Canada’s death toll from the novel coronavirus pandemic has now surpassed 13,000, according to updated public health data released on Thursday.
The milestone comes amid another 126 deaths reportedly linked to the virus, which pushes the national death toll to 13,109. Thursday’s fatalities now stand as the highest daily reported death toll in seven months, after 139 more deaths were reported on June 4.
Another 6,738 new cases of COVID-19 were also announced by health authorities Thursday, raising Canada’s total infections to 441,705. To date, over 355,000 patients have since recovered from the virus, however, while another 15.9 million tests have been administered.
Thursday’s grim milestone comes just 11 days after the country’s previous one, in which COVID-19 deaths surpassed the 12,000-mark.
Story continues below advertisement
Several new announcements on Thursday also came amid the rise in cases, deaths and hospitalizations in Canadian communities.
In a press conference, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that his government would be footing the bill over the costs of the coronavirus vaccine, including the costs of supplies to administer them.
The announcement comes just hours after a first ministers meeting, in which the prime minister was expected to address the long-term health-care funding with the country’s premiers.
0:39 Coronavirus: Procurement minister confirms COVID-19 vaccines to arrive in Canada on Monday
Coronavirus: Procurement minister confirms COVID-19 vaccines to arrive in Canada on Monday
“The meeting of today gave us the opportunity to talk about our work in common to fight this pandemic and what we’re doing to help Canadians and Canadian businesses during this crisis,” said Trudeau, who noted again that the vaccine would be completely free for all Canadians.
Premiers were quick to express disappointment Thursday however after the prime minister did not agree to the premiers’ demands of another $28 billion in funding each year for annual federal transfers for health care. The government has already spent hundreds of billions to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as previously directing $25 billion in funding to provinces and territories to boost their health systems, among other things.
Story continues below advertisement
The prime minister did agree with ministers’ sentiments to increase federal health funding, but said that he would be willing to address the issue once the pandemic is over.
Trudeau also announced a new “pan-Canadian” program to address any injuries from the vaccine, but stressed that the Health-Canada approved Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine was safe and effective.
“After being vaccinated, it’s common to have mild and harmless side effects — this is the body’s natural response, as it’s working to build immunity against a disease. However, it is also possible for someone to have a serious adverse reaction to a vaccine,” read a statement from the Public Health Agency of Canada which announced the program.
“The chances of this are extremely rare — less than one in a million — and we have a duty to help if this occurs.”
“This has been a wonderful week for Canadians. We are going to have vaccines in this country on Monday,” said Anita Anand while speaking during question period in the House of Commons Thursday.
Pfizer’s vaccine was only approved Wednesday by Health Canada, with government officials announcing that it would begin rolling out to priority groups “within days.”
1:32 Coronavirus: Canadian military official says they are focused on security of vaccine supply chain
Coronavirus: Canadian military official says they are focused on security of vaccine supply chain
Several other vaccine candidates are still being reviewed by Health Canada, including ones from Moderna, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson, though it is still unclear if those treatments would be approved by the end of this year.
Story continues below advertisement
Virus cases continue to reach record numbers across Canada, with Ontario hitting a new daily high of 1,983 more cases Thursday. Another 35 deaths were also reported, raising the provincial death toll to 3,871.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said the province would begin to administer its first shots of the Pfizer vaccine at hospitals in Toronto and Ottawa Tuesday. According to retired general Rick Hillier, who is heading Ontario’s vaccination program, a total of 6,000 doses would arrive Monday to be split between Toronto and Ottawa, while another 90,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine was expected to arrive in province over the course of December.
1:50 Coronavirus: Canadian military official says first COVID-19 vaccine could arrive Monday
Coronavirus: Canadian military official says first COVID-19 vaccine could arrive Monday
Hillier also noted on Thursday that Moderna’s approval was not going to be “far behind the Pfizer approval” and that expected it to be approved for use in Canada by the end of December for initial use in long-term care home sites.
Story continues below advertisement
Quebec added another 1,842 cases on Thursday as well as 33 more deaths. The province, which has been the hardest hit part of Canada in terms of both virus deaths and cases, also faced scrutiny Thursday over how its long-term care system fared during initial on-set of the pandemic.
According to a new report from Ombudsman Marie Rinfret, Quebec’s system failed to ensure long-term care home residents’ safety during the initial spread of the virus.
Alberta reported 1,566 more cases and another 13 deaths linked to COVID-19. Health authorities in the province also announced they would start distributing their initial supply of 3,900 vaccines next week to front-line health-care workers.
Saskatchewan reported 324 more cases and Manitoba another 292, raising their infection totals to 11,223 and 19,947, respectively.
British Columbia added another 722 cases of the virus Thursday, raising its total confirmed caseload to 39,696. Another 364 cases are considered “epi-linked” which are patients with symptoms and are close contacts of confirmed cases, but were never tested.
7:46 Coronavirus: BioNTech CFO on vaccine shipments, doses Canadians can expect
Coronavirus: BioNTech CFO on vaccine shipments, doses Canadians can expect
In Atlantic Canada, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia both added four new virus cases while Newfoundland and Labrador reported just one additional infection. P.E.I. and all of the territories did not report any cases Thursday during their daily updates.
Story continues below advertisement
A total of 69,496,000 cases of the novel coronavirus have been diagnosed worldwide according to a tally kept by Johns Hopkins University. To date, the virus has claimed the lives of more than 1,579,000, with the United States, Brazil and India continuing to lead in both cases and deaths.
— With files from The Canadian Press and Global News’ Amanda Connolly and Rachel Gilmore
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.