EDMONTON -- Four more Albertans have died due to COVID-19 as the number of patients in hospital continues to rise, according to the province's latest data released Tuesday.
The province reported 920 new cases as well as 431 coronavirus patients in hospital, including 106 in intensive care units on Tuesday.
The number of patients in hospital and ICU are both at levels last seen at the start of June.
More than 89 per cent of those in ICU are unvaccinated, as are close to 74 per cent of those in hospital.
The four deaths were in people ranging in age from in their 50s to over 80 years old and bring the province's death toll to 2,375.
The active case count rose for a 45th consecutive day, up to 11,660, about where it was in late May.
The province reported a 12.42 per cent test positivity rate based on about 7,500 tests. Since July 29, testing has been recommended only for those with symptoms.
Among eligible Albertans, 78 per cent have received a first dose of vaccine and 69.8 per cent have had two doses.
The next data update is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.
Quebec reported 425 new infections and one additional death Tuesday related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Health officials say there were 4,400 active novel coronavirus cases across the province, which is dealing with an evolving fourth wave.
The number of hospitalizations climbed by six for a total of 131. Of those patients, there are 36 people in intensive care units, a drop of one compared to the previous day.
When it comes to screening, the most recent information available shows 16,453 tests were given across the province Sunday.
The immunization rollout saw another 23,594 doses of the vaccine administered, including 22,000 in the past 24-hour period. Over the course of the campaign, more than 12.3 million shots have been given.
Officials say 87 per cent of Quebecers who are 12 and older have received at least one shot and about 80 per cent are considered adequately vaccinated.
Quebec has seen 389,224 cases and 11,286 deaths since the start of the health crisis. The number of recoveries topped 373,000 as of Tuesday.
VANCOUVER -- With COVID-19 case counts on a steady rise in B.C., health officials in the province are once again warning of the risk of remaining unvaccinated.
Part of the data the pair released suggested the province is "in a pandemic of the unvaccinated," health officials said.
"What we are seeing is these vaccines are very protective of across all age groups," Henry said. "This has become a pandemic that is spreading rapidly amongst pockets of people who are unvaccinated."
In fact, the data – adjusted for age difference – indicates people who are unvaccinated are 12 times more likely to get COVID-19 than those who have had two vaccine doses. The data also suggested people who are unvaccinated are 34 times more likely to require hospitalization if they get COVID-19 than those who are fully vaccinated.
In other words, unvaccinated people are 34 more times more likely to be hospitalized compared to fully vaccinated people their age.
"This is important because adjusting for age, we know that our ability to develop response to the vaccine is dependent on age and our chances of having serious outcomes if we do get infected with COVID-19 is also related to age," Henry explained.
Over the past month, between July 30 and Aug. 26, fully vaccinated individuals made up 13 per cent of COVID-19 hospitalizations in the province. Fifteen per cent of the cases were among those who were fully vaccinated, even though, as of Aug. 26, more than 75 per cent of eligible B.C. residents had two shots.
However, health officials said 35 per cent of deaths related to the coronavirus are among fully vaccinated people. Officials explained that's because most of the deaths among fully vaccinated people are people aged 80 and older whose immune response to the vaccine isn't as strong.
"Once this virus, particularly this highly transmissible strain that we're seeing circulating in B.C. now, gets into long-term care homes, even older fully vaccinated people can become ill and can die from it," Henry said.
Officials indicated that's why it's important for those in contact with people in that age category – like workers and visitors of long-term care homes – be vaccinated.
Even so, people who are unvaccinated are still eight times more likely to die from COVID-19 than those who get COVID-19 with two shots, the age-adjusted data suggested.
TORONTO -- Toronto police have arrested two more suspects in connection with the weekend shooting at Yorkdale Shopping Centre and two other suspects remain outstanding.
Police provided an update on the shooting Tuesday afternoon, almost 48 hours after shots were fired in the mall on Sunday, Aug. 29.
Investigators allege that there were two groups of individuals who exchanged targeted gunshots at each other in the mall.
“Group one consisted of one male subject and one female subject. Group two consisted of three male parties,” Supt. Steve Watts told reporters.
After the shooting, the suspects in group one fled the scene in a vehicle and were located by police on Monday.
