Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate should start shipping to Canada next week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters at a midday news conference.
Mr. Trudeau said Canada is expected to receive 249,000 doses by the end of the month. The number of Canadians who could be inoculated would be half that number, as this vaccine requires two administrations of doses weeks apart.
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The drug has not yet been approved by Health Canada, though the government has signalled such an approval could be coming very soon.
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TODAY’S HEADLINES
Michael Sabia, a close economic adviser to the Prime Minister who was installed as chair of the Canada Infrastructure Bank earlier this year, has been named the new deputy minister of Finance Canada. He is the first high-profile outside hire to become a DM in quite some time, though he did work at the department earlier in his career.
Assembly of First Nations National Chief Perry Bellegarde says he will not run for re-election when his term is up this summer, but he expects to have a very busy final six months on the job.
Small businesses say there are still gaps in the federal government’s rent-relief program, such as for those who had the ill fortune to launch their companies right as the pandemic began.
Toronto restauranteur Jen Agg gives an inside account of what it’s like to try to run an independent restaurant in the midst of a public-health disaster.
Kelly Cryderman (The Globe and Mail) on Alberta Premier Jason Kenney’s promotion of vaccines, and embrace of supporters who don’t want them: “With ‘lives and livelihoods’ on the line, Mr. Kenney faces a pandemic political challenge from all directions. Many health care workers and critics to his left believe Mr. Kenney should have enacted a tougher lockdown, weeks earlier than he did. Yet at the same moment, some of his supporters – and those to his political right – believe the restrictions he has enacted now are trampling on their rights and freedoms.”
Vass Bednar and Robin Shaban (The Globe and Mail) on Canada’s complacency on protecting wages: “Competition policy in Canada is ignoring and hurting workers across the income spectrum at a time when it is needed most. Collusive agreements, like non-compete clauses, enhance employers’ market power by depriving workers of their right to threaten to quit and find new employment if wages fall or stagnate. This is especially salient for technology companies that are seeing record profits in the pandemic but may choose to freeze worker wages.”
Fenella Sung (Ottawa Citizen) on why Canada must stand up to China: “An attack on one is an attack on all. What happens to Hong Kong today could happen in Australia tomorrow, and it could be Canada’s turn next week. We need to stand firm and break away from the toxic relationship with Beijing. We have to support Hong Kong, Australia and others trying to thwart the CCP’s aggression. If not, when the sharp claws of the panda come for us, there may be no one left to speak for us.”
Brigitte Pellerin (Montreal Gazette) on violence against women: “Experts have been warning, since the beginning of the pandemic, about the effects of physical distancing and social isolation on women and children in violent and volatile situations at home. Alas, as always seems to happen when victims of preventable crime are in situations of vulnerability, very few of us seem to care.”
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Ronalda Audley (The Globe and Mail) on discovering the stories of Indigenous children who died inside and outside the residential-school system: “I realized all that’s left of the missing Indigenous children are old and cold papers, begging to be found; that’s what they’ve become. These children sit in this secret location, never seeing the light of day. They are forgotten. They are still missing. They are frozen in time.”
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FREDERICTON – A look at David Coon, leader of the Green Party of New Brunswick:
Born: Oct. 28, 1956.
Early years: Born in Toronto and raised in Montreal, he spent about three decades as an environmental advocate.
Education: A trained biologist, he graduated with a bachelor of science from McGill University in Montreal in 1978.
Family: He and his wife Janice Harvey have two daughters, Caroline and Laura.
Before politics: Worked as an environmental educator, organizer, activist and manager for 33 years, mainly with the Conservation Council of New Brunswick.
Politics: Joined the Green Party of Canada in May 2006 and was elected leader of the New Brunswick Green Party in September 2012. Won a seat in the legislature in 2014 — a first for the province’s Greens.
Quote: “It was despicable. He’s clearly decided to take the low road in this campaign, to adopt some Trump-lite fearmongering.” — David Coon on Sept. 12, 2024, reacting to Blaine Higgs’s claim that the federal government had decided to send 4,600 asylum seekers to New Brunswick.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
FREDERICTON – A look at Blaine Higgs, leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick.
Born: March 1, 1954.
Early years: The son of a customs officer, he grew up in Forest City, N.B., near the Canada-U.S. border.
Education: Graduated from the University of New Brunswick with a degree in mechanical engineering in 1977.
Family: Married his high-school sweetheart, Marcia, and settled in Saint John, N.B., where they had four daughters: Lindsey, Laura, Sarah and Rachel.
Before politics: Hired by Irving Oil a week after he graduated from university and was eventually promoted to director of distribution. Worked for 33 years at the company.
Politics: Elected to the legislature in 2010 and later served as finance minister under former Progressive Conservative Premier David Alward. Elected Tory leader in 2016 and has been premier since 2018.
Quote: “I’ve always felt parents should play the main role in raising children. No one is denying gender diversity is real. But we need to figure out how to manage it.” — Blaine Higgs in a year-end interview in 2023, explaining changes to school policies about gender identity.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
OTTAWA – The pressing issues of climate change and food security join more familiar ones like violent extremism and espionage on a new list of Canada’s intelligence priorities.
The federal government says publishing the list of priorities for the first time is an important step toward greater transparency.
The government revises the priorities every two years, based on recommendations from the national security adviser and the intelligence community.
Once the priorities are reviewed and approved by the federal cabinet, key ministers issue directives to federal agencies that produce intelligence.
Among the priorities are the security of global health, food, water and biodiversity, as well as the issues of climate change and global sustainability.
The new list also includes foreign interference and malign influence, cyberthreats, infrastructure security, Arctic sovereignty, border integrity and transnational organized crime.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
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