Canada added another 2,752 cases of the novel coronavirus Tuesday as federal officials promised the country’s vaccination program is set to ramp up again this week.
The new infections brought the national count to 852,274 cases since the pandemic began last spring. Of those, at least 799,835 patients have recovered to date.
Another 39 people have died of complications from COVID-19 over the past 24 hours, pushing the death toll to 21,762.
The new cases and deaths came as the government begins to recover from multiple delays to vaccine deliveries, which have hampered the rollout across the country.
2:40 Rising COVID-19 R value causes concern in B.C, Alberta, Saskatchewan
Rising COVID-19 R value causes concern in B.C, Alberta, Saskatchewan
Procurement Minister Anita Anand said there are 3.5 million doses being shipped in March, which is enough to vaccinate more than 112,000 people every day.
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She said an additional 640,000 doses will be shipped during this final week of February.
Canada’s vaccine program slowed between Jan. 18 and Feb. 14 when production issues limited shipments to fewer than 350,000 doses. But most provinces have now completed vaccinations in long-term care, or are close to doing so, and many are expanding to seniors living independently.
0:56 Coronavirus: Canada to receive over 640,000 vaccine doses this week, Anand says
Coronavirus: Canada to receive over 640,000 vaccine doses this week, Anand says
As of Tuesday, more than 1.6 million doses have been administered across the country, according to provincial and territorial data. More than 455,000 Canadians have received two doses of a vaccine as of Friday — about 0.81 per cent of the population, according to federal data.
Quebec announced Tuesday people over the age of 85 can start being vaccinated next week. Nova Scotia is opening vaccinations to people over 80 this week, and Alberta to people over 75. Ontario and British Columbia both aim to expand to people over 80 by the middle of March.
While Canada is eyeing a potential return to normal life by September, chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam told reporters Tuesday that some lockdown measures could be lifted earlier if the vaccination rate continues to improve.
2:47 How COVID-19 vaccination plans are evolving in Quebec, Ontario
How COVID-19 vaccination plans are evolving in Quebec, Ontario
“The key is to get the vaccine measures high so that we reduce the chances of those massive upswings of resurgence in order to keep society going,” she said.
“That’s absolutely the goal, but you can’t put an absolute date on one of these things.”
Tam has said the shrinking daily case counts compared to earlier this winter are also encouraging, but warns the emergence of multiple, more contagious variants of the virus means people must remain vigilant.
Ontario added 975 new cases and 12 more deaths Tuesday, while Quebec reported another 13 deaths and 739 new cases.
In Atlantic Canada, 15 more cases were confirmed in Newfound and Labrador, where a major outbreak in the St. John’s area has begun to subside after spiking earlier this month — delaying the provincial election there.
While Nova Scotia added three more cases, neither New Brunswick or Prince Edward Island saw any new infections. None of the Atlantic provinces reported any new deaths Tuesday.
The Prairie provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan reported 76 and 126 new cases, respectively. Another four people have died from COVID-19 in Saskatchewan, while Manitoba did not see any new deaths.
In western Canada, Alberta added another 267 cases and 10 deaths, and British Columbia saw 559 new infections and 1 more death.
Worldwide coronavirus infections crossed 112 million on Tuesday, with 112,075,694 cases confirmed as of 9 p.m. ET, according to Johns Hopkins University. The global death toll now stands at 2,483,496.
The United States continues to lead the world in both infections, at 28.2 million, and deaths, which crossed half a million on Monday and sat at 502,517 Tuesday evening.
— With files from Global’s Rachael D’Amore and the Canadian Press
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.
