The number of novel coronavirus cases in Canada topped 111,600 on Wednesday, as the number of worldwide infections hovered below 15 million.
According to provincial and territorial health officials, 574 new cases of COVID-19 were recorded across Canada on Tuesday. Four more people have also died of the virus.
Health officials in Ontario reported 203 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, and one new death related to the respiratory illness.
Officials said another 92 people have recovered from the virus in the province and that 236,669 tests were conducted.
Meanwhile, in Quebec — the province hit hardest by the pandemic — 180 new COVID-19 cases were detected on Tuesday.
The province also recorded one new death.
But health officials said 50,298 people have recovered from coronavirus infections.
Health authorities in Manitoba said 12 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed on Tuesday, but that no additional deaths were reported.
So far, 318 people have recovered from coronavirus infections in the province, and 77,551 people have been tested for the respiratory illness.
Saskatchewan saw eight new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, but said no one else had died as a result of the virus.
Health officials said more than 86,670 people have been tested for the virus, and 813 have recovered from infections.
Canada’s daily cases associated with young adults, health official says
Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick reported no new cases of COVID-19 or deaths related to the virus on Tuesday.
In Prince Edward Island, 33 people have recovered from COVID-19 infections and a total of 17,624 people have been tested. The island has seen 36 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus.
Meanwhile, in Nova Scotia, 1,003 people have recovered from COVID-19 infections and more than 61,410 people have been tested.
New Brunswick has seen a total of 170 cases of the virus, but health officials said 163 people have recovered from infections.
Since the pandemic began, New Brunswick has reported two deaths related to COVID-19.
The province has tested 49,369 people for the virus.
Alberta health officials reported 141 new infections on Tuesday, bringing the province’s total case count to 9,728.
Health authorities also said two more people had died from the virus.
So far, 8,363 people have recovered from COVID-19 infections, and 598,317 tests for the virus have been conducted.
Health officials in British Columbia reported 29 new lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the province on Tuesday, but said no more deaths had occurred.
The province also recorded one “epidemiologically linked” case, meaning they have not been confirmed by laboratory tests. Seventeen other cases in the province are also “epi-linked.”
A total of 2,873 people have recovered from COVID-19 in the province, and 236,600 tests have been conducted.
Health authorities in Newfoundland said one new case of the virus was confirmed on Tuesday.
So far 259 people have recovered from COVID-19 infections, and 22,461 people have been tested.
The Northwest Territories did not see any new cases of the virus on Tuesday.
Five people in the territory have recovered from COVID-19, and more than 3,000 people have been tested for the virus.
Yukon health officials did not report any new cases of the virus or any new COVID-19 related deaths on Tuesday. So far, the territory has seen a total of 13 infections.
Health authorities have tested 1,435 people for the novel coronavirus, and 11 people have recovered from infections.
Meanwhile, Nunavut still has yet to see a confirmed case of COVID-19.
Global cases hover below 15 million
The total number of COVID-19 cases across the globe hovered below 15 million Tuesday evening.
According to a tally from John’s Hopkins University, by 8 p.m. ET on Tuesday, the virus had infected more than 14,835,000 people around the world.
So far, the virus has claimed 613,879 lives globally.
The United States remained the epicentre of the pandemic on Tuesday, with 3,891,893 confirmed cases of COVID-19.
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.
