Coronavirus – Brandon Sun

United Conservative Party Leader Danielle Smith makes an election campaign announcement in Calgary, Thursday, May 11, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

Alberta premier found in conflict of interest

Dean Bennett, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Thursday, May. 18, 2023

EDMONTON - Alberta's ethics commissioner says United Conservative Premier Danielle Smith undermined democracy and broke conflict-of-interest rules by intervening in a criminal case and pressuring her attorney general to "make it go away.”

Marguerite Trussler said Smith’s actions illustrate how democratic freedoms can quickly disappear when politicians start deciding who is and isn't above the law.

“(Judicial independence) is a fundamental pillar of our democracy,” said Trussler in a report released Thursday.

“The premier breached this principle by discussing the accused’s case with him.”

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Maxime Bernier fined for COVID-19 tour

Steve Lambert, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Preview

Maxime Bernier fined for COVID-19 tour

Steve Lambert, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Tuesday, May. 16, 2023

WINNIPEG - People's Party of Canada Leader Maxime Bernier admitted Tuesday to violating COVID-19 restrictions in Manitoba and was fined $2,000 including surcharges.

Bernier was warned, handed tickets and eventually arrested in June 2021 after starting a planned tour of several Manitoba communities where he had scheduled public rallies.

"It was a deliberate choice not to respect the rule of law," provincial court Judge Anne Krahn said in her ruling.

Laws can be challenged in court, Krahn added, but if people could simply ignore ones they don't agree with, the result would be "chaos."

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Tuesday, May. 16, 2023

COVID-19 emergency over but threat remains: Duclos

Mia Rabson, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Preview

COVID-19 emergency over but threat remains: Duclos

Mia Rabson, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Friday, May. 5, 2023

OTTAWA - COVID-19 isn't over even after the World Health Organization declared Friday that the illness no longer qualifies as a global emergency, Canada's Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said.

The declaration made the WHO in Geneva is a symbolic end to the devastating coronavirus pandemic that triggered once-unthinkable lockdowns, upended economies and killed millions of people worldwide.

Duclos said it's a good sign but COVID-19 still must be taken seriously and its lasting impact on our health care system is still playing out.

"This is the end of an emergency, this is not the end of the threat," he said, speaking to reporters at the Liberal policy convention in Ottawa. "COVID-19 is still with us."

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Friday, May. 5, 2023

White House, DHS to end COVID vaccine travel rules

The Canadian Press 3 minute read Preview

White House, DHS to end COVID vaccine travel rules

The Canadian Press 3 minute read Monday, May. 1, 2023

WASHINGTON - The Biden administration says COVID-19 vaccination requirements for foreign air travellers and at the Canada-U.S. border are being lifted as of May 12.

The day before, May 11, will mark the end of the COVID-19 emergency the U.S. imposed back in 2020 as the world was coming to grips with the scale of the pandemic.

New York Rep. Brian Higgins, a vocal advocate of eased border restrictions, is cheering the news as a victory for families, tourists and long-suffering border communities.

Canada ended its own vaccination requirements for foreign visitors back in October.

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Monday, May. 1, 2023

Canadian and American flags fly near the Ambassador Bridge at the Canada-USA border crossing in Windsor, Ont. on Saturday, March 21, 2020. The Biden administration says COVID-19 vaccination requirements for foreign air travellers and at the Canada-U.S. border are being lifted as of May 12. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Rob Gurdebeke

Alberta's Smith hedges on pursuing CBC lawsuit

Dean Bennett, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Preview

Alberta's Smith hedges on pursuing CBC lawsuit

Dean Bennett, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Monday, May. 1, 2023

EDMONTON - Alberta United Conservative Leader Danielle Smith won’t say if she will follow through on her threat to sue the CBC for defamation over its coverage of her role in prosecuting COVID-19 court cases.

Smith had given the public broadcaster until last Friday to retract and apologize or face further legal action, but a CBC spokesman said Monday it has not seen anything new from Smith’s legal team.

Smith, speaking to reporters at her party’s election campaign launch in Calgary, declined to answer when asked if she is still pursuing the case and if not, why not.

“I think that Albertans are interested in what we're going to be campaigning on to move the province forward,” said Smith.

