Canada’s death toll from COVID-19 approached 3,400 on Friday, with confirmed cases totalling a little over 55,000.
Tallied daily based on updates from provincial health authorities across Canada, the numbers include at least 22,361 recoveries from the virus and 868,478 tests.
Nationwide, the number of cases totalled 55,061.
The majority of cases and deaths are in Ontario and Quebec. Both comprise more than 80 per cent of the national case count.
Quebec reported more than 1,100 new cases and 163 new deaths on Friday, for a total of 28,648 cases and 2,022 deaths. Despite having the highest number of fatalities and cases in the country, Quebec is moving towards gradually reopening, prompting backlash for the provincial government. More than 6,000 people have recovered from the virus.
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Ontario announced 421 new COVID-19 cases and 39 deaths, for a total of 16,608 cases and 1,121 deaths since the pandemic began. Earlier this week, the province released guidelines for a slow reopening of businesses. Close to 11,000 people have recovered so far.
1:04 Coronavirus outbreak: City of Toronto cancels all in-person Canada Day celebrations
Coronavirus outbreak: City of Toronto cancels all in-person Canada Day celebrations
Alberta has the highest number of COVID-19 cases after Ontario and Quebec by a large margin, with 5,573 cases reported as of Friday and 92 deaths. Provincial health officials announced the launch of a voluntary contract-tracing app on Friday — the first of its kind in North America, they said. More than 2,300 people are deemed recovered.
British Columbia reported 33 new cases and one death on Friday. The province has 2,145 cases so far, with 1,357 recoveries, and 112 deaths.
New Brunswick reported no new case of COVID-19 for almost two weeks in a row as of Friday. Only two cases remain active. The province is in talks with Prince Edward Island — which also had no new case to report, and has only three active cases out of 27 confirmed ones — about reopening the border between the two.
Newfoundland and Labrador reported one new case on Friday, bringing its total to 259 cases and three deaths, with 230 recoveries.
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2:23 Coronavirus: Certain Ontario businesses allowed to reopen
Coronavirus: Certain Ontario businesses allowed to reopen
Nova Scotia reported one death and 12 new cases on Friday. The province has extended its state of emergency until May 17, while also relaxing some restrictions in order to let residents enjoy the outdoors. As of Friday, provincial and municipal parks can reopen, although playground equipment will continue to be off-limits. Beaches in the province will remain closed.
Four new cases were reported in Manitoba, where the provincial total is 279 cases as of Friday, with six deaths, and 235 recoveries.
“Our numbers have been flat as of late thanks to Manitobans’ strong efforts,” said Dr. Brent Roussin, the province’s chief medical health officer.
Saskatchewan reported 26 new COVID-19 cases as well as an outbreak at a hospital in Prince Albert. The province has 415 COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began, with six deaths. Close to 300 people have recovered.
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Coronavirus outbreak: U.S. FDA, Trump announce emergency use authorization of remdesivir for treatment of COVID-19
Nunavut reported its first case on Thursday. The Northwest Territories has had five cases so far, all of whom have recovered. Yukon has 11 cases total, nine of whom have recovered.
Globally, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus has so far claimed 213,497 lives and resulted in more than 3.1 million cases, according to data tracked by Johns Hopkins University.
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.
