Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife Sophie are in self-isolation as she awaits COVID-19 test results.
Meanwhile, a meeting between Trudeau, the premiers and Indigenous leaders that was scheduled to begin in Ottawa today has been postponed indefinitely in response to the COVID-19 outbreak.
“Having recently returned from a speaking engagement in London, U.K., the Prime Minister’s wife Sophie Grégoire Trudeau began exhibiting mild flu-like symptoms including a low fever late last night,” says a PMO press release.
“She is self-isolating at home awaiting test results, and her symptoms have since subsided.
“The doctor’s advice to the Prime Minister is to continue daily activities while self-monitoring, given he is exhibiting no symptoms himself. However, out of an abundance of caution, the Prime Minister is opting to self-isolate and work from home until receiving Sophie’s results.”
I have some personal news to share today. Sophie recently returned from a speaking event in the UK, and last night she was experiencing mild flu-like symptoms. She‘s feeling better, but following the advice of our doctor she is self-isolating as we wait on COVID-19 test results.
The PMO said Trudeau is not planning to be tested at this time.
Trudeau, absent from the House of Commons due to self-isolation, was offered best wishes today from Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer at the opening of the daily question period.
“I’m sure I speak for all members when I convey our best wishes to the prime minister and his wife and any other parliamentarians who may be affected by symptoms. We wish them and her a speedy recovery,” he said.
The statement from the PMO says Trudeau will speak to the provincial and territorial leaders by phone to discuss “collective action” to limit the spread of COVID-19.
The agenda of the now-cancelled First Ministers Meeting was to focus on economic issues, including the impact of tumbling oil prices on the national economy, the pressing need for critical infrastructure and the impact of COVID-19.
The PM will spend the day in briefings, phone calls and virtual meetings from home, including speaking with other world leaders and joining the special COVID-19 cabinet committee discussion, the statement says.
One of those calls was with Italy’s Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte. According to a readout from the PMO, Trudeau expressed solidarity with Conte and all Italians as they take “extraordinary measures” to contain and respond to COVID-19.
“The prime ministers discussed steps they are taking to protect health and safety, and to promote economic resilience. They agreed on the importance of international coordination in response to the virus,” the call summary reads.
Trudeau also spoke with U.S. President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Finance Minister Bill Morneau offered reassurance to Canadians at the end of a day that saw record declines in the stock market. The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell by almost 12 per cent, eclipsing the previous record for a one-day decline that was set on Black Monday in October 1987.
“We expect a level of volatility in the stock market right now. We know that with the coronavirus that there’s a high level of uncertainty, and that’s reflected in markets,” he said.
The finance minister said he wanted to reassure people that the federal government is doing everything it can to both protect the health of Canadians and ensure the “long-term” health of the economy.
Morneau pointed to the $1 billion in new spending announced on Wednesday to boost the health care system’s response to the virus. He also said that steps have been taken to ensure people can stay home from work and that, despite running federal deficits, Canada remains in a strong position to act if necessary.
Morneau also said he would be speaking with U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin and some Canadian banking leaders to make sure his government retains the capacity to respond as necessary.
On Wednesday, federal Health Minister Patty Hajdu said experts have suggested the coronavirus could infect 30 to 70 per cent of the population. The World Health Organization (WHO) has formally declared the outbreak a pandemic.
Today, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh announced on Twitter he’s staying home because he’s “feeling unwell.”
“I have been in contact with a doctor and they do not believe I have symptoms consistent with COVID19. But their advice is for me to limit contact with the public until I am feeling better,” he tweeted.
Friends, I am at home today, feeling unwell.<br><br>I have been in contact with a doctor and they do not believe I have symptoms consistent with COVID19. But their advice is for me to limit contact with the public until I am feeling better.
As of midday Thursday, there were at least 137 presumptive and confirmed cases reported in Canada, with one death.
Calgary has reported the first known Canadian case of a child testing positive for the virus, and Manitoba and Saskatchewan each announced their first presumptive cases on Thursday.
Across the country, concerts, conferences, sports events and other public gatherings have been cancelled. Today the NHL suspended its season due to COVID-19.
The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) still assesses the risk as low to Canadians, but says there is a higher risk of severe outcomes for people older than 65 and for those with lowered immunity or chronic health conditions. PHAC says it is continuously assessing the situation “as it evolves rapidly.”
Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who has already arrived in Ottawa for the planned meetings, said today all Canadians must pull together to get through the COVID-19 crisis.
“Moments of urgency require us to put aside our differences, have each others’ backs, stick together as a country and reassure the people of Ontario and the people of Canada that we’re all in this together,” he told a news conference in the capital.
Yukon Territory Premier Sandy Silver had already cancelled his attendance at the meeting “out of an abundance of caution” and after a conversation with the chief medical officer of health in his territory.
New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs also questioned whether it was “prudent” for the country’s leaders to gather in one spot.
“We’ve actually connected with Ottawa and our colleagues and considering, can we do this on a video conference? Can we look at this another way? If we’re asking people to stay home, should we be doing the same thing?” Higgs said in an interview with CBC’s Power & Politics.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A linebacker at Division II West Virginia State was fatally shot during what the university said Thursday is being investigated by police as a home invasion.
The body of Jyilek Zyiare Harrington, 21, of Charlotte, North Carolina, was found inside an apartment Wednesday night in Charleston, police Lt. Tony Hazelett said in a statement.
Hazelett said several gunshots were fired during a disturbance in a hallway and inside the apartment. The statement said Harrington had multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said they had no information on a possible suspect.
West Virginia State said counselors were available to students and faculty on campus.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with Jyilek’s family as they mourn the loss of this incredible young man,” West Virginia State President Ericke S. Cage said in a letter to students and faculty.
Harrington, a senior, had eight total tackles, including a sack, in a 27-24 win at Barton College last week.
“Jyilek truly embodied what it means to be a student-athlete and was a leader not only on campus but in the community,” West Virginia State Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics Nate Burton said. “Jyilek was a young man that, during Christmas, would create a GoFundMe to help less fortunate families.”
Burton said donations to a fund established by the athletic department in Harrington’s memory will be distributed to an organization in Charlotte to continue his charity work.
West Virginia State’s home opener against Carson-Newman, originally scheduled for Thursday night, has been rescheduled to Friday, and a private vigil involving both teams was set for Thursday night. Harrington previously attended Carson-Newman, where he made seven tackles in six games last season. He began his college career at Division II Erskine College.
“Carson-Newman joins West Virginia State in mourning the untimely passing of former student-athlete Jyilek Harrington,” Carson-Newman Vice President of Athletics Matt Pope said in a statement. “The Harrington family and the Yellow Jackets’ campus community is in our prayers. News like this is sad to hear anytime, but today it feels worse with two teams who knew him coming together to play.”
DETROIT (AP) — Joe Schmidt, the Hall of Fame linebacker who helped the Detroit Lions win NFL championships in 1953 and 1957 and later coached the team, has died. He was 92.
The Lions said family informed the team Schmidt died Wednesday. A cause of death was not provided.
One of pro football’s first great middle linebackers, Schmidt played his entire NFL career with the Lions from 1953-65. An eight-time All-Pro, he was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1973 and the college football version in 2000.
“Joe likes to say that at one point in his career, he was 6-3, but he had tackled so many fullbacks that it drove his neck into his shoulders and now he is 6-foot,” said the late Lions owner William Clay Ford, Schmidt’s presenter at his Hall of Fame induction in 1973. “At any rate, he was listed at 6-feet and as I say was marginal for that position. There are, however, qualities that certainly scouts or anybody who is drafting a ballplayer cannot measure.”
Born in Pittsburgh, Schmidt played college football in his hometown at Pitt, beginning his stint there as a fullback and guard before coach Len Casanova switched him to linebacker.
“Pitt provided me with the opportunity to do what I’ve wanted to do, and further myself through my athletic abilities,” Schmidt said. “Everything I have stemmed from that opportunity.”
Schmidt dealt with injuries throughout his college career and was drafted by the Lions in the seventh round in 1953. As defenses evolved in that era, Schmidt’s speed, savvy and tackling ability made him a valuable part of some of the franchise’s greatest teams.
Schmidt was elected to the Pro Bowl 10 straight years from 1955-64, and after his arrival, the Lions won the last two of their three NFL titles in the 1950s.
In a 1957 playoff game at San Francisco, the Lions trailed 27-7 in the third quarter before rallying to win 31-27. That was the NFL’s largest comeback in postseason history until Buffalo rallied from a 32-point deficit to beat Houston in 1993.
“We just decided to go after them, blitz them almost every down,” Schmidt recalled. “We had nothing to lose. When you’re up against it, you let both barrels fly.”
Schmidt became an assistant coach after wrapping up his career as a player. He was Detroit’s head coach from 1967-72, going 43-35-7.
Schmidt was part of the NFL’s All-Time Team revealed in 2019 to celebrate the league’s centennial season. Of course, he’d gone into the Hall of Fame 46 years earlier.
Not bad for an undersized seventh-round draft pick.
“It was a dream of mine to play football,” Schmidt told the Detroit Free Press in 2017. “I had so many people tell me that I was too small. That I couldn’t play. I had so many negative people say negative things about me … that it makes you feel good inside. I said, ‘OK, I’ll prove it to you.’”
VICTORIA – British Columbia‘s Environment Assessment Office has fined Coastal GasLink Pipeline Ltd. $590,000 for “deficiencies” in the construction of its pipeline crossing the province.
The office says in a statement that 10 administrative penalties have been levied against the company for non-compliance with requirements of its environmental assessment certificate.
It says the fines come after problems with erosion and sediment control measures were identified by enforcement officers along the pipeline route across northern B.C. in April and May 2023.
The office says that the latest financial penalties reflect its escalation of enforcement due to repeated non-compliance of its requirements.
Four previous penalties have been issued for failing to control erosion and sediment valued at almost $800,000, while a fifth fine of $6,000 was handed out for providing false or misleading information.
The office says it prioritized its inspections along the 670-kilometre route by air and ground as a result of the continued concerns, leading to 59 warnings and 13 stop-work orders along the pipeline that has now been completed.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
