system and played for Vancouver’s MLS Next Pro side before cementing his spot on the first team in 2023. He put up two goals and two assists across 22 regular-season games, and added another goal and another helper in 19 appearances this year.
Taking the next step will require the five-foot-11, 154-pound Ahmed to push himself physically, Marsch said.
“Tactically, he’s technically gifted,” the coach said. “I’ve told him he’s got to get in the gym more.
“There’s a lot of these little things where too many guys, they still look like kids and we need to help them look like men and play like men. And that’s what the high standards of the game are about.”
Marsch has quickly adjusted to recalibrating standards in his short time with Team Canada. Since taking over the squad in May, the coach said he’s learned the players are smarter and more capable than he originally thought, which forces the coach to constantly recalibrate his standards.
“That’s my job right now, to keep raising the level of the demands,” he said.
The way 40th-ranked Canada is viewed on the international stage is evolving, too.
“I think we’re changing the perception on the way we’re playing now,” he said. “I think beating the U.S. — it would have been nice to beat Mexico as well — the way we did, the way that we performed at Copa, I think teams are starting to look at us differently.
“Right now, I think we’re focused on ourselves. We’re definitely trying to be the best in CONCACAF and we have higher goals as well.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
An investigator gave the World Anti-Doping Agency a pass on its handling of the inflammatory case involving Chinese swimmers, but not without hammering away at the “curious” nature of WADA’s “silence” after examining Chinese actions that did not follow rules designed to safeguard global sports.
WADA on Thursday released the full decision from Eric Cottier, the Swiss investigator it appointed to analyze its handling of the case involving the 23 Chinese swimmers who remained eligible despite testing positive for performance enhancers in 2021.
In echoing wording from an interim report issued earlier this summer, Cottier said it was “reasonable” that WADA chose not to appeal the Chinese anti-doping agency’s explanation that the positives came from contamination.
“Taking into consideration the particularities of the case, (WADA) appears … to have acted in accordance with the rules it has itself laid out for anti-doping organizations,” Cottier wrote.
But peppered throughout his granular, 56-page analysis of the case was evidence and reminders of how WADA disregarded some of China’s violations of anti-doping protocols. Cottier concluded this happened more for the sake of expediency than to show favoritism toward the Chinese.
“In retrospect at least, the Agency’s silence is curious, in the face of a procedure that does not respect the fundamental rules, and its lack of reaction is surprising,” Cottier wrote of WADA’s lack of fealty to the world anti-doping code.
Travis Tygart, the CEO of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency and one of WADA’s fiercest critics, latched onto this dynamic, saying Cottier’s information “clearly shows that China did not follow the rules, and that WADA management did nothing about it.”
One of the chief complaints over the handling of this case was that neither WADA nor the Chinese gave any public notice upon learning of the positive tests for the banned heart medication Temozolomide, known as TMZ.
The athletes also were largely kept in the dark and the burden to prove their innocence was taken up by Chinese authorities, not the athletes themselves, which runs counter to what the rulebook demands.
Despite the criticisms, WADA generally welcomed the report.
“Above all, (Cottier) reiterated that WADA showed no bias towards China and that its decision not to appeal the cases was reasonable based on the evidence,” WADA director general Olivier Niggli said. “There are however certainly lessons to be learned by WADA and others from this situation.”
Tygart said “this report validates our concerns and only raises new questions that must be answered.”
Cottier expanded on doubts WADA’s own chief scientist, Olivier Rabin, had expressed over the Chinese contamination theory — snippets of which were introduced in the interim report. Rabin was wary of the idea that “a few micrograms” of TMZ found in the kitchen at the hotel where the swimmers stayed could be enough to cause the group contamination.
“Since he was not in a position to exclude the scenario of contamination with solid evidence, he saw no other solution than to accept it, even if he continued to have doubts about the reality of contamination as described by the Chinese authorities,” Cottier wrote.
Though recommendations for changes had been expected in the report, Cottier made none, instead referring to several comments he’d made earlier in the report.
Key among them were his misgivings that a case this big was largely handled in private — a breach of custom, if not the rules themselves — both while China was investigating and after the file had been forwarded to WADA. Not until the New York Times and German broadcaster ARD reported on the positives were any details revealed.
“At the very least, the extraordinary nature of the case (23 swimmers, including top-class athletes, 28 positive tests out of 60 for a banned substance of therapeutic origin, etc.), could have led to coordinated and concerted reflection within the Agency, culminating in a formal and clearly expressed decision to take no action,” the report said.
WADA’s executive committee established a working group to address two more of Cottier’s criticisms — the first involving what he said was essentially WADA’s sloppy recordkeeping and lack of formal protocol, especially in cases this complex; and the second a need to better flesh out rules for complex cases involving group contamination.