“This vehicle was tracked throughout the next 48 hours and subsequently on yesterday's date, in mid-afternoon, this vehicle was taken down in the southern area of Etobicoke, and both Mr. Neliko and Ms. Koehler were arrested for the incident at Yorkdale Mall,” Watts said.
The suspects have been identified as Toronto residents Brandon Neliko, 22, and 29-year-old Charlotte Koehler.
Both Neliko and Koehler face charges of discharging a firearm with intent to wound and occupying a motor vehicle with a firearm.
Neliko also faces three other charges, including unauthorized possession of a firearm, possession of a loaded firearm and possession of a firearm contrary to prohibition order.
The suspects appeared in court Tuesday morning.
Another suspect in group two was arrested shortly after the shooting on Sunday.
Twenty-five year-old Ayobami Owusu, of Toronto, faces six charges.
When police first identified Owusu they said he was 21 years old but they have since corrected his age.
Watts said the two remaining male suspects in group two are outstanding.
“There are two additional subjects which members of the Gun and Gang Task Force are actively following up on investigative leads. And we have a full intensive search, full assets and resources are being allocated in response to the second and third male,” he said.
Police believe that the two groups of suspects know each other and that group one initiated the shooting.
“I will say that we are alleging that the male and the female were the initiators of this incident...The three males responded in kind,” Watts said.
The cause of the altercation is not clear at this point in time.
Seven rounds fired near Hudson's Bay
Police responded to reports of shots fired shortly after 3:30 p.m. on Sunday.
Videos on social media showed several patrons running inside the mall after the shots erupted.
Watts said seven rounds of ammunition were fired near Hudson’s Bay during the shooting.
As a precaution, the mall was placed in lockdown for several hours after the shooting.
No one was injured but an elderly woman was hurt in a fall while trying to flee the area.
A loaded Glock-19 firearm was recovered from the scene, as well as ammunition.
Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 416-808-3200 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477).
With files from CP24's Chris Fox and Chris Herhalt.
All of the main federal parties have filed paperwork with Elections Canada detailing who will be running for them in the coming election, closing the door on any further changes to the candidate list before Canadians cast their ballots on Sept. 20.
All the major parties will be running a nearly full slate of 338 candidates, with the Liberals and the NDP telling CBC News that they have filed papers with Elections Canada for a full slate.
The Liberals say their list of candidates this year includes "health professionals, teachers, Indigenous leaders, LGBTQ2 advocates, entrepreneurs, scientists, Olympians and Paralympians, experienced parliamentarians," and others.
The Conservatives have also filed papers for 338 candidates but had to withdraw one name from the list just before the Monday 2 p.m. deadline. Troy Myers stepped down as the Conservative candidate for the Nova Scotia riding of Dartmouth–Cole Harbour after sexual misconduct allegations against him surfaced.
The party confirmed to CBC News that while it had withdrawn Myers' name in time, it did not provide Elections Canada with another candidate and will not be running anyone in the riding this election cycle.
Now that the deadline for submitting candidates has passed, Elections Canada must work to verify that the supporting documents are valid and the nomination signatures have been verified — a process officials say should be completed by Wednesday afternoon.
While the other national parties were able to provide CBC News with numbers, the Green Party was unable to do so by Monday evening. The People's Party of Canada, however, said it would be running about 330 candidates, slightly more than the 315 it ran in 2019.
"As a small party, this was a huge logistical challenge, but we managed to surpass our total of 315 candidates in the 2019 election. We're thrilled to be able to offer Canadian voters an option other than the establishment parties in almost every riding this time," PPC spokesman Martin Masse said.
More women and gender diversity than ever
According to Equal Voice, which tracks the gender diversity of candidates, the 2021 election marks a continued increase in the number of non-male candidates since the 2015 federal election.
Overall, Equal Voice says 44 per cent of all candidates nominated so far are women or gender-diverse, which compares similarly to the 2019 election, when it was 42 per cent.
The group says that it has gathered the full list of candidates for the Liberals and the Conservatives — and says both parties are continuing to show improvement.
The Liberals' candidates nominated so far are 43 per cent women and gender-diverse this time out, compared with 39 per cent in 2019, and 31 per cent in 2015. The Conservative candidates are 33 per cent women and gender-diverse, compared with 32 per cent in 2019 and just 20 per cent in 2015.
