TORONTO —
Ice, snow and freezing rain have blanketed many parts of Canada, as winter continues to hold the country in its grasp.
Environment Canada has issued warnings covering snowfall, freezing rain, winter storms and/or extreme cold for eight provinces and one territory.
Here’s a breakdown of the weather affecting Canadians:
BRITISH COLUMBIA
The Fraser Valley in B.C. was issued a snowfall warning by Environment Canada for Tuesday, alerting drivers that 5 cm of snow was on its way, and would change to rain near noon.
Avalanche conditions in the Whistler area have resulted in two fatalities so far this ski season, and two hikers were rescued Monday after getting stuck in icy and slippery conditions on Grouse Mountain.
ALBERTA
Calgary is on its way to a gradual warmup after several consecutive days of wind chill put temperatures at -20 C and below.
Regina is also looking forward to a gradual warming after almost two weeks of deep freeze, stemming from the polar vortex that had temperatures measuring as low as -38 C.
Extreme cold warnings were issued across 18 regions across Manitoba by Environment Canada on Tuesday, including for the city of Winnipeg, which broke cold-weather records over the weekend.
Environment Canada said temperatures of -38.8 Celsius were recorded on Feb. 13., breaking a record set in 1879.
NUNAVUT
Extreme cold warnings have been issued for the four regions of Kugaaruk, Gjoa Haven, Resolute and Taloyoak in Nunavut by Environment Canada on Tuesday,with wind chill having conditions feeling like -55 into Wednesday morning.
Environment Canada said to watch for cold-related symptoms such as shortness of breath, chest pain, muscle pain and weakness, numbness and colour change in fingers and toes.
ONTARIO
The two regions of Fort Frances – Rainy Lake and Kenora – Nestor Falls in northern Ontario were issued extreme cold warnings by Environment Canada on Tuesday, with wind chill values of -40 continuing into Wednesday morning.
Several southern Ontario regions including Hamilton, Brockville and Niargara were issued winter storm warnings by Environment Canada on Tuesday, as the Greater Toronto Area also found itself inundated with snow.
The Toronto District School Board said that all bus services were cancelled in light of the snow storm but schools would remain open, as did the Toronto Catholic District School Board.
Grey-Bruce, which includes the Blue Mountains area, was given a snowfall warning early Tuesday afternoon, with strong winds expected to gust up to 50 km/h.
Vast swaths of Quebec are under both extreme cold and snowfall warnings from Environment Canada as of Tuesday, with 10 to 20 cm expected to fall across the 11 regions listed.
Twenty regions in New Brunswick, 24 regions in Newfoundland and Labrador, 23 regions in Nova Scotia, and three regions in P.E.I. are under warnings from Environment Canada on Tuesday as the Maritimes struggle with a winter storm.
The warnings range from snowfall (up to 30 cm in parts of New Brunswick) and winter storm conditions to freezing rain.
Most of the school boards across the Maritimes cancelled both classes and buses, with some colleges and universities allowing virtual lessons to continue as scheduled, or delayed campus openings.
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.
