Liese Coroy had no intentions of boarding a plane during the coronavirus pandemic.
But then her father tested positive for COVID-19, leaving him stuck in a hospital in Ottawa.
She decided to board a plane from Toronto to Ottawa on April 1 so she could get there in time to see him for the last time, even if it meant wearing a protective suit.
“I dropped everything to fly up to say goodbye to him,” she said. “I think the hardest part was not being able to touch him with my bare hands or hug him. I had gloves on, and did touch him, but it wasn’t the same. ”
Social distancing on the flight there and back was important, she said.
Coroy’s father died due to COVID-19 the day after she arrived.
Liese Conoy flew to Ottawa on April 1 to say goodbye to her father. Photo provided by Liese Conoy.
Travelling has now become one of many routines activities that now feel like a foreign concept since coronavirus spread worldwide.
1:52 Flying some time after COVID-19? Prepare for sky-high fares
Flying some time after COVID-19? Prepare for sky-high fares
But some Canadians are still flying during the pandemic and the experience is starkly different than it would have been just three months ago.
Airlines have slashed the number of flights operating per day or have suspended flights entirely, like Porter Airlines and Sunwing. WestJet has laid off nearly 6,900 people and reduced their domestic flight capacity by 50 per cent. Air Canada has reduced its network of international and domestic flights by 90 per cent but will allow some options to resume starting in June.
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Four airports in Canada remain open for travel, including Toronto Pearson, Montreal-Trudeau, Calgary International and Vancouver International. The Canadian government has advised against all non-essential travel and has instituted the Quarantine Act requiring all travellers to isolate for 14 days if they come back from abroad.
Global News spoke to some who have flown fairly recently and described a vastly different travel experience that will likely reflect what others will observe when and if we return to airports.
‘Terribly nervous’ to fly
Right before her father’s death, doctors told Coroy and other family members that the prognosis was looking dire and it was imperative they get to Ottawa immediately if they wanted to say goodbye.
3:44 Airline changes as COVID-19 restrictions ease
Airline changes as COVID-19 restrictions ease
Under the circumstances, Coroy was already highly anxious to fly, even though prior to the pandemic she was flying at least twice a month for work.
“I was terribly nervous,” she said, adding that she had arrived ready for the short flight with hand sanitizer and masks. It was eerie to be at Toronto Pearson International Airport, a massive space, with barely anyone around, she said.
“It was so empty, I’ve never seen it this way even when I’ve landed at two in the morning,” she said, adding that she stopped to take pictures of how deserted the airport looked.
Entering the plane, Coroy says she was upset as flight attendants told her social distancing would not be possible on the flight, although there were less than 15 people on the plane. Even though she had a row to herself she says, there were people directly in front of her and behind her.
Coroy says this upset her, especially since her father caught the illness.
“I was unable to move. The [flight attendant] almost deplaned me because I wanted to take another seat,” she said.
Global News asked Air Canada about their social distancing policies on flights.
The airline referred to their new CleanCare+ program launched on May 15 that involves new policies to keep travellers safe including “more personal space” in economy class at least until June 30.
Face masks for travellers and PPE for employees are now mandatory on flights and they are now blocking the sale of adjacent seats in economy class as of May 12, unless you are travelling with someone under the age of 14. Enhanced cleaning protocols are now in place as well.
8:49 Coronavirus: The future of travel
Coronavirus: The future of travel
“This experience was bittersweet, I was so glad to see him [but] hated seeing him in pain, and was terrified if I didn’t take extreme care in robing and disrobing that I would become infected,” she said.
Flying home, Coroy was concerned about infecting others since she had been at a hospital, and she continued to wear a mask and keep her distance. Returning to Toronto, she isolated for 14 days as a precaution.
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In the future, knowing there would be adequate social distancing not just in the terminal, but on the plane as well, would make her comfortable enough to fly again, she said.
Empty airports, no food service
Grace Armstrong, a 26-year-old student who goes to Dalhousie University in Halifax decided to fly to Milwaukee, Wis., to isolate with her family instead of staying by herself.
Armstrong says she’d been waiting to find a safer time to fly to her family since the U.S.-Canada border was closed for non-essential visits. She picked a flight on April 30 hoping more cleaning and distancing protocols would be in place by then and she self-isolated two weeks prior as a precaution, she said.
While she felt fairly safe, she says she was nervous about what it would be like to interact with the U.S.-Canada border during the pandemic and the behaviour of other travellers. As a dual citizen, she would be allowed to cross the border.
“From the beginning, I’ve been strict with myself taking precautions and my biggest worry is usually the people around me not doing the same,” she said in an email to Global News.
