When Halifax-raised Brianna MacDonald opened her home in Australia to Canadian-made knits intended to comfort animals impacted by wildfires, she didn’t anticipate the crates full of fabric that were headed her way.
For weeks, MacDonald’s one-bedroom apartment in Cronulla, a suburb of Sydney, was overrun with boxes upon boxes of baby kangaroo pouches, bat wraps, bird baskets and koala mittens.
Then Air Canada sent shipments of supplies from six Canadian cities.
MacDonald, who works with the Animal Rescue Collective to support Australian wildlife workers, said the operation that overtook her apartment now spans two storage spaces stuffed with an estimated 2.5 tonnes of Canadian contributions.
While she doesn’t plan to close the doors to her warehouse any time soon, some Australian groups say they already have more hand-stitched donations than they can handle.
“We’ve never dealt with this level of quantity before,” MacDonald said by phone from Cronulla.
“When suddenly it caught wind internationally … I know that some of those warehouses, there was just no way they could control what was coming in, how it was coming in, how it had been sewn, how it had been prepared.”
The Animal Rescue Collective Craft Guild put out the initial appeal for creature comforts, meant to help animals injured or displaced in the intense fires that have burned more than 104,000 square kilometres since September and killed at least 33 people.
But in a Facebook post last month they implored international crafters to put down their needles, emphasizing that “Australia’s needs have been met.”
“We are continuing reaching out to as many rescues as we can … but the answer generally is, ‘Thanks guys, we’re good!”‘ the guild wrote.
“Thank you for your support, solidarity, kind words & thoughts, and crafted items so far. We ask you, please do not send any more items to Australia.”
Australia’s largest wildlife rescue organization, WIRES, confirmed that craft overload has been an issue.
“Whilst we are very grateful to the wonderful crafters from around the globe, the fact is their generosity has been so overwhelming that we are literally looking for places to store what we have already received in donations,” spokesman John Grant said in an email.
Toronto veterinarian Scott Bainbridge, who recently returned from tending to injured wildlife in Australia, said despite crafters’ best intentions, some of their creations aren’t well suited to treating wounds.
Sterilized bandages provide much better protection for burned paws than koala mittens, said Bainbridge. He also noted that koalas need the dexterity of their hands to feed themselves and grip branches.
While he said the best way for Canadian to support Australian wildlife is with their wallets, Bainbridge admitted he saw the adorable appeal of crafters’ homespun contributions.
“Anyone can donate money,” he said. “If you’re actually sitting in your home and sewing up mittens for koalas, I can see how that would make you feel like a million dollars.”
The Canadian Animal Rescue Craft Guild has also instructed the 11,000 members of its Facebook group to finish the seams on their current projects, but not start new ones.
Organizer Bonnie Beach said Canada stood out in the global stitching spree for the ways the crafting community mobilized to enlist the support of classroom “sewing bees,” a local Ontario police force that offered to transport boxes and a Canadian airline that shipped the donations to the Southern Hemisphere for free.
Beach said the guild is encouraging crafters to keep their hands busy by knitting, sewing and crocheting for causes closer to home.
Renee Patenaude of Mississauga, Ont., is one of the crafters working to ensure none of their efforts go to waste.
Patenaude said crafters are retrofitting patterns intended for Australian critters to fit local wildlife, and are also using their creative skills to help humans by knitting quilts for seniors or clothing for homeless shelters.
She also started a Facebook group called Mississauga Makers for a Cause to auction off crocheted koala stuffies and joey pouches that have been repurposed as shopping bags in order to raise funds for Australian wildlife organizations.
“People are tired of watching all the bad stuff in the world and feeling like there’s nothing that they can do,” said Patenaude.
“The momentum’s there, and I think the heart is there too, and the need to just be involved in doing something good for other people.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 5, 2020.
TORONTO – Unifor says workers at a Walmart warehouse in Mississauga, Ont., have voted to join the union.
The union says it’s Walmart’s first warehouse to unionize in Canada.
Unifor national president Lana Payne says the employees stood up for their rights and the union is excited to get to work on their first collective agreement.
Unifor’s campaign at Walmart’s facility began in December 2023.
The vote was held from Sept. 10 to 12.
Unifor represents 315,000 workers across the country.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
The Canadian government says it will donate up to 200,000 vaccine doses to fight the mpox outbreak in Congo and other African countries.
It says the donated doses of Imvamune will come from Canada’s existing supply and will not affect the country’s preparedness for mpox cases in this country.
Minister of Health Mark Holland says the donation “will help to protect those in the most affected regions of Africa and will help prevent further spread of the virus.”
Dr. Madhukar Pai, Canada research chair in epidemiology and global health, says although the donation is welcome, it is a very small portion of the estimated 10 million vaccine doses needed to control the outbreak.
Vaccine donations from wealthier countries have only recently started arriving in Africa, almost a month after the World Health Organization declared the mpox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.
A few days after the declaration in August, Global Affairs Canada announced a contribution of $1 million for mpox surveillance, diagnostic tools, research and community awareness in Africa.
On Thursday, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said mpox is still on the rise and that testing rates are “insufficient” across the continent.
Jason Kindrachuk, Canada research chair in emerging viruses at the University of Manitoba, said donating vaccines, in addition to supporting surveillance and diagnostic tests, is “massively important.”
But Kindrachuk, who has worked on the ground in Congo during the epidemic, also said that the international response to the mpox outbreak is “better late than never (but) better never late.”
“It would have been fantastic for us globally to not be in this position by having provided doses a much, much longer time prior than when we are,” he said, noting that the outbreak of clade I mpox in Congo started in early 2023.
Clade II mpox, endemic in regions of West Africa, came to the world’s attention even earlier — in 2022 — as that strain of virus spread to other countries, including Canada.
Two doses are recommended for mpox vaccination, so the donation may only benefit 100,000 people, Pai said.
Pai questioned whether Canada is contributing enough, as the federal government hasn’t said what percentage of its mpox vaccine stockpile it is donating.
“Small donations are simply not going to help end this crisis. We need to show greater solidarity and support,” he said in an email.
“That is the biggest lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic — our collective safety is tied with that of other nations.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
MONTREAL – A 20-year-old man arrested over an alleged Islamic State terror plot to kill Jews in New York City will return to court in December in Montreal.
Muhammad Shahzeb Khan, a Pakistani national living in Ontario, was arrested last week in Ormstown, Que., allegedly on his way across the border into New York state.
Khan has been charged in the United States with one count of attempting to provide material support and resources to a terrorist organization, and officials are seeking to have him extradited to stand trial.
He was not present for a hearing today in Quebec Superior Court, where lawyers said they are waiting for extradition documents and for authorization from Canadian officials before proceeding in the case, which will return before a judge on Dec. 6.
U.S. authorities allege that Khan, also known as Shahzeb Jadoon, intended to use “automatic and semi-automatic weapons” in a mass shooting at a Jewish centre in Brooklyn around Oct. 7, the one-year anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel.
Authorities allege he began planning his attack in November 2023.
Earlier this week, federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller said Khan arrived in Canada in June 2023 on a student visa.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
