Canadian officials acknowledged some regions of the country could be closer to reopening parts of the economy than others, but continued to stress a careful approach as the border closure with the hard-hit United States was extended for another 30 days during the COVID-19 crisis.
“Let us be very clear, while we want to be optimistic, we need to be absolutely cautious,” Treasury Board President Jean-Yves Duclos said Saturday.
Sobering reminders of the need for patience were heard throughout the day as case numbers continued to climb in Canadian nursing homes and prisons.
A medical worker and prison guards are seen at a secure mobile medical unit set up at Abbotsford Regional Hospital to treat prisoners infected with the coronavirus from the Mission Institution correctional facility, in Abbotsford, B.C., on Saturday. (Jesse Winter/Reuters)
At Residence Herron, the suburban Montreal long-term care home where 31 people died from COVID-19 in less than one month, 61 of 99 residents have now tested positive for the virus, according to a regional health authority spokesperson.
Canadian Armed Forces members with medical expertise headed to long-term care homes in Quebec after Premier François Legault asked the federal government for assistance.
Meanwhile, alarms were raised about an outbreak at a federal women’s prison northeast of Montreal where 60 per cent of inmates have been infected, according to the Elizabeth Fry Society. The organization reported 50 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Joliette Institution, up from 10 on April 7, and other women’s institutions in Ontario and British Columbia also reported cases.
Trump, Trudeau strike different tones
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confirmed the extension for the closure restricting non-essential travel across the border, which began on March 21 and was set to expire on Tuesday.
“This is an important decision and one that will keep people on both sides of the border safe,” Trudeau said.
U.S. President Donald Trump said earlier this week that the border could open soon, but Trudeau and other Canadian political leaders did not strike the same tone in comments.
WATCH | Trudeau announces extension of U.S. border restrictions:
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau discusses extending restrictions imposed on the U.S.-Canada border, new funding for Indigenous businesses and the arrival of shipments of medical supplies during his daily COVID-19 briefing Saturday. 7:06
The U.S. has the most COVID-19 cases in the world, with more than 700,000 positive tests. Canada has more than 33,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases and more than 1,500 deaths.
Despite continuing grim news, glimmers of hope emerged this week as provinces and cities reported slower growth of the virus, and officials began discussing moves toward a “new normal.”
On Saturday, Trudeau repeated the need for caution and reminded Canadians to continue with physical distancing measures
Cyclists and pedestrians make their way along Queen Elizabeth Drive in Ottawa as it is closed to motor vehicle traffic to allow people to get outdoors while practising physical distancing on Saturday. (Justin Tang/Canadian Press).
“If we open too quickly, too soon or in the wrong way, we could find ourselves back in this situation a couple of months from now and everything we will have sacrificed during these months will have been for naught,” Trudeau said.
He said discussions with the premiers have found consensus on the need to co-ordinate how the country moves forward, but acknowledged that different provinces and municipalities are at different stages of the pandemic battle and may be able to relax measures sooner.
“The situation is very different right across the country from one region to the next and the measures that they will be able to move forward with at various moments will vary as well,” Trudeau said. “That’s going to be an important part of the recovery here.”
No defining guidelines on lifting restrictions
Trudeau’s messages of collaboration among provinces contrasted with the situation in the U.S. As protests formed against mandatory closures this week, Trump, on Twitter, urged supporters to “liberate” three states led by Democratic governors.
Trudeau’s government has so far held off on defining guidelines for provinces looking to lift restrictions, as Trump did for U.S. governors earlier this week.
At a Saturday news conference with cabinet ministers, Duclos said easing of measures will depend on factors like where the disease curve is heading, the number of deaths, equipment supply and space in intensive care units.
Meanwhile, Trudeau continued to stress he does not think it is a good idea for the House of Commons to resume business as usual Monday — with all 338 MPs, along with their staff, clerks, interpreters, security and cleaners.
Parliament Hill in Ottawa is seen, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, on Saturday. (Justin Tang/Canadian Press)
Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer is demanding up to four in-person sittings each week, with fewer than 50 MPs in the chamber, to hold the government to account for its response to the health crisis and the resulting economic disaster.
Trudeau also announced Saturday the government is providing $306 million to help Indigenous companies.
Here’s a look at what’s happening in the provinces and territories
British Columbia’s provincial health officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, said Saturday three more people died of the virus, all from long-term care facilities. The announcement came a day after Henry and other health officials released modelling data showing B.C. is flattening the COVID-19 curve to the point where plans are underway to loosen some provincial restrictions. Nevertheless, Henry is saying no to large summer events that are often the highlight of the season, such as the Pacific National Exhibition and Vancouver’s Pride parade. Read more about what’s happening in B.C.
