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Alberta reported 1,799 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday and four new deaths. Since the beginning of the pandemic, 2,123 Albertans have lost their lives to the disease. Alberta labs completed 17,534 tests for COVID-19 on Tuesday, with a positivity rate around 10.4 per cent. In hospitals across the province, 737 people are being treated for COVID-19 — an increase of 32 from the previous day. Included in that number are 169 patients in intensive care. Deaths reported Wednesday included a woman in her 70s in the Edmonton zone who died April 20, a man in his 40s in the Calgary zone who died April 29, a woman in her 50s in North zone who died Monday, and a woman in her 60s in Central zone, who also died Monday. The province is getting closer to the two-million mark for COVID-19 vaccine doses administered. As of end of day Tuesday, 1,975,341 doses had been administered, an increase of 28,337 from Monday's total. Premier Jason Kenney said Tuesday the province expects to hit the 2 million milestone on Wednesday. Although active cases dropped slightly on Wednesday, Alberta continues to have the highest active case rate of COVID-19 in Canada and the United States. Here's how Alberta's active cases break down regionally: Calgary zone: 11,611 Edmonton zone: 5,606 North zone: 3,675 Central zone: 2,742 South zone: 1,311 Unknown: 17
SEVEROMORSK, Russia (AP) — A top Russian admiral complained Thursday about increased NATO military activities near the country's borders, describing them as a threat to regional security. Adm. Alexander Moiseyev, the commander of Russia's Northern Fleet, said that NATO navy ships' presence in the Barents Sea and the Norwegian Sea have reached levels unseen since World War II. Speaking to reporters onboard the Northern Fleet's flagship, the Pyotr Veliky (Peter the Great) missile cruiser, at its Arctic base of Severomorsk, Moiseyev charged that NATO drills have edged closer to Russian borders, and noted increasingly frequent flights by U.S. nuclear-capable strategic bombers. “Such actions are provocative and have a negative impact on regional security,” Moiseyev said. He voiced particular concern about the U.S. military assets on the territory of NATO ally Norway that borders Russia, charging that it has led to an “increase of the conflict potential in the Arctic.” Ties between Russia and the West have plummeted to post-Cold War lows after the 2014 Russian annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula and Moscow’s support for a separatist insurgency in eastern Ukraine. Moscow has repeatedly voiced concern over the deployment of NATO forces near Russian borders. Russia and the alliance also have blamed each other for conducting destabilizing military exercises near the borders. Last month, a massive build-up of Russian troops alongside the Ukrainian border fueled concerns in Ukraine and the West. The Kremlin rejected Western worries, charging that the troops don't threaten anyone, but it also warned Ukrainian authorities against trying to use force to reclaim control of the rebel east. The Associated Press
Canadian parliamentarians issued dissenting reports Thursday on implementing First Nations moderate livelihood fisheries in the Maritimes and Quebec. The fisheries and oceans committee report released by the Liberals makes 40 recommendations and supports positions taken by various sides in the contentious dispute: upholding the fisheries minister's ultimate authority to regulate the fishery while urging Ottawa to consider sharing management and decision-making with First Nations. It calls for greater consultation and co-operation between First Nations, commercial fishermen and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. The report also calls on DFO to address "systemic racism" within the department and reform its enforcement arm, the conservation and protection branch, "to address systemic racism within their regulations and operational policies to provide protection for treaty right to harvest and sell fish." Moderate livelihood fisheries launched MPs held hearings after the Sipekne'katik band launched the first self-regulated lobster fishery in Nova Scotia last fall. The band said it would no longer wait for the federal government to authorize a moderate livelihood fishery, which was recognized — but not defined — by the Supreme of Canada in the 1999 Marshall decisions. What followed were sometimes violent protests by some commercial fishermen and their supporters who bitterly opposed commercial lobster harvesting when the federally mandated season was closed. Nova Scotia Liberal MP Jamie Battiste, a Mi'kmaw member of the committee who tabled the report, said the most important recommendations concern education about treaty rights. "The ones that I hope government takes into consideration is really the notions around creating more treaty education, more willingness to do what we can to address the systemic racism within the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, but also the ability to create the capacity to safely and without fear of harm, to be a part of a moderate livelihood fisheries that is transparent and accountable to all, including their community members," he told CBC News. The dissenting reports Although all parties supported the right to a moderate livelihood fishery, the committee was not unanimous. Both the Conservatives and Bloc Quebecois issued dissenting reports. The Conservatives consider moderate livelihood fishing a commercial enterprise and subject to the same regulations, including seasons, as all commercial fisheries, with enforcement and regulation unambiguously under the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. The Bloc called for co-management. The office of federal Fisheries Minister Bernadette Jordan issued a statement Thursday that said it had received the report that morning and "look forward to reviewing its recommendations closely." In March, Jordan said the department was prepared to issue moderate livelihood licences to bands this year but the fishery must take place within existing commercial seasons. Indigenous communities quickly rejected the approach. Committee does not define moderate livelihood The committee report tabled in Parliament does not define moderate livelihood nor does it weigh in on efforts by successive federal governments to respond to the Marshall decision. Those included spending hundreds of millions of dollars integrating First Nations into the commercial fishery through training and buying back commercial fishing licences. "Although DFO has initiated programs to bolster First Nation participation in commercial fisheries since the Marshall decisions, there is so far no consensus regarding whether the Mi'kmaq and the Wolastoqiyik (Maliseet) treaty right to fish in pursuit of a moderate livelihood has been effectively and meaningfully implemented," the report said. The Supreme Court also found the fisheries minister has the authority to regulate for conservation and compelling public interest reasons. "In any agreement with First Nations, only the Minister can be the regulator and the regulatory authority if we are to comply with the Court," the report said. Surette report also issued At the height of protests in southwest Nova Scotia last fall, DFO appointed Université Sainte-Anne president Allister Surette as a "federal representative" to try and rebuild trust between Indigenous and commercial harvesters. In his final report, quietly released last week, Surette also calls for more dialogue and trust-building between the sides. But his assessment remains bleak. "These divergent interpretations and understandings of the court decisions and entrenched positions have resulted in much controversy, tensions, and disagreements amongst the parties involved. Hence, the difficulty in bringing all parties together," he said. MORE TOP STORIES
Ontario Premier Doug Ford criticized Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday over measures involving air and ground travel, calling on the federal government for putting in more stringent measures. He also disagreed with Trudeau's comment made earlier this week of having a "one dose summer, two dose fall," saying if they can get the supplies they'll have a "two dose summer."
