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Senator urges Ottawa to support Canadian vaccine company awaiting funding – CTV News

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OTTAWA —
An Alberta senator is urging Ottawa to fund a Canadian company so it can develop a domestic COVID-19 vaccine to lessen the risk Canadians will have wait in a line on a foreign-made pandemic cure.

“I really do believe that we need to keep the pressure now on the government of Canada, whom I’m not criticizing. I get that this is an unusual time. And this may be in hand, or it may have fallen through the cracks. But we can’t allow that to happen,” Sen. Doug Black said in an interview Monday.

“I’m not criticizing anybody. But I will be criticizing people if they don’t see this an opportunity to potentially protect Canadians.”

Black was adding his voice to those of numerous health professionals who are questioning why the Trudeau government has yet to make a decision on the $35-million proposal to fund Providence Therapeutics.

Providence has told the government it could deliver five million doses of its new mRNA vaccine by mid-2021 for use in Canada if it were able to successfully complete human testing.

Providence’s chief executive Brad Sorenson told The Canadian Press he has not heard back from the government since late May after his company submitted its proposal in April, and after the government reached out to it as a possible vaccine-maker.

The mRNA technology is new and untested, but Black and others say it has potential.

They point to the billions of dollars that two other companies have received from the U.S. government to pursue research using the same new approach that involves using a key fragment of genetic material instead of working with an inactive sample of live virus.

The American firm Moderna began a 30,000-person human trial on Monday after receiving hundreds of millions of dollars from the U.S. government.

Last week, the U.S. committed to pay Germany’s BioNTech and its American partner Pfizer $1.95 billion to produce 100 million doses if their vaccine candidate proves safe and effective in humans.

“I see the commitment that’s being made by the European and American governments to this identical technology and I’m saying, ‘Hmm, why in the name of goodness aren’t we pursuing this aggressively in Canada?”‘ said Black.

“No stone should be left unturned in pursuit of a made-in-Canada COVID solution.”

Health-care professionals have also written to Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains to urge him to make up his mind.

Bains spokesman John Power has said he couldn’t comment on specific proposals, but said the evaluation process is ongoing.

Canada’s chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam told a press conference on Friday that the mRNA technology is a newer, experimental technology “but completely worthy of being part of the actual analysis which is being undertaken and will be considered as part of the investment portfolio.”

The federal government has created a $600-million fund to support vaccine clinical trials and manufacturing inside Canada.

Black along with several health experts point to the hold-up in one project that Canada has already funded: the partnership between China’s CanSino Biologics and Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia.

The program has been sidetracked because China has held up shipments of the vaccine that it was supposed to send to Dalhousie researchers by the end of May to start human trials.

Canada-China relations are severely strained after the People’s Republic imprisoned two Canadian men, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, in apparent retaliation for the RCMP’s arresting Chinese high-tech executive Meng Wanzhou on an American extradition warrant in December 2018.

Black said he became aware of Providence’s research earlier this winter. He said he followed up with the company last week, and was stunned to learn the project appeared stalled.

Now that the issue has received publicity, Black said he believes the government will respond quickly.

“My guess is that the government will see its way clear to supporting these trials. I don’t see why they wouldn’t, right?” he said.

“Job No. 1 of a government is to protect its citizens. This falls very much into the basket of protecting your citizens.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 27, 2020.

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End of Manitoba legislature session includes replacement-worker ban, machete rules

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WINNIPEG – Manitoba politicians are expected to pass several bills into law before the likely end of legislature session this evening.

The NDP government, with a solid majority of seats, is getting its omnibus budget bill through.

It enacts tax changes outlined in the spring budget, but also includes unrelated items, such as a ban on replacement workers during labour disputes.

The bill would also make it easier for workers to unionize, and would boost rebates for political campaign expenses.

Another bill expected to pass this evening would place new restrictions on the sale of machetes, in an attempt to crack down on crime.

Among the bills that are not expected to pass this session is one making it harder for landlords to raise rents above the inflation rate.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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Father charged with second-degree murder in infant’s death: police

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A Richmond Hill, Ont., man has been charged with second-degree murder in the death of his seven-week-old infant earlier this year.

York Regional Police say they were contacted by the York Children’s Aid Society about a child who had been taken to a hospital in Toronto on Jan. 15.

They say the baby had “significant injuries” that could not be explained by the parents.

The infant died three days later.

Police say the baby’s father, 30, was charged with second-degree murder on Oct. 23.

Anyone with more information on the case is urged to contact investigators.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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Ontario fast-tracking several bills with little or no debate

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TORONTO – Ontario is pushing through several bills with little or no debate, which the government house leader says is due to a short legislative sitting.

The government has significantly reduced debate and committee time on the proposed law that would force municipalities to seek permission to install bike lanes when they would remove a car lane.

It also passed the fall economic statement that contains legislation to send out $200 cheques to taxpayers with reduced debating time.

The province tabled a bill Wednesday afternoon that would extend the per-vote subsidy program, which funnels money to political parties, until 2027.

That bill passed third reading Thursday morning with no debate and is awaiting royal assent.

Government House Leader Steve Clark did not answer a question about whether the province is speeding up passage of the bills in order to have an election in the spring, which Premier Doug Ford has not ruled out.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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