Medical workers walk at a secure mobile medical unit set up at the Abbotsford Regional Hospital to treat prisoners infected with COVID-19 from the Mission Institution correctional centre, in Abbotsford, B.C., on Saturday. (Jesse Winter/Reuters)
Alberta reported one new death and 165 new cases on Saturday. Chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw partially attributed the recent rise in cases to a spike in testing. Read more about what’s happening in Alberta.
In Ontario, Toronto Mayor John Tory met with city officials Saturday to discuss how and when businesses and municipal services can reopen. No clear timeline was announced. Ontario’s current set of emergency measures last until May 11. Read more about what’s happening in Ontario, where 485 new cases were reported Saturday, bringing the provincial total to 10,010.
Passengers ride the subway with seats marked for social distancing in Toronto on Saturday. (Chris Helgren/Reuters)
In Quebec, Canadian Armed Forces members with medical training are arriving to help in the province’s long-term care homes. About 125 nursing officers, medical technicians and support personnel have been sent to help after Quebec asked Ottawa for assistance earlier this week.
Meanwhile, Premier Legault said he took “full responsibility” for the “deteriorating” situation in the province’s long-term care homes. Such facilities are struggling with staffing as a number of workers have fallen ill, while the senior residents of those homes have been dying at an alarming rate. Read more about what’s happening in Quebec.
Funeral home workers remove a body from the Residence Yvon-Brunet long-term care home in Montreal on Saturday. (Graham Hughes/Canadian Press)
New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs has floated May 1 as a possible date for lifting some restrictions in the province —if new case numbers remain low and recovery rates stay high. The province reported one new case of COVID-19 on Saturday in the Fredericton area. Eighty-seven people from New Brunswick have recovered from the virus. The province has 118 confirmed cases. Read more about what’s happening in N.B.
Nova Scotia is reporting three more deaths, along with 43 new positive tests. A government news release says the three recent deaths occurred at the Northwood long-term care home in Halifax on Friday. Premier Stephen McNeil says the government is working with the home on an emergency plan to protect residents from the outbreak. Read more about what’s happening in N.S.
Two women walk past Northwood Manor in Halifax on Monday. (Andrew Vaughan/Canadian Press)
Prince Edward Island for the second weekend in a row is offering free care packages containing potatoes and dairy products at drive-thru locations set up by the government, Amalgamated Dairies Ltd. and the P.E.I. Potato Board. The province, which is in its second day under a state of emergency, reported no new cases on Saturday. Read more about what’s happening on P.E.I.
Stores in Texas can soon begin selling merchandise with curbside service, and hospitals can resume nonessential surgeries. In Florida, people are returning to a few beaches and parks. And protesters are clamouring for more.
Governors eager to rescue their economies and feeling heat from President Donald Trump are moving to ease restrictions meant to control the spread of the coronavirus, even as new hot spots emerge and experts warn that moving too fast could prove disastrous.
Adding to the pressure are protests against stay-at-home orders organized by small-government groups and Trump supporters. They staged demonstrations Saturday in several cities after the president urged them to “liberate” three states led by Democratic governors.
Protests happened in Republican-led states, too, including at the Texas Capitol and in front of the Indiana governor’s home. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott already said that restrictions will begin easing next week. Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb — who signed an agreement with six other Midwestern states to co-ordinate reopening — said he would extend his stay-at-home order until May 1.
A protester at the Texas Capitol in Austin, Texas, joins other protesters across the country in taking to the streets to call for the U.S. economy to be opened up despite the risk of the COVID-19. (Sergio Flores/Getty Images)
For the first time in weeks, people were able to visit some Florida beaches, but they were still subject to restrictions on hours and activities. Beaches in big cities stayed closed.
Meanwhile, infections kept surging in the Northeast.
A young man walks with a United States flag during the Utah Business Revival rally Saturday in Salt Lake City. Utah will aim to reopen restaurants and gyms and resume elective surgeries in early May. (Rick Bowmer/Associated Press)
Rhode Island, between the hot spots of Massachusetts and New York, has seen a steady daily increase in infections and deaths, with nursing home residents accounting for more than 90 of the state’s 118 deaths. The state’s death rate of around 10 people per 100,000 is among the nation’s highest per capita, according to data compiled by the COVID Tracking Project.