ORLANDO, Fla. — Captain Michael Bradley scored a goal and helped set up the other as Toronto defeated defending MLS champion Columbus SC 2-0 Wednesday for its first league victory of the young season. Bradley scored in the 13th minute and Jozy Altidore added an insurance goal in the 87th after Omar Gonzalez headed on a Bradley free kick to the burly striker, who nodded it home. The score could easily have been more lopsided, with Toronto (1-2-1) hitting the crossbar twice. TFC also had a penalty appeal for handball turned down in the 82nd minute. In earning his first victory at Toronto's helm, coach Chris Armas got a vastly improved performance from his team. TFC looked far more poised and less error-prone than in its previous league outings. Toronto came into the game having won just once (1-4-2) in all competitions in 2021. It was a first loss of the season for Columbus (1-1-2), which was missing a slew of injured players. The Crew arrived unbeaten in eight straight matches (6-0-2) counting last season’s playoffs. Columbus's last loss in MLS play was a 2-1 defeat at Orlando on Nov. 4, 2020. Bradley, enjoying more freedom to come forward under Armas, had a fine game with a rare goal and some deft playmaking. Venezuelan international winger/forward Yeferson Soteldo, who saw 34 minutes off the bench in his debut on the weekend, made his first start for Toronto and looked dangerous in the first half. He was substituted in the 64th minute after a quiet start to the second half, with newly signed Jamaican international Kemar Lawrence coming on to make his TFC debut. The five-foot-two 121-pound Soteldo, who took turns on the left and right wing as well as behind striker Ayo Akinola, delivered a probing free kick early on, and showed a good passing touch. Skillful on the ball, he promises to be a handful for MLS defenders. Soteldo almost opened his scoring account in the 26th minute when Nick DeLeon's shot hit the crossbar and cropped in front of the Venezuelan. Soteldo's shot was headed towards goal until a sliding Saad Abdul-Salaam got a foot to the ball, prompting the Venezuelan to look skywards in disbelief. Bradley scored early, on his second shot attempt after a goalmouth scramble that saw the ball hit at least 10 bodies following a Soteldo corner. It was Bradley's 13th career goal in MLS and his first since Sept 7, 2019. It also marked just the second goal conceded by Columbus in four MLs games this season. Armas made one change from the starting 11 beaten 2-0 Saturday at the New York Red Bulls with Soteldo replacing teenager Jayden Nelson. Altidore came on in the 62nd minute and hit the crossbar in the 75th after neatly making room for the shot. Forward Dom Dwyer, formally added to the TFC roster Tuesday, did not dress. Columbus coach Caleb Porter made five changes to the team that dispatched D.C. United 3-1 on the weekend. Both clubs have had to balance MLS and Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League play while dealing with a lengthy injury list. Reigning league MVP Alejandro Pozuelo (thigh) has yet to feature for Toronto this season but is said to be nearing a return. Midfielder Jonathan Osorio (thigh), another important part of the TFC puzzle, did not dress. Columbus was without Kevin Molino (hamstring), Aidan Morris (knee), Marlon Hairston (knee), Perry Kitchen (thigh) and Milton Valenzuela (thigh), Pedro Santos (knee) and former TFC defender Josh Williams (shoulder). Abdul-Salaam and Romanian midfielder Alex Matan made their first starts for the Crew. Columbus dressed just six substitutes, compared to nine for Toronto. It was 27 degrees Celsius at kickoff at Exploria Stadium, which was hit by a downpour as the teams warmed up. Toronto 'keeper Alex Bono made a fine save in the 16th minute to deny Zardes from close range after the Crew attacker lost his defender. Bono was called into action again in the 31st, tipping a hard Luis Diaz shot over the bar. Columbus had more of the ball as the first half wore on but had a hard time penetrating the Toronto defence. Columbus was saved by a Darlington Nagbe goal-line clearance in the 53rd minute when Gonzalez got a foot to a Soteldo corner. Soon after Bono was booked for taking down a Columbus player with a rash challenge outside his penalty box. Diaz shot just wide in the 58th minute off a Columbus corner. Wednesday's game was Columbus’s fourth in 12 days. Toronto was playing its third game in nine days with a match at New York City FC to come Saturday. Toronto opened the MLS season with a 4-2 loss to CF Montreal before tying the Vancouver Whitecaps 2-2 and losing to the Red Bulls. That marked the first time TFC has begun the MLS season winless in its first three matches since 2012 Columbus played the Philadelphia Union and CF Montreal to scoreless draws before downing D.C. United. NOTES: Wednesday marked the first time in eight outings in 2021 that Toronto had played in the same stadium … Toronto came into the contest having lost just one of its nine previous matches against Columbus (5-1-3 including the 2017 playoffs) … The game marked the 14th anniversary of Danny Dichio scoring TFC's first-ever goal … Canadian midfielder Liam Fraser, on loan to Columbus from TFC, was unable to play under terms of the teams' loan agreement … Toronto and Columbus play again May 29 in Ohio. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 12, 2021 The Canadian Press
The latest numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Canada as of 7:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday, May 12, 2021. There are 1,305,770 confirmed cases in Canada. _ Canada: 1,305,770 confirmed cases (76,676 active, 1,204,328 resolved, 24,766 deaths).*The total case count includes 13 confirmed cases among repatriated travellers. There were 6,189 new cases Wednesday. The rate of active cases is 201.75 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 48,431 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is 6,919. There were 53 new reported deaths Wednesday. Over the past seven days there have been a total of 316 new reported deaths. The seven-day rolling average of new reported deaths is 45. The seven-day rolling average of the death rate is 0.12 per 100,000 people. The overall death rate is 65.16 per 100,000 people. There have been 33,001,128 tests completed. _ Newfoundland and Labrador: 1,166 confirmed cases (85 active, 1,075 resolved, six deaths). There were 10 new cases Wednesday. The rate of active cases is 16.28 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 52 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is seven. There have been no deaths reported over the past week. The overall death rate is 1.15 per 100,000 people. There have been 251,097 tests completed. _ Prince Edward Island: 187 confirmed cases (eight active, 179 resolved, zero deaths). There were zero new cases Wednesday. The rate of active cases is 5.01 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of four new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is one. There have been no deaths reported over the past week. The overall death rate is zero per 100,000 people. There have been 151,226 tests completed. _ Nova Scotia: 4,301 confirmed cases (1,621 active, 2,609 resolved, 71 deaths). There were 149 new cases Wednesday. The rate of active cases is 165.52 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 1,119 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is 160. There were zero new reported deaths Wednesday. Over the past seven days there have been a total of two new reported deaths. The seven-day rolling average of new reported deaths is zero. The seven-day rolling average of the death rate is 0.03 per 100,000 people. The overall death rate is 7.25 per 100,000 people. There have been 685,984 tests completed. _ New Brunswick: 2,024 confirmed cases (124 active, 1,859 resolved, 41 deaths). There were nine new cases Wednesday. The rate of active cases is 15.87 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 