As Canadians are airlifted out of Wuhan, China, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak, many are asking how the exodus will unfold, why it took so long for Canada to get its citizens out of the country and what happens when these Canadians arrive back home.
1. How are Canadians who’ve requested evacuation from Wuhan getting out?
An aircraft, chartered by the federal government, with 211 Canadians on the manifest is expected to leave Wuhan around 12 p.m. ET on Thursday. As many as 373 Canadians have requested evacuation, but the number, according to officials and senior cabinet ministers, is a moving target. The chartered aircraft will fly to the Canadian military air base in Trenton, Ont.
Foreign Affairs Minister François-Philippe Champagne and Minister of Health Patty Hajdu speak with reporters Wednesday about evacuating Canadians from China. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)
Foreign Affairs Minister François-Philippe Champagne revealed late Wednesday that the U.S. had offered up space for a “handful” of Canadians on one of its charter evacuation flights, which is due to leave Wuhan Tianhe International Airport shortly after the Canadian aircraft departs.
The American plane will stop in Vancouver “where Canadian passengers will disembark for onward travel to CFB Trenton, where they will be subject to the same processes as those Canadians travelling on the Canadian flight.” Champagne said. The federal government is considering a second chartered flight should more Canadian request repatriation.
2. What has taken the federal government so long?
Health Minister Patty Hajdu has conceded the federal government was initially caught off guard and had “a slow start in terms of organizing” the evacuation plane.
“We didn’t have an understanding of the number of people that needed assistance,” she said. “As we communicated more [with people in the region] about the need to register and let us know, our numbers shot up rather dramatically.”
Health Minister Patty Hajdu explains the government’s rationale for asking non-essential Canadians to leave China. 0:48
The government has only a sketchy idea of the number of Canadians in China’s Hubei province, which is the epicentre of the outbreak. Collecting information was also apparently hampered by the absence of a consulate in the area, senior government officials said on background.
In addition, the Chinese government is apparently only allowing evacuation flights in and out of Wuhan at night because their own relief and quarantine efforts take place during the day.
The Canadian government also said Wednesday that bad weather further delayed the flight.
3. Why have other countries been able to move more swiftly in organizing flights?
The United States, Japan, South Korea, Jordan, Britain, Portugal, Bangladesh, Egypt, Thailand and Indonesia have all gotten at least evacuation flights out of Wuhan.
Planes carrying Americans have arrived in the United States from China over the past week, including this one, which landed in California. (Mike Blake/Reuters)
Hajdu said those countries have not faced the same challenges, mostly because “they had a better sense” of where and how many of their citizens were in the affected area.
4. What precautions will be taken to ensure the evacuees are not carrying coronavirus?
Chinese health authorities are set to screen each individual passenger and no one who is sick — or displays symptoms -— will be allowed to board the chartered aircraft. There will be a six-person Canadian military medical team on-board the aircraft who will conduct further screening and monitor the condition of the passengers.
Information about the coronavirus outbreak is spreading fast, but what do we actually know about the illness? CBC News medical contributor and family physician Dr. Peter Lin breaks down the facts about what it is, where it came from, how it spreads and what you can do to protect yourself. 5:10
Maj.-Gen. Andrew Downes, the surgeon general of the Canadian Forces, told the House of Commons health committee Wednesday that the team will be wearing masks and protection and will offer the same to evacuees.
“Our medical team that deployed last weekend took with them an extensive array of personal protective equipment, including, masks, gowns gloves, face shields, et cetera,” Downes testified. “Should one of the passengers manifest symptoms that would be consistent with coronavirus during the flight, they will be isolated, so much as is possible, in the aircraft and they will be required to wear full protective equipment.”
He insisted it will be the same level of protection as one sees in a hospital.
5. What happens to the evacuees once they are at the Canadian air base in Trenton?
The evacuees will be quarantined there for two weeks. Maj.-Gen. Trevor Cadieu, who is in charge of the military’s strategic joint staff, told the Commons health committee that individuals and families will have their own quarters at the base’s Yukon Lodge and will be sequestered from all military personnel and the outside world.
Yukon Lodge at Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Trenton will be the quarantine location for the Canadians evacuated from China due to the outbreak of coronavirus. (Alex Filipe/Reuters)
During the quarantine period, “they’ll have an opportunity to move about in that very local area but they will not be mingling,” Cadieau said.
Canada Border Service Agency officials will meet the plane at the ramp upon arrival and Ontario health officials will conduct further medical tests, he said.
In addition, if the federal government organizes further flights, Cadieu said the military is “conducting a stocktaking of all infrastructure accommodations at Canadian Forces bases throughout Canada” in case Trenton becomes full.
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.