Massachusetts had its highest number of deaths in a single day on Friday, with 159. Republican Gov. Charlie Baker, citing health experts’ advice, said states should wait until infection rates and hospitalizations decline for about two weeks before acting.
Here’s a look at what’s happening around the world
Major cities in Brazil saw protests Saturday by hundreds of people denouncing pandemic lockdown measures also opposed by President Jair Bolsonaro, a fierce critic of stay-at-home measures imposed by state governments.
Singapore reported a sharp, one-day spike of 942 infections, the highest in Southeast Asia, mostly among foreign workers staying in crowded dormitories. That brought the total to almost 6,000 in the city-state of six million.
Total cases topped 10,000 in Japan, where Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has said he’s concerned that people are not observing social distancing and announced a 100,000-yen ($1291 Cdn) cash handout to each resident as an incentive to stay home.
France‘s national health agency said Saturday that the number of virus patients in intensive care dropped for the 10th straight day, and overall virus hospitalizations have fallen for three consecutive days. The country has seen almost 20,000 virus deaths. The agency urged the French public to stick to strict confinement measures, which have been extended until at least May 11: “Don’t relax our efforts at the moment when confinement is bearing fruit.”
In Spain, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said his government will seek to extend the state of emergency to May 9 but begin easing the total confinement of children beginning April 27. Children are thought to be a major source of transmission even if they rarely fall ill from the virus. They’ve been confined to their homes for five weeks, prompting parents to ask that they be allowed to at least take a daily walk.
TORONTO – The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced cookie brand Oreo as the team’s helmet sponsor for the upcoming NHL season.
The new helmet will debut Sunday when Toronto opens its 2024-25 pre-season against the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Arena.
The Oreo logo replaces Canadian restaurant chain Pizza Pizza, which was the Leafs’ helmet sponsor last season.
Previously, social media platform TikTok sponsored Toronto starting in the 2021-22 regular season when the league began allowing teams to sell advertising space on helmets.
The Oreo cookie consists of two chocolate biscuits around a white icing filling and is often dipped in milk.
Fittingly, the Leafs wear the Dairy Farmers of Ontario’s “Milk” logo on their jerseys.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
MacKenzie Weegar wasn’t bitter or upset as he watched friends live out their dreams.
The Calgary Flames defenceman just hopes to experience the same feeling one day. He also knows the road leading to that moment, if it does arrive, will likely be long and winding — much like his own path.
A seventh-round pick by the Florida Panthers at the 2013 NHL draft, Weegar climbed the ranks to become an important piece of a roster that captured the Presidents’ Trophy as the league’s top regular-season club in 2021-22.
Two months later following a second-round playoff exit, he was traded to the Flames along with Jonathan Huberdeau for Matthew Tkachuk. And less than two years after that, the Panthers were hoisting the Stanley Cup.
“Happy for the city and for the team,” Weegar said of Florida’s June victory over the Edmonton Oilers. “There was no bad taste in my mouth.”
His sole focus, he insists, is squarely on eventually getting the Flames to the same spot. The landscape, however, has changed drastically since Weegar committed to Calgary on an eight-year, US$50-million contract extension in October 2022.
Weegar has watched a list that includes goaltender Jacob Markstrom, defencemen Chris Tanev, Noah Hanifin and Nikita Zadorov and forwards Elias Lindholm and Andrew Mangiapane shipped out of town since the start of last season — largely for picks, prospects and young players as part of a rebuild.
Despite that exodus, he remains committed to the Calgary project steered by general manager Craig Conroy.
“It’s easy to get out of all whack when you see guys trying to leave or wanting new contracts,” the 30-year-old from Ottawa said at last week’s NHL/NHLPA player media tour in Las Vegas. “I just focus on where I am and where I want to be, and that’s Calgary.
“I believe in this team. The city has taken me in right away. I feel like I owe it to them to stick around and grind through these years and get a Stanley Cup.”
The hard-nosed blueliner certainly knows what it is to grind.
After winning the Memorial Cup alongside Nathan MacKinnon with the Halifax Mooseheads in 2013, Weegar toiled in the ECHL and American Hockey League for three seasons before making his NHL debut late in the 2016-17 campaign with the Panthers.
He would spend the next five years in South Florida as one of the players tasked with shifting an organizational culture that had experienced little success over the previous two decades.
“There’s always going to be a piece of my heart and loyalty to that team,” Weegar said. “But now I’m in a different situation … I compete against all 32 teams, not just Florida. There’s always a chip on my shoulder every single year.”