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Monday, May. 1, 2023

United Conservative Party leader Danielle Smith speaks at a campaign launch rally in Calgary, Alta., Saturday, April 29, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

Manitoba's vaccine rollout effective, auditor says

The Canadian Press 2 minute read Preview

Manitoba's vaccine rollout effective, auditor says

The Canadian Press 2 minute read Wednesday, Apr. 26, 2023

WINNIPEG - The Manitoba government's rollout of COVID-19 vaccines was effective and widespread, but its paper-based consent forms were a hurdle that needs to be changed, auditor general Tyson Shtykalo said Wednesday.

In a 55-page report, Shtykalo said the government followed national guidelines in prioritizing demographic and occupational groups for vaccines when they first became available.

Shtykalo also approved of the government's decision to distribute vaccines through a wide variety of channels — mass-vaccination supersites, smaller locations such as neighbourhood pharmacies and outreach programs to vulnerable populations.

By March of last year, 89 per cent of Manitobans had received at least one shot, the report found.

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Wednesday, Apr. 26, 2023

Manitoba's auditor general says the province's COVID-19 vaccine rollout was effective but there is room for improvement. Nora Valencia receives her vaccination at Manitoba’s COVID-19 vaccination centre in a soccer complex in north Winnipeg, Friday, May 7, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods

Pandemic may have made young Canadians meaner

Fakiha Baig, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Preview

Pandemic may have made young Canadians meaner

Fakiha Baig, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Wednesday, Apr. 19, 2023

TORONTO - Increased time online during the pandemic may have made young Canadians meaner, a researcher said Wednesday, warning that declining empathy which emerged during isolation was now fostering increased cruelty during in-person interactions, including at school.

Kaitlynn Mendes, an associate professor at the University of Western Ontario, said during an Ontario Medical Association press conference that many parents may not be aware of their children's increased exposure to online harassment during the pandemic, which is now having damaging consequences.

"Teachers really noted that, as young people were coming back into school, the way that young people were communicating with each other during lockdown had changed, and they found that their empathy had really decreased," Mendes, who is a sociologist, told reporters.

"This was likely due to things like the lack of eye contact, facial expression, human touch, and even voice intonations. These are really important cues that are missing from online interaction and this makes empathizing hard, but it means that harassment and abuse actually become much easier," she added.

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Wednesday, Apr. 19, 2023

Many Canadians scrolled on their social media feeds during the COVID-19 pandemic which made more of them, less empathetic. This is creating a spillover effect which may be resulting in meaner attitudes in person, an associate professor at the University of Western Ontario said during a news conference with the Ontario Medical Association discussing the effects of the pandemic on mental health. A person uses a cell phone in Ottawa on Monday, July 18, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Vaccine-making capacity in Canada slowly growing

Mia Rabson, The Canadian Press 8 minute read Preview

Vaccine-making capacity in Canada slowly growing

Mia Rabson, The Canadian Press 8 minute read Friday, Apr. 14, 2023

OTTAWA - The COVID-19 pandemic wasn't even six months old, and not a single vaccine for it had been approved for use anywhere, when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took to a podium in Montreal to promise that Canada's National Research Council would be able to start churning out millions of doses by the end of 2021.

Nearly 1,000 days later, it hasn't produced even one dose for clinical use.

But that day is coming.

Earl Brown, a virologist and professor emeritus at the University of Ottawa, said getting a new plant from the ground up was never going to happen in less than a year.

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Friday, Apr. 14, 2023

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks to reporters during a news conference following a visit to the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) Royalmount Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre facility in Montreal, Monday, August 31, 2020. Trudeau promised that Canada's National Research Council would be able to start churning out millions of doses of COVID-19 vaccine by the end of 2021, but as of April 2023, that hasn't happened. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes

NDP challenges Premier Smith on 'extremist views'

Dean Bennett, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview

NDP challenges Premier Smith on 'extremist views'

Dean Bennett, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Thursday, Apr. 13, 2023

EDMONTON - Alberta Opposition NDP Leader Rachel Notley says Premier Danielle Smith must explain whether she shares the "extremist views" of Calgary street preacher Artur Pawlowski and those of "her key support group" Take Back Alberta.

“Albertans deserve to know whether they are on the verge of selecting a premier whose views are deeply extreme and offside with the opinions of the vast majority of Albertans,” Notley said at a news conference in Grande Prairie, Alta., on Thursday.

“A number of the views espoused by Art Pawlowski, as well as many of the folks within Take Back Alberta who support him — who were (also) critical to Danielle Smith becoming leader of the (United Conservative Party) — are very concerning.”