55 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is eight. There were zero new reported deaths Wednesday. Over the past seven days there have been a total of two new reported deaths. The seven-day rolling average of new reported deaths is zero. The seven-day rolling average of the death rate is 0.04 per 100,000 people. The overall death rate is 5.25 per 100,000 people. There have been 317,271 tests completed. _ Quebec: 360,201 confirmed cases (7,756 active, 341,433 resolved, 11,012 deaths). There were 745 new cases Wednesday. The rate of active cases is 90.45 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 5,811 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is 830. There were 11 new reported deaths Wednesday. Over the past seven days there have been a total of 48 new reported deaths. The seven-day rolling average of new reported deaths is seven. The seven-day rolling average of the death rate is 0.08 per 100,000 people. The overall death rate is 128.43 per 100,000 people. There have been 8,694,189 tests completed. _ Ontario: 499,412 confirmed cases (29,962 active, 461,076 resolved, 8,374 deaths). There were 2,320 new cases Wednesday. The rate of active cases is 203.35 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 19,779 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is 2,826. There were 32 new reported deaths Wednesday. Over the past seven days there have been a total of 187 new reported deaths. The seven-day rolling average of new reported deaths is 27. The seven-day rolling average of the death rate is 0.18 per 100,000 people. The overall death rate is 56.83 per 100,000 people. There have been 14,406,591 tests completed. _ Manitoba: 43,143 confirmed cases (3,940 active, 38,203 resolved, 1,000 deaths). There were 364 new cases Wednesday. The rate of active cases is 285.66 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 3,064 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is 438. There were three new reported deaths Wednesday. Over the past seven days there have been a total of 18 new reported deaths. The seven-day rolling average of new reported deaths is three. The seven-day rolling average of the death rate is 0.19 per 100,000 people. The overall death rate is 72.5 per 100,000 people. There have been 725,948 tests completed. _ Saskatchewan: 43,673 confirmed cases (2,016 active, 41,149 resolved, 508 deaths). There were 183 new cases Wednesday. The rate of active cases is 171.04 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 1,453 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is 208. There were two new reported deaths Wednesday. Over the past seven days there have been a total of seven new reported deaths. The seven-day rolling average of new reported deaths is one. The seven-day rolling average of the death rate is 0.08 per 100,000 people. The overall death rate is 43.1 per 100,000 people. There have been 803,830 tests completed. _ Alberta: 213,635 confirmed cases (24,962 active, 186,550 resolved, 2,123 deaths). There were 1,799 new cases Wednesday. The rate of active cases is 564.51 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 12,711 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is 1,816. There were four new reported deaths Wednesday. Over the past seven days there have been a total of 21 new reported deaths. The seven-day rolling average of new reported deaths is three. The seven-day rolling average of the death rate is 0.07 per 100,000 people. The overall death rate is 48.01 per 100,000 people. There have been 4,332,160 tests completed. _ British Columbia: 137,223 confirmed cases (6,074 active, 129,524 resolved, 1,625 deaths). There were 600 new cases Wednesday. The rate of active cases is 117.99 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 4,298 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is 614. There was one new reported death Wednesday. Over the past seven days there have been a total of 31 new reported deaths. The seven-day rolling average of new reported deaths is four. The seven-day rolling average of the death rate is 0.09 per 100,000 people. The overall death rate is 31.57 per 100,000 people. There have been 2,589,096 tests completed. _ Yukon: 84 confirmed cases (two active, 80 resolved, two deaths). There were zero new cases Wednesday. The rate of active cases is 4.76 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of two new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is zero. There have been no deaths reported over the past week. The overall death rate is 4.76 per 100,000 people. There have been 9,129 tests completed. _ Northwest Territories: 114 confirmed cases (57 active, 57 resolved, zero deaths). There were two new cases Wednesday. The rate of active cases is 126.22 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 29 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is four. There have been no deaths reported over the past week. The overall death rate is zero per 100,000 people. There have been 20,946 tests completed. _ Nunavut: 594 confirmed cases (69 active, 521 resolved, four deaths). There were eight new cases Wednesday. The rate of active cases is 175.34 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 54 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is eight. There have been no deaths reported over the past week. The overall death rate is 10.16 per 100,000 people. There have been 13,585 tests completed. This report was automatically generated by The Canadian Press Digital Data Desk and was first published May 12, 2021. The Canadian Press
Dozens of fishing boats are searching the Fraser River between Chilliwack and Mission for a missing 29-year-old Abbotsford man who fell into the icy water on Friday while sturgeon fishing with a friend. Fishing guide Steve Simpson said that Damian Dutrisac and Simpson's friend Andrew Newton were fishing around 2 p.m. near the mouth of the Sumas River when the anchor of their boat got caught and both men were bucked off as water filled the back of the boat. "They panicked as they were trying to get the anchor out and as they were trying to pull up the anchor the water came up the back of the boat and threw Andrew off the boat and Damian off the boat," said Simpson who spoke to CBC's The Early Edition Wednesday morning with Newton. Newton said he swam to shore, making it to a small island, then had to wait for at least an hour to flag down a boat to get help. "[Newton] was distraught and he was absolutely beside himself. He threw up for half an hour just from pure exhaustion," said Simpson. Damian Dutrisac and his fiance Karyssa Mclean in happy times.(Submitted by Karyssa McLean) Three search parties left from Chilliwack, Fort Langley and Ladner early Wednesday to attempt to locate the missing fisherman. Dutrisac had just proposed to his fiancé Karyssa Mclean last September. She said he'd taken up sturgeon fishing recently and had only been out about three times. She was horrified when she learned how small the boat was — and the fact the two men had no life jackets on. She described her husband as a longshoreman who was strong-minded, loving and athletic. "One of our last conversations was how exciting it was to get married — how it didn't matter who was going to be there. It was a heartwarming touching conversation that I can't believe was one of the last," said Mclean. She knew something was wrong when he failed to reply to her text messages. "I didn't expect that you know," she said. On Friday night, an initial search was called off after it got too dark. Simpson says the waters of the Fraser are treacherous right now, swollen with the spring freshet. Chilliwack RCMP have no further plans to search, and Simpson said it deemed the water too dangerous to allow SAR to participate. Mclean says she'd just gotten her wedding dress and booked a venue for their marriage this upcoming October, and now all she can do is wait — and hope — he is found. "He was really, really loving — I was so lucky."
