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More than 1.5 million Canadians living with cancer, new stats reveal

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The number of Canadians living with and surviving cancer has reached 1.5 million, according to new data that reveals that the number of people in Canada with cancer is increasing.

 

The data, released Tuesday by the Canadian Cancer Society (CCS), contains cancer prevalence figures looking back over the last 25 years — the first of its kind in Canada to provide this kind of long-term prevalence snapshot.

A decade ago, it was estimated that one million Canadians were living with the disease, but Canada’s aging and growing population as well as advances in medicine and research helping more people to be diagnosed and survive has resulted in higher prevalence of cancer in Canada, according to the report.

That is both good and bad news when it comes to cancer occurrences in Canada, says Dr. Janet Dancey, a medical oncologist and director of the Canadian Cancer Trials Group.

“The fact is that as we live longer and longer, the chances of having cancer appear to go up, despite our best efforts and despite our best understanding,” she said.

“We also have many effective treatments, and that is actually how this particular publication, with its information on prevalence, can actually help highlight how many people live well beyond their cancer diagnosis. And I think it’s actually a very hopeful message.”

The report was developed by the Canadian Cancer Statistics Advisory Committee in collaboration with CCS, Statistics Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada.

Dancey says it will help provide an important look at trends in cancer occurrences over a long period of time that show how well the country is doing when it comes to preventing, detecting and treating this disease and how well people with cancer are doing over time.

For example, the report found that 60 per cent of the 1.5 million people living in Canada who have been diagnosed with cancer in the last 25 years were diagnosed between five and 25 years ago.

This means a high number of people are living long-term after a cancer diagnosis, says Jennifer Gillis, senior manager of surveillance for the Canadian Cancer Society.

“This really highlights not only the improvements in survival, but also cancer’s long-term toll on our health-care system and the need to advance research to improve prevention, but also quality of life for people who have been diagnosed with cancer.”

For Harjeet Kaur, the disease started as persistent fevers that wouldn’t go away.

It was the spring of 2019, and the then-32-year-old had only recently emigrated to Canada from India and was otherwise healthy and looking forward to building a life in a new country with her husband.

Harjeet Kaur

Harjeet Kaur.


Submitted photo

But after many weeks of fevers, Kaur knew something wasn’t right. She started experiencing extreme chills and unexplained swelling in different parts of her body and then blacked out one day in her bathroom.

It took numerous visits to her family physician and countless hours in hospital emergency rooms — where she was repeatedly told it was probably just a virus or infection that would run its course — until finally she was admitted to a hospital in Edmonton for testing.

Two months and many scopes and scans later, she finally got the diagnosis: Kaur had a very rare type of blood cancer that had already progressed to Stage 4. And she was told she needed to start chemotherapy immediately.

“Honestly, I never thought that it would be the word ‘big C.’ I thought it might be some kind of infection or something, but I never thought that it would be cancer, Stage 4,” she said.

Her husband, brother and mother were equally incredulous.

“We still could not get that thing in our mind that, OK, is it seriously cancer? Because until now we could not diagnose anything and now all of a sudden it’s Stage 4.”

The diagnosis was only the beginning of the nightmare Kaur was to endure.

A side effect of her treatment caused her to permanently lose sight in one eye, and she also developed an autoimmune disease, which complicated her treatment.


A side effect of Harjeet Kaur’s cancer treatment caused her to permanently lose sight in one eye.


Submitted photo.

Eventually, she had to get a stem-cell transplant, which carries a significant risk of serious complications, including a 15 per cent chance she would not survive.

COVID-19 lockdowns further complicated her treatment and meant she had to isolate in the hospital alone for 32 days while undergoing treatments that were so painful, Kaur says she couldn’t speak.

“I was not sure if I would come back,” she said.

“The only thing which kept me going was my family and my friends and the strength that I input in myself after all this — that I need to get out of this. I need to go back to my family. I need to get up. I need to do this. But it took a lot from me.”

It has been a long road to recovery that Kaur says she is still on, but a recent scan showed no evidence of disease. However, she is still living with the aftermath of the disease and the treatments, including early menopause and her lost eyesight.


Kaur now wants to be a voice for other cancer patients and to let them know it’s important to advocate for themselves through their cancer journeys.


Submitted photo.

But she now wants to be a voice for other cancer patients and to let them know it’s important to advocate for themselves through their cancer journeys.

ay, cancer — 6 stories of motivation from young survivors

Tuesday’s cancer statistics report shows Kaur’s survival story is more common among the one in 24 Canadians now living with cancer. But it also highlights how the COVID-19 pandemic and Canada’s stretched health-care system is having significant impacts on cancer patients, which shows the need for more investments in health care in Canada, Gillis said.

Without more support, Canada’s health system will be under-resourced to keep up with the growing number of Canadians impacted by cancer, she said.

“That’s why the Canadian Cancer Society actually is advocating for all levels of government to work together to come and help create a health-care system that is resilient and can meet the evolving needs of people throughout their cancer experience,” Gillis said.

“There are many different ways that individuals go through their cancer experience. So, these results and the findings of this report can help us start to understand who may need these supportive services throughout their cancer journey.”

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RCMP end latest N.B. search regarding teenage girl who went missing in 2021

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BATHURST, N.B. – RCMP in New Brunswick say a weekend ground search for evidence related to the disappearance of a teenage girl in 2021 didn’t reveal any new information.

In an emailed statement, the RCMP said 20 people participated in the search for evidence in the case of Madison Roy-Boudreau of Bathurst.

The release said the search occurred in the Middle River area, just south of the girl’s hometown.

Police have said the 14-year-old’s disappearance is being treated as a homicide investigation.

The RCMP said the search “did not reveal any new information regarding the circumstances of her disappearance.”

