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Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed on what you need to know today…
Tourism operators face heavy debt, even as business roars back
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The latest news on COVID-19 developments in Canada – Richmond News
OTTAWA — The latest news on COVID-19 developments in Canada (all times eastern):
3:50 p.m.
Prince Edward Island is reporting one new case of COVID-19 today.
Health officials say the case involves a man in his 60s who is a close contact of a previously reported infection.
They say the man initially tested negative but was tested again after developing symptoms.
P.E.I. has 23 active reported cases of COVID-19.
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3:25 p.m.
Health officials in Saskatchewan say there are another 169 new cases of COVID-19 and two more deaths.
There are 146 people in hospital, with 20 people in intensive care.
The province says its seven-day average of new daily cases sits at 148.
National data shows Saskatchewan leads the country with the highest rate of active cases per capita.
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3:15 p.m.
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe says his province will be delaying the second dose of vaccines to speed up immunizations against COVID-19.
He says people will get their second shot four months after the first, which falls in line with a recommendation from Canada’s national immunization committee.
Saskatchewan health officials are expected to speak at a COVID-19 briefing this afternoon.
Earlier in the week, Moe said delaying the second doses for up to four months would mean every adult in the province could be immunized at least once by June.
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2:35 p.m.
New Brunswick is reporting five new cases of COVID-19 today.
Health officials say three new cases are in the Edmundston region, and that the Moncton and Miramichi regions each have one new case.
There are 36 active known infections in the province and three patients are hospitalized with the disease, including two in intensive care.
A recently reported presumptive case of a variant in the Miramichi region has been confirmed by Winnipeg’s National Microbiology Laboratory as the B.1.1.7 mutation.
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1:45 p.m.
Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines will be distributed in some Ontario pharmacies starting next week.
Health Minister Christine Elliott says most doses of that vaccine will go to pharmacies in a pilot project.
The Ontario Pharmacists Association’s CEO says the pilot will begin at 380 sites in Toronto, Kingston and Windsor-Essex.
Ontario has said it will prioritize people between the ages of 60 and 64 for the AstraZeneca doses.
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1:35 p.m.
Manitoba is reporting 51 news COVID-19 cases and two deaths.
Northern regions continue to be hardest hit.
High case numbers in Mathias Colomb Cree Nation have prompted the chief and council to ban public gatherings and require people to stay home except for shopping, medical care and work in essential services.
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1:30 p.m.
Alberta’s Opposition NDP is calling for an immediate public inquiry into the COVID-19 outbreak at the Olymel pork processing plant in Red Deer.
It also wants today’s planned reopening of the plant put on hold.
The plant was shut down in mid-February, after an outbreak that has caused three deaths and infected more than 500 employees.
The company says Alberta Health has given it a green light to start a gradual reopening with slaughter operations today.
Cutting room operations can resume tomorrow.
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1 p.m.
Newfoundland and Labrador is reporting five new COVID-19 cases today.
Health officials say four new cases are in the eastern health region, which includes St. John’s, involving people between the ages of 40 and 69. Three involve close contacts of prior cases while the fourth is related to domestic travel.
The fifth case is located in the western health region, involves a person between the ages of 20 and 39 and is related to international travel.
Eight people are in hospital with the disease, including two in intensive care.
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12:45 p.m.
Nunavut is reporting 10 new cases of COVID-19 today.
All the new cases are in Arviat, a community of about 2,800 and the only place in Nunavut with active cases.
Arviat has been under a strict lockdown since November, with all schools and non-essential businesses closed.
The community’s hamlet council also ordered a nightly curfew from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. to curb the spread.
Chief public health officer Dr. Michael Patterson says contact tracing is ongoing in the community.
There are 14 active cases of COVID-19 in Nunavut, all in Arviat.
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12:30 p.m.
Health Canada says a decision on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will be announced in the “next few days.”
The word came today from Dr. Marc Berthiaume, director of the regulator’s bureau of medical sciences.
Once approved, the J&J product would become the fourth vaccine available for use in Canada. It was approved last weekend in the United States.
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12:15 p.m.
Canada’s deputy chief public health officer Dr. Howard Njoo says nearly 400,000 people were vaccinated in Canada in the last seven days.
He says that’s the most in a single week since immunizations began on Dec. 14.
Njoo says more than two million doses have been administered now, with about four per cent of Canadians getting one dose and almost 1.5 per cent now vaccinated with two doses.
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12:05 p.m.
Nova Scotia is lifting some of the restrictions in place in Halifax and surrounding communities as COVID-19 cases decline in the region.
Officials say rules that came into effect on Feb. 27 limiting restaurant hours, prohibiting sports events and discouraging non-essential travel in and out of the area will end on Friday at 8 a.m.
Rules for residents of long-term care homes remain unchanged, but those living in care facilities may only have visits from their two designated caregivers.
Officials say the restrictions for long-term care residents will remain in place in the Halifax Regional Municipality and neighbouring areas until March 27.