"From the beginning, Erin O'Toole has been clear that no matter your gender, background, orientation, colour, or religion, you are welcome and at home with Canada's Conservatives," said Chelsea Tucker, director of media relations for the Conservatives.
Even though they are not a huge leap from 2019, to see that little improvement that we've seen across the board with all of the parties, we're pretty happy with that.- Eleanor Fast, Equal Voice, executive director
Equal Voice says the Bloc Québécois, which is running a full slate of 78 candidates in Quebec, will beat both the Conservatives and the Liberals with 47 per cent of its candidates being women or gender diverse compared with 45 per cent in 2019. The group did not track the People's Party of Canada.
Eleanor Fast, Equal Voice's executive director, told CBC News that while they are still compiling their candidate lists for the Greens and the NDP, both parties are on track to have at least 50 per cent of their candidates female or gender-diverse, based on who has been nominated so far.
The NDP says that it worked with equity groups to identify candidates from a number of diverse backgrounds, including those from the sexual orientation, gender identity and expression (SOGIE) communities.
"I'm proud that over a half of our team are women and more than a third of our candidates are Black, Indigenous, or people of colour," NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said in a statement. "We also have more people running for us who are living with a disability or are from the SOGIE community than we have ever had on our team."
Candidates nominated vs. candidates elected
Fast says that while Equal Voice would like to see complete gender parity across the political parties, her group is happy the curve is continuing to trend upward in what are trying times to get women to enter politics.
"The COVID pandemic has had an enormous and disproportionate impact on women, and we were very worried before the election that that would potentially have an effect on the number of women candidates," Fast told CBC News.
"To see these numbers, even though they are not a huge leap from 2019, to see that little improvement that we've seen across the board with all of the parties, we're pretty happy with that."
While progress continues, Fast says that what really matters is closing the gap between the number of women parties nominate and the number that actually win on election night. She says that in 2019 while 42 per cent of candidates were women, only 29 per cent of MPs elected were women.
"We're really hoping not to see that trend again, and that this 44 per cent of all candidates being women gets translated into a much higher percentage of women and gender diverse people being elected on election night," Fast said.
At least 1,011 lives were lost to suspected illicit drug toxicity in B.C. between January and June 2021, according to data released by the BC Coroners Service.
“The deaths of more than 1,000 British Columbians in the first six months of 2021 is a tragic reminder that the toxic illicit drug supply remains a significant ongoing threat to public health and safety in communities throughout our province,” said Lisa Lapointe, chief coroner, BC Coroners Service. “The data released today highlights the immensity of this public health emergency and the need for a wide-scale response. This includes removing barriers to safe supply, ensuring timely access to evidence-based affordable treatment and providing those experiencing problematic substance use with compassionate and viable options to reduce risks and save lives.”
In June, 159 British Columbians died as a result of drug toxicity, the ninth consecutive month in which at least 150 British Columbians died as a result of the toxic drug supply. The total number of lives lost between January and June is the highest recorded in the first six months of a calendar year. Drug toxicity is now the leading cause of death in B.C. for those aged 19 to 39 and is second in terms of reducing total potential years of life.
As with previous months, the illicit drug supply in B.C. is both variable and increasingly toxic, with extreme fentanyl concentrations and carfentanil showing up more frequently in toxicology testing. Post-mortem testing shows that fentanyl continues to be the substance involved in most drug-toxicity deaths – 85% in the first six months of 2021. Cocaine, methamphetamine and etizolam are also present in significant numbers of deaths. Data confirms, as it has throughout this public health emergency, that illicit substances are driving this health crisis. Prescribed safe supply is not playing a role in the ongoing drug-toxicity crisis.
“Today is International Overdose Awareness Day; a day in which we remember and mourn the family members, friends and neighbours we’ve lost to drug toxicity,” Lapointe said. “To the thousands of B.C. families grieving the loss of a beloved family member, I extend my heartfelt condolences and my hope that the stories you’ve shared will continue to influence positive change. Those who died mattered and their loss is felt deeply, and we must continue to urge those in positions of influence across our province and the country to move to urgently implement measures to prevent more unnecessary suffering and death.”
Additional key preliminary findings are below. Data is subject to change as additional toxicology results are received:
71% of those who died as a result of suspected drug toxicity in 2021 were aged between 30 and 59, and 80% were male.
