File photo of an annular eclipse seen in 2012 in Denver, Colorado. David Zalubowski / Associated Press
Have any plans this weekend? If not, here’s something worth taking a peek at — a solar eclipse will occur across North America on Saturday, Oct. 14.
Unfortunately for Canadians, the eclipse — annular, not total, but more on that later — will track south of the border, though its sky-darkening effects will still be seen north of the 49th parallel.
Rare hybrid solar eclipse wows stargazers in Australia
The eclipse’s path will start over the Pacific Ocean, west of Vancouver Island, then will track southeast.
It will make landfall in Oregon, just below Portland around 9:15 a.m. PT, eventually crossing seven other U.S. states before moving to Mexico and South America.
In Canada, the visual effect will vary greatly, but it will all be under the banner of being a partial eclipse. For example, in Vancouver and B.C.’s Okanagan region, locals will see roughly 80 per cent of the eclipse.
A map showing the path of the annular eclipse on Oct. 14, 2023. NASA
As one moves east, the effect diminishes.
Calgary will see around 70 per cent, with Regina at 60 per cent and Winnipeg at 50 per cent. Toronto will see 30 per cent, with Montreal at 20 per cent. The Atlantic provinces are at 10 per cent.
Now, about that annular note.
An annular eclipse differs slightly from a total eclipse in that the moon doesn’t quite fully block out the sun. As a result, viewers along the darkest part of the path will see a “ring of fire” around the moon.
According to NASA, “because the moon is farther away from Earth, it appears smaller than the sun and does not completely cover the sun. As a result, the moon appears as a dark disk on top of a larger, bright disk, creating what looks like a ring around the moon.”
The best viewing would be along the 125-mile-wide path of annularity. But if you plan on travelling south to view the eclipse, it’s best to start looking for rooms now.
Global News phoned some hotels in the coastal community of Florence, Ore., which will be in the middle of the eclipse’s path when it makes landfall, and all said they were nearly booked, though a handful of rooms were available.
On a sidenote, the estimated time of darkness is four minutes and 30 seconds, with the path travelling an estimated 6,400 km/h (4,000 mph).
Solar Eclipse: What You Should Know
A word of caution, though: if you plan on looking at the eclipse, special eye protection is advised.
“The sun is never completely blocked by the moon during an annular solar eclipse. Therefore, during an annular eclipse, it is never safe to look directly at the sun without specialized eye protection designed for solar viewing,” said NASA.
“Viewing any part of the bright sun through a camera lens, binoculars, or a telescope without a special-purpose solar filter secured over the front of the optics will instantly cause severe eye injury.”
A Canadian astronomy educator, Gary Boyle, says while solar eclipses are incredible events to view and photograph, they come with risk.
“Unlike a lunar eclipse where the moon slides into the Earth’s shadow, turning a burnt orange or coral colour and is completely safe to view, the sun is a far different story,” he said. “Protective measures must be applied to prevent eye and camera damage.”
He continued, saying “do not look directly at the sun without protective means,” and that with the right equipment, “eclipses are an awe-inspiring wonder of nature that can be enjoyed safely.”
In related news, while residents in eastern Canada won’t get much of a show, they’ll certainly get a great one in six months’ time when a total eclipse darkens the region.
More information about the eclipse on the afternoon of April 8, 2024 — which will cross into parts of Ontario, Quebec and the Atlantic provinces — is available online.
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.
