Kevin Estrada has been working all week organizing rescue operations and supply deliveries to the Fraser Valley flood area and is worried that could end today.
Estrada, project director with the Fraser River Angling Guides Association, says members of the non-profit group have been running upward of 15 boats a day along the river, bringing people, pets and livestock to safety and delivering food and other supplies to people cut off from services.
On Friday morning, Estrada received an email from the Office of Boating Safety, the division of Transport Canada responsible for overseeing regulations and enforcing policies for recreational boaters, letting him know the federal agency will be placing an “imminent” restriction on all non-essential boating from flooded and evacuated areas.
Transport Canada confirmed in a statement to CBC News that, as of Friday afternoon, non-essential marine vessel traffic is prohibited in certain flooded areas of B.C.
Essential boats are limited to municipal, Indigenous, provincial and federal government employees involved in emergency response, according to the email sent to Estrada.
He says that decision could put people at jeopardy.
The areas around the province where non-essential boat traffic is prohibited is shown on this map. It encompasses most areas which have seen significant floods. (Transport Canada)
“The government does not have the capabilities to carry out the rescue and food supply deliveries that we could do, so until they can, they need to keep us in play to help the community,” Estrada said, speaking to CBC News from his Chilliwack office where he was organizing the day’s missions.
He said he does not yet know how to apply for essential status with Transport Canada, but has reached out to his local member of Parliament and will do what he can to keep his members and their boats in the water.
Kayakers and rescue personnel in a boat make their way through floodwaters on the Sumas Prairie area of Abbotsford, B.C. (Ben Nelms/CBC)
Angling association member Landon Gill has been on the water all week. On Friday morning, he was bringing Wendy Morrison by boat from where she was stuck in Chilliwack to Mission, B.C., so she could make it to a cancer treatment appointment.
“It’s vital that I get there,” said a relieved Morrison. “How would I get there if it wasn’t for people like Landon?”
Gill said he has moved about 20 stranded people this week — either out of harm’s way or to connect them to critical services like medical appointments. Collectively, he estimates association members have already helped more than 200 people.
Gill helps Wendy Morrison off his boat at the Mission Harbour marina after taking her safely from Chilliwack for a cancer treatment appointment. (Gian-Paolo Mendoza/CBC)
A guide on the river for eight years, he said he knows the waterways inside and out and the idea he will have to stop helping people is “disturbing.”
“We do this on the daily. We are on the river always, so there are no safety risks to us out here. We are just trying to get people home and get people safe,” he said.
According to the Office of Boating Safety, the order will be temporary and is intended to keep boaters out of danger and areas clear for emergency services to perform response operations.
Transport Canada said that exceptions would be allowed for emergency crews and for those seeking to access personal property.
“Volunteers who are involved in providing assistance, under the direction of a local authority, are also exempt,” the spokesperson said.
A transport truck and a motorhome are pictured on Highway 1 in the Fraser Valley on Wednesday. (Ben Nelms/CBC)
Estrada said the group of anglers, who are not receiving any government financial support for their efforts, are helping anyone who reaches out and are primarily communicating by social media.
“I just sent another message to one of the guys saying there’s two cats up a tree they need out and that’s how we’re running this,” said Estrada, whose crews are racing the clock now.
Thousands of animals have died as a result of the severe flooding that has devastated farmlands in southern B.C. over the last few days, the province confirmed Tuesday.
According to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, 120 military personnel have been dispatched to Abbotsford, B.C., one of the worst-hit areas east of Vancouver, to help with flood recovery efforts.
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.
