TORONTO —
Ontario Premier Doug Ford enlisted a giant chart comparing the province’s low COVID-19 caseload per capita with staggering U.S. case counts as he continued to urge the feds to keep the border closed and chided U.S. President Donald Trump for his trade protectionism.
“You can see we are at 284 cases per 100,000 people,” Ford said proudly, pulling the chart onto a stand in the middle of his afternoon press conference.
Next to Ontario on the chart was Quebec, at 726 cases per 100,000, and then Michigan at 989, Pennsylvania at 994, all the way to Florida with 2,827 cases per 100,000.
“I love our American friends but this is the reason prime minister, we can’t open the borders, it’s very simple,” Ford said.
The federal government and American authorities have agreed to keep land borders closed to non-essential travel until Sept. 21.
Air travellers from the U.S. can arrive but must self-isolate for 14 days upon arrival.
The chart, which counts lab-confirmed tests per 100,000 people, does not include any other Canadian province except Quebec.
That means it leaves out provinces who per capita have demonstrated far lower rates of infection.
British Columbia, albeit slightly more than one third Ontario’s size, has seen only 105 lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people since the pandemic reached Canada in January, less than half of Ontario’s rate.
Also, blood antigen surveillance data collected by Public Health Ontario in the spring suggested Ontario’s initially low testing rates mean more than three of every four COVID-19 infections was missed by the end of June.
Ford said he wanted to compare Ontario to U.S. jurisdictions due to similarities in their size.
“Next to California, Texas, New York and Florida we’d be the fifth largest population (if Ontario were a U.S. state). I just wanted to show the people they’re doing a good job. We’re not out of the woods by any means but I just want to encourage people,” he said.
He conceded that America, with the largest burden of novel coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, is a different country with a different experience in the pandemic than Canada.
“We’re different than the U.S. – Canadians listen a lot more than Americans do and I appreciate it.”
When asked about whether he would indicate a preference in the U.S. presidential race, he first said he is “so focused” on dealing with provincial matters, but then let his frustration about Trump’s latest tariffs on Canadian exports get the better of him.
“Trump’s up there saying ‘I am going to tariff this, tariff that,’ and you know he should do a little homework. Find out that we’re their number one customer. We buy more off the Americans than China, UK, Japan combined. We are their number one customer and he wants to come after us over politics? Let him.”
He said Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland recently asked him to call U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer regarding the new tariffs on Canadian aluminum exports.
“Don’t even get me going on this; I get too worked up when someone comes after our country or our province.”
EDMONTON – RCMP say a second suspect has been arrested in the killing of an Alberta county worker.
Mounties say 28-year-old Elijah Strawberry was taken into custody Friday at a house on O’Chiese First Nation.
Colin Hough, a worker with Rocky View County, was shot and killed while on the job on a rural road east of Calgary on Aug. 6.
Another man who worked for Fortis Alberta was shot and wounded, and RCMP said the suspects fled in a Rocky View County work truck.
Police later arrested Arthur Wayne Penner, 35, and charged him with first-degree murder and attempted murder, and a warrant was issued for Strawberry’s arrest.
RCMP also said there was a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Strawberry, describing him as armed and dangerous.
Chief Supt. Roberta McKale, told a news conference in Edmonton that officers had received tips and information over the last few weeks.
“I don’t know of many members that when were stopped, fuelling up our vehicles, we weren’t keeping an eye out, looking for him,” she said.
But officers had been investigating other cases when they found Strawberry.
“Our investigators were in O’Chiese First Nation at a residence on another matter and the major crimes unit was there working another file and ended up locating him hiding in the residence,” McKale said.
While an investigation is still underway, RCMP say they’re confident both suspects in the case are in police custody.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
RICHMOND, B.C. – The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the 26-year-old son of a man found dead on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast has been charged with his murder.
Police say 58-year-old Henry Doyle was found badly injured on a forest service road in Egmont last September and died of his injuries.
The homicide team took over when the BC Coroners Service said the man’s death was suspicious.
It says in a statement that the BC Prosecution Service has approved one count of first-degree murder against the man’s son, Jackson Doyle.
Police say the accused will remain in custody until at least his next court appearance.
The homicide team says investigators remained committed to solving the case with the help of the community of Egmont, the RCMP on the Sunshine Coast and in Richmond, and the Vancouver Police Department.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, have broken off without an agreement following 15 hours of talks.
Joe McCann, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they stayed at the bargaining table with help from a mediator until 2 a.m. Friday and made “some progress.”
However, he says the union negotiators didn’t get an offer that they could recommend to the membership.
McCann says that in some ways they are close to an agreement, but in other areas they are “miles apart.”
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people who can’t navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last week, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
McCann asks HandyDART users to be “patient,” since they are trying to get not only a fair contract for workers but also a better service for customers.
He says it’s unclear when the talks will resume, but he hopes next week at the latest.
The employer, Transdev, didn’t reply to an interview request before publication.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