It suddenly seems that worrying about inflation has gone mainstream. What was so recently a quirky idea has shifted into a media mass movement as markets sag and news reports are filled with talk of rising prices. Wednesday's latest consumer price index (CPI) data from the United States showing inflation rose to 4.2 per cent instead of the expected — though already high — 3.6 per cent only added to the apprehension. For Canadians thinking this is a U.S. phenomenon that we can safely ignore, don't count on it. If inflation really does kick in, price rises in a deeply entangled North American economy will not be stopped by a thin border. If we're not there yet, we are likely to catch up. The reason for that "if" in the previous paragraph is that one or two sharp rises in inflation do not necessarily signal an inflationary trend. On the other hand, nearly three generations of North Americans who have never witnessed true inflation in their adult lives have few reference points to decide for themselves if what we are seeing really is the beginning of inflation. Learning from experience One way to help rectify that is to find someone, maybe a grandparent, who witnessed the onset of serious inflation in the 1970s and 1980s. In lieu of a handy grandparent, I tracked down 82-year-old David Laidler, professor emeritus at Western University in London, Ont., who in the 1960s was an early expert on the subject and says he is worried that history may be repeating itself. But before making Laidler's case, it is probably a good idea to explain why Wednesday's U.S. inflation figures, while worse than expected, may not be as astounding as they appear. It is also important to remember that there are many smart economists, including those at our central banks, who insist this is a blip, not a trend. For one thing, the inflation numbers getting all of the attention include volatile food and fuel prices. Central banks use a measure of inflation with the volatile parts taken out, called core inflation. Core remains under two per cent. Also, those current year-on-year numbers are a comparison of recent prices with those that were unusually low a year ago due to pandemic shock. Earlier this week, as markets had already begun trembling in anticipation of Wednesday's inflation data, senior U.S. Federal Reserve official Lael Brainard repeated the central bankers' assertion that inflation is just surging temporarily as the economy goes from full stop to full throttle. Lael Brainard, a senior U.S. Federal Reserve Board official, said this week that price rises are temporary and that cutting stimulus to stop inflation would hurt the recovery.(Brian Snyder/Reuters) "Remaining patient through the transitory surge associated with reopening will help ensure that the underlying economic momentum that will be needed to reach our goals ... is not curtailed by a premature tightening," Brainard said in a speech on Tuesday. It appeared that markets were not listening. One of the reasons may be that CPI is not the only inflation indicator being bandied about this week. Another is something called the five-year breakeven rate, a comparison of government-issued zero inflation bonds to other five-year bonds. A glance at the above link will show the market expects a sharply rising inflationary trend. Almost everyone you talk to says they have noticed things getting more expensive. Business leaders, including the Oracle of Omaha, Warren Buffett, say their costs are rising, and the companies they control have begun to increase prices to compensate. Ringside seat And according to economist David Laidler, that's exactly how inflation started last time around in the late 1960s and '70s. "Let me be clear, I wrote my first article that had to do with the theory of inflation in 1965, so I was there at the beginning," the economist quipped in a phone interview. Earning his PhD with Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman at the University of Chicago, Laidler had a ringside seat watching price rises eat away at the value of money over the next 20 years as inflation rose to the high teens. David Laidler, professor emeritus at Western University in London, Ont., was an early expert on inflation and says he's worried that history may be repeating itself. The economist wrote his first article on the theory of inflation in 1965.(Western University) Laidler says that most people, including central bankers, were caught by surprise. "You get prices of particular inputs going up, and everything gets put down to special, local instances," he said. But Laidler says those special, localized cases were actually symptoms of a broader cascade of effects spread through prices and wages. "What's happening is demand is beginning to percolate through goods markets.... The goods producers start trying to increase output and they need more inputs for that, and they begin to run into bottlenecks," he said. "And then the prices go up there and then the guy who's selling to consumers says, 'Well, gee, I have to raise my price because my input prices have gone up.'" WATCH | Bank of Canada optimistic about post-pandemic recovery: Laidler says when you look at prices of things such as lumber and steel and copper — and when you see the shortage of workers with the right skills — it is credible to imagine the same thing is happening all over again. "And if what happened in the late '60s and early '70s happens again, the authorities are going to say, 'Oh, this is a temporary thing, we don't have to worry about it.'" He says that could allow inflation expectations to get embedded, making it a "real pain in the neck" to muster the political will to stop it. Laidler says while rising house prices are not considered inflation because they are assets, not consumer goods, they have in the past been an indicator of coming inflation. But he says if you think we are entering a period of inflation, this is the time to buy real goods such as cars, appliances — things that will last but could become more expensive in the future. Saint-Tropez in your future? If you think inflation is coming, it may be time to spend on durable goods or a nice holiday once COVID-19 restrictions end.(Eric Gaillard/Reuters) He remembers someone asking him back in the 1970s what to do with their money, and he recalls offering only slightly tongue-in-cheek advice that they should spend it on a good holiday because at least they will have their memories. And while Laidler is pleased to share his own memories of an earlier era of inflation, he adds this proviso that clearly does not just apply to him: "Anyone who says they really know what is going to happen over the next couple of years without a doubt is not to be trusted." Follow Don Pittis on Twitter @don_pittis
OTTAWA — The Canadian Forces says it has charged one of its members in the death of an army reservist from British Columbia during a training exercise at a military base in Alberta last year. The military says Cpl. Lars Callsen, of the 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, has been charged with one count of negligence. The military says the case is proceeding through the military justice system. In late October, 29-year-old Cpl. James Choi of the Royal Westminster Regiment was shot while taking part in live-fire training at Canadian Forces Base Wainwright. Choi, who was serving alongside members of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry at the time, was treated at the scene before being airlifted to an Edmonton hospital. He died the next day. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 12, 2021. The Canadian Press
A suspect has been arrested in the hit-and-run crash that ended the life of 19-year-old Damien Seguin earlier this spring. Burnaby RCMP announced Wednesday that another 19-year-old has been taken into custody in connection with the crash on March 26. The suspect was arrested at his home in Vancouver and the vehicle that investigators believe he was driving was seized from the same property, according to a news release. Police say they will recommend charges, but the investigation is still underway. According to the RCMP, Seguin was in one of three vehicles whose drivers and passengers got into some sort of confrontation near an intersection on Marine Drive in Burnaby in the early morning hours of the day of the crash. At one point, someone from one of the vehicles pepper-sprayed people in another vehicle. Seguin got out of the vehicle he was in and was then hit by a car, whose driver fled the scene, police say. His mother Nicole, who lives in West Kelowna, spent three days at his hospital bedside before he died. Seguin graduated from Burnaby South Secondary last year. His family describes him as funny, loveable and well-mannered. "I just wonder why something like this happens to someone so good who brought so much happiness to so many lives," his mother told CBC News in an interview last month.
