Prime Minister Justin Trudeau warned at the outset of COVID-19 pandemic travel restrictions that some Canadians would be stranded abroad. That warning looks like prophecy now for a number of people for whom travel options are becoming increasingly scarce.
Canada issued a blanket non-essential travel advisory on Friday, March 13, telling would-be travellers not to leave the country — that they would risk getting stuck abroad during the pandemic.
The next day, Foreign Affairs Minister François-Philippe Champagne encouraged all Canadians in the U.S. and overseas to come home — a call that prompted caravans of snowbirds to make the trip home from sunny destinations like Arizona and Florida.
But travellers in other countries — including those who left well before the advisory was issued — haven’t been able to make it home due to severe border restrictions in some countries that have halted the movement of foreigners and locals alike.
After the initial flood of media reports on Canadians stranded in countries where borders were shut with little notice, the federal government has been working with companies like Air Canada and Air Transat to send planes to destinations in Morocco, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala and Peru, among others, to repatriate Canadians. Thousands have already headed home.
But demand for transportation back to Canada has exceeded the capacity of even the largest of jumbo jets, while emergency tickets are being snatched up in an instant or snarled by internet connectivity problems in remote locales.
Vancouver-based lawyer Peter Swanson has been stuck in Cusco, Peru, for days. He’s been largely confined to his room, with little access to life’s necessities beyond the walls of his hotel.
He said he’s heard many “horror stories” of people securing tickets on rescue flights only to be told their booking wasn’t valid because of a glitch. So far, the rescue flights have been departing the country only from the capital, Lima — but there are several hundred Canadians in Cusco, the city used as a staging ground for hikers climbing Machu Picchu.
The long, winding drive over the Andes to Lima takes 19 hours in normal conditions, but it’s impossible in a country where martial law is now in place and domestic travel is nonexistent.
Swanson said he hopes he can catch a Lima-bound flight Friday and a connecting rescue flight to Toronto in the evening.
“I am pretty much never leaving my phone or iPad so I can get online right away,” Swanson told CBC News. “It has been a bit of a roller coaster, with a lot of rumour and misinformation on possible efforts to get Canadians from Cusco.
“Sadly, I think there are going to be a number of Canadians stuck here for a while longer.”
The Americans already have airlifted stranded travellers from Cusco to Miami. The Israelis also brought their countrymen home days ago on a rented El Al jet.
A woman walks in the almost empty streets of Cusco in Peru. (Submitted by Peter Swanson)
Canadians are waiting anxiously for further instructions from officials who have been swamped with requests for help. In the last two days alone, Global Affairs Canada has fielded 8,907 calls and 25,441 emails at the Emergency Response and Watch Centre in Ottawa from Canadians all over the world.
Emergency response centre swamped
The emergency response centre is more accustomed to helping Canadians with lost passports, or people whose loved ones have died abroad. It’s not experienced in organizing a large-scale evacuation of tens of thousands of people trying to outrun a global pandemic.
Given the sheer volume of correspondence, much of the government’s communication with Canadians like Swanson has been through social media. Champagne has urged all travellers to register with the Canadians Abroad service so the government knows who’s abroad and where they are, and who’s ready to go.
“Fellow Canadians in Peru: We continue to work to organize the upcoming flights of Thursday and Friday. Our goal is for the Friday flight to have as many people from Cusco as possible,” Ralph Jansen, Canada’s ambassador in Peru, tweeted Wednesday.
(CBC News)
Air Canada has been sending special promotional codes to registered email addresses when flights become available. Those codes can be used on their website to book rescue flights. The cost of a one-way ticket home from Peru is about $1,400.
One of the Canadians who will be stuck in Peru for the foreseeable future is Greg Bestavros. He’s been in a hostel near Cusco for 11 days and, while conditions have been grim, he said he’s hoping to get out soon on a rescue flight.
Now he’s been told that won’t happen because someone else in the hostel has tested positive for COVID-19 — and the Peruvian government doesn’t want anyone entering or leaving the building for the next month or more.
“We’re locked down here for a duration of one to three months. This hostel is in a military quarantine,” Bestavros said. He faces jail time of up to five years if he tries to leave. He’s tried to contact Global Affairs Canada, to no avail.
“There’s obviously a very high volume of calls. We’ve been reaching out to the various numbers that have been provided. At this point we haven’t heard back from anyone.”
Greg Bestavros says the Peruvian government is threatening to lock everyone down for up to three months to contain COVID-19. 6:38
“I wish that [government] action had come swifter, because now we’re in a situation where we don’t know if we’ll be able to make it home,” Bestavros said. “We’ve checked emails, we filled out forms, we’ve waited for something to happen and our worst fear has come to light now.”
