Operators of Canada’s conference centres, airports and stadiums are joining a global rush to be certified as pandemic-resistant while they compete for events and visitors that will bring billions of dollars in economic benefits for their cities.
In recent weeks, convention centres in Edmonton and Calgary, B.C. Place Stadium in Vancouver and the Trudeau International Airport in Montreal have reported achieving GBAC Star accreditation from the Global Biorisk Advisory Council, a division of international cleaning industry association ISSA.
“It’s important when the messaging goes out that it is that ‘Calgary is a safe destination for conventions,”’ said Kurby Court, CEO of the Calgary Telus Convention Centre, who said he is fielding booking inquiries for events three or four years in the future, potentially long after a vaccine has been developed for COVID-19.
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“When you’re comparing destinations, this will be one of the deciding factors moving forward. Safety and biorisk is not going away.”
The accreditation is designed to show that training has taken place and there’s a proven system of cleaning, disinfection and infectious disease prevention for staff and buildings to head off biohazards like the novel coronavirus.
Facilities must follow specific criteria to show compliance with the program’s 20 elements, which range from standard operating procedures and risk assessment to personal protective equipment and emergency preparedness and response measures.
1:54 Coronavirus: Turbulent financial times for Montreal’s Trudeau International Airport
Coronavirus: Turbulent financial times for Montreal’s Trudeau International Airport
On Friday, Illinois-based ISSA unveiled a searchable database on its website for its growing list of accredited facilities.
“The GBAC Star program has more than 250 facilities accredited and 3,000-plus committed to accreditation in more than 80 countries, with additional facilities added daily,” said GBAC executive director Patricia Olinger.
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The accredited list includes more than a dozen Hyatt hotels in locations that range from Danang, Vietnam, to San Francisco, along with airports, industrial sites and retail buildings around the globe.
“People spend a lot of time inside our terminal building when they travel, the same way they do when they go to a convention centre or a stadium,” said Anne-Sophie Hamel, spokeswoman for Trudeau International, adding it has also been certified under the Airport Health Accreditation Program offered by Airport Councils International.
“Those accreditations prove that (the airport) will be ready to welcome more passengers in the terminal, as soon as the borders open, and shows our deep commitment to keeping people safe and confident for their future travels.”
She said the airport is expecting about 71 per cent fewer passengers this year than last year.
The pandemic has hit airports and convention centres particularly hard because of border lockdowns that prevent people from travelling, along with local bans on large indoor gatherings.
In Calgary, the convention centre’s main ballroom was used to temporarily house up to 300 homeless people per night in April, May and June as a measure to enhance social distancing at the downtown Calgary Drop-In Centre shelter.
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The room, which can accommodate as many as 4,000 people, has since returned to its usual role of hosting meetings and conferences but business has been less than brisk and the staff count has fallen by more than half.
1:30 Nenshi discusses use of convention centre for Calgary’s homeless during COVID-19 pandemic
Nenshi discusses use of convention centre for Calgary’s homeless during COVID-19 pandemic
Some customers have postponed bookings more than once, some events have gone to a “hybrid” model with a mix of in-person and online participation and many events have been cancelled entirely.
“It’s in the hundreds of events that have moved,” Court said. “It has a tremendous economic effect for the city.”
The BMO Centre at Stampede Park in Calgary, which also handles conventions, has also been certified by GBAC and the united front is important for Calgary’s reputation as a safe place going forward, Court said.
Certification involved preparing an exhaustive submission and paying a “nominal” registration fee of about $1,000, he said. The certification is to be reviewed annually.
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Because of travel bans, no one from the association actually travelled to Calgary, he said.
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Ukraine should be allowed to strike deep inside Russia, regardless of Moscow threatening that this would draw Canada and its allies into direct war.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that the NATO military alliance would draw itself into war if it allows Ukraine to use donated weapons to make long-range strikes inside Russia.
His comments come five weeks after Ukrainian forces stormed the border and put parts of Russian territory under foreign occupation for the first time since the Second World War.
Trudeau says Canada “fully supports Ukraine using long-range weaponry” to prevent Russian strikes on hospitals and daycares across the country.
He says Ukraine must win in fighting back against Russia’s invasion, or it will encourage other large countries to try absorbing their neighbours.
In May, Washington began allowing Ukraine to use American weaponry to strike inside Russia, but only for targets near the border being used to attack Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv.
“Canada fully supports Ukraine using long-range weaponry to prevent and interdict Russia’s continued ability to degrade Ukrainian civilians (and) infrastructure, and mostly to kill innocent civilians in their unjust war,” Trudeau told reporters at a news conference in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Que., on Friday.
“(Putin) is trying to deeply destabilize the international rules-based order that protects us all, not just in every democracy around the world, but in all countries around the world,” Trudeau said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the NDP is caving to political pressure from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre when it comes to their stance on the consumer carbon price.
Trudeau says he believes Jagmeet Singh and the NDP care about the environment, but it’s “increasingly obvious” that they have “no idea” what to do about climate change.
On Thursday, Singh said the NDP is working on a plan that wouldn’t put the burden of fighting climate change on the backs of workers, but wouldn’t say if that plan would include a consumer carbon price.
Singh’s noncommittal position comes as the NDP tries to frame itself as a credible alternative to the Conservatives in the next federal election.
Poilievre responded to that by releasing a video, pointing out that the NDP has voted time and again in favour of the Liberals’ carbon price.
British Columbia Premier David Eby also changed his tune on Thursday, promising that a re-elected NDP government would scrap the long-standing carbon tax and shift the burden to “big polluters,” if the federal government dropped its requirements.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – A justice with Ontario’s Appeal Court has dismissed an application for bail from Canadian musician Jacob Hoggard as he tries to appeal his sexual assault conviction at the country’s top court.
Justice Jill Copeland heard arguments at a bail hearing for Hoggard earlier this week, not long after the Hedley frontman began serving his five-year sentence.
Hoggard, who was found guilty in June 2022 of sexual assault causing bodily harm against an Ottawa woman, filed an application last week for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court and sought bail at Ontario’s Appeal Court.
His application to the Supreme Court argues that the Appeal Court – which recently upheld his conviction – failed to apply the proper test in determining whether an error made by the trial judge constituted a “harmless error.”
Copeland says at this stage, where Hoggard’s conviction has been unanimously affirmed by the Appeal Court and it “appears unlikely” he will be granted leave to appeal by the Supreme Court, she is satisfied that the public interest in enforcing the musician’s sentence outweighs his interest in a second review of his conviction.
She says that if the Supreme Court grants leave to appeal, a reassessment of Hoggard’s bail status may be warranted.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