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11:15 a.m.
Quebec is reporting 707 new cases of COVID-19 and 20 more deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus, including four in the past 24 hours.
Health officials say hospitalizations rose by eight, to 626, and 115 people were in intensive care, a drop of five.
The province says it administered 16,619 doses of vaccine yesterday, for a total of 490,504.
Quebec has reported a total of 290,377 COVID-19 infections and 10,445 deaths linked to the virus.
It has 7,379 active reported cases.
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10:50 a.m.
Nova Scotia is reporting three new cases of COVID-19.
Health officials say all three cases were identified in the health region that includes Halifax.
Two cases involve contacts of previously reported infections while the third is under investigation.
Nova Scotia has 29 active reported cases of COVID-19.
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10:40 a.m.
Ontario is reporting 994 new cases of COVID-19.
Health Minister Christine Elliott says that 298 of those new cases are in Toronto, 171 are in Peel and 64 are in York Region.
There were 10 more deaths in Ontario since the last daily update and more than 30,000 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine administered.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 4, 2021.
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Published Apr 23, 2024 • 3 minute read
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Canadian tourism operators says the tourism sector hasn’t returned to what it was pre-COVID.
Many businesses report carrying a heavy debt load, with Vancouver-based ecotourism company Maple Leaf Adventures saying it’s carrying it’s heaviest debt load in 38 years.
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Co-owner Maureen Gordon says while she and her competitors are recovering, higher interest rates are putting a damper on the post-COVID rebound.
Tourism Industry Association of Canada C-E-O Beth Potter says while the sector brought in 109-billion dollars in revenue last year, the federal government must help out by bringing in a new low interest loan program.
Tourism Minister Soraya Martinez Ferrada has said tourism operators have been affected by the warmest winter on record, but will be helped by the federal carbon rebate.
Here’s what else we’re watching …
Trudeau to make announcement in Saskatoon today
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will be in Saskatoon today, where he will make an announcement highlighting measures focused on youth, education, and health that were contained in last week’s budget.
Joining Trudeau at the announcement in Saskatchewan’s largest city are minister for northern affairs Dan Vandal and Women and Gender Equality and Youth Minister Marci Ien.
Trudeau has faced conflict with the Saskatchewan Party government, whose leader, Premier Scott Moe, has been a vocal and long-standing opponent of the federal carbon levy.
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Moe is one of several premiers who have asked Trudeau to host a meeting to discuss alternatives to the consumer carbon price.
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‘Perfect storm’: Quebec farmer protests continue
Quebec farmers are continuing a series of protests that have brought slow rolling tractors to communities across the province’s agricultural regions.
The president of Quebec’s farmers union Martin Caron says producers are struggling with higher interest rates, growing paperwork and fees on plastic products, like containers of seeds, fertilizer and pesticides.
His organization is asking the current Coalition Avenir Quebec government to ensure farmers can get loans with interest rates of three per cent.
A spokesperson for Quebec’s agriculture minister says farmers can get emergency financial aid through a new program and that the government is consulting with the farmers union about reducing paperwork.
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Study shows caribou growth at wolves’ expense
New research suggests western Canada’s caribou population is growing.
But the same study also shows the biggest reason for the rebound is the slaughter of hundreds of wolves, a policy which will likely need to continue.
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Thirty-four researchers compared notes on herds in Alberta and British Columbia based on a study in Ecological Applications and found between 1991 and 2023, the caribou population dropped by half.
However, over the last few years the numbers have begun to slowly rise, as it’s estimated there are now more than 1500 caribou than there were had not restoration effort been made.
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Second World War hangar in Edmonton burns in fire
An aircraft hangar built during the Second World War at Edmonton’s former municipal airport has been destroyed by fire.
A spokesman for the City of Edmonton says in an email firefighters were called to Hangar 11 just before 7 p.m. Monday.
The city’s email says 11 fire crews were dispatched to the scene to deal with the heavy smoke and flames and the wooden building later collapsed.
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How a Newfoundland town shaped creepy ‘King Tide’
A new movie shot in Newfoundland showcases a community heavily reliant on a magical child.
“The King Tide” is about an isolated villagers having their lives forever changed after a mysterious infant washes up on their shores, the sole survivor of a devastating boat wreck.
They name the baby Isla, raise and learn she has healing powers promising immunity from injury and illness.
As the years pass, they become reliant on Isla’s abilities, but when her powers start to fade, a panic sets in as the community begins to fracture.
The movie was shot by Newfoundlander Christian Sparkes in Keels, Newfoundland, a former bustling fishing community which he says he’s been looking to film in for years, but couldn’t until recently due to the cost.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 23, 2024.
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We're still stockpiling reusable bags. Big grocers have adopted solutions, but experts have concerns – CBC News
Canada’s plastic bag ban has had an unintended consequence: a proliferation of reusable bags piling up in basements, closets and, eventually, landfills.