There are no plans for another search until police receive a tip or a lead pointing to a new search area.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Man Tasered after trespassing in Victoria school, forcing lockdown

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VICTORIA – A middle school in Victoria was forced into a lockdown after a man entered the building without permission, and police say they had to use a stun gun to make an arrest.

Victoria police say officers received multiple calls around noon on Monday of an unknown male entering Central Middle School, leading staff to set off emergency procedures that put the building under lockdown.

Police say its emergency response team arrived within minutes and found the suspect, who “appeared to be in a drug-induced state,” in the school’s library.

A statement from police says the suspect resisted arrest, and officers had to use a Taser to subdue the man.

He’s being held by police and has been assessed by emergency medical staff.

Police say the man was not armed and there were no continuing safety concerns for students and staff following the arrest.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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B.C. Greens’ ex- leader Weaver thinks minority deal with NDP less likely than in 2017

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VANCOUVER – Former B.C. Green leader Andrew Weaver knows what it’s like to form a minority government with the NDP, but says such a deal to create the province’s next administration is less likely this time than seven years ago.

Weaver struck a power-sharing agreement that resulted in John Horgan’s NDP minority government in 2017, but said in an interview Monday there is now more animosity between the two parties.

Neither the NDP nor the B.C. Conservatives secured a majority in Saturday’s election, raising the prospect of a minority NDP government if Leader David Eby can get the support of two Green legislators.

Manual recounts in two ridings could also play an important role in the outcome, which will not be known for about a week.

Weaver, who is no longer a member of the Greens, endorsed a Conservative candidate in his home riding.

He said Eby would be in a better position to negotiate if Furstenau, who lost her seat, stepped aside as party leader.

“I think Mr. Eby would be able to have fresh discussions with fresh new faces around the table, (after) four years of political sniping … between Sonia and the NDP in the B.C. legislature,” he said.

He said Furstenau’s loss put the two elected Greens in an awkward position because parties “need the leader in the legislature.”

Furstenau could resign as leader or one of the elected Greens could step down and let her run in a byelection in their riding, he said.

“They need to resolve that issue sooner rather than later,” he said.

The Green victories went to Rob Botterell in Saanich North and the Islands and Jeremy Valeriote in West Vancouver-Sea to Sky.

Neither Botterell nor Valeriote have held seats in the legislature before, Weaver noted.

“It’s not like in 2017 when, you know, I had been in the (legislature) for four years already,” Weaver said, adding that “the learning curve is steep.”

Sanjay Jeram, chair of undergraduate studies in political science at Simon Fraser University, said he doesn’t think it’ll be an “easygoing relationship between (the NDP and Greens) this time around.”

“I don’t know if Eby and Furstenau have the same relationship — or the potential to have the same relationship — as Horgan and Weaver did,” he said. “I think their demands will be a little more strict and it’ll be a little more of a cold alliance than it was in 2017 if they do form an alliance.”

Horgan and Weaver shook hands on a confidence-and-supply agreement before attending a rugby match, where they were spotted sitting together before the deal became public knowledge.

Eby said in his election-night speech that he had already reached out to Furstenau and suggested common “progressive values” between their parties.

Furstenau said in her concession speech that her party was poised to play a “pivotal role” in the legislature.

Botterell said in an election-night interview that he was “totally supportive of Sonia” and he would “do everything I can to support her and the path forward that she chooses to take because that’s her decision.”

The Green Party of Canada issued a news release Monday, congratulating the candidates on their victories, noting Valeriote’s win is the first time that a Green MLA has been elected outside of Vancouver Island.

“Now, like all British Columbians we await the final seat count to know which party will have the best chance to form government. Let’s hope that the Green caucus has a pivotal role,” the release said, echoing Furstenau’s turn of phrase.

The final results of the election won’t be known until at least next week.

Elections BC says manual recounts will be held on Oct. 26 to 28 in two ridings where NDP candidates led B.C. Conservatives by fewer than 100 votes after the initial count ended on Sunday.

The outcomes in Surrey City Centre and Juan de Fuca-Malahat could determine who forms government.

The election’s initial results have the NDP elected or leading in 46 ridings, and the B.C. Conservatives in 45, both short of the 47 majority mark in B.C.’s 93-seat legislature.

If the Conservatives win both of the recount ridings and win all other ridings where they lead, Rustad will win with a one-seat majority.

If the NDP holds onto at least one of the ridings where there are recounts, wins the other races it leads, and strikes a deal with the Greens, they would have enough numbers to form a minority government.

But another election could also be on the cards, since the winner will have to nominate a Speaker, reducing the government’s numbers in the legislature by one vote.

Elections BC says it will also be counting about 49,000 absentee and mail-in ballots from Oct. 26 to 28.

The NDP went into the election with 55 ridings, representing a comfortable majority in what was then an 87-seat legislature.

Jeram, with Simon Fraser University, said though the counts aren’t finalized, the Conservatives were the big winners in the election.

“They weren’t really a not much of a formal party until not that long ago, and to go from two per cent of the vote to winning 45 or more seats in the B.C. provincial election is just incredible,” he said in an interview Monday.

Jeram said people had expected Eby to call an election after he took over from John Horgan in 2022, and if he had, he doesn’t think there would have been the same result.

He said the B.C. Conservative’s popularity grew as a result of the decision of the BC Liberals to rebrand as BC United and later drop out.

“Had Eby called an election before that really shook out, and maybe especially before (Pierre) Poilievre, kind of really had the wind in his sails and started to grow, I think he could have won the majority for sure.”

He said he wasn’t surprised by the results of the election, saying polls were fairly accurate.

“Ultimately, it really was a result that we saw coming for a while, since the moment that BC United withdrew and put their support behind the conservatives, I think this was the outcome that was expected.”

— With files from Darryl Greer

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.

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