Macabre Halloween display left near Manitoba premier’s house as reminder of COVID-19 deaths.
U.K. cabinet minister says lockdown in England could be extended.
Turkish politician in Erdogan’s party dies from COVID-19.
Have a coronavirus question or news tip for CBC News? Email us at COVID@cbc.ca.
Ontario and Quebec are still reporting the highest daily counts in Canada for new cases of COVID-19, while farther west in Manitoba, officials have again reported hundreds of new cases as its capital city gets set for tighter restrictions.
Ontario reported 977 new cases on Sunday. In the province’s hot spots, there are 279 more cases in Toronto, 238 in Peel Region, 130 in Ottawa and 113 in York Region. The overall number was down from 1,015 new cases reported on Saturday.
Quebec added 965 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, down from 1,064 the previous day.
Manitoba’s new case count of 349 on Saturday was down from the record-smashing 480 reported Friday, but was still much higher than the province’s previous new-case record of 193 set Thursday.
Starting Monday, bars and restaurants in Winnipeg can open only for pickup or takeout, while facilities such as movie theatres, museums and libraries must close.
The measures, along with others, will last two weeks and be reassessed at that time.
Business in the St. Norbert Hotel bar in Winnipeg on Saturday was “average as it gets through these COVID times,” president Gerald Lambert said, although sales at the hotel’s beer store were brisk as people appeared to be getting set to drink at home.
“There’s other facilities that have far worse reports that are still allowed to be open, albeit at smaller capacity,” Lambert said, echoing the frustration many in his industry have expressed at the provincial government.
“In two weeks, I don’t know if this is going to make a difference or not.”
But Premier Brian Pallister also faced pressure Saturday from others who feel the new restrictions need to go further, with one group placing dozens of cardboard tombstones on the grass median outside his home.
A group of community members set up a display near the home of Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister, criticizing the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This tombstone refers to Parkview Place care home in Winnipeg, the site of the province’s deadliest COVID-19 outbreak. (CBC)
The Halloween-themed protest included epithets on the tombstones indicating people were dying from Manitoba’s reopening plan.
“I respect the right of any Manitobans to peacefully protest and encourage all who choose to do so safely to protect their health and that of others as well,” Pallister said in a statement issued Saturday.
Manitoba also reported four new deaths from COVID 19. Quebec reported 15 and Ontario reported nine.
Federal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, meanwhile, tweeted Saturday that she’d just gotten a COVID-19 test after receiving an exposure notification from the COVID Alert app and is waiting for the results.
“I am isolating at home while I wait for the results of the test,” she wrote. “My thanks to our excellent health-care professionals.”
An exposure notification from the COVID Alert app prompted Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland to reveal on Saturday that she is self-isolating. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)
The COVID Alert app notifies users when someone who they’ve been in contact with tests positive for COVID-19.
There have been about 4.9 million downloads of the federal COVID-19 exposure notification app so far, with 2,939 Canadians using it to log a positive coronavirus test.
Only five million Canadians have downloaded the COVID Alert app in three months, partly because it’s not active in Alberta and British Columbia. Officials in B.C. want the app to give more information about COVID-19 exposure while Alberta has been delayed by its own app. 1:57
Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam stressed again Saturday that it’s important to continue with precautions to keep everyone safe and to lessen the burden on essential workers.
“Many of you [essential workers] have been on the front lines since the beginning, putting yourselves in harm’s way,” she said in a statement. “As individuals, we have an important role to play to minimize the COVID-19 burden on essential workers.”
What’s happening in the rest of Canada
As of 11 a.m. ET on Sunday, Canada had 236,454 confirmed or presumptive coronavirus cases. Provinces and territories listed 197,656 as recovered or resolved. A CBC News tally of deaths based on provincial reports, regional health information and CBC’s reporting stood at 10,171.
Saskatchewan announced 78 new cases on Saturday. Meanwhile, Moose Jaw police fined a person $2,800 for allegedly hosting a party “well over” the province’s 15-person limit for private gatherings.
Manitoba saw 349 new cases, along with four more deaths. One of the deaths — a woman in her 90s — is linked to an outbreak at Maples Personal Care Home in Winnipeg. The other people in Winnipeg who died are a woman in her 50s, a man in his 60s and a man in his 80s.
