A winter travel escape may not be top-of-mind during a world-wide pandemic, but the island state of Hawaii says Canadians will be welcomed without quarantine measures starting Sept. 1, 2020.
Hawaii imposed a mandatory 14-day quarantine for all out-of-state travellers at the onset of the pandemic, but the state’s Department of Transportation says it will soon be open to “all trans-Pacific travelers.”
“Travelers arriving in Hawaii from out-of-state will have the option to get a valid COVID-19 test prior to their arrival, and show proof of a negative test result, to avoid the 14-day quarantine,” read a statement from the Department of Transportation.
The test must be taken within 72 hours of boarding a flight to Hawaii.
“That’s going to make a lot of Canadians happy,” said Len Saunders, an immigration lawyer in Blaine, Washington.
Canadian airline carriers will resume non-stop flights from Vancouver to Hawaii beginning in September. (Westjet.com)
Without evidence of a negative test result, passengers will be subject to the quarantine, according to Hawaii’s Department of Transportation.
Air travel not restricted
Land borders between the U.S. and Canada have been closed to non-essential travel since March 21, but air travel has not been restricted for Canadians going into the U.S.
“A lot of Canadians don’t know they are allowed to travel by air to the United States,” said Montreal-based travel expert Ricky Zhang.
“That loophole has remained,” said Saunders. “I don’t think you’re going to see that change.”
Airlines resume flights
Meanwhile, Canadian airlines have been preparing to reopen routes to Hawaii. Westjet is set to resume its non-stop flights from Vancouver to Hawaiian destinations on Sept. 5, and Air Canada will follow suit on Sept. 8.
According to the state’s Department of Health, Hawaii, with a total population of 1.4 million people, has so far recorded 2111 confirmed cases of COVID-19 up to July 31, with 26 deaths.
It’s the only state in the U.S. that implemented a mandatory quarantine at the beginning of the pandemic. Saunders says quarantines were voluntary in all other states.
The lifting of Hawaii’s 14-day quarantine requirement was planned for August, but Gov. David Ige delayed due to a rise in confirmed cases on the mainland.
The process of finalizing the requirements of entry will be determined “in the coming weeks,” according to the Department of Transportation.
“The September 1 date is still tentative and subject to evaluation,” said Zhang.
“It is a risk that they are taking and that Canadians are taking should they choose to travel to Hawaii,” he added.
Travel insurance returns
At least one Canadian insurer, however, has reinstated medical coverage for COVID-19.
“We understand that our clients have concerns about medical insurance coverage for COVID-19,” states Medipac’s Travel Insurance website, which sells travel medical insurance to the Canadian Snowbird Association and the Royal Canadian Legion.
The company website says that “Early Bird Travel Insurance is now available and includes coverage for COVID-19,” while adding that pre-existing condition clauses and other policy terms and conditions will continue to apply.
Zhang said Canadians can also consider purchasing travel insurance from U.S. providers.
Pre-testing in Canada
“This whole pre-testing thing is something the Canadian government may want to consider,” said Saunders. “Because if it works well in Hawaii — with its huge tourist base — why can’t it work for Canada?”
The BC Centre for Disease Control suggests people with cold, influenza or even mild COVID-19-like symptoms should be tested, but its website also says “anyone can get tested.”
Canadians returning from Hawaii will still be subject to mandatory self-isolation upon their return.
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.