By health authority in 2021, the highest number of illicit drug-toxicity deaths were in Fraser and Vancouver Coastal Health (342 and 283 deaths), making up 62% of all such deaths during this period.
The highest rates of death were in Vancouver Coastal Health (46 deaths per 100,000 individuals) and Northern Health (45 per 100,000). Overall, the rate in B.C. is 39 deaths per 100,000 individuals.
Deaths due to drug toxicity remain the leading cause of unnatural death in BC.
Quotes:
Brian Twaites, advanced care paramedic and paramedic specialist, who has attended to thousands of overdoses in a 35-year career –
“Paramedics across B.C. have been responding to an exponential increase in overdoses this year, and there appears no end in sight to this health crisis. This is someone’s best friend. This is someone’s dad. This is someone’s kid. Every time this happens, the loss is devastating.”
Leslie McBain, co-founder, Moms Stop the Harm –
"Innocent people of all ages, every community, every race, every socioeconomic stratum are dying of toxic drugs in B.C. and across Canada. There are viable solutions to actually stop the deaths. We must push the governments to immediately implement a safe regulated supply of the drugs people need. We must stop the preventable deaths of our loved ones.”
OTTAWA -- Hundreds of Canadian citizens, permanent residents and family members remain in Afghanistan, Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau revealed Tuesday as the federal government announced plans to resettle 5,000 Afghans previously brought out of the country by the United States.
"The main thing that we needed to figure out was how many Canadian nationals or permanent residents and family members were able to get out on some of our allies' flights," Garneau said during a virtual news conference.
"And now that we have had a chance to look at the manifests from those other countries, we estimate that at the moment there are roughly 1,250 either Canadian citizens or permanent residents or family members that are in Afghanistan."
The comment followed the withdrawal of all American troops from Afghanistan on Monday, ending a 20-year war that cost billions of dollars and tens of thousands of lives, including those of more than 150 Canadian soldiers and civilians.
With the U.S. and most Western countries now out of the country, the fate of those left behind remains uncertain. That includes the people identified by Garneau as well as hundreds of Afghans who previously worked with Canada and their families.
Neither Garneau nor Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino, who was appearing alongside the foreign affairs minister, had clear answers.
Canada and other allies are pushing the Taliban to allow anyone with valid travel documents to leave Afghanistan, Garneau said, with hopes the Kabul airport will soon reopen under civilian control.
While the Taliban have already made such a commitment, "we will judge them by their actions, not their words," Garneau said.
"Afghans with travel documents to other countries must be allowed to move safely and freely out of the country without interference. Canada and its allies are firm on this point."
The end of U.S. and allied evacuation flights from Kabul has left Canadian veterans, refugee advocates and others considering next steps to protect hundreds of former interpreters and local staff as well as their families who remain stranded in the country.
That includes whether to start having people make the risky trek to neighbouring Pakistan where they will at least be safe from the Taliban and hopefully be able to make it to Canada.
People are being warned against making the risky trip to the border with Pakistan because of the security situation while efforts are underway to reopen the Kabul airport, Garneau said. But he added that efforts are underway to help anyone who does manage to get out of Afghanistan.
"We have, at the moment an undertaking to be in contact with the countries that are neighbouring Afghanistan," he said.
"We are going to be talking with Pakistan to tell them that if anybody does arrive at that border or other neighbouring countries, we would like them to facilitate their entry. And, of course, our embassies and consulates are waiting to process them to get them to Canada."
The Liberal government has been repeatedly criticized for not acting fast enough to save Afghans who helped Canada during its military mission there. A special immigration program announced last month has been plagued by bureaucratic and technical problems.
Mendicino defended the government's response to date and says Canadian immigration officials are continuing to process applications as quickly as possible in the hopes people will be able to leave, even as he touted the government's plan to accept 5,000 Afghans evacuated by the U.S.
Those Afghans are currently in third countries like Qatar, and are part of the 20,000 Afghan refugees that the government has promised to resettle.
Those refugees are separate from the former interpreters and family members that are eligible for special visas.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 31, 2021.
They were two-words launched into the middle of a Canadian election that exploded online.
A week into the election campaign, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland tweeted a video of Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole responding to a question about his views on private, for profit, health care in Canada.
Twitter suddenly slapped a tag on the posts, first in French and then in English, saying they were "manipulated media," apparently because part of O'Toole's answer upholding the principle of universal access had been edited out.
