Gatineau police set up checkpoints on interprovincial bridges and other roadways Wednesday in an unprecedented effort to enforce the province’s new ban on non-essential travel into western Quebec.
The ban started at noon and includes visitors crossing into Quebec from Ontario.
By Wednesday afternoon, traffic was lined up near crossings between the two provinces, including the Champlain and Alexandra bridges.
Police are asking drivers and passengers about the purpose of their trip to assess whether or not it’s essential, a news release from Gatineau police said. Essential trips include travel for essential work, medical appointments or for humanitarian reasons.
Gatineau police say checkpoints are currently set up at:
The Masson-Angers ferry.
The Alexandra Bridge.
The Portage Bridge.
The Chaudières Bridge.
The Champlain Bridge.
The intersection of Highway 148 and chemin Terry Fox.
Quebec’s Ministry of Public Safety said earlier in the day it’s extending the travel limits between regions, put in place for much of the rest of the province over the weekend, to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Move goes too far, Ottawa mayor says
Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson said Wednesday Ottawa police have no interest in mirroring the work of Gatineau police in Ontario.
“We do not plan on putting up any kind of spot checks on our side of the river,” he said by telephone Wednesday.
Traffic from Ontario heading into Quebec backs up along the Portage Bridge on April 1, 2020. (Francis Ferland/CBC)
“We don’t believe, on this side, that it’s necessary. We certainly would not support putting municipal police resources on five bridges 24 hours a day. I don’t think it would make any sense and it would take police away from doing vital work during this pandemic.”
Watson and Gatineau Mayor Maxime Pedneaud-Jobin put out a joint statement on March 24 asking for non-essential travel to stop between the two provinces. Watson said Wednesday that guidance should be enough.
“The Quebec government can do what it wants on their side of the border,” he said.
Pedneaud-Jobin said it’s “hard to say” whether the measures go too far, considering the spread of COVID-19 elsewhere in the world.
“Now is the good time to be disciplined,” he said. “Now is the good time to take strict measures.”
Watson said Ottawa police will only get involved if checkstops on the Quebec side cause traffic issues to spill over into Ottawa and police need to help manage congestion. On Wednesday afternoon, traffic was backed up on Island Park Drive, one approach to the interprovincial Champlain Bridge.
WATCH: Gatineau mayor on limiting travel between provinces
Gatineau Mayor Maxime Pedneaud-Jobin says police will be out asking travellers for their reasons for moving between Ontario and Quebec in an effort to restrict non-essential travel and limit the spread of COVID-19. 0:49
Along with the bridges, police are at checkpoints to limit non-essential travel within the province of Quebec including between Outaouais and the Laurentides as well as in Pontiac, Papineau and Vallée-de-la-Gatineau.
One driver reported encountering a checkpoint on Highway 105.
Fines may be imposed on people who refuse to cooperate, Gatineau police said. Under Quebec’s Public Health Act, police can impose fines of between $1,000 to $6,000 for non-compliance.
The health authority for the Outaouais said in a statement Wednesday it supports the checkstops.
“The CISSS de l’Outaouais welcomes these new measures which will certainly have an important impact in limiting the spread of COVID-19.”
Gatineau police said the check points may be expanded in the future and will operate on a “sporadic basis.”
Gatineau Mayor Maxime Pedneaud-Jobin joins us to talk about what it means for residents on both sides of the river. 9:01
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.