Rocky Mountain House Health Centre's emergency department will be closed for a 16-hour period due to a shortage of available doctors. Alberta Health Services said in a release the emergency department closed at 3 p.m Wednesday to allow physicians and staff to treat and discharge remaining patients. The department is set to reopen at 7 a.m. Thursday. "This is a temporary situation, due to COVID-19 impacting the availability of physicians across the zone who are able to provide locum coverage," states the AHS release. "Central Alberta has a number of physicians who are impacted by COVID-19 or in isolation due to being a close contact, limiting available resources." Inpatients will not be affected by the closure and on-call coverage will still be provided for obstetrical patients. "AHS exhausted all efforts to find physician coverage during this time, locally, within Central Zone, and provincially, but have not been able to find physicians to cover the ED during this time," AHS said in the release. Anyone needing urgent emergency medical care in the area is asked to call 911. Emergency calls will be rerouted to other central Alberta health care facilities, including those in Sylvan Lake, Rimbey, Sundre and Red Deer. Other Alberta hospitals are having similar physician coverage issues; Fairview Health Complex emergency department was closed for a 12-hour period that ended Wednesday morning and the Elk Point Healthcare Centre emergency will close for 24 hours, starting Thursday morning at 8 a.m.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday that the United States would not leave Australia alone in the face of economic coercion from China, and that such behavior toward U.S. allies would hamper improvement in U.S.-Sino relations. Washington has repeatedly criticized what it says are Beijing's attempts to bully neighbors with competing interests, and U.S. President Joe Biden has sought to bolster ties with allies in the Indo-Pacific to counter China's growing power.
A recently published study suggests that one of the world's most common pesticides may be contributing to the decline of one of its most-loved butterflies. University of Guelph researcher Ryan Norris conducted one of the first real-world studies on monarch butterflies and so-called neonic pesticides. He says the chemical seems to reduce the number of eggs that successfully hatch. "It's the first field evidence that neonics can have a negative impact on larval survival of monarchs," Norris said in an interview Wednesday. Monarchs undergo one of nature's most remarkable migrations, fluttering all the way from Canada to Mexico and back. But their numbers have declined more that 80 per cent over the last two decades and scientists are trying to find out why. Neonicotinoid pesticides are widely applied to common crops such as corn and often drift onto other plants, including milkweed, which monarchs depend on for nesting and food. Monarchs actually prefer milkweed growing alongside or within cultivated fields, Norris said. "We don't know why. But that's where they get hit the hardest (with neonics)." The research, published in the Journal of Animal Ecology, involved Norris and his colleagues working with a farmer near Halton, Ont. The farmer planted one half of a small plot with corn seed that had only been treated with a fungicide and the other half with corn that had been coated with clothianidin, a common neonic. Milkweed was deliberately planted along with the corn to attract monarchs. Over two years, the scientists found that monarch eggs on the neonic plot had a three per cent less chance of successfully hatching. It sounds small, said Norris, but with the large number of eggs monarchs lay, it adds up to big numbers. "(That) could easily mean millions of larvae that are dying each year because of the neonics." Neonics are increasingly implicated in plummeting numbers of pollinators such as bees. The chemicals are banned in the European Union and in some U.S. states. In 2018, Health Canada proposed to tightly restrict the use of neonics, including a ban on all outdoor applications of clothianidin. It is currently re-evaluating that stance and is expected to announce an updated decision next spring. Millions of monarchs migrate each winter to a small area of mountaintop forest in central Mexico, where scientists estimate their population by measuring the area of trees turned orange by the clustering butterflies. That area has shrunk to just over two hectares, down 26 per cent from last year, says the Centre for Biological Diversity. Monarchs are considered a species of special concern in both Canada and Mexico. The black-and-orange butterflies face many threats other than pesticides, Norris said, but pesticides seem to be part of the problem. "This is yet another piece of evidence of how neonics can influence the biodiversity on our landscape," he said. "They are having a serious negative impact." Although monarchs aren't important pollinators, that's not the only measure of a species' value, Norris suggested. "Monarchs, in many people's minds, represent butterflies," he said. "When they think butterflies, they think monarchs. "They serve a really important role as a connection for people to butterflies and to nature." This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 13, 2021. Bob Weber, The Canadian Press
OTTAWA — A homegrown mRNA vaccine for COVID-19 shows promising results in its first small trial and its maker is hoping to test it directly against the vaccine from Pfizer-BioNTech. Calgary-based Providence Therapeutics says its vaccine produced no serious adverse events and developed good antibodies against COVID-19 that "compare favourably" with the two mRNA vaccines already on the market from Pfizer and Moderna. "We're extremely pleased," said Providence CEO Brad Sorenson. The Phase 1 trial included 60 healthy adults between 18 and 64, with more than half of them receiving two doses of the vaccine, four weeks apart. The results have not yet been peer-reviewed. Sorenson said the next step is supposed to be a Phase 2 head-to-head trial that would test the effectiveness of Providence against Pfizer. Most vaccines in Phase 2 have been tested only against a placebo, but Sorenson said in a pandemic he feels it is unethical to give someone a placebo when they could otherwise be vaccinated. But to do the trial, Providence needs 500 doses of Pfizer, which he said neither the company nor the National Research Council has been willing to provide. A spokeswoman for Pfizer said Thursday the company's focus is only on getting the vaccine to meet an "urgent public health need" and will only sell its vaccine to the federal government. "As such, we are not providing supply of our vaccine to third-parties to study the vaccine in comparative trials," said Christina Antoniou. Pfizer is the main component of Canada's vaccination campaign to date, accounting for two-thirds of the deliveries as of this week. A spokesman for Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne said the government has informed Providence Ottawa is willing to help fund its Phase 2 trial, and continue to work with the company. "Minister Champagne has spoken directly with Providence Therapeutics’ CEO and the Chair of their Board of Directors to discuss our continued support for their work as they bring their vaccine candidate through the early stages of development," said John Power. But questions about providing doses of Pfizer were directed to the National Research Council, which hasn't yet responded to the query. Sorenson said Providence is also discussing with the World Health Organization the possibility of doing a Phase 3 trial in a developing country. Sorenson said if Health Canada supports both trials, they could be wrapped up by the end of the year. But Sorenson said he doesn't feel supported by Ottawa and has threatened to take the business outside the country. The company has production agreements in place that should be able to produce 200 million doses a year, he said. Providence is one of six Canadian companies that received funding from the National Research Council for COVID-19 vaccines that were in early stages of development. The company received $4.9 million last October to help fund its Phase 1 trial. It also received $5 million in January from the next-generation manufacturing supercluster to help scale up its manufacturing of mRNA. Canada currently doesn't make any of the vaccines it is using - Pfizer is being made in Europe and the United States, Canada's doses of Moderna are all coming from Europe, and Oxford-AstraZeneca is coming from the United States, India and South Korea. The only Canadian-made vaccine among the seven procured by Canada for COVID-19 to date is Medicago's plant-based protein vaccine, which is now in a Phase 3 trial and could be ready for mass production before the end of the year. Medicago received $173 million in October to push its vaccine forward as well as an undisclosed sum for a contract to provide Canada at least 20 million doses if it is approved. Some of it will be made in Canada, but production will also take place in the U.S. A lack of domestic drug manufacturing hurt Canada's vaccination program, particularly early on, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the government is intent on fixing that ahead of the next global health crisis. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 13, 2021. Mia Rabson, The Canadian Press