An online furor erupted, spawning criticism and conspiracy theories. The commotion eventually died down but not before the English video was viewed nearly 232,000 times - far more than it likely would have been seen if Twitter had not tagged it.
"If Freeland had posted this doctored video and sent it out into the Twittersphere, a small number of people would have seen it and the conversation would have moved on," said Aengus Bridgman, director of the Canadian Election Misinformation Project, which is monitoring what is happening online during the election.
"The fact that Twitter flagged it as manipulated media meant that, suddenly, the issue and the tweet got an enormous amount of attention and sort of has driven the news cycle."
The incident shines a light on the role of American social media giants in Canada's election - a role that risks being a lot more active than in past campaigns.
Aengus Bridgman, director of the Canadian Election Misinformation Project, says social media companies are trying to navigate a difficult path between controlling misinformation and allowing free speech. (Louis-Marie Philidor/CBC)
Companies such as Facebook and Twitter have come under fire in recent years for not doing enough to stop their platforms from being used to spread misinformation or to manipulate elections and public opinion.
Concern about the role social media companies could play in political campaigns came to the fore in 2018, when it was revealed that British consulting firm Cambridge Analytica used the data of millions of Facebook users to help former U.S. president Donald Trump's successful 2016 election campaign.
Now, faced with the prospect of governments in various countries moving to regulate what happens on their platforms, some of the larger players have been starting to act and have become more proactive, removing, labelling or limiting the visibility of some posts in the name of fighting misinformation or election tampering.
While some social media companies are taking steps to combat misinformation, there are others, such as Telegram, where it is spreading rapidly. Telegram, owned by Russian billionaire Pavel Durov, is also being used by those opposed to COVID-19 vaccines, lockdowns and mask mandates to organize loud, angry protests in recent days at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's campaign stops.
However, it also raises the question of what role the decisions of corporations based in other countries should play in the middle of a Canadian election when it comes to limiting free speech by removing posts or reducing the number of people who see them.
As part of its updated election integrity policy, Facebook is taking several steps, including beefing up its fact-checking, applying warning labels to posts with false information and blocking fake accounts. Its monitors are also on the lookout for attempts by foreign state actors to influence the course of the election campaign.
Facebook will also be continuing a pilot project it introduced in Canada in February to reduce the amount of political content in the feeds of Canadian users, although it won't reduce the number of paid political ads that they see.
Twitter began acting on posts by politicians even before the election call. In July, it suspended MP Derek Sloan from its platform for 12 hours after he posted a link to a Reuters article about the U.K. deciding against a mass vaccination program for teenagers and urged Canada to do the same. Twitter has also slapped labels on tweets by Ontario MPP Randy Hillier, who has opposed COVID vaccines and lockdowns, and on a manipulated video of NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh posted during the election by a regular Twitter user. It has since been taken down by the user.
Bridgman said Twitter began increasing its enforcement actions several months ago.
I think what Twitter did is a real shot across the bow that is going to shake up how the campaigns are being run-NDP MP Charlie Angus
"This is part of an initiative of Twitter that started last year during COVID-19, when they really ramped up their labelling of media content on the platform," Bridgman explained.
"So they did it initially because there was so much misinformation about COVID-19 circulating, and they were getting a lot of flak for that. So they put this in place. Then it became applied to political content, sort of famously through the American election with Donald Trump in particular. And now it's being applied to the Canadian election."
Bridgman said Twitter has a small army of algorithmically assisted human fact-checkers who manually label problematic tweets.
Bridgman said social media companies find themselves trying to steer a difficult course.
"It's hard for social media companies to win the PR role here," Bridgman said. "They're in a tight place, because they want to clean up misinformation on their platforms, but they also don't want to be playing kingmaker. That's not in their interest and it's not a good look."
University of Ottawa professor Michael Geist said the incidents highlights the challenges that come with trying to moderate content online.
"The government wants the platforms to be more aggressive in moderating content, including creating liability and incentives for failure to take down content within 24 hours. But this case highlights that many of these cases are very difficult."
NDP MP Charlie Angus says Twitter labelling the video tweeted by Freeland is a healthy sign the social media giant is serious about tackling misinformation. (CBC)
New Democratic Party MP Charlie Angus, who has been part of Canadian and international committees that have studied the role of social media companies in society, said the fact that someone with Freeland's status was given an edited video to tweet out is "very concerning."
