Ontario reported 118 new cases Thursday, bringing the provincial total to 41,813 — an increase from Wednesday’s 88 and sending its daily tally to above 100 again. It is the highest case count reported in the last week.
About 90 per cent of the province’s cases have been resolved, with 77 more added Thursday.
One new death was reported to bring the province’s death toll to 2,803.
2:13 Coronavirus: Quebec will not shut down daycare network if second wave hits
Coronavirus: Quebec will not shut down daycare network if second wave hits
Quebec is reporting a triple-digit jump in its cases after 111 new infections were reported Thursday.
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The province has seen 62,056 COVID-19 cases to date — the highest in the country. There are 55,008 recoveries in total.
Hospitalizations increased by five from the previous day, for a total of 115. Of those, 15 patients are in intensive care, an increase of three from the previous day.
Authorities also reported three additional deaths, but only one of those occurred in the last 24 hours.
Since the pandemic began in March, Quebec continues to have the highest death toll in Canada. As of Thursday, there have been 5,750 deaths.
Nova Scotia added no new cases to its current active five, and New Brunswick also reported no new cases to add to its seven active cases. There are no New Brunswickers in hospital for COVID-19 as of Thursday.
Newfoundland and Labrador and PEI reported no new cases or deaths.
1:04 Coronavirus: Nova Scotia to further loosen restrictions on long-term care homes
Coronavirus: Nova Scotia to further loosen restrictions on long-term care homes
Manitoba health officials reported one new death from COVID-19 Thursday and 22 new cases, as another outbreak has been declared at a personal care home in the province.
They bring the province’s total number of confirmed and probable cases identified since March to 1,064. As of Thursday Manitoba had 407 active cases of COVID-19, health officials said.
Saskatchewan reported five new cases Thursday and seven more recoveries.
There are currently 58 active cases in the province, with three of them currently in hospital — one is receiving inpatient care and two are in intensive care.
No new deaths were added to the 24 recorded so far in the province.
Alberta announced two more people have died as a result of COVID-19 in the province — a man in his 90s and one in his 70s.
1:37 Alberta reports 2 additional COVID-19 deaths Thursday
Alberta reports 2 additional COVID-19 deaths Thursday
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The two deaths brought the total number of people who have lost their lives in Alberta as a result of the novel coronavirus is 237.
There were 108 new cases across Alberta over the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of active cases to 1,158.
Forty-nine people across Alberta are in hospital as a result of the virus, with seven of those individuals in intensive care.
There have been 13,318 novel coronavirus cases in Alberta since the start of the pandemic, with 11,923 of those cases having recovered.
British Columbia reported 64 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday and four epi-linked cases (probable but not lab-confirmed cases), along with another death in long-term care.
It brought the province’s death toll to 204.
2:02 COVID-19 cases hitting record highs in British Columbia, Alberta
COVID-19 cases hitting record highs in British Columbia, Alberta
Active cases edged back up to 906 after dipping slightly the day prior.
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Twenty-two people remained in hospital, with seven of them in critical care.
About 79 per cent of B.C.’s 5,372 total cases have recovered.
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.