Nova Scotia recorded five new infections, bringing the total active cases into double digits for the first time since June. There are now 11 active cases of the virus in the province.
In Newfoundland and Labrador, Vale announced a presumptive case at the Voisey’s Bay mine site in northern Labrador, with the Department of Health working to complete additional testing.
In New Brunswick, a school in Woodstock announced a case of COVID-19. Townsview School, which has about 600 students in grades K-8, will remain open on Monday as health officials conduct contact tracing.
In Yukon, the territory on Friday reported its first death. Yukon’s Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Brendan Hanley said the individual was “older” and had “significant underlying medical conditions.”
What’s happening around the world
A database maintained by Johns Hopkins University put the cumulative number of COVID-19 cases reported around the world since the pandemic began at more than 46.1 million as of Sunday morning, with more than 30.8 million of those listed as recovered. The death toll reported by the U.S.-based university stood at nearly 1.2 million.
Iran hit another single-day record for coronavirus deaths on Sunday. The country’s Health Ministry said 434 people had died from the novel virus in 24 hours, bringing Iran’s death toll in the pandemic to more than 35,000. Iran has reported more than 620,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases in all.
Tehran’s city council has proposed a two-week lockdown of the Iranian capital. For the past three weeks, Iran has banned weddings and funeral gatherings, and closed universities, schools, libraries, mosques, cinemas, museums and beauty salons in an attempt to curb the spread of the virus in Tehran.
Iranians walk next to a sign advising people to wear masks as they shop in Tajrish Square in the capital Tehran on Sunday. (Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images)
In Turkey, a politician from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling party has died from the coronavirus.
Burhan Kuzu, 65, had been receiving treatment for COVID-19 since Oct. 17, the country’s health minister tweeted. He died Sunday.
Statistics from the country’s Health Ministry show at least 10,252 people have died from COVID-19 in Turkey.
In the U.K., a new national lockdown for England may have to last longer than the planned four weeks if coronavirus infection rates don’t fall quickly enough, a British cabinet minister said Sunday.
The lockdown is due to run from Thursday until Dec. 2. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said it is needed to stop hospitals from becoming overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients within weeks.
Cabinet minister Michael Gove said that “with a virus this malignant, and with its capacity to move so quickly, it would be foolish to predict with absolute certainty what will happen in four weeks’ time.”
WATCH | England to enter 2nd lockdown as U.K. cases top 1 million:
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced a new month-long lockdown for England. He says current COVID-19 infection rates threaten to overwhelm hospitals in weeks without intervention. 2:34
Under the new restrictions, bars and restaurants can only offer takeout, non-essential shops must close and people will only be able to leave home for a short list of reasons, including exercise.
Britain is recording more than 20,000 new COVID-19 infections a day and has Europe’s highest coronavirus death toll at more than 46,000.
In Australia, audiences were returning to the theatres at the Sydney Opera House this weekend, eight months after the iconic entertainment venue was forced to close its doors to the public due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Australia has recorded no new locally transmitted coronavirus infections for the first time in five months.
Staff are seen wearing face masks as they greet guests on arrival for the Don Burrows: A Celebration of Life Through Jazz show in the Joan Sutherland Theatre at the Sydney Opera House on Sunday. (Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images)
In Melbourne, the capital of Victoria state, which had the highest number of cases in the country, residents were enjoying the first weekend of cafés, restaurants and pubs reopening to walk-in customers.
The city has only one mystery case without a known source. There are 61 active cases left across the state, down from 70 on Saturday.
India reported 46,964 new confirmed coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, keeping a month-long downward trend in infections.
India’s Health Ministry on Sunday also registered 470 more deaths, taking total fatalities up to 122,111. The latest surge takes the country’s total virus tally to close to 8.2 million and is only behind the United States.
India saw a steep rise in cases in July, but it is experiencing a slower pace of coronavirus spread since mid-September, when daily infections touched a record of 97,894. But health experts warn that mask and physical-distancing fatigue is setting in and can lead to a fresh wave of infections.
Some experts question the country’s testing methods and warn that a major festival due in a few weeks, as well as the winter season, could result in a new burst of infections.
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.
