Travellers entering Canada by land or air through Alberta will soon have the option of being tested for COVID-19 at the border in a move that could shorten quarantine times— in a pilot project that’s the first of its kind in Canada, Premier Jason Kenney announced Thursday.
The mandatory quarantine period for returning international travellers will be maintained for now. But the 14-day day self-isolation period could be shortened to about 48 hours if a traveller receives a negative COVID-19 test result.
“We simply must move forward to develop policies to facilitate safe travel,” Kenney said during a news conference Thursday, calling it an important day.
“Though a lot of work lies ahead, we can see a return to normal travel.”
News of the pilot project comes a day after Alberta broke two COVID-19 records, for the most new cases in a single day, 406, and for the most active cases. Kenney was speaking from his home in Edmonton, where he is in self-isolation after one of his government ministers tested positive for COVID-19 a day earlier. Kenney tested negative Wednesday night but said he’d continue with the isolation period until Oct. 29.
The voluntary screening option announced Thursday is a joint pilot project between the Province of Alberta and the Government of Canada.
It will be available for foreign essential workers — truckers, health care and other workers who are exempt from the current federal travel ban — and any Canadian citizens returning to the country through Alberta.
Starting Nov. 2, the new COVID-19 testing option will be offered at the Coutts land border crossing in southern Alberta and the Calgary International Airport.
Travellers who test negative must commit to 2nd test
If the test comes back negative, travellers will be allowed to leave their place of quarantine as long as they commit to getting a second test on day six or seven after arrival, at a community pharmacy participating in the pilot program, the province said.
Participants will be closely monitored through daily symptoms checks and be required to follow enhanced preventive health measures, such as wearing masks in public places and avoiding visiting high-risk groups.
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All travellers who chose not to participate in the pilot will have abide by the normal 14-day quarantine.
Could expand to Edmonton airport in new year
Kenney said if the traveller pilot project goes well, it will be expanded to the airport in Edmonton early in the new year.
“YYC Calgary International Airport is proud to be the only airport in Canada to have a government-approved testing pilot for arriving international passengers —which we hope will lead to reducing and one day eliminating the current 14-day self-isolation requirements,” Calgary Airport Authority president Bob Sartor said in a release.
“This innovative science-based testing is the lifeline our airport and airline partners need to instill confidence in air travel.”
Alberta breaks single-day COVID-19 records
Alberta hit a new record for the most new cases in a single day on Wednesday, at 406, and for the most active cases.
The previous single-day record for reported new cases was 356, on Oct.18. During the first wave of the pandemic, the province hit 351 new cases on April 23.
There were 3,372 active cases in the province on Wednesday. The previous record was set Tuesday, with 3,203.
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The government announced that Municipal Affairs Minister Tracy Allard tested positive on Wednesday afternoon and was experiencing mild symptoms.
Apart from Kenney, Transportation Minister Ric McIver and United Conservative Party MLAs Angela Pitt, Peter Guthrie and Nathan Neudorff are also self-isolating because they had interactions with Allard last week, the statement said, though they are not showing symptoms.
Alberta’s chief medical officer of health, Dr. Deena Hinshaw, is expected to give the latest provincial COVID-19 update at 3:30 p.m. MT Thursday and CBC News will carry it live.
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.
