TORONTO — The latest news on COVID-19 developments in Canada (all times Eastern):
12.41 p.m.
For the sixth day in a row, there are no active cases of COVID-19 in Nunavut.
Chief public health officer Dr. Michael Patterson says starting Monday, travel restrictions in Arviat will be lifted.
That means there will be no travel restrictions within the territory.
However, residents who leave Nunavut must still complete 14 days of isolation in a government-run isolation hotel in southern Canada.
As of today, 52 per cent of Nunavut’s eligible adult population has received at least one dose of the Moderna vaccine.
To date, 12,884 first doses have been administered in Nunavut and 6,785 second doses.
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12.20 p.m.
Nova Scotia is reporting five new cases of COVID-19 today, as well as a probable case connected to a Halifax area junior high school.
The new infections are in the Halifax area, with two under investigation.
The other three are close contacts of previously reported cases — one of which was identified Thursday at Millwood High School in Middle Sackville.
Health officials say the probable case has been identified at Sackville Heights Junior High School in Lower Sackville.
Nova Scotia is reporting 27 known active cases of COVID-19, and no one is currently in hospital.
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11:35 a.m.
Trade Minister Mary Ng’s office says she discussed the European Union’s vaccine exports to Canada with the EU’s Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis.
Ng underscored the importance of the collaboration with the EU on the continued supply of contracted deliveries of COVID-19 vaccines to Canada in light of the amendments to the EU’s rules on vaccine exports.
Dombrovskis said the EU’s measures are focused on ensuring transparency and a balanced approach to vaccination rollout, and are not meant to target Canada.
He didn’t say they won’t affect Canada.
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11:15 a.m.
Quebec is reporting 950 new COVID-19 cases today and seven more deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus.
Health authorities say hospitalizations dropped by 15, to 481, and 115 people were in intensive care, a drop of two.
Today is the second consecutive day officials reported more than 900 new infections.
The news comes as the government’s public health institute says the B.1.1.7 variant will become dominant in the province by the first week of April.
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11 a.m.
New federal modelling data shows severity indicators and daily cases of COVID-19 are back on the rise, with incidents highest among young adults.
Chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam says daily cases have increased more than 30 per cent over the past two weeks, with an average of 29 deaths reported daily.
Tam says that indicates Canada is in a “very tight race” between vaccines and variants of concern, which make up an increasingly high proportion of new cases in several provinces.
The data released today by the Public Health Agency of Canada shows that while the number of cases have declined in Canadians aged 80 and older, incidence rates are highest among young adults aged 20 to 39.
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10:40 a.m.
Ontario reports 2,169 new cases of COVID-19 and 12 more deaths linked to the virus.
Health Minister Christine Elliott says there are 682 new cases in Toronto.
There are also 397 new cases in Peel Region, 254 in York Region, 129 in Ottawa, 123 in Durham Region and 122 in Hamilton.
The province says nearly 83,000 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine were administered since Thursday’s daily update.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 26, 2021.
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.