Smith has said the writ will be dropped in just over two weeks for a provincial election on May 29.

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Thursday, Apr. 13, 2023

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announces a public health guarantee in Sherwood Park, Alta., Tuesday, April 11, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson

Alberta premier won't discuss ethics probe

Dean Bennett, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview

Alberta premier won't discuss ethics probe

Dean Bennett, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Tuesday, Apr. 11, 2023

EDMONTON - Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says she won’t discuss an ethics investigation launched against her or confirm what it's about.

Smith told reporters she wants to respect the process and that it would be wrong to comment during an active investigation by ethics commissioner Marguerite Trussler.

“I welcome the ethics commissioner’s investigation. It would be inappropriate, though, of me to talk about the details of that,” Smith said at a United Conservative Party pre-election campaign announcement in Sherwood Park, Alta., on Tuesday.

"I'm going to let her do the work and I'm fully co-operating with her investigation.”

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Tuesday, Apr. 11, 2023

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith makes an announcement in Sherwood Park, Alta., on Tuesday, April 11, 2023. Smith won’t say what she is being investigated for by Alberta’s ethics commissioner. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson

Timeline of Alberta premier and court controversy

The Canadian Press 5 minute read Preview

Timeline of Alberta premier and court controversy

The Canadian Press 5 minute read Monday, Apr. 10, 2023

EDMONTON - Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has been accused of interference in the province's justice system. Here is a timeline of events:

Feb. 3, 2022 — Calgary street pastor Artur Pawlowski gives a speech to COVID-19 protesters at a blockade at the Canada-United States border crossing at Coutts, Alta. He is later charged with breaching a release order and mischief for allegedly inciting people to block public property at Coutts. He is also charged under the Alberta Critical Infrastructure Defence Act with wilfully damaging or destroying essential infrastructure.

Oct. 6, 2022 — Smith, long critical of COVID-19 masking, gathering and vaccine mandate rules, wins the leadership of the United Conservative Party and becomes premier.

Dec. 21, 2022 -- In year-end interview with Rebel News, Smith says she has asked and continues to ask Crown prosecutors as COVID-19 court cases come up whether the cases are winnable and in the public interest.

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Monday, Apr. 10, 2023

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith holds a news conference in Calgary, Alta., Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

Ethics commissioner investigating Alberta premier

Dean Bennett, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Preview

Ethics commissioner investigating Alberta premier

Dean Bennett, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Monday, Apr. 10, 2023

EDMONTON - Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says she is under investigation by the province's ethics commissioner into whether she interfered in the administration of justice in relation to a COVID-19 prosecution.

It’s the second third-party investigation of the United Conservative Party government in just over a year relating to allegations of judicial interference. It also comes three weeks before an expected writ drop for the May 29 provincial election.

"The premier welcomes this investigation, is fully co-operating with the commissioner and is confident this examination will confirm there has been no such interference,” Smith’s office said in a statement Monday.

"As a result of the ongoing investigation, it would be inappropriate for the premier to comment on this further until the investigation is completed."

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Monday, Apr. 10, 2023

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith speaks at the Canada Strong and Free Network in Ottawa on Thursday, March 23, 2023. Smith says she has been contacted by the province's ethics commissioner, who is investigating whether or not she interfered in the administration of justice. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Smith offers up new version of call with accused

Dean Bennett, The Canadian Press 7 minute read Preview

Smith offers up new version of call with accused

Dean Bennett, The Canadian Press 7 minute read Saturday, Apr. 8, 2023

EDMONTON - Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has delivered a new version of why she engaged in a controversial phone call with a Calgary street pastor in which they discussed his upcoming criminal case related to COVID-19 public health measures.

Smith told her weekly phone-in radio show Saturday that she took the call from Art Pawlowski because she thought it was going to be in the context of his role as the leader of another political party.

She said when the discussion veered into Pawlowski’s court case, she simply reminded the former head of the Alberta Independence Party that she had tried to gain amnesty for COVID accused but was told by justice officials the cases must play out independently, and that she accepted that advice.

She also said she disagrees strongly with Pawlowski’s “extreme views.”