Weegar set career highs with 20 goals — eight was the most he had ever previously registered — and 52 points in 2023-24 as part of a breakout offensive performance.
“I think my buddies cared a lot more than I did,” he said with a smile. “All I hear is, ‘fantasy, fantasy, fantasy.'”
Weegar was actually more proud of his 200 blocked shots and 194 hits as he looks to help set a new Flames’ standard alongside Huberdeau, captain Mikael Backlund, Nazem Kadri, Blake Coleman and Rasmus Andersson for a franchise expected to have its new arena in time for the 2027-28 season.
“You have to build that culture and that belief in the locker room,” said Weegar, who pointed to 22-year-old centre Connor Zary as a player set to pop. “Those young guys are going to have to come into their own and be consistent every night … they’re the next generation.”
Weegar, however, isn’t punting on 2024-25. He pointed to the NHL’s parity and the fact a couple of teams surprise every season.
It’s the same approach that took him from the ECHL a decade ago to hockey’s premier pre-season event inside a swanky hotel on Sin City’s famed strip, where he stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the game’s best.
“From the outside — media and even friends and family — the expectations are probably a bit lower,” Weegar said of Calgary’s outlook. “But there’s no reason to think that we can’t make playoffs and we can’t be a good team (with) that underdog mentality.
“You never know.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept 17, 2024.
TORONTO – After being drafted in the third round (61st overall) of the 2023 MLS SuperDraft, forward Charlie Sharp decided to put his dream of playing professional football on hold.
He spent a couple of weeks training with Toronto FC that summer and then returned for a fifth year at Western Michigan University.
“It was a really tough decision for me,” Sharp recalled. “Because I knew that going back to school, nothing was guaranteed. I could get injured or not perform well, but it seemed to really work out for me.”
Sharp scored 19 goals and added eight assists as a senior, leading the Broncos to a 17-2-3 record and a third-round appearance in the NCAA tournament where they eventually lost to national runner-up Notre Dame on penalty kicks. Sharp, who scored or assisted in nine of his last 10 matches, ranked first in the NCAA with 0.95 goals per game and 2.30 points per game and was tied for second with seven game-winning goals.
The 23-year-old Sharp, whose rights were retained by Toronto, spent time with the TFC first team in this year’s pre-season and signed with Toronto FC II in February. On Tuesday, he joined TFC 2 teammate Nate Edwards, a wingback from Brampton, Ont., in signing a first-team contract.
“We are happy to officially elevate Charlie at this time,” Toronto GM Jason Hernandez said in a statement Tuesday. “His strong mentality and mature playing style will be a welcomed addition to our young player group in the first team.”
Both players signed contracts that run through 2025 with club options for 2026 and 2027.
The deals were completed in advance of Friday’s MLS roster freeze but took their time working their way through the league office.
“A bit of unorthodox path that I chose,” said Sharp. “But I think you’re seeing it more now with players that get drafted.”
“I’m super-happy,” he added. “I think I made the right decision.”
As a senior, Sharp was one of three finalists for the 2023 MAC Hermann Trophy, which honours the top NCAA soccer player. The award eventually went to Clemson senior forward Ousmane Sylla.
The six-foot-five 185-pounder from Brighton, Mich., finished his collegiate career with 42 goals 22 assists, and 106 points in 89 games. He ranks first in career goals and games and tied for fourth in assists for Western Michigan.
In returning to Kalamazoo for a fifth year, Sharp also succeeded off the pitch by completing his degree in computer information systems.
Despite some niggling injuries, Sharp has five goals and two assists in 16 appearances with TFC 2 this season. He made his first-team debut off the bench May 15 against Nashville.
“I had a lot of friends and family watching,” he said.
“It’s been a journey,” Sharp added. “I’ve been thankful for every step of the way.,”
The 21-year-old Edwards has one goal and two assists in 23 games with TFC’s MLS Next Pro team.
“He has been a top performer with TFC II this season and we look forward to his continued growth within our environment,” said Hernandez
Edwards, who also joined TFC 2 in February, made his first-team debut May 21 in Canadian Championship play against Ligue1 Quebec champion CS Saint-Laurent.
The five-foot-eight 167-pounder split his college career between Syracuse University and Purdue University Fort Wayne. As a senior in 2023, he had one goal and four assists for Syracuse and was named to the 2023 All-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Academic Team and College Sport Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District Team.
At Purdue University Fort Wayne, he had two goals and an assist in 40 appearances across three seasons (2020-2022) with the Mastodons.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