Heather Langley says her nine-year-old daughter, Lucy, loves school so much, even the bus ride is a moment of unbridled joy for the Grade 3 student from Halifax. "From the moment that she is assisted to get on the bus, she's squealing with joy, ready to start her day," said Langley in an interview from her Clayton Park home. She said Lucy, who does not speak and needs constant one-on-one support, is a "little bit of a star" at Burton Ettinger Elementary School in Fairview, going class to class each day to greet the other children. But since the end of April, those classrooms have been empty. Lucy, like all kids across Nova Scotia, is expected to learn from home, over a computer screen, now that schools have closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. 'For my child, there is nothing' Premier Iain Rankin said last week he's heard from the minister and deputy minister of education that remote learning is "going well," but some parents of students who require additional supports at school say their children are falling between the cracks. "I would like the premier to know that they're not going well, they're not going at all," said Langley. "For my child, there is nothing. Lucy and children like her, I think have just disappeared from their classroom. They're not online. They can't be." Tracey Edwards, whose seven-year-old twins are on the autism spectrum, said instead of consulting the minister or department bureaucrats, Rankin should've talked to parents like her. "I'm at my wit's end," said Edwards. "It's not fair to my children that they are being left out." A good year, interrupted Up until now, Edwards said her children, Zoe and Zachary, have had a good school year. "This year has been absolutely wonderful," she said. "My daughter, Zoe, she will stand at [the] door and she will just go, 'Bus, bus, bus,' 10 or 15 minutes while we're waiting for that bus to come around." Zachary has become more independent and is excelling at school, said Edwards. "He still needs his help to keep him focused and stuff, but he's actually doing academic work, which is really nice to see," she said. Online learning not meeting needs But Edwards said neither child has been getting much out of at-home learning. "They come on and they sing a song with the kids. They show a video. We do a dance. We do some stretching. We read a poem, and then they're gone. And it's 30 minutes a day," she said. "With special needs [children], there is no online version of learning. I am sorry. There is just not." Likewise, Langley said Lucy can't do computer-based learning. "She's not a child that can sit quietly and amuse herself," said Langley. "If you put an iPad in front of her [or] a computer, she's more likely to throw it." Calls for N.S. to follow other provinces' lead The two mothers are calling on Nova Scotia to follow the example of the other Atlantic provinces and allow some students who need extra supports or care to return to class, even during lockdowns. "I think they have the time right now to vaccinate the EPAs [Educational Program Assistants], vaccinate the learning centre teachers so that they are protected," said Langley. "We would happily take daily rapid tests, whatever kind of test they asked us to, if that meant that Lucy could safely return." When schools were preparing to reopen last fall, the province said in its back-to-school plan it would continue to provide "excellent supports to students to support inclusive education." But the plan also stated that support would be virtual if schools closed again as a result of COVID-19. No plans to reopen schools yet The Halifax Regional Centre for Education said it has worked with families who are struggling with online learning to try to find accommodations, but reopening classrooms is not part of the plan. "We recognize that none of this replaces face-to-face time between learners and teachers/support staff," spokesperson Kelly Connors said in an email. "We know the best place for children is in school, but at this time, we all have to do our part to stop the spread of COVID-19." Heather and Lucy at her daycare graduation ceremony.(Submitted by Heather Langley) When asked why Nova Scotia has adopted a different approach than some other provinces for students who require assistance to learn, a spokesperson for the Education Department would only say the decision to learn from home was made in consultation with Public Health. Dr. Robert Strang, the province's chief medical officer of health, said May 4 he expected online learning to last at least a few more weeks. "Getting kids back in school, in-school learning, has been one of our priorities throughout the whole pandemic, and it will be a priority as we start to look at when we can reopen things," he said at the time. "But it can only be done when we are in a position where we have low risk in communities, which then creates safe schools." MORE TOP STORIES
After distributing more than 2.3 million AstraZeneca vaccine doses nationwide, public health officials have so far identified 28 suspected cases of a rare but serious condition called vaccine-induced thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT). Dr. Howard Njoo, Canada's deputy chief public health officer, said Thursday that 18 of those cases have been verified through testing while 10 more await laboratory confirmation. VITT is blood clots combined with low levels of blood platelets following immunization. According to the Ontario Science Table, VITT can present itself four to 28 days after vaccination, so reports of more cases are likely by month's end. There have been four VITT-related deaths reported in Canada. "We take these reports of side effects, however rare, very seriously and we consider these carefully when looking at the vaccine portfolio in Canada," Njoo said. WATCH: Health officials give update on AstraZeneca risks and the timing of second doses The report on VITT cases comes after some provinces have suspended the use of the AstraZeneca shot. Alberta, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Saskatchewan and Quebec have all said they will stop using the vaccine for first doses, at least for now. In announcing its suspension, Ontario said it now believes the VITT incident rate is roughly 1 in 60,000 shots administered — a rate that is much higher than the figure previously cited by Health Canada. While the AstraZeneca vaccine has been put on pause in many jurisdictions, Canada continues to procure tens of thousands of doses of this product. COVAX, the global vaccine sharing initiative, delivered 665,000 doses today. Those doses have a three-month shelf life and must be administered by the end of August. Njoo said Canada will continue to buy enough vaccines to get existing AstraZeneca recipients a second shot. According to Health Canada, at least 1,540,000 AstraZeneca doses have been administered in Canada as of May 1. Thousands of Canadians have been vaccinated since then. "The situation with AstraZeneca is evolving and we will work with the provinces in terms of their supply needs," said Maj.-Gen. Dany Fortin, the military commander leading vaccine logistics at the Public Health Agency of Canada. "We want to assure everyone that sufficient supply will be available for those who want a second dose of the AstraZeneca or who cannot take an mRNA vaccine. Provinces are thinking about ordering doses for second doses to immunize those who've had a first dose. That will start in the next few weeks." Some provinces, notably Ontario, have put all AstraZeneca vaccinations on hold, including second shots. "We need to know more before we deal with any more doses of AstraZeneca being put into arms," said Christine Elliott, Ontario's health minister. "We are waiting for a determination by Health Canada as well as NACI on the situation with respect to VITT and the safety overall," Elliott said, referring to the National Advisory Committee on Immunization. Dr. Jennifer Russell, New Brunswick's chief medical officer of health, said AstraZeneca will continue to be offered as a second dose and to people who aren't able to get out to a clinic that offers the mRNA vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna. Early data from the United Kingdom suggest the risk of VITT after second doses of AstraZeneca is likely lower than the risk after first doses. Njoo said there is still time for provinces and territories to figure out what to do about second doses for AstraZeneca recipients. The vaccine maker recommends at least a 12-week interval between the first and second shot. Canada didn't start administering AstraZeneca until the second week of March, meaning those patients who got an early dose won't be due until the end of May for the second booster shot. Other options could be made available to Canadians based on the results of an ongoing U.K. study. Oxford University is studying a "mismatched" vaccine regimen by testing the results of giving one dose of AstraZeneca followed by a Pfizer booster shot. While the trial data have not yet been released, some scientists have suggested such a mix could produce a stronger immune response than two doses of the same product. Early data suggest, however, that there may be more reactions to this sort of mix-and-match regimen, such as fatigue, headache or fever. "Generally, vaccine series are completed with the same vaccine, but in some cases they can be completed with a different one," Njoo said. "It may be possible that using a different vaccine type could result in a greater immune response, providing broader protection against COVID-19."
