Coronavirus cases continue to spike across Canada Sunday as provincial authorities reported 4,142 new cases, including another 10 in Nunavut.
Sunday’s case data comes amid another 62 deaths attributed to the virus as well, pushing Canada’s COVID-19 death toll to 10,953. The total number of cases of the virus in Canada now stands at 295,790, of which over 235,000 have since recovered. Over 12.9 million tests have also been administered.
Nunavut’s chief public health officer is asking anyone who left the territory’s southernmost community earlier this month to immediately isolate after ten more cases of the novel coronavirus were detected on Sunday.
“Due to the number cases of COVID-19 in Arviat, anyone from Arviat who left the community on or after November 2 is being asked to immediately isolate for 14 days wherever they are,” said Dr. Michael Patterson, Nunavut’s Chief Public Health Officer in an online statement.
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“In addition, to protect Elders in Arviat, there will be no visitors allowed at the Elders’ centre for at least two weeks. Exemptions to this rule will need to be approved by the public health doctor on call.”
Since the territory’s first confirmed case on Nov. 6, Nunavut’s health officials have detected 18 infections of COVID-19. Those who tested positive are doing well in isolation, they said.
4:33 COVID-19 taking toll on mental health
COVID-19 taking toll on mental health
The news comes as Canada grapples with rising cases of the virus across many parts of the country.
Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s chief public health officer, said in a statement the resurgence in cases was putting pressure on local health-care resources, “forcing hospitals to make the difficult decision to cancel elective surgeries and procedures in several areas of the country.”
She added larger outbreaks were being traced to “long-term care and assisted living facilities, schools, congregate living settings, industrial work settings and social gatherings.”
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7:58 Ottawa making ‘tremendous progress’ on immigration processes impacted by COVID-19: Mendicino
Ottawa making ‘tremendous progress’ on immigration processes impacted by COVID-19: Mendicino
This is especially true in Quebec, where officials are considering temporarily closing down schools in an attempt to quell its rising case numbers and death toll in addition to its extensive lockdowns in parts of the province.
On Sunday, Quebec officials reported 1,211 new cases of COVID-19, adding that 15 more people had died. Since the pandemic began, the province has clocked 123,854 confirmed infections and 6,626 deaths.
COVID-19 cases continue to rise in Ontario as well, with health authorities recording 1,248 new cases, bringing the provincial total to 94,009. Officials added 29 more people had died from the virus, increasing the province’s death toll to 3,361.
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Manitoba added its highest ever 24-hour increase in new virus cases Sunday, with 494 more infections. The province’s total COVID-19 infections now stands at 10,947, while an additional 10 deaths reported by Manitoba pushes its death toll to 162.
Alberta confirmed an additional 991 new cases of the virus Sunday, as well as six additional deaths.
The data, which brings the province’s deaths to 407 and infections to 39,329, comes amid warnings from Premier Jason Kenney of stronger COVID-19 restrictions should virus cases continue to spike.
Saskatchewan reported 181 new cases on Sunday, as well as two new deaths. The data brings the province’s confirmed cases to a total of 5,001 and its death toll to 31.
Several provinces in Atlantic Canada also reported new infections Sunday, with both Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia adding two more cases, and New Brunswick announcing three.
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.