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Saturday, Apr. 8, 2023

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith speaks at the Canada Strong and Free Network in Ottawa on Thursday, March 23, 2023. Smith has delivered a new version of why she engaged in a controversial phone call with a Calgary street pastor in which they discussed his upcoming criminal case related to COVID charges. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

B.C. emerging from pandemic, Henry says

The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview

B.C. emerging from pandemic, Henry says

The Canadian Press 4 minute read Thursday, Apr. 6, 2023

VICTORIA - British Columbia has lifted pandemic restrictions including mandatory mask-wearing in health-care settings, and proof of vaccination and COVID test results for visitors in care homes.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said Thursday that the requirement for health-care workers to be fully vaccinated would remain, but the steady decline in COVID-19 hospitalizations indicated the province was "emerging" from the pandemic.

Henry said that despite the continued presence of COVID-19 infections in the next few months, authorities were likely to be able to say that B.C. was no longer in a pandemic.

The lifting of restrictions took effect immediately, but Henry said it did not mean such restrictions would not return in the fall, as experts were still studying the seasonality of COVID.

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Thursday, Apr. 6, 2023

B.C. Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry steps away from the podium after speaking during a news conference in Vancouver, B.C., Monday, Jan. 30, 2023. Henry announced B.C. is lifting pandemic restrictions like mandatory mask-wearing in health-care settings and visitor restrictions and proof of vaccination in care homes. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Premier Smith says politicians cannot call accused

Dean Bennett, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview

Premier Smith says politicians cannot call accused

Dean Bennett, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Thursday, Apr. 6, 2023

EDMONTON - Premier Danielle Smith says members of the Alberta legislature, including cabinet ministers, are not free to talk to accused people about their criminal court cases but her call to a man facing charges was OK.

Smith, asked Thursday whether her phone call to Calgary street pastor Artur Pawlowski represents a change in government policy, replied that the long-standing firewall separating politicians and the justice system remains in place.

“There's no change of policy. The policy is what it has always been, that the Crown prosecutors and the judicial system operate independently,” Smith told reporters in Brooks, Alta., a city in her constituency of Brooks-Medicine Hat.

Smith reiterated that she did nothing irregular on the 11-minute call, which took place in early January concerning, Pawlowski’s looming trial related to the COVID-19 border protest at Coutts, Alta., in early 2022.

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Thursday, Apr. 6, 2023

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith speaks at the Canada Strong and Free Network in Ottawa on Thursday, March 23, 2023. Smith, a week after she was overheard on a leaked phone call offering to help an accused with his upcoming criminal trial, says MLAs and cabinet ministers are not free to engage in such discussions because the system must be independent. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Experts say premier must explain call with accused

Dean Bennett, The Canadian Press 6 minute read Preview

Experts say premier must explain call with accused

Dean Bennett, The Canadian Press 6 minute read Wednesday, Apr. 5, 2023

EDMONTON - Premier Danielle Smith must explain to Albertans why she discussed a criminal case with the accused before his trial, whether she still believes such calls are OK and whether she will continue to have these conversations, legal experts and political scientists say.

They say the premier's actions are a violation of the democratic firewall separating politicians from court cases and that Smith's strategy to stay silent and threaten to sue media ensures the controversy will be alive for the upcoming election campaign.

Smith has declined to answer questions from reporters surrounding a leaked phone conversation in which she offered to help Calgary street pastor Artur Pawlowski in his criminal case related to the COVID-19 protest at the Canada-United States border crossing at Coutts, Alta., in early 2022.

In the call, Smith discussed the disposition of other cases with Pawlowski. She revealed to him internal government disagreements over case strategy, commiserated with him that he was being treated unfairly by the prosecutor through a late-day “document dump" and told him the charges against him were politically motivated.

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Wednesday, Apr. 5, 2023

Legal experts and political scientists say Premier Danielle Smith must explain to Albertans why she discussed a criminal case with the accused before his trial, whether she still believes the call was OK, and whether she will continue making such calls. Smith speaks at the Canada Strong and Free Network in Ottawa on Thursday, March 23, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Smith says party paying for possible media lawsuit

Dean Bennett, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview

Smith says party paying for possible media lawsuit

Dean Bennett, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Tuesday, Apr. 4, 2023

EDMONTON - Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says her United Conservative Party is paying for legal actionshe is consideringagainst the CBC, which the Opposition NDP says raises the question of whether the government rejected pursuing the lawsuit.

Smith, asked by reporters in Calgary on Tuesday who was funding the legal action, replied “the party,” and did not elaborate.

Her office did not immediately respond to followup questions about why the party would fund the legal action that concerns Smith in her role as premier.

