As health officials around the world work to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus, some in the international community have called for an independent, global investigation into China and the origins of the virus.
On Sunday, Australia‘s foreign minister, Marise Payne, questioned China‘s transparency surrounding the outbreak and demanded an international investigation.
“The issues around the coronavirus are issues for independent review, and I think that it is important that we do that,” Payne told the country’s ABC television.
U.S. President Donald Trump has also been critical of China’s handling of the outbreak, telling reporters on Saturday that the country should face consequences if it is “knowingly responsible” for the pandemic.
The call for an international investigation came just days after the city of Wuhan, China revised its COVID-19 statistics. On Friday officials in Wuhan raised the official death toll in Wuhan by 50 per cent to 3,869 deaths.
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What could an international investigation reveal and should Canada take part?
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What has Canada said?
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Sunday said that while it’s important to find out what happened, Canada’s primary focus right now is the safety of its residents.
“I think it’s extremely important that we understand exactly what happened and ask really tough questions of all countries involved, including China,” he said. “This is something that we need to pursue.
“But my priority right now and the priority for countries around the world needs to be doing everything we can to keep our people safe and make sure that we have the resources necessary to protect our citizens and get through this.”
Trudeau said that “will always be” his focus.
Investigation could lead to important lessons
Craig Janes, director of the School of Public Health and Health Systems at the University of Waterloo, said the origins of the virus should “definitely be investigated.”
But Janes said if the calls for an international investigation are political, with the goal of assigning blame, that is “less helpful.”
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“There will be plenty of time to point fingers after all this is over,” he said.
“I think the real important scientific question here is what happened that caused this, or what were the conditions that allowed this wild virus to jump from bats, through pangolins, into human populations?”
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Janes explained researchers need a “clear understanding of the circumstances that lead to this kind of zoonotic disease transmission.”
But beyond just determining the origin of the virus, Janes said an international investigation could also look into surveillance and how the virus was first detected.
He added this could help health officials develop and implement surveillance systems in areas where viruses are likely to emerge, such as places with large populations, where wildlife habitats have been disturbed or where people are close in contact with animals.
Will Canada get involved?
While there are important lessons to be learned from an investigation, Canada would have to carefully choose its approach.
Senior Fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier institute, Charles Burton, echoed Janes’ remarks, saying he believes there is a “strong basis” for an international investigation into China’s handling of the COVID-19.
“And also how the [World Health Organization] transmitted information from the government of the People’s Republic of China to the rest of the global community, which then informed their response,” he said.
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Burton said, though, that Canada should avoid doing anything “provocative,” adding that the country is sourcing much of its desperately needed personal protective equipment from China.
“We know that the People’s Republic of China engages in trade retaliation for political reasons,” he said.
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“So from that point of view, of course, we don’t want to to do anything that will cause the Chinese to block the export to Canada [of] badly-needed medical supplies.”
However, Burton said Canada should not allow this to deter from engaging in a “meaningful and full investigation” of the origins of SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus.
“If we decided that we would not support an international investigation of what went on in Wuhan and how the matter was handled by the government of China, we would in effect be giving in to a form of diplomatic and trade blackmail that would clearly not be in Canada’s a longer term interest in maintaining the international rules-based order,” he said.
He said holding back from “trying to seek the truth” over concerns it could impact trade or diplomatic relations “just wouldn’t be a correct moral or ethical decision.”
What we know so far about how the outbreak started
COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, was first detected in Wuhan, China in late December. It is believed to have emerged from a “wet market” where both farmed and exotic animals are tied up or stacked in cages.
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Some experts believe the virus originated in bats, but the research is ongoing.
More recent evidence suggests the virus could have been circulating in China as early as November 2019, but was not detected until December.
Last week, the U.S. announced it would be investigating the possibility that the virus made its way into the human population due to a leak at a laboratory in Wuhan.
According to U.S. media reports, cables from the U.S. State Department suggest Embassy officials visited a research facility in 2018 which was conducting studies on coronaviruses. After their visit, officials expressed concerns about inadequate safety measures at the facility.
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Coronavirus outbreak: Trudeau asked if he believes China’s ‘statistical variation’ on COVID-19 numbers
But according to Dr. Jason Kindrachuk, an assistant professor and Canada Research Chair in emerging viruses at the University of Manitoba, there is currently no scientific evidence to suggest the theory that this novel coronavirus escaped from a lab.
“Indeed, accidental laboratory exposures and escapes have occurred in the past, including the influenza virus and SARS-CoV,” Kindrachuk wrote in an Op-Ed in Forbes.
“However, this week the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff echoed that the weight of evidence continued to suggest natural rather than accidental emergence for SARS-CoV-2.”
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Kindrachuk said there has been “no other science supporting the escape theory.”
What has China said?
Meanwhile on Monday, China dismissed Australia’s call for an investigation, saying it was groundless.
Foreign ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said Payne’s remarks were “entirely without factual basis,” and said questioning China’s transparency was unfounded and showed a lack of respect for the sacrifices of its people.
Shuang said Beijing has been open and transparent, despite growing skepticism about the accuracy of its official death toll.
“China expresses deep concern and resolute opposition to this,” Shuang told reporters.
In the months since it was first detected, the novel coronavirus has infected more than 2,420,400 people across the globe and has claimed more than 166,200 lives.
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.