Masks were required at Halifax Stanfield International Airport, where she was told by a security agent that she was on one of three flights that day. She flew with Delta Airlines, who notified her via email in advance to bring her own food as shops and restaurants were closed in the airport.
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During the flight, antibacterial wipes were handed out, food service was cancelled and flight attendants reminded passengers several times to keep their masks on, said Armstrong.
It was strange to hear announcements on the flight like “thank you for trusting us” instead of the expected “thank you for flying with us,” she added. Delta also emphasized they were doing extra cleaning on the plane and using an additional air purifier, she said.
But she was surprised to see many in the airport were not wearing masks when she reached Detroit, where she had a layover before reaching Milwaukee.
“Once I was in the U.S., it was maybe 50/50 people wearing masks. Deplaning in the U.S. definitely felt like I had stepped into a more dangerous area, especially because the news was on every TV discussing the worsening situation,” she said.
The Halifax Stanfield airport without many travellers. Photo provided by Grace Armstrong.
“Empty airports and having whole rows to yourself is great, but wearing a mask for 12 hours was not,” she said. “I now understand what health-care workers mean when they talk about their ears hurting from wearing a mask all day.”
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Arriving in Milwaukee, Armstrong said it was frustrating to have to continue to keep her distance from her family and isolate away from them for 14 days.
In a few months, her lease will end in Halifax and she will have to fly back in time to isolate for 14 days again before she moves apartments. But if Wisconsin’s cases get worse, she says she won’t fly back so she’s not arriving from a severely impacted area.
Her confidence with travelling for leisure potentially later in the year will really come down to how strict airlines are with their safety measures, and how high the cases numbers end up being wherever she wants to visit, she said.
“I don’t want to take any unnecessary risk of getting sick or getting others sick. In that way, lifting restrictions makes me feel less confident in travelling. Where I am now is opening back up despite numbers rising, so it would be irresponsible for me to leave,” she said.
Questions about COVID-19? Here are some things you need to know:
Symptoms can include fever, cough and difficulty breathing — very similar to a cold or flu. Some people can develop a more severe illness. People most at risk of this include older adults and people with severe chronic medical conditions like heart, lung or kidney disease. If you develop symptoms, contact public health authorities.
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To prevent the virus from spreading, experts recommend frequent handwashing and coughing into your sleeve. They also recommend minimizing contact with others, staying home as much as possible and maintaining a distance of two metres from other people if you go out.
For full COVID-19 coverage from Global News, click here.
OTTAWA – Members of Parliament studying the federal government’s decision to buy a $9-million luxury condo in Manhattan are preparing to recall Canada’s consul general in New York to answer more questions about his involvement in the purchase.
The Conservatives put forward a motion on Tuesday to have Tom Clark return to the House operations committee. The move was supported by other opposition parties after new information emerged that contradicted his previous testimony.
Clark told the committee in September he had no role whatsoever in the purchase of the new condo, or the sale of the previous residence.
But reporting from Politico on Tuesday indicated Clark raised concerns about the old unit two months after he was appointed to his role as Canada’s representative in New York.
Politico cited documents obtained through access-to-information, which were then shared with other media by the Conservative party.
A May 2023 report from Global Affairs Canada indicates Clark informed government officials the residence needed to be replaced.
“The current (consul general in New York, head of mission) expressed concerns regarding the completion of the … kitchen and refurbishment project and indicated the unit was not suitable to be the (consul general’s) accommodations,” the report reads.
“It does not have an ideal floor plan for (consul general in New York) representational activities.”
The final call on whether Clark will face further questions has not been made, however, because the committee adjourned before the motion went to a vote. The committee’s next meeting is next week.
Tuesday’s meeting featured Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly as a witness, and she faced questions about Clark’s involvement in the purchase.
“This was not a political decision because this was an operational decision,” Joly told the committee in a testy exchange with Conservative MP Michael Barrett.
“(The committee) had numerous people, officials of mine, that came to see you and said that. So, these are the facts.”
Joly later told the committee she only learned of the decision to purchase a new residence through media reports, even though her chief of staff was notified weeks earlier.
“The department informed my chief of staff once the decision was taken. Because, of course, it was not a political decision,” Joly said.
Shortly before Joly was excused, Conservative MP Stephanie Kusie put forward the motion to recall Clark for two more hours to answer more questions.
Bloc MP Julie Vignola proposed instead to have him testify for only one hour — indicating she would support the motion with that change.
“One hour is more than enough to know whether he lied to us,” Vignola told her colleagues in French.
NDP MP Taylor Bachrach also said he would support the move, given the contrast between the new report and Clark’s testimony about whether he spoke to anyone about a desire to move into a new residence.
“What really irks me is the consul general was so clear in response to repeated questioning at committee,” Bachrach said.
“Mr. Clark said, ‘Never.’ One-word answer, ‘Never.’ You can’t get more unequivocal than that.”
The Liberal government has argued that buying the new residence will save Canadians taxpayers millions of dollars and reduce ongoing maintenance costs and property taxes while supporting future program needs for the consul general.
The former official residence is listed for sale at $13 million, but has yet to be sold.
In her remarks Tuesday, Joly told the committee other like-minded countries have paid more for their Manhattan residences than Canada has — including $11 million for the U.K., and France’s $19 million purchase in 2015.
Joly said among the countries that have residences in New York, only Afghanistan and Bangladesh were not located in Manhattan.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.
TORONTO – An Ontario judge says any outstanding issues regarding a proposed $32.5 billion settlement between three major tobacco companies and their creditors should be solvable in the coming months.
Ontario Superior Court Chief Justice Geoffrey Morawetz has released his reasons for approving a motion last week to have representatives for creditors review and vote on the proposal in December.
One of the companies, JTI-Macdonald Corp., said last week it objects to the plan in its current form and asked the court to postpone scheduling the vote until several issues were resolved.
The other two companies, Rothmans, Benson & Hedges and Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd., didn’t oppose the motion but said they retained the right to contest the proposed plan down the line.
The proposal announced last month includes $24 billion for provinces and territories seeking to recover smoking-related health-care costs and about $6 billion for smokers across Canada and their loved ones.
If the proposed deal is accepted by a majority of creditors, it will then move on to the next step: a hearing to obtain the approval of the court, tentatively scheduled for early next year.
In a written decision released Monday, Morawetz said it was clear that not all issues had been resolved at this stage of the proceedings.
He pointed to “outstanding issues” between the companies regarding their respective shares of the total payout, as well as debate over the creditor status of one of JTI-Macdonald’s affiliate companies.
In order to have creditors vote on a proposal, the court must be satisfied the plan isn’t “doomed to fail” either at the creditors or court approval stages, court heard last week.
Lawyers representing plaintiffs in two Quebec class actions, those representing smokers in the rest of Canada, and 10 out of 13 provinces and territories have expressed their support for the proposal, the judge wrote in his ruling.
While JTI-Macdonald said its concerns have not been addressed, the company’s lawyer “acknowledged that the issues were solvable,” Morawetz wrote.
“At this stage, I am unable to conclude that the plans are doomed to fail,” he said.
“There are a number of outstanding issues as between the parties, but there are no issues that, in my view, cannot be solved,” he said.
The proposed settlement is the culmination of more than five years of negotiations in what Morawetz has called one of “the most complex insolvency proceedings in Canadian history.”
The companies sought creditor protection in Ontario in 2019 after Quebec’s top court upheld a landmark ruling ordering them to pay about $15 billion to plaintiffs in two class-action lawsuits.
All legal proceedings against the companies, including lawsuits filed by provincial governments, have been paused during the negotiations. That order has now been extended until the end of January 2025.
In total, the companies faced claims of more than $1 trillion, court documents show.
In October of last year, the court instructed the mediator in the case, former Chief Justice of Ontario Warren Winkler, and the monitors appointed to each company to develop a proposed plan for a global settlement, with input from the companies and creditors.
A year later, they proposed a plan that would involve upfront payments as well as annual ones based on the companies’ net after-tax income and any tax refunds, court documents show.
The monitors estimate it would take the companies about 20 years to pay the entire amount, the documents show.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.
OTTAWA – The Federal Court of Appeal has dismissed a bid by the Prince Edward Island Potato Board to overturn a 2021 decision by the federal agriculture minister to declare the entire province as “a place infested with potato wart.”
That order prohibited the export of seed potatoes from the Island to prevent the spread of the soil-borne fungus, which deforms potatoes and makes them impossible to sell.
The board had argued in Federal Court that the decision was unreasonable because there was insufficient evidence to establish that P.E.I. was infested with the fungus.
In April 2023, the Federal Court dismissed the board’s application for a judicial review, saying the order was reasonable because the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said regulatory measures had failed to prevent the transmission of potato wart to unregulated fields.
On Tuesday, the Appeal Court dismissed the board’s appeal, saying the lower court had selected the correct reasonableness standard to review the minister’s order.
As well, it found the lower court was correct in accepting the minister’s view that the province was “infested” because the department had detected potato wart on 35 occasions in P.E.I.’s three counties since 2000.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.