Party spokesman Dave Prisco also did not immediately respond to a request for clarification on why the UCP had agreed to pay the bill.

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Tuesday, Apr. 4, 2023

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith speaks to members of the media during a press conference in Ottawa, on Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby

Smith says she won't comment on Crown controversy

The Canadian Press 5 minute read Preview

Smith says she won't comment on Crown controversy

The Canadian Press 5 minute read Monday, Apr. 3, 2023

CALGARY - Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says she will no longer speak about her involvement in how COVID-19 court cases are being prosecuted.

Smith says her United Conservative Party government is considering a defamation lawsuit and, because of that, she has been advised by counsel not to comment.

A notice of defamation letter dated Sunday says lawyers for the premier want the CBC to retract and apologize for its story in January that stated a member of her staff sent emails to the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service challenging how it was handling cases from COVID-19 protests at the United States-Canada border crossing at Coutts, Alta.

The CBC repeated Monday that it stands by its reporting.

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Monday, Apr. 3, 2023

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith speaks at the Canada Strong and Free Network in Ottawa on Thursday, March 23, 2023. Smith says she will no longer speak about her involvement in how COVID-19 court cases are being prosecuted. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Smith's phone call raises court case questions

Dean Bennett, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview

Smith's phone call raises court case questions

Dean Bennett, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Friday, Mar. 31, 2023

EDMONTON - A phone call between Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and a Calgary pastor where they discussed his criminal trial raises questions about whether she has compromised the case, the Opposition NDP said Friday.

Smith is heard on a leaked cellphone video telling Artur Pawlowski that charges such as those he was facing were politically motivated.

“I think it actually probably compromises the case itself,” said NDP Leader Rachel Notley, who is also a lawyer. “You may actually find that it ends up being something that jeopardizes the independence of the case."

The call centres around Pawlowski’s looming criminal trial for his role in a protest over COVID-19 health measures that blocked the United States-Canada border-crossing at Coutts, Alta., in January 2022. The blockade paralyzed Alberta's main U.S. border-crossing for more than two weeks.

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Friday, Mar. 31, 2023

Alberta NDP Opposition Leader Rachel Notley addresses the Calgary Chamber of Commerce on Thursday, Dec. 15, 2022. She says Danielle Smith’s phone call to an accused pastor to discuss his criminal trial raises questions about whether the premier has compromised the case. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

Alberta deputy premier defends Smith on COVID call

Dean Bennett, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview

Alberta deputy premier defends Smith on COVID call

Dean Bennett, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Thursday, Mar. 30, 2023

EDMONTON - Alberta’s deputy premier says it was appropriate for Premier Danielle Smith to phone up a pastor and discuss his upcoming criminal trial on charges stemming from protests over pandemic restrictions.

Kaycee Madu, who is also the province's former justice minister, said Thursday that Smith is working to make Alberta better, adding that she is free to contact whomever she wants in pursuing that mission.

Opposition NDP Leader Rachel Notley labelled Madu’s comments a dangerous "la la land" rationale and the start of a slippery slope toward a "tinpot dictatorship."

Smith faces renewed criticism over a leaked phone conservation she had with Calgary pastor Artur Pawlowski in January about his looming criminal trial for his role at a protest over COVID-19 health measures that blocked the United States-Canada border-crossing at Coutts, Alta., in January 2022.

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Thursday, Mar. 30, 2023

Kaycee Madu shakes hand with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith after he was sworn into cabinet in Edmonton, Monday, Oct. 24, 2022. Madu says it was appropriate for his boss to phone up a pastor charged over pandemic-rule protests and discuss the accused's upcoming criminal trial. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson

Smith on call with accused promised to intervene

Dean Bennett, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Preview

Smith on call with accused promised to intervene

Dean Bennett, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Wednesday, Mar. 29, 2023

EDMONTON - Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, in a leaked cellphone call, commiserated with a COVID-19 protester about his trial while divulging to him there was an internal dispute over how Crown prosecutors were handling COVID-19 cases.

Smith also promised on the call to intervene as best she could on Artur Pawlowski's behalf and said she was reminding prosecutors "almost weekly" about her concerns over pursuing such cases.

“I’m sorry to hear what they're putting you through,” Smith is heard telling Pawlowski in the early January call, recorded on a cellphone videothat was released Wednesday by the Opposition NDP.

“I’m very sympathetic. This is very frustrating to me," the premier said.

