OTTAWA —
With the spread of the novel coronavirus driving Canadians to stock up on supplies — on the suggestion of the federal health minister — could we see a wide-scale quarantine in this country and what could that look like?
In short, yes. The Canadian government has the power to impose restrictions around travel in and out of Canada under the federal Quarantine Act, and domestically, in more drastic circumstances, under the Emergencies Act. However, the likelihood of such moves remain unlikely at this point, experts say.
Here’s what the federal government has the authority to do under the national Quarantine Act.
Under the act the federal health minister can enforce sweeping measures aimed at halting the spread of communicable diseases. The Act, first drafted shortly after Confederation and heavily updated in 2005 in response to the SARS outbreak in 2003, is aimed at cracking down on the spread of an illness deemed a public health risk.
Specifically, the government, on the approval of cabinet, can subject individuals who are returning from a foreign country to special conditions if they have reason to believe there is an outbreak from the country they are coming from that could pose a risk to public health in Canada.
These measures can include, under “reasonable grounds”:
Screenings at airports or other border entry points;
Imposing isolation on travellers and arrest and deliver any person to a quarantine site;
Designating any place as a quarantine station and practitioners as quarantine officers; and
Spelling out a series of rules around the movement of any vehicle used to carry people or cargo arriving in or departing from Canada.
“The government, under the act, is supposed to take steps to make it as least intrusive as possible, but what exactly that means, there is some discretion,” Steven Hoffman, director of the Global Strategy Lab and York University a global health law professor told The Canadian Press in early February.
The government has already invoked quarantine powers under the act, when they forced the Canadians who were evacuated from Wuhan, China to be isolated on an Ontario military base for 14 days; the presumed incubation period for COVID-19.
Hoffman told The Canadian Press that deploying the act in this way remains an uncommon step, but that the law contains a range of penalties for those who contravene the quarantine restrictions put in place, including a fine of up to $1 million and three years in prison for potentially placing the public at risk of a communicable disease.
Domestic restrictions more extreme
Because the Quarantine Act is focused on travel into and out of Canada, restricting movement within or between provinces is not something the federal government could impose through it.
“So to give you an example can the federal government quarantine people get off an Air Canada flight from Mexico City to Toronto or Tokyo to Toronto? The answer is yes. Can they do anything about the fact that from Toronto some of them will catch connecting flights to Ottawa within the same province, or they’ll catch a connecting flight to Halifax for Edmonton… the answer, there is no,” professor of law and medicine at the University of Ottawa Amir Attaran said in an interview with CTVNews.ca
Though, seeing more domestic travel restrictions within Canada — similar to what China imposed in Wuhan province — is possible under the Emergencies Act; formerly the War Measures Act. Otherwise, these decisions remain the responsibility of provincial and territorial authorities.
“If we used it, there would be blowback from the provinces,” Attaran said, adding that should these types of measures be taken to restrict the spread of COVID-19, it shouldn’t necessarily be cause for panic.
“Are we to the point where it’s certain we’re going to need extensive quarantine in Canada? No. Are we to the point where it is possible that we’ll need it? Definitely. Are we to the point between those things where it’s likely? Time will tell,” Attaran said.
Decisions made on advice of health agency
In recent weeks Hajdu has indicated that all options to protect Canadians are on the table, but her office told CTVNews.ca on Monday that any decisions about future quarantine measures would be made based on the advice of the Public Health Agency of Canada.
For now, the government’s position is to wash your hands and prepare yourself for “a period of illness” by having supplies, prescriptions if needed, extra food on hand, and the approval to work from home of need be. If you plan on travelling outside of Canada then register with the government and stay on top of the latest travel advisories. And, if you’re an international traveller, monitor your own health and if you have symptoms or feel sick, tell the CBSA officials at the airport.
“Given that we’ve seen the spread go global… country after country adding themselves to the list in terms of having infections, what that means is that globally there’s a higher likelihood that we’ll see an outbreak in Canada. So, although today very few people are at risk in terms of actually contracting the coronavirus, that could change. And I think it’s always wise to be prepared from a community and a country level,” Hajdu said last week.
“At the local and provincial level, surveillance of outbreak is happening on a regular, every day, every hour, I would suggest, basis, and people are very carefully monitoring signs of outbreak,” she said.
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.