Civil unrest between Jews and Arabs in Israel dealt a strong blow on Thursday to efforts by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's main political rival Yair Lapid to form a new government and unseat the Israeli leader. Naftali Bennett, head of the ultranationalist Yamina party and a kingmaker after an inconclusive March 23 parliamentary election, said he was abandoning coalition talks with Lapid, the opposition leader, preferring a wider unity government. Lapid, who heads the centrist Yesh Atid party, has three weeks left in a 28-day mandate from Israel's president to try to form a governing coalition.
When Alberta's oil sector was thriving a decade ago, thousands of workers beat a path to Fort McMurray, Alta., as companies pumped cash into ambitious growth plans. We know how that ended — with a painful six-year downturn that, at one point, saw oil prices turn negative. But as North American crude prices climb and rekindle talk of "booms" on the horizon, residents in northeast Alberta aren't bracing for the same rush. They are, however, looking forward to better days ahead for their community. "We're not getting surges of new people coming into the region," said Kevin Weidlich, chief executive of the Fort McMurray Wood Buffalo Economic Development and Tourism. "Those that are here still have plenty of work to do." Following a string of tough years, stronger commodity prices, rising vaccinations and ongoing pipeline construction are fuelling hopes of a big rebound for Canada's oilpatch. In March, Alberta oil production reached a milestone high. What's more, some of the country's largest oil companies reported a big turnaround in profits during the first quarter of the year, including Suncor Energy and Canadian Natural Resources. Higher oil prices — sitting well above $60 US a barrel — are good news for oil companies striving to rebuild their balance sheets after the sector borrowed heavily to survive a long downturn. They could also help boost the provincial government's books as oil royalties rise. Versions of these bumper stickers praying for another oil boom have been seen on cars in Alberta for decades. (Mike Morrison/Twitter) Mike Holden, chief economist at the Business Council of Alberta, said if the North American benchmark oil price averages above $60 US a barrel for the year, it could add roughly $3 billion more to Alberta's bottom line than the government projected in February, when it budgeted for oil at $46 US a barrel. But even with improving forecasts, observers don't expect the oilpatch to return to the kind of capital spending, nor the hiring sprees seen before crude prices began their long, punishing slide in 2014. Some companies appear to be playing it safe after enduring a particularly treacherous period; and there are still a lot of opinions on how high oil prices will climb and how long they'll stay there. "High prices are good for the oilpatch," Holden said. "It's really a question of how long will this be sustained, whether it's a short-term blip or whether it continues on into 2022." But companies are also navigating a landscape that's changed a lot in a decade, from shareholder expectations to carbon policies to the outlook for fossil fuel demand. The pace of the energy transition overhangs much of the discussion. WATCH | Is carbon capture a solution for the oil industry and climate change? Not so long ago, oil companies could be expected to reinvest a good portion of their available cash back into future growth and new capital projects. It's also what shareholders expected. Now, shareholders are putting greater emphasis on profitability over growth, thus ensuring they get a return for their investment in an oil and gas company, such as in the form of a dividend. "Even with high oil prices, we're not going to see the same level of reinvestment into new capital projects because the whole mindset has changed in terms of providing real returns," said Jackie Forrest, executive director of the ARC Energy Research Institute, an energy research firm based in Calgary. "Therefore, not all that money is going to go into growth as it did in the past." ARC Energy Research Institute executive director Jackie Forrest, seen here in 2019, says though the oil industry is doing well, it's being cautious with its money. (Colleen Underwood/CBC) A recent ARC forecast estimated total revenues for the Canadian industry could climb to $137 billion in 2021, their highest level since 2014. After-tax cash flow could reach $70 billion. Of that $70 billion, ARC anticipates only a "fraction" will go to new capital projects. It expects about $7 billion reinvested in the oilsands and almost $17 billion directed to conventional oil and gas. "Despite the fact that the industry is doing really well, they're being very cautious with their money and not directing that to new projects or [capital expenditure] and things that would generate a bunch of jobs in the province that way," Forrest said. Still, she said the oilpatch is spending a lot of money — about $40 billion annually — on operating costs and maintenance, "and that is really significant." A pragmatic approach to higher oil prices is something Suncor CEO Mark Little emphasized in an interview with CBC News last week, even as the company beat analyst expectations by announcing net earnings of $821 million in the first three months of 2021, compared to a net loss of $3.5 billion in the same period last year. "Crude prices on a certain day can still change by five per cent, so we need to be cautious here that we don't get ahead of it," he said. Suncor also said it would stay the course with plans to cut its workforce. It said in October it would reduce total staff by 10 to 15 per cent, or as many as 1,930 jobs, over 18 months. Cenovus Energy, which recently merged with Husky Energy, said in a conference call with analysts on Friday that the bulk of profits will continue to be applied to its balance sheet as it aims to lower its net debt. "Things are looking up for the Canadian oil and gas sector," said Morgan Kwan, senior vice-president of strategy and analytics at Enverus, an energy data analytics firm. She believes this will lead to an "uptick" in capital spending, but not like the kind witnessed a few years ago. "The other thing to keep in mind is the industry has just become a lot more efficient at what we do — so we don't need as many workers or the same amount of activity to produce an equivalent barrel," Kwan said. A recent labour market forecast predicts the oil and gas workforce will contract this year, despite a slight increase in capital spending, followed by "modest" growth in 2022 and 2023. Raymond James analyst Jeremy McCrea anticipates there will be increases in capital spending should commodity prices stay at these levels. An increase in oilfield activity would help service companies and drillers, which are still feeling the economic hit of the pandemic. But McCrea doesn't expect a repeat of the pre-2014 boom, as oil companies also weigh worldwide initiatives aimed at growing renewable energy and curbing carbon emissions. "You're seeing a lot of these majors and junior companies really start to take the approach saying, 'You know, maybe we don't need to start working on having 20 years' worth of inventory; let's look at the stuff that we have now and try and be incredibly efficient with that and profitable,'" he said. "So you're not doing any more big growth initiatives." Oil rig floorhands work on a project south of Fort McMurray in this file photo. A recent labour market forecast predicts the oil and gas workforce will contract this year, despite a slight increase in capital spending, followed by 'modest' growth in 2022 and 2023. (Reuters) Indeed, oil and gas companies everywhere are peering into the future as they try to figure out the best path forward while governments step up efforts to combat climate change. Even oil super majors are talking about energy transition. It's a big change from the boom of the 2000s, when oilsands development was focused on building new megaprojects. For many Albertans, those days may seem like part of a distant era, even as oil prices strengthen. "It's a welcome reprieve from the situation we found ourselves in, and Alberta has been sorely in need of a good news story," said Holden of the Business Council of Alberta. But a repeat of the heydays of the last oil boom and those massive investments? "I don't think that's in the cards," Holden said.