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Wednesday, Mar. 29, 2023

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith speaks at the Canada Strong and Free Network in Ottawa on Thursday, March 23, 2023.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

How these firms survived their pandemic pivot

Chuck Chiang, The Canadian Press 6 minute read Preview

How these firms survived their pandemic pivot

Chuck Chiang, The Canadian Press 6 minute read Sunday, Mar. 19, 2023

Nick Ngo still vividly remembers the spring of 2020, and the sudden wave of new shops making the same acrylic barriers as his business.

"During that time, companies would pop up. I remember (it was) anybody with a saw who was able to cut it," said Ngo, project manager at Sixstream Signs Ltd. in Surrey, B.C. "I don't necessarily agree with it, but that was what they were doing."

What Ngo saw was part of a larger trend, a cascade of companies suddenly jumping into the COVID-19 economy, switching production from other fields into making everything from protective barriers and hand sanitizers to cleaning wipes and personal protective equipment.

Fast-forward three years, and many companies that emerged to manufacture and procure PPE in the early days of the pandemic have gone bust. But others like Sixstream that had pre-existing product lines before pivoting to pandemic-related products related to social distancing and hygiene have since managed to switch back, as supply lines and demand factors recovered and stabilized.

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Sunday, Mar. 19, 2023

Scott Thompson, founder of Mad Laboratory Distilling, works to keep grains moving from a hopper as they are fed to a mash tank while steam rises from a still being cleaned at the distillery, in Vancouver, on Thursday, March 9, 2023. Mad Lab switched to produce hand sanitizer during the pandemic but is now back to full-time production of alcoholic beverages.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

The rise and fall of Canada’s domestic PPE market

Liam Casey, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Preview

The rise and fall of Canada’s domestic PPE market

Liam Casey, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Thursday, Mar. 16, 2023

Most Canadian businesses that answered federal and provincial calls during the pandemic to build up a domestic sector for personal protective equipment have collapsed.

The association that represents Canadian PPE companies says 90 per cent of those businesses have been forced to close or pivot to other industries because the federal government and Ontario have given contracts to a massive American company and a Quebec operation.

"We've got an industry that is just running on fumes," Barry Hunt, the president of the Canadian Association of PPE Manufacturers, said in an interview.

"Most of them are out of business and the ones that aren't out of business are going out of business quickly."

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Thursday, Mar. 16, 2023

George Irwin, owner of Trebor RX Corp., which manufactured PPE masks for the COVID-19 pandemic, poses for a photograph outside what was his business before it went into receivership in Collingwood, Ont., on Wednesday, March 15, 2023. Both the federal and provincial governments have not bought any PPE from domestic companies after imploring them to help make PPE in the early days of the pandemic. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

B.C. dropping vaccine rule as it launches boosters

The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview

B.C. dropping vaccine rule as it launches boosters

The Canadian Press 4 minute read Friday, Mar. 10, 2023

VANCOUVER - British Columbia is rescinding its policy requiring provincial public servants to be vaccinated against COVID-19 and is planning a spring booster program that will focus on the elderly and vulnerable.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said the next round of boosters, expected to begin in April, will target people at the "highest risk" of severe illness.

She said those who should get another shot, six months after their last vaccine or infection, include people aged at least 80, Indigenous people aged at least 70 and long-term care residents.

Adults who are moderately to severely immunity compromised are also recommended to get a booster.

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Friday, Mar. 10, 2023

Needles are seen filled with the vaccination for COVID-19 are shown in North in Delta, B.C., Wednesday, June 16, 2021. British Columbia is rescinding its policy that required provincial public servants to be vaccinated against COVID-19. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

House votes to declassify info about origins of COVID-19

Lisa Mascaro, The Associated Press 2 minute read Preview

House votes to declassify info about origins of COVID-19

Lisa Mascaro, The Associated Press 2 minute read Friday, Mar. 10, 2023

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House voted unanimously on Friday to declassify U.S. intelligence information about the origins of COVID-19, a sweeping show of bipartisan support near the third anniversary of the start of the deadly pandemic.

The 419-0 vote was final approval of the bill, sending it to President Joe Biden’s desk to be signed into law.

Debate was brief and to the point: Americans have questions about how the deadly virus started and what can be done to prevent future outbreaks.

“The American public deserves answers to every aspect of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Rep. Michael Turner, R-Ohio, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.

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Friday, Mar. 10, 2023

June 1, 2023

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