 | Tuesday, January 18, 2022 – by John McHutchion | | Here’s what you need to know to get the day started: | | | Some Canadian travellers want to know why those entering from the U.S. face less-stringent rules | | | Some Canadian travellers required to spend days in isolation waiting for COVID-19 test results after returning home from abroad want to know why Ottawa allows people arriving from the U.S. to skip quarantine.
Kevin McNally of Gatineau, Que., flew from Panama to Montreal on Jan. 7. He was tested on arrival and waited six days at home in quarantine before he received his negative test result. He said it was hard to endure the long wait, knowing tested travellers who arrive in Canada after being in the U.S. are exempt from the quarantine requirement.
"I felt like a prisoner in my own country and yet an American can come over here and not quarantine," said McNally, who works as a travel consultant. "It makes no sense."
As part of its beefed-up arrival-testing program, Ottawa is doling out PCR tests daily to thousands of randomly selected, fully vaccinated international travellers upon arrival. According to rules posted on the government's website, randomly tested travellers who have been in a country outside the U.S. within the past 14 days must quarantine while waiting for their test results. Those who test negative can leave isolation.
But tested travellers, including Canadians, who haven't been anywhere outside Canada except the U.S. within the past 14 days can skip quarantine while awaiting their results — even though cases of the highly contagious Omicron variant are surging in the U.S.
All unvaccinated travellers entering from any country are tested upon arrival and must quarantine for 14 days.
CBC News asked the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) why vaccinated travellers from the U.S. who are tested get to skip quarantine. In an email sent Monday, spokesperson Tammy Jarbeau didn't respond to the question and instead repeated the quarantine rules from the government's website.
Earlier this month, PHAC told CBC News that its travel rules are rooted in science. "Border measures are based on available data, scientific evidence and monitoring of the epidemiological situation both in Canada and internationally," said spokesperson André Gagnon in an email on Jan. 7. | | | | | | | | | In brief | | | Following Canada’s approved of Paxlovid, Pfizer’s new pill for the treatment of COVID-19, experts are hopeful it can help control a devastating Omicron-driven surge — if it's rolled out fast enough. Questions remain as to whether the provinces and territories will be able to get the drug out to sick, vulnerable Canadians within the recommended five-day window after symptoms begin. Canada's Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam said the antiviral treatment will be in "high demand" and that officials anticipate initial supply "will not be great anywhere" as they work with provinces and territories to determine how best to roll it out. Canada has pre-purchased one million doses of the drug, with the first batch of 30,000 to be distributed on a per-capita basis and more arriving in the coming days. Getting that limited supply out in time to mitigate the pressure on hospitals will be no small feat — and the impact likely won't be felt anytime soon. "There's almost certainly not going to be enough supply to really make a population impact," said Dr. Allison McGeer, a medical microbiologist and infectious disease specialist at Toronto's Mount Sinai Hospital. "Not that it isn't a good thing, not that we shouldn't be using it." Read the full story here.
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney says he's asked Justice Minister Kaycee Madu to "step back" from his job while an independent review examines if there was interference in the administration of justice after Madu phoned the Edmonton police chief about a traffic ticket. The request follows a CBC News story Monday that revealed Madu had telephoned Edmonton police Chief Dale McFee to discuss a distracted driving ticket he received on March 10, 2021. In a late-night announcement on Twitter, Kenney said that Alberta Energy Minister Sonya Savage will act as minister of justice and solicitor general during Madu's leave of absence. In a statement to CBC News Monday, prior to Kenney's announcement, Madu confirmed the incident and that he had already paid the ticket in full. However, he said he told the officer who pulled him over that he disagreed with the fine and that his phone was in his pocket. He said he called McFee because he wanted to ensure he was not being "unlawfully surveilled" following a controversy surrounding the Lethbridge Police Service. Read more on this story here.