He served for more than three decades with the armed forces reserves and cadets. He was an honorary colonel of an air force wing and an honorary aide-de-camp to one of Quebec's lieutenant governors. Now, Jean-Charles Perreault has been stripped of one of the military's highest honours after it was discovered that he had been wearing civilian public service medals he had never been awarded. It is only the third time in the nearly 50-year history of the Order of Military Merit that a member has been expelled, said Derek Abma, spokesperson for the Department of National Defence. Lynne Santerre, manager of public affairs for the governor general's office, said medals can only be worn by those who have received them. "Captain (Retired) Jean-Charles Perreault's appointment to the Order of Military Merit was revoked on the grounds that he publicly wore medals which he had not been awarded, while serving as Honorary Colonel of 2 Wing Bagotville," she said. Jean-Charles Perreault (left) in an undated photo with Quebec Lt.-Gov. Michel Doyon. Perreault served as an aide-de-camp to one of Doyon's predecessors, former Quebec Lt.-Gov. Martial Asselin.(Photo provided by Stolen Valour Canada) Abma said Perreault was not authorized to wear the Canada Centennial Medal, the Queen's Silver Jubilee Medal, the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal, a second clasp on his Canadian Forces Decoration and a second bar on his Order of St. John Service Medal. Perreault is entitled to wear other medals, including the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal he was awarded in 2002. Unlike medals for operational military service overseas, the Centennial and Jubilee medals were awarded to civilians, as well as members of the military, for community service. 'It's finished' Reached by CBC News, Perreault said the act of expelling him from the order back in February was "disproportionate." "I don't want to know anything about the armed forces — it's finished," he said. "For me, the page is turned." Perreault said he was particularly disturbed by recent revelations of sexual misconduct at the highest levels of the Canadian Armed Forces and the way Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government has handled it. "I'm ashamed to say today that I belonged to the Canadian Armed Forces for 32 years." The events that culminated in Perreault being tossed out of the Order of Military Merit began in 2018, when Perreault was honorary colonel of 2 Air Expeditionary Wing Headquarters in Bagotville, Quebec. Someone noticed the medals he was wearing and alerted Stolen Valour Canada, a group that works to expose those who falsely claim to have served in the military or wear medals they were not awarded. Stolen Valour alerted Rideau Hall and the Department of National Defence. In October 2019, the Order of Military Merit Advisory Council wrote a letter to the secretary of the Governor General asking them to review Perreault's appointment to the order. Former Chief of Defence Staff Jonathan Vance chaired the advisory council that recommended Perreault's membership in the Order of Military Merit be reviewed. Vance is currently under investigation following allegations of sexual misconduct.(Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press) At the time, the advisory council was chaired by former chief of the defence staff Gen. Jonathan Vance, who is currently facing allegations of sexual misconduct. Rideau Hall also notified the Order of St. John — where Perreault holds the grade of officer — that he was wearing a second bar on that organization's service medal that he was not entitled to wear. Patricia Kearney, priory secretary for the Order of St. John, said Perreault was asked to stop wearing the second bar and he has since returned it to the Order. Perreault did not challenge his removal from the Order of Military Merit and has returned the insignia. Perreault said he has no plans to wear medals in the future. Asked about the Centennial medal, Perreault said that "there are things that unfortunately weren't done by [the late Sen. Cyrille Vaillancourt], because he forgot to put the name and all the rest." Asked why there is no record of him being awarded the Silver and Diamond Jubilee medals, Perreault said "there are different registries." In a statement issued to CBC News, Stolen Valour said that it is "hopeful that [Perreault] being struck from the Order and the resulting notoriety will have a deterrent effect on others who would choose to tarnish the dedication and devotion of those awarded the Order of Military Merit." Perreault isn't the only person who has faced consequences recently for wearing medals they weren't awarded. In a court martial proceeding Monday, Capt. Mark Osborne pleaded guilty, was reprimanded and fined $3,500 for wearing four medals when he served in Germany in 2019 that he had not been awarded. He also tried to get them added to his military record. Two of the medals — the Silver and Diamond Queen's Jubilee medals — were the same as those worn by Perreault. Osborne also wore the Queen's Golden Jubilee medal and the 125th Anniversary of Confederation Medal. Elizabeth Thompson can be reached at elizabeth.thompson@cbc.ca
The family of a paramedic who died after waiting too long for an ambulance is taking the province's Health Ministry to court, and it's hoping legal action will force them to finally address the need for better emergency services in Lévis, Que. Hugo St-Onge died in 2017 after going into cardiac arrest. He was 24 years old. It took 20 minutes for the ambulance to show up — twice as long as the North American standard for response time. The lack of ambulance services in the municipality located just south of Quebec City has been well documented. A month before he died, St-Onge was among those who signed an open letter denouncing the lack of ambulance coverage in the Chaudière-Appalaches region. "He died for nothing," said the 24-year-old's parents, Johanne Lapointe and Bruno St-Onge, in an interview with Radio-Canada. They say more than three years after his death, they still have difficulty sleeping, waking up in the middle of night thinking about their son. Ambulance resources in the area so thin that after paramedics showed up to a home last May, they were dispatched to another call deemed more urgent and left before checking on the woman who needed assistance. She died later that night, also of cardiac arrest. Johanne Lapointe and Bruno St-Onge say they still have difficulty sleeping, more than three years after their son's death. (Radio-Canada) In regards to St-Onge's death, the coroner's report last July found that there were three ambulances in the area when the 24-year-old was in distress. They were all busy. The closest available team was 13 kilometres away in a nearby town. Since that report, the province's Health Ministry has managed to add a total of 16 extra service hours in Lévis. Ambulance workers in the area say they 160 extra service hours — ten times more what the ministry has added. St-Onge's family is suing the Health Ministry, the regional health board for Chaudière-Appalaches and the 911 call centre for $520,000. Both the ministry and the health board have declined to comment. St-Onge's parents feel they must continue advocating for better ambulance services in Lévis, given that their son spoke out about that same issue prior to his death. "For Hugo, for the family, we feel like we have to push forward," Lapointe said. "When Hugo died, everyone in the family was shattered. Today, we pick up the pieces, we put the pieces together as best we can."