‘Dog’s breakfast’
Global Affairs Canada said it’s doing all it can to bring people like Bestavros home but with 419,400 people registered in nearly every country on earth, some inevitably will be left behind.
“We are working to help as many Canadians as possible return home, but some may remain outside of the country for an indeterminate amount of time,” the department said in a statement.
The Canadian government has really not got their act together.– Oliver Hartleben
“Canadians that are already outside of Canada or unable to return to Canada should monitor local media and follow local public health advice [on] lockdown or shelter-in-place guidance.”
Kurt Egloff, a retired civil servant from Ottawa, has been travelling throughout South America with his wife for months over the winter.
The couple arrived in Lima on the very day the Peruvian president closed the border, ending all commercial flight traffic to points abroad. That lockdown has been extended until April 15. He hasn’t been able to get a ticket on any of the three flights that have left the country so far. He only received an Air Canada offer code once.
“The whole process is very tricky, very frustrating,” Egloff told CBC News. “They keep saying, ‘We can’t promise to get everybody back home.’ That concerns us.”
Egloff said he and his wife are worried about their supply of prescription medications as the days tick by.
A dog lies in the empty streets of Cusco in Peru. (Submitted by Peter Swanson)
The government had said it would prioritize certain passengers for rescue flights, especially those more susceptible to COVID-19-related complications. Egloff said he was disappointed to see pictures of the first Lima evacuations involving planes full of young people destined for Canada while some of the more vulnerable were left behind.
Egloff said the booking process for repatriation flights has been a “dog’s breakfast,” one that privileges the web-savvy. The cost of a ticket home is steep and applying for the government’s emergency loan program is cumbersome.
“It’s not been very stellar, let’s put it that way. Other countries have had a much more efficient, prompt process in place and they were able to bring their people back for free,” Egloff said.
Janis Legg is worried about her son, Tyler, who’s also in a Cusco hostel with “little social distancing, police on every street corner and very poor communication from the Peruvian and Canadian governments.”
Legg said Tyler and other travellers are “frustrated and scared,” worried that if they get sick they won’t have a way home given Canadian restrictions on symptomatic passengers travelling by plane. Canadians who are sick will be denied boarding and told to seek medical attention in the countries where they are.
Legg said she just wants to know if her son will be safe. “The communication breakdown is catastrophic, given all that today’s technology can provide for,” she said.
Canadians wait outside of the embassy in Lima, Peru. Access to consular services has been limited or non-existent. (Submitted by Kurt Egloff)
Some Canadians in other countries, like Guatemala, have given up waiting for the federal government to come to their aid.
Oliver Hartleben had been trying to get his family out of the country for days, with Canadian embassy officials offering bus services to the Mexican border to help travellers find flights home from a country with fewer travel restrictions.
His family made it out of Guatemala on Monday — but only because his daughter is also an American, and they could hitch a ride on an evacuation flight organized by the American embassy on Monday.
“The Canadian government has really not got their act together. We heard that the bus they organized to go via land to Mexico never showed up,” he said.
TORONTO – Will Taylor Swift bring chaos or do we all need to calm down?
It’s a question many Torontonians are asking this week as the city braces for the arrival of Swifties, the massive fan base of one of the world’s biggest pop stars.
Hundreds of thousands are expected to descend on the downtown core for the singer’s six concerts which kick off Thursday at the Rogers Centre and run until Nov. 23.
And while their arrival will be a boon to tourism dollars — the city estimates more than $282 million in economic impact — some worry it could worsen Toronto’s gridlock by clogging streets that already come to a standstill during rush hour.
Swift’s shows are set to collide with sports events at the nearby Scotiabank Arena, including a Raptors game on Friday and a Leafs game on Saturday.
Some residents and local businesses have already adjusted their plans to avoid the area and its planned road closures.
Aahil Dayani says he and some friends intended to throw a birthday bash for one of their pals until they realized it would overlap with the concerts.
“Something as simple as getting together and having dinner is now thrown out the window,” he said.
Dayani says the group rescheduled the gathering for after Swift leaves town. In the meantime, he plans to hunker down at his Toronto residence.
“Her coming into town has kind of changed up my social life,” he added.
“We’re pretty much just not doing anything.”
Max Sinclair, chief executive and founder of A.I. technology firm Ecomtent, suggested his employees avoid the company’s downtown offices on concert days, saying he doesn’t see the point in forcing people to endure potential traffic jams.
“It’s going to be less productive for us, and it’s going to be just a pain for everyone, so it’s easier to avoid it,” Sinclair said.
“We’re a hybrid company, so we can be flexible. It just makes sense.”
Swift’s concerts are the latest pop culture moment to draw attention to Toronto’s notoriously disastrous daily commute.
In June, One Direction singer Niall Horan uploaded a social media video of himself walking through traffic to reach the venue for his concert.
“Traffic’s too bad in Toronto, so we’re walking to the venue,” he wrote in the post.
Toronto Transit Commission spokesperson Stuart Green says the public agency has been working for more than a year on plans to ease the pressure of so many Swifties in one confined area.
“We are preparing for something that would be akin to maybe the Beatles coming in the ‘60s,” he said.
Dozens of buses and streetcars have been added to transit routes around the stadium, and the TTC has consulted the city on potential emergency scenarios.
Green will be part of a command centre operated by the City of Toronto and staffed by Toronto police leaders, emergency services and others who have handled massive gatherings including the Raptors’ NBA championship parade in 2019.
“There may be some who will say we’re over-preparing, and that’s fair,” Green said.
“But we know based on what’s happened in other places, better to be over-prepared than under-prepared.”
Metrolinx, the agency for Ontario’s GO Transit system, has also added extra trips and extended hours in some regions to accommodate fans looking to travel home.
A day before Swift’s first performance, the city began clearing out tents belonging to homeless people near the venue. The city said two people were offered space in a shelter.
“As the area around Rogers Centre is expected to receive a high volume of foot traffic in the coming days, this area has been prioritized for outreach work to ensure the safety of individuals in encampments, other residents, businesses and visitors — as is standard for large-scale events,” city spokesperson Russell Baker said in a statement.
Homeless advocate Diana Chan McNally questioned whether money and optics were behind the measure.
“People (in the area) are already in close proximity to concerts, sports games, and other events that generate massive amounts of traffic — that’s nothing new,” she said in a statement.
“If people were offered and willingly accepted a shelter space, free of coercion, I support that fully — that’s how it should happen.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Hundreds of Taylor Swift fans lined up outside the gates of Toronto’s Rogers Centre Wednesday, with hopes of snagging some of the pop star’s merchandise on the eve of the first of her six sold-out shows in the city.
Swift is slated to perform at the venue from Thursday to Saturday, and the following week from Nov. 21 to Nov. 23, with concert merchandise available for sale on some non-show days.
Swifties were all smiles as they left the merch shop, their arms full of sweaters and posters bearing pictures of the star and her Eras Tour logo.
Among them was Zoe Haronitis, 22, who said she waited in line for about two hours to get $300 worth of merchandise, including some apparel for her friends.
Haronitis endured the autumn cold and the hefty price tag even though she hasn’t secured a concert ticket. She said she’s hunting down a resale ticket and plans to spend up to $600.
“I haven’t really budgeted anything,” Haronitis said. “I don’t care how much money I spent. That was kind of my mindset.”
The megastar’s merchandise costs up to $115 for a sweater, and $30 for tote bags and other accessories.
Rachel Renwick, 28, also waited a couple of hours in line for merchandise, but only spent about $70 after learning that a coveted blue sweater and a crewneck had been snatched up by other eager fans before she got to the shop. She had been prepared to spend much more, she said.
“The two prized items sold out. I think a lot more damage would have been done,” Renwick said, adding she’s still determined to buy a sweater at a later date.
Renwick estimated she’s spent about $500 in total on “all-things Eras Tour,” including her concert outfit and merchandise.
The long queue for Swift merch is just a snapshot of what the city will see in the coming days. It’s estimated that up to 500,000 visitors from outside Toronto will be in town during the concert period.
Tens of thousands more are also expected to attend Taylgate’24, an unofficial Swiftie fan event scheduled to be held at the nearby Metro Toronto Convention Centre.
Meanwhile, Destination Toronto has said it anticipates the economic impact of the Eras Tour could grow to $282 million as the money continues to circulate.
But for fans like Haronitis, the experience in Toronto comes down to the Swiftie community. Knowing that Swift is going to be in the city for six shows and seeing hundreds gather just for merchandise is “awesome,” she said.
Even though Haronitis hasn’t officially bought her ticket yet, she said she’s excited to see the megastar.
“It’s literally incredible.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 13, 2024.
OTTAWA – Via Rail is asking for a judicial review on the reasons why Canadian National Railway Co. has imposed speed restrictions on its new passenger trains.
The Crown corporation says it is seeking the review from the Federal Court after many attempts at dialogue with the company did not yield valid reasoning for the change.
It says the restrictions imposed last month are causing daily delays on Via Rail’s Québec City-Windsor corridor, affecting thousands of passengers and damaging Via Rail’s reputation with travellers.
CN says in a statement that it imposed the restrictions at rail crossings given the industry’s experience and known risks associated with similar trains.
The company says Via has asked the courts to weigh in even though Via has agreed to buy the equipment needed to permanently fix the issues.
Via said in October that no incidents at level crossings have been reported in the two years since it put 16 Siemens Venture trains into operation.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 13, 2024.
