Health officials reported 400 new cases of COVID-19 Sunday as people across Canada celebrated the Labour Day long weekend.
And as schools of all levels prepare to reopen over the coming days and weeks, the country’s top doctor said that younger adults make up the majority of cases.
“In terms of age, the trend of increased disease activity among younger individuals has continued for many weeks, with people under 40 years of age accounting for over 62 per cent of cases in the latest data reported to the Public Health Agency of Canada,” Dr. Theresa Tam said in a statement.
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“Likewise, during the month of August we saw outbreak settings include food, drink and retail venues that tend to draw in this younger age demographic.”
Sunday’s figures represent only a partial update since B.C., Alberta, P.E.I. and the territories do not release new numbers on the weekends.
But the number of new coronavirus cases Canada is seeing daily is on the rise.
The 400 diagnoses announced Sunday bring the national total to 131,810 cases. Health officials in Ontario announced that two additional deaths occurred, bringing the national total to 9,145.
About 88 per cent of the country’s coronavirus patients are considered recovered.
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More U.S. college campuses close after COVID-19 outbreaks
In addition to the two deaths, Ontario reported 158 new coronavirus cases Sunday. Total cases topped 43,100 and 38,958 people are considered recovered — over 90 per cent of all confirmed cases. As of Sunday, 2,813 coronavirus patients in Ontario have succumbed to the illness.
Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, and New Brunswick reported no new cases Sunday — there have been fewer than 1,600 coronavirus cases diagnosed in Atlantic Canada overall.
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Coronavirus: Canada’s top doctor outlines criteria for safety of attending events in the fall
Quebec added 205 new cases and no new deaths. In total, 63,497 Quebecers have been diagnosed — the most by far of any province — and 5,769 people in the province have lost their lives to the viral illness.
Manitoba added 29 cases Sunday, for a cumulative total of 1,323, while 46 more people in that province are considered recovered. Saskatchewan added eight cases and no additional deaths. There are 1,651 cases in the province overall.
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B.C. and Alberta reported more than 100 new coronavirus cases each during their most recent updates on Friday.
In Alberta, 242 COVID-19 patients have died since the start of the pandemic, and 14,474 cases have been diagnosed overall.
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.
Currently, there are no active cases in Canada’s North. Yukon has had 15 cases in total, while five have been diagnosed in the Northwest Territories.
While it’s still warm enough to enjoy the sunshine now, there are concerns that as the seasons change, an added struggle could emerge in the pandemic.
“There’s a real concern about the amplification of loneliness,” Roger McIntyre, a psychiatrist and professor at the University of Toronto, told Global News recently.
“An epidemic of loneliness long preceded this pandemic. And just by the nature of winter, people are less likely to come in contact with others. It’s a realistic concern.”
—With files from James Armstrong and Rachael D’Amore
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.