"I think what Twitter did is a real shot across the bow that is going to shake up how the campaigns are being run," Angus said, adding the Liberal government is supposed to be fighting disinformation.
"The fact that Twitter was willing to call out someone of the stature of Chrystia Freeland for posting disinformation, I think that's a very healthy sign."
It's also coming at a good time, he said.
"Things are going to heat up a lot, so Twitter stepping in at this point in the campaign, I think, is going to make everyone think they're going to have to be a little bit more careful."
Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, who was also a key figure in Canadian and international committee hearings into social media companies, said Twitter should have been more transparent about how it makes decisions — not just pointing to a multi-pronged policy the way it did with the video tweeted by Freeland.
Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith says social media companies have to be more transparent about the algorithms they use and how they make decisions. (CBC)
"I assume that it's the isolated editing that they are drawing from there. But again, yes, it removed the reference 'universal access.' But given the nature of the comments in relation to the Saskatchewan MRI policy, I don't think it inaccurately characterized the concern around private pay in a universal system."
Erskine-Smith also questioned the way Twitter applied its policy when it labelled the video tweeted by Freeland.
"The government wants the platforms to be more aggressive in moderating content, including creating liability and incentives for failure to take down content within 24 hours. But this case highlights that many of these cases are very difficult."
Conservative MP Bob Zimmer, who served with Angus and Erskine-Smith on the committees that studied the impact of social media companies, and the Conservative Party did not respond to several requests from CBC News for an interview.
When it comes to how the actions of social media companies risk affecting the election, opinions vary.
"I think there is no question that social media companies impact the election now, with their policies around moderation and misinformation," said Bridgman. "I think that that ship has sailed, and it's not a question of whether they will or not. It's a question of how much and how they will do it."
Erskine-Smith, however, is convinced that traditional campaign elements like door-knocking, policies and the debates will have more impact than what happens on social media.
"I don't think it will have a great impact in the end, in so far as I don't think the decisions that the private platforms make will have a great impact in the end."
Daniel Bernhard, executive director of Friends of Canadian Broadcasting, was sharply critical of Facebook's track record when it comes to cracking down on misuse of its platform.
"Canada is foolish to depend for the health of our democracy on the good will and the competency of a company like Facebook that has proven over and over and over again that it is both incapable and unwilling to act in an ethical and democratic way."
Bernhard also wants social media companies to have to divulge the algorithms they are using to govern how their platforms operate.
"These algorithms make hugely consequential editorial choices that have major consequences for politics and democracy. And so their operation but also their transparency, should be a matter of regulation — not of good will and voluntary compliance."
Erskine-Smith would like to see new rules to require more transparency from social media companies, pointing out that Canada has a Broadcast Standards Council but no watchdog for social media companies.
"When we see the power and influence that private platforms do wield in our public discourse, bringing a level of transparency to the way decisions are made by those platforms is incredibly important ... not only in relation to specific, discrete policy decisions, like Twitter's decision to apply its own standards, but how the algorithms themselves are promoting or downgrading certain content," he said.
"As algorithms replace editors, and increasingly so, we do need greater algorithmic transparency."
In 2015, Vancouver mom Deb Bailey spent Christmas Eve in the morgue.
It's where she identified the body of her 21-year-old daughter, Ola, who had left home to go holiday shopping just two days earlier.
"There she was, laying there in the clothes she had left in, looking like she was sleeping — and you're shattered, really," Bailey recalled.
Ola is among the more than 7,000 British Columbians who have died from illicit drugs during B.C.'s overdose crisis, which was declared a public health emergency in 2016.
Their lives are being remembered for International Overdose Awareness Day on Tuesday. The annual campaign, which originated in Australia in 2001, aims to break the stigma surrounding drugs and addiction while raising awareness about overdose prevention and drug policy.
In Vancouver, ceremonies will include a memorial march through the city's Downtown Eastside. Organizers will distribute lab-tested drugs to registered users in the community.
Vancouver city Coun. Jean Swanson hands out free drugs including meth, heroin and cocaine to people outside the Vancouver Police Department offices in the Downtown Eastside neighbourhood on July 14, 2021. (Ben Nelms/CBC)
159 more deaths in June
The province on Tuesday confirmed that more than 1,000 people died of an illicit drug overdose between January and June, the highest rate ever recorded in the first six months of a calendar year.
