Canada’s top doctor expressed concern about the recent spike in coronavirus cases Saturday, as provinces reported an additional 371 diagnoses and two more deaths.
The new figures bring Canada’s COVID-19 death toll to 9,143. Since the start of the pandemic, 131,410 cases have been diagnosed overall. About 88 per cent of the country’s coronavirus patients are considered recovered.
Saturday’s numbers represent only a partial update, however, since B.C., Alberta, P.E.I. and the territories do not release daily figures on weekends.
Canada’s chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam said the country is continuing to see an increase in daily case counts — which she said was a “key concern.”
The current seven-day average is 545 new cases per day, meaning case counts are back where they were in mid-July, she said in a statement.
“Although public health authorities continue to indicate that COVID-19 spread is still under manageable control, this is a situation that can change quickly,” Dr. Tam said.
“Increasing daily case counts tell us that COVID-19 is continuing to spread. This is a reminder that we all need to maintain public health measures, as this spread can quickly get out of control.”
Across the country, about 46,000 people were tested daily over the past week, and 0.9 per cent of those tests were positive, according to Dr. Tam. Since January, 6.7 million tests have been administered, provincial data compiled by Global News shows.
The two COVID-19 patient deaths announced Saturday occurred in Quebec, which also saw the country’s highest number of newly diagnosed cases at 175.
Officials said those fatalities happened sometime between Aug. 29 and Sept. 3. The province has suffered 5,769 COVID-19 deaths and 63,292 cases overall.
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Ontario saw its largest daily uptick in cases in more than six weeks Saturday, with 169 new diagnoses reported.
The province’s overall number of cases surpassed 43,000 on Saturday. Since the pandemic started, 2,811 people in Ontario have died.
Manitoba reported 21 new cases Saturday. Overall, the province has diagnosed the fewest COVID-19 cases across the Prairies, with a total of 1,294 cases and a death toll of 16.
1:22 Drive-thru coronavirus testing being rolled out in Saskatchewan
Drive-thru coronavirus testing being rolled out in Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan added five new cases on Saturday. The province’s total stands at 1,643, and two dozen COVID-19 fatalities have occurred.
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A single coronavirus case was announced in Atlantic Canada on Saturday, in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Overall, there have been 270 coronavirus cases diagnosed in that province, and three people have succumbed to the illness. New Brunswick has had 192 cases, along with two fatalities. In Nova Scotia, there have been 1,085 cases and 65 people have died.
P.E.I., which last provided an update on Friday, has a cumulative total of 47 cases.
2:20 Coronavirus: Does Dr. Fauci believe travel restrictions are still an effective way to curb COVID-19 spread?
Coronavirus: Does Dr. Fauci believe travel restrictions are still an effective way to curb COVID-19 spread?
B.C. and Alberta reported more than 100 new coronavirus cases each on Friday.
In Alberta, 242 COVID-19 patients have died since the start of the pandemic, and 14,474 cases have been diagnosed overall.
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In B.C., there have been 6,077 lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases, plus an additional 85 considered “epi-linked.” The provincial death toll is 211.
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.