A proposed transportation plan by Canada's nuclear industry would see up to 30,000 shipments of highly radioactive spent nuclear fuel rods travel through some of Ontario's most densely populated communities over four decades, starting in the 2040s. Under the proposed plan from the Nuclear Waste Management Organization, fuel rods would be shipped by road and/or rail from reactor sites and interim storage facilities in Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba and New Brunswick, destined for either South Bruce or Ignace in Ontario. Currently, scientists are studying the ancient bedrock below both communities to determine whether the geology is right for a deep geologic repository, a $23-billion crypt as deep as the CN Tower is tall, in which Canada could seal away its entire stockpile of nuclear waste for eons. The selection of a site is expected in 2023. Once chosen, the host community would start to receive up to 30,000 shipments of nuclear waste over four decades, which translates into an average of 654 shipments per year, or almost two shipments per day. For the rest of the province, it would mean the radioactive cargo could potentially travel along rail routes, 400-series highways or even city streets as the fuel rods make their way to their final resting place. Read the full story here.
Canada's foreign minister landed in Kyiv Monday promising more economic assistance to help keep the Ukrainian government afloat in the face of uncertainty caused by the threat of a Russian invasion. Mélanie Joly met yesterday with Ukraine's Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal. She said her visit was meant to show Canada's unwavering solidarity in the ongoing crisis. In a later interview with Radio-Canada, Joly said the federal government is still firmly committed to seeing Ukraine join NATO — despite Russia's insistence that extending membership in the western military alliance to Ukraine would cross one of its so-called red lines. Read more on Joly's meeting in Ukraine.
The Beijing Olympic Committee is using stricter-than-usual testing for COVID-19, making it harder for Canadian athletes, especially those who have recently recovered from the virus, to pass tests upon arriving in China, CBC Sports has learned. The cycle threshold (CT) value being used in China to detect an infection is 40, Dr. Mike Wilkinson, chief medical officer for the Canadian Olympic Committee, confirmed Monday. The higher the CT value, the less infectious a person with COVID-19 is. Many places in Canada use a CT value of 35. The NBA and NHL use 30. The NFL has set its threshold at 35. "I think what Beijing is doing is that they're doing everything they can to ensure they don't have positives coming in," Wilkinson said. Read more on China's stance on testing athletes.
Now for some good news to start your Tuesday: It's mid-January, and most people who celebrate have taken down their Christmas trees and either boxed them up, put them out on the curb for pickup, or turned them into firewood. But what if Christmas trees weren't just "Christmas" trees? What if trees were decorated for all occasions? Two Prince George, B.C., women are doing just that. Carol Jensen has given her Christmas tree new life by leaving it up year-round and decorating it to suit the season. With Valentine's Day coming, she had plans to string hearts and symbols of love around the tree, which sits near her front door for all who stop by to see. "People love the tree," she said. Vanessa Hamilton has taken a different approach. Rather than decorating one tree, she has several that she's spruced up with spray paint to match each celebration: pink and white trees for Easter, a black one for Halloween and multiple trees for Christmas. Read more about reusing Christmas trees. | | |  | Sex abuse lawsuit looms for Prince Andrew | A U.S. judge has ruled a sex abuse lawsuit can proceed against Prince Andrew, the second son of Queen Elizabeth, who last week was stripped of his military titles and royal patronages.
The lawsuit is being brought by Virginia Giuffre, who has long claimed she was sex-trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, and that she was raped by Andrew as a teenager. Maxwell was convicted of sex trafficking late last year.
The prince denies the allegations against him.
Today, ITV royal news editor and host of the Royal Rota podcast Chris Ship explains what's led up to this moment, what can be expected as the case moves forward and what it means for the legacy of the Royal Family during the Platinum Jubilee year.
Listen to today's episode | | | Today in history: January 18 | | | 1919: The Paris Peace Conference to end the First World War formally opens in Versailles, France. The conference is charged with remaking the map of Europe as well as dealing with the devastation of the war.
1949: Charles Ponzi, engineer of one of the most spectacular swindles in history, dies destitute in the charity ward of a hospital in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, at age 66.
1967: Yellowknife is chosen as the capital of the Northwest Territories.
1988: Residents of Prince Edward Island vote 59.4 per cent in favour of a bridge or tunnel connecting them to the mainland. The Confederation Bridge opened on May 31, 1997. | | | (With files from CBC News, The Canadian Press, The Associated Press and Reuters) | | | | |  | CBC NEWS APP | The most convenient way to get your news
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