It said at least 159 people died in June, bringing the annual toll so far to 1,011.
The B.C. Coroners Service said there was a greater number of cases with extreme fentanyl concentrations between April and June. A statement said 14 per cent of drug samples tested in those months met the threshold, compared to eight per cent in 2019.
Carfentanil, a more potent analogue of fentanyl, has been detected in 95 deaths in 2021, which is already higher than the 65 deaths in which the drug was identified last year.
May was the 16th straight month in which B.C. saw more than 100 deaths due to drug toxicity.
"We know what would stop the deaths," said Bailey, who is also a member of the advocacy group Moms Stop the Harm.
"We have a toxic drug supply and we need to look at all the avenues we can find to keep people alive — and that would include providing people with a safe supply of drugs that are not going to kill them."
Calls for safer supply
Advocates have long been calling for access to a safer drug supply for users in B.C. as more and more toxic drugs flood the streets. Last year was the deadliest on record, with more than 1,700 people fatally overdosing.
"I don't want to see more people die needlessly," said Trey Helten, speaking from the Overdose Prevention Society in Vancouver.
He's the manager of the supervised consumption site, where users can also have their drugs tested by a spectrometer.
He said fentanyl has contaminated just about every drug on the street, while many people are often fooled into consuming an array of other harmful chemicals.
"Sometimes people will 'bunk' people on the street. They'll sell drywall dust or cement dust as fentanyl, and people will unknowingly inject that into their bodies," he said.
A man waits to have a sample of drugs tested by Vancouver Coast Health workers at the Overdose Prevention Society in Vancouver. (Briar Stewart/CBC)
He went on: "We need lots of different options for lots of different people, and safe supply is one of them."
In July, the province announced a prescribed safer supply policy, which would offer users substitutes to poisoned street drugs in an effort to reduce overdose deaths. The program is rolling out in phases, with provincial health authorities currently developing implementation plans.
Advocates say urgency needed
But with deaths mounting, advocates like Bailey say time is of the essence.
July 2021 marked the highest ever number of overdoses recorded in a single month. Paramedics responded to 3,606 overdose calls across the province, according to B.C. Emergency Health Services.
Member of the group Moms Stop the Harm walk down Hastings Street in Vancouver to mark the fifth anniversary of B.C’s overdose crisis on April 13, 2021. (Ben Nelms/CBC)
Bailey said the opioid crisis should be treated with the same level of urgency as the COVID-19 pandemic.
"What did we do for the COVID crisis? We listened to our experts, our medical experts and our scientists, and we pretty much did what they said. And we are saying, 'Why can't you do the same with this epidemic?'" she said.
That's why she says safer supply needs to happen now.
"It's great to talk about treatment ... but you can't do treatment if you're dead," she said.
The Taliban triumphantly marched into Kabul’s international airport on Tuesday, hours after the final U.S. troop withdrawal that ended America’s longest war. Standing on the tarmac, Taliban leaders pledged to secure the country, quickly reopen the airport and grant amnesty to former opponents.
In a show of control, turbaned Taliban leaders were flanked by the insurgents’ elite Badri unit as they walked across the tarmac. The commandos in camouflage uniforms proudly posed for photos.
Getting the airport running again is just one of the sizeable challenges the Taliban face in governing a nation of 38 million people that for two decades had survived on billions of dollars in foreign aid.
“Afghanistan is finally free,” Hekmatullah Wasiq, a top Taliban official, told The Associated Press on the tarmac. “The military and civilian side (of the airport) are with us and in control. Hopefully, we will be announcing our Cabinet. Everything is peaceful. Everything is safe.”
Afghanistan crisis: US leaves chaos behind as last evacuation plane leaves
Afghanistan crisis: US leaves chaos behind as last evacuation plane leaves
Wasiq also urged people to return to work and reiterated the Taliban pledge offering a general amnesty. “People have to be patient,” he said. “Slowly we will get everything back to normal. It will take time.”
Just hours earlier, the U.S. military had wrapped up its largest airlift of non-combatants in history.
On Tuesday morning, signs of the chaos of recent days were still visible. In the terminal, rifled luggage and clothes were strewn across the ground, alongside wads of documents. Concertina wire stills separated areas while overturned cars and parked vehicles blocked routes around the