The only good thing that Dean Nixon can say about his prison is that it has a view.
From the balcony of his small, fourth-floor apartment, the Guelph, Ont., resident can see the open countryside. Able, at least, to imagine freedom, if not experience it.
Nixon, a 46-year-old horse trainer and Stage 4 cancer patient, is living in a bureaucratic limbo, obliged to self-isolate for the coming year while in Canada due to the country’s COVID-19 quarantine restrictions.
As far as border and health officials are concerned, Nixon poses a danger because he must travel to the United States twice a month for a life-saving treatment that’s not available in Canada. And according to current regulations, he has to self-isolate in his apartment for 14 days every time he returns, resulting in a perpetual quarantine.
“It’s extremely frustrating,” Nixon said last week, standing on his balcony with his dog, Jeanna, as he spoke to a reporter on the sidewalk, four storeys below. “The only thing I’m guilty of is trying to save my life.
“We have people regularly crossing the border for work. We have American executives coming into Canada who are allowed to circumnavigate mandatory quarantine. I’m trying to figure out how a truck driver, or a nurse, poses less of a threat to the public health than I do, when I’m part of the at-risk population.”
Nixon was first diagnosed with anal cancer in the spring of 2016, and by that fall, the disease had metastasized, spreading to his liver. His doctors in Ontario could only offer more chemotherapy, and faint hope. So Nixon searched the internet and found an experimental program for patients with human papillomavirus-related cancers being run by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Md.
Doctors there enrolled him in a year-long trial of a new immunotherapy drug starting in early 2017. Nixon’s cancer went into remission, but returned a few months after the treatment ended. He went back on the drug for another year at the beginning of 2019, with similarly promising results. But a follow-up scan this past July discovered new tumours, and in early October he began yet another round of treatments — requiring 26 visits to the United States over the course of the coming year.
Exemption for treatment in Canada, but not for those who go abroad
Nixon is usually out of the country for less than 48 hours. He wears a mask whenever he’s in public, keeps his distance and washes his hands frequently. He stays at a Maryland Airbnb that caters to NIH patients, taking extra care to sanitize its rooms. And at the hospital’s sprawling campus, COVID-19 precautions are even stricter, with screening, mandatory masks and gloves and limited interaction with staff. Since the pandemic began in March the NIH has recorded just one coronavirus transmission at its campus.
Nixon, pictured at his apartment, finds his situation especially galling given that people who travel to Canada to receive medical treatment don’t have to self-isolate. (Evan Mitsui/CBC News)
But none of this has made an impression on Canadian border agents or with officials from the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), who have so far refused to exempt Nixon from following the mandatory, 14-day quarantine each time he returns home. His latest crossing and self-isolation order came on Nov. 18.
He finds the situation especially galling given that people who travel to Canada to receive medical treatment don’t have to self-isolate. More than five million federal quarantine exemptions have been handed out since last March, mostly to essential workers such as truckers, nurses and technicians. But corporate titans are receiving them too, as detailed in a series of recent CBC News Investigations that have uncovered discretionary business trips by senior U.S. executives.
“There’s really no consideration for what my routine would be like, where I live, my situation….” Nixon said. “On a personal level, it means I can’t visit friends, family, can’t take my dog for a walk, can’t be out in the open air, can’t exercise…. It leaves me alone here to sit and think about my disease. Which is not a great thing.”
Unable to work and facing financial ruin
The quarantine is also interfering with his livelihood — training standardbred harness racing horses. The farm where his operation is based is just a seven-minute drive from his apartment, but he hasn’t been able to visit since the beginning of October. Instead he tries to keep abreast of how the horses are running, eating and behaving via phone calls and text messages with his hired hand. He’s already lost two clients and fears that more might follow.
“[The horses] don’t speak. So the No. 1 tool at our disposal is to be able to monitor the animals. And if you can’t observe them, you can’t do your job,” said Nixon.
Nixon, left, poses in the winner’s circle with driver Doug Brown and part-owner Jeralene Roland, right, following a July 2019 victory by Artofficial Flavor at Kawartha Downs racetrack in Ontario. (Dean Nixon)
Over the past six weeks, Nixon has tried reaching out to his local Liberal MP, the Canadian Human Rights Commission and the Canadian Cancer Society for assistance. So far, no one has been able to help. He has also appealed to PHAC for a special exemption but has been rejected.
In an email sent earlier this week, the federal health agency told Nixon that quarantine exemptions “are purposefully limited to minimize the introduction and spread of COVID-19” and that he is unlikely to qualify for one.
“Unfortunately, there are no exemptions for travellers returning to Canada from receiving medical treatment in the U.S.,” reads the note.
CBC News contacted the Canada Border Services Agency and PHAC about Nixon’s case, asking why the medical exemptions flow in only one direction. The CBSA said that it only enforces the rules as set out by the Public Health Agency of Canada and the federal government. PHAC has yet to provide a comment or explanation.
No choice but to seek treatment in U.S.
Dr. Julius Strauss, who oversees Nixon’s treatment at the NIH’s Clinical Center,says he worries about how his patient will cope with the effects of a year-long lockdown.
“I am concerned about Mr. Nixon’s mental health, about being locked down with this diagnosis and not having any ability to interact,” Strauss said.
“I understand the safety precautions, but also have concerns about his financial hardships, because he’s not able to do his normal job.”
The immunotherapy is Nixon’s only viable choice, says the doctor.
“It’s critical for him, this treatment,” Strauss said. “It’s not experimental for him. Because for him, we know it works.”
Nixon isn’t sure if he’s the only one facing such a cross-border dilemma. There are no other Canadians currently receiving treatment at the NIH. And no one has come forward in the patient support forums he posts to.
Nixon’s goal is to someday set up a group to help more Canadians access foreign clinical trials. But first he must find a way to navigate the pandemic and its restrictions.
“If I don’t go to the States, I won’t get treatment and I’ll probably die. If I don’t go to work, I can’t afford to go to the States and I’ll probably die,” he said.
His wishes are as simple as the government regulations are complex.
“I really just would like to be able to go to work, maybe take my dog for a walk, and that’s about it. I’m not asking for a lot. What they’re asking, I think, is considerably more.”
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.
