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Canada’s coronavirus decline continues as cases surpass 106,000
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Newly-confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in Canada remain in a steady decline as the country’s number of infected surpassed 106,000 Tuesday.
Overall, Canada saw 18 new deaths, bringing the national death toll past 8,700.
Quebec, the province hit hardest by the virus, had an increase of 30 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, increasing the total number of infected just three short of 56,000. Officials wrote in a press release that 13 people died overnight, with the overall number at 5,590. More than 25,000 residents have recovered from the virus, while 650,516 people have been tested so far.
Ontario reported 112 new cases of the virus on Tuesday, for a total of 36,060. The death toll increased from 2,689 to 2,691. Over 1.5 million people in the province have been tested, while 31,603 have recovered.
Saskatchewan officials recorded the province’s 15th COVID-19-related death on Tuesday, and one more newly confirmed case for a total of 806. All but 69 have recovered from the virus, while 70,290 have been tested so far.
As of Tuesday evening, British Columbia’s confirmed cases rose to 2,981 after the province reported 11 new cases on Tuesday. Nine additional cases are “epi-linked,” which is when transmission is made possible after a patient may have been in contact with one or more people who tested positive with the virus.
Those cases have not been confirmed by laboratory tests. Over 203,000 have been tested in B.C. while 2,645 have recovered. There were no new deaths recorded linked to the virus.
New Brunswick has not had a new case of COVID-19 since June 23. All but three residents infected with the virus have recovered while just under 44,900 have been tested.
There were 47 new cases reported in Alberta on Tuesday, increasing the number of infected to 8,436. Two people died from the virus, raising the death toll to 157. Just shy of 494,000 people in Alberta have been tested for COVID-19 while 7,659 have recovered from the virus.
Nova Scotia is on its second consecutive day without any new cases of the new coronavirus, leaving the total at 1,065 and 63 deaths. Officials said 998 residents have recovered and 56,493 have been tested for COVID-19 in the province.
Manitoba, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador had no new cases or deaths to report.
Manitoban officials reported just over 67,000 residents were tested while 307 have recovered from the virus. Seven have died.
P.E.I. hasn’t reported a new case of COVID-19 since Sunday and no deaths in the province have been linked to the virus. Over 13,200 people have recovered, while 27 have recovered.
In N.L., which has seen 261 cases, said in a statement Tuesday 258 have recovered and 19,184 residents have been tested. There have been three COVID-19-related deaths.
Neither the Northwest Territories or the Yukon have seen a newly confirmed case in months, although Nunavut is currently awaiting confirmation on what could be the territory’s first ever case.
COVID-19 cases have been surging in certain parts of the world, including the United States, which remains the epicentre of the virus. The latest data from Johns Hopkins showed the U.S. accounted for over 2.9 million of the world’s 11.7 million confirmed cases.
More evidence is emerging that COVID-19 can be spread airborne, rather than just from person-to-person or through droplets expelled from the nose or mouth.
A top official with the World Health Organization acknowledged Tuesday “the possibility of airborne transmission and aerosol transmission as one of the modes of transmission of COVID-19.”
A scientific brief summarizing what is known about COVID-19’s modes of transmission of the virus is expected to be released by the WHO in the coming days.
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We're still stockpiling reusable bags. Big grocers have adopted solutions, but experts have concerns – CBC News
Canada’s plastic bag ban has had an unintended consequence: a proliferation of reusable bags piling up in basements, closets and, eventually, landfills.
“They’re everywhere,” said environmental researcher Tony Walker. “We’re drowning in them, and we shouldn’t be.”
To combat the problem, several of Canada’s big grocers have introduced solutions. Last week, Walmart launched a free national recycling pilot program for the retailer’s reusable blue bags. Competitors Sobeys and chains owned by Loblaw Companies Ltd. use recyclable paper bags for grocery delivery.
But some environmental experts argue that paper bags are also problematic and that the best solutions are those that help customers actually reuse their reusable bags.
“We just can’t keep giving [them] out,” said Walker, a professor at Dalhousie University’s School for Resource and Environmental Studies in Halifax. “We’re only meant to have a few of them, and we’re meant to use them until they fall apart.”
In late 2022, the federal government rolled out a ban on the manufacture, import and sale of several single-use plastics, including checkout bags. The regulations are being contested in court, but in the meantime, they remain in effect.
The regulations have made single-use shopping bags scarce in Canada, but they’ve also led to the proliferation of reusable bags, especially for grocery delivery.
“It just creates more waste, which is what we’re trying to avoid in the first place,” Walmart customer Udi Sela said in a CBC News interview in late 2022.
At the time, Sela, who lives in Maple, Ont., estimated his family had acquired about 300 reusable Walmart bags via grocery delivery.
“We can’t return them, we can’t do much with them.”
Now, a little more than a year later, Walmart has launched a pilot project to address the problem.
It allows customers to pack up their unwanted reusable Walmart blue bags and ship them — at no charge — to a facility where they’ll get a second life.
How it works
According to Walmart, bags in good condition will be laundered and donated to charity, primarily Food Banks Canada. Damaged bags will get recycled into other materials. Reusable bags typically can’t go in blue bins because they’re costly and difficult to recycle.
Customers must sign up for Walmart’s program, and enrolment is limited.
Jennifer Barbazza, Walmart’s senior manager of sustainability, said the retailer will fine-tune the details as the program progresses.
“[We] know that some customers have more reusable bags than maybe they need,” she said. “One of the things that we’re really excited to learn about from the pilot is customer acceptance and customer feedback.”
Udi Sela has already signed up.
“I definitely think it’s a step in the right direction,” he said in an interview on Friday. “It’s something that needed to be done a while ago. God knows we’ve got a ton of bags kind of piled up.”
He said he’s concerned that some customers may find mailing the bags a hurdle. However, it’s not deterring Sela, who soon plans to ship hundreds.
Passing the buck?
Not everyone is keen on Walmart’s project. Emily Alfred, a waste campaigner with Toronto Environmental Alliance, said donating the bags to the food bank is just passing on the problem.
“We need to remove waste from the system entirely, and just sending these somewhere else for someone else to deal with is not really a solution,” she said.
Alfred said a better option is a program Walmart piloted in Guelph, Ont., in 2022. For a fee, customers could check out reusable bags from an in-store kiosk and later return them to be cleaned and reused.
“That’s a real circular reuse system,” she said.
Walmart’s Barbazza said the retailer is continuing to explore different reusable bag programs, including ones placed in stores.
She also said she’s confident Canada’s food banks will make good use of the bags.
“There’s definitely a need for sturdy items to distribute materials to the food bank clients.”
The paper problem
Among Canada’s major grocers, only Walmart offers a reusable bag program for all customers.
Loblaw recently switched from reusable to recyclable paper bags for grocery delivery. Sobeys did not respond to requests for comment, but according to its website, the grocer also uses paper bags and “reusable options” for home delivery.
Several environmental experts say paper bags aren’t a good solution, because their production leaves a sizable carbon footprint.
“Paper bags are a problem,” Alfred said. “It takes a lot of energy to recycle paper, takes a lot of trees and energy to make new paper.”
Loblaw said it continues to explore a variety of more sustainable solutions. “It’s a challenge we’re committed to addressing,” spokesperson Dave Bauer said in an email.
Both Walker and Alfred applaud Metro for its grocery delivery program, because the grocer, which operates in Ontario and Quebec, reuses delivery materials.
Metro said customers can get their goods delivered in a cardboard box or reusable bags, which can be returned and used for another delivery. Or customers can opt for a plastic bin and remove their groceries from it upon arrival.
Metro does not offer similar programs for in-store shoppers.
Alfred said the federal government should introduce regulations that mandate retailers adopt effective reusable bag programs for all customers.
“It’s up to our governments and people to demand that these companies do better,” she said.
But Walker suggested that the regulations would be hard to enforce and that incentives could be a better tactic.
For example, if retailers increased the price of reusable bags, shoppers might be less likely to forget them when they head to the store, he said.
“When the cost is a disincentive to do an activity, people change their behaviour.”
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CTV National News: Honda's big move in Canada – CTV News
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CTV National News: Honda’s big move in Canada CTV News
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Freeland defends budget measures, as premiers push back on federal involvement – CBC News
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland says she thinks unhappy premiers will come around on measures in the federal budget that touch on provincial legislation, even as they push back.
At an event in Toronto on Sunday, Freeland — who presented the federal budget on Tuesday — said the national government needs to push ahead on such issues as housing and she was “extremely optimistic” premiers would choose to co-operate.
“Housing is a national challenge, and the federal government needs to be leading the charge,” she said.
“My own experience has been when there are big issues that really matter to Canadians, after all the sound and the fury, people are prepared to roll up their sleeves and find a win-win outcome for Canadians.”
Several premiers have pushed back against the federal government in recent months and again after the budget was released on the grounds that some measures touch on provincial jurisdiction.
In a letter released Friday by the Council of the Federation, which represents the leaders of all 13 provinces and territories, the premiers said Ottawa should have consulted them more ahead of the budget.
Individual premiers have shared more pointed critiques.
“It’s a never-ending spending platform that we’ve seen now for the last 10 years,” New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs said on CBC’s Power & Politics on Friday.
“My initial thoughts about the federal budget are that they are overtaxing, overspending, overborrowing and over interfering in provincial affairs,” Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said earlier this week.
Alberta has clashed with the government repeatedly over housing. Smith introduced legislation earlier this month that would require provincial oversight of deals made between municipalities and the federal government, including for future agreements around federal housing funds.
Freeland said on Sunday that, as an example, the federal child-care program negotiated through a series of deals with provinces and territories showed that co-operation was possible.
Capital gains tax changes criticized
The federal government has also faced some opposition on what was perhaps the most prominent measure revealed on budget day: changes to Canada’s capital gains tax rules. The government has proposed raising the inclusion rate to 67 per cent on capital gains above $250,000 for individuals.
“The 21st-century winner-takes-all-economy is making those at the very top richer, while too many middle-class Canadians are struggling,” Freeland said Sunday, adding the government was asking wealthy Canadians to pay their “fair share.”
“We do need to ensure that we have some revenue coming in. This is a very limited way of ensuring that that occurs,” Treasury Board President Anita Anand said in an interview on Rosemary Barton Live on Sunday.
Critics have raised concerns that the changes could result in reduced investment or capital flight.
“The big concern right now … is this going to have a detrimental impact to the progress we’re trying to make in making Canada a hub for innovation,” said Kirk Simpson, CEO of the tech company goConfirm, in a separate interview on Rosemary Barton Live.
“With productivity the way that it is, we want more capital, not less, flowing into business innovation,” Simpson told CBC chief political correspondent Rosemary Barton.
Freeland said Sunday that the changes will affect very few Canadian individuals — the government estimates 0.13 per cent — and the revenue will go to pay for investments in areas like housing.
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