OTTAWA —
Almost one in four Canadian respondents to a new online survey said they had been infected with COVID-19, while about three in four had not.
As the country grapples with its sixth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and less data is shared with the public, the poll by Leger and the Association for Canadian Studies offers a picture of how many people have been infected.
Christian Bourque, Leger executive vice-president, said it was notable that the rate of reported infection sat higher than what the official data has suggested.
The online survey of 1,538 Canadians, conducted April 8 to 10, cannot be assigned a margin of error because internet-based polls are not considered random samples.
Thirty per cent of respondents aged 18 to 34 said they had been infected with COVID-19, while 12 per cent of those 55 years and older had contracted the disease.
“What was really striking was the difference when it comes to age,” Bourque said.
“It seems to match the patterns that we’re seeing, that the more social you are — going out to restaurants, bars, and concerts — makes you a little bit more vulnerable to getting the disease.”
Vaccination status also played a role, with 38 per cent of unvaccinated respondents saying they had been infected compared to 20 per cent of their vaccinated counterparts.
Almost three in five respondents who had COVID-19 say they had mild symptoms, while 14 per cent said they had severe symptoms that didn’t prevent them from doing daily activities.
One in five of those infected with the virus said they had severe symptoms that kept them in bed.
Asked if they were afraid of contracting COVID-19, respondents were evenly split.
Forty-four per cent said they feared getting the virus while 45 per cent said they weren’t fearful.
Despite that, more than half of respondents said they think the worst of the pandemic is behind them, representing about a 30-point increase since Canadians were asked in January.
“In a way people are telling us we’re over the hump, things are improving,” Bourque said, adding that “COVID is not over.”
Another poll conducted in March looked at the experiences of North Americans with long COVID-19 symptoms, one-quarter of whom were Canadian.
Of those who said they experienced long-term effects from COVID-19, more than half said they suffered from fatigue, and almost half from muscle and joint pain.
Jack Jedwab, president of the Association for Canadian Studies, said these findings brush up against the perception of the latest COVID-19 strain being similar to the flu or common cold.
“That’s not what the poll is suggesting in terms of longer-term symptoms,” said Jedwab.
Being an internet-based poll, the online survey of 1,981 North Americans cannot be assigned a margin of error.
Respondents aged 30 to 34 years old were most likely to report long-term symptoms of COVID-19.
Jedwab said he thinks it’s important for people to be aware of the risk for long COVID-19 and the symptoms, “so that we can be better equipped to deal with some of the things that might arise.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 19, 2022.
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This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Meta and Canadian Press News Fellowship.
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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.