“They’re everywhere,” said environmental researcher Tony Walker. “We’re drowning in them, and we shouldn’t be.”
To combat the problem, several of Canada’s big grocers have introduced solutions. Last week, Walmart launched a free national recycling pilot program for the retailer’s reusable blue bags. Competitors Sobeys and chains owned by Loblaw Companies Ltd. use recyclable paper bags for grocery delivery.
But some environmental experts argue that paper bags are also problematic and that the best solutions are those that help customers actually reuse their reusable bags.
“We just can’t keep giving [them] out,” said Walker, a professor at Dalhousie University’s School for Resource and Environmental Studies in Halifax. “We’re only meant to have a few of them, and we’re meant to use them until they fall apart.”
In late 2022, the federal government rolled out a ban on the manufacture, import and sale of several single-use plastics, including checkout bags. The regulations are being contested in court, but in the meantime, they remain in effect.
The regulations have made single-use shopping bags scarce in Canada, but they’ve also led to the proliferation of reusable bags, especially for grocery delivery.
“It just creates more waste, which is what we’re trying to avoid in the first place,” Walmart customer Udi Sela said in a CBC News interview in late 2022.
At the time, Sela, who lives in Maple, Ont., estimated his family had acquired about 300 reusable Walmart bags via grocery delivery.
“We can’t return them, we can’t do much with them.”
Now, a little more than a year later, Walmart has launched a pilot project to address the problem.
It allows customers to pack up their unwanted reusable Walmart blue bags and ship them — at no charge — to a facility where they’ll get a second life.
How it works
According to Walmart, bags in good condition will be laundered and donated to charity, primarily Food Banks Canada. Damaged bags will get recycled into other materials. Reusable bags typically can’t go in blue bins because they’re costly and difficult to recycle.
Customers must sign up for Walmart’s program, and enrolment is limited.
Jennifer Barbazza, Walmart’s senior manager of sustainability, said the retailer will fine-tune the details as the program progresses.
“[We] know that some customers have more reusable bags than maybe they need,” she said. “One of the things that we’re really excited to learn about from the pilot is customer acceptance and customer feedback.”
WATCH | Is your home overrun with reusable bags? Join the club:
Reusable bags are living rent free in closets and car trunks across the country. Most major retailers made the switch away from single-use plastic bags about a year ago, but it’s taking time for some customers to catch on. They’re forgetting to bring their bags with them, and buying more every week.
Udi Sela has already signed up.
“I definitely think it’s a step in the right direction,” he said in an interview on Friday. “It’s something that needed to be done a while ago. God knows we’ve got a ton of bags kind of piled up.”
He said he’s concerned that some customers may find mailing the bags a hurdle. However, it’s not deterring Sela, who soon plans to ship hundreds.
Passing the buck?
Not everyone is keen on Walmart’s project. Emily Alfred, a waste campaigner with Toronto Environmental Alliance, said donating the bags to the food bank is just passing on the problem.
“We need to remove waste from the system entirely, and just sending these somewhere else for someone else to deal with is not really a solution,” she said.
Alfred said a better option is a program Walmart piloted in Guelph, Ont., in 2022. For a fee, customers could check out reusable bags from an in-store kiosk and later return them to be cleaned and reused.
“That’s a real circular reuse system,” she said.
Walmart’s Barbazza said the retailer is continuing to explore different reusable bag programs, including ones placed in stores.
She also said she’s confident Canada’s food banks will make good use of the bags.
“There’s definitely a need for sturdy items to distribute materials to the food bank clients.”
The paper problem
Among Canada’s major grocers, only Walmart offers a reusable bag program for all customers.
Loblaw recently switched from reusable to recyclable paper bags for grocery delivery. Sobeys did not respond to requests for comment, but according to its website, the grocer also uses paper bags and “reusable options” for home delivery.
Several environmental experts say paper bags aren’t a good solution, because their production leaves a sizable carbon footprint.
“Paper bags are a problem,” Alfred said. “It takes a lot of energy to recycle paper, takes a lot of trees and energy to make new paper.”
Loblaw said it continues to explore a variety of more sustainable solutions. “It’s a challenge we’re committed to addressing,” spokesperson Dave Bauer said in an email.
Both Walker and Alfred applaud Metro for its grocery delivery program, because the grocer, which operates in Ontario and Quebec, reuses delivery materials.
Metro said customers can get their goods delivered in a cardboard box or reusable bags, which can be returned and used for another delivery. Or customers can opt for a plastic bin and remove their groceries from it upon arrival.
Metro does not offer similar programs for in-store shoppers.
Alfred said the federal government should introduce regulations that mandate retailers adopt effective reusable bag programs for all customers.
“It’s up to our governments and people to demand that these companies do better,” she said.
But Walker suggested that the regulations would be hard to enforce and that incentives could be a better tactic.
For example, if retailers increased the price of reusable bags, shoppers might be less likely to forget them when they head to the store, he said.
“When the cost is a disincentive to do an activity, people change their behaviour.”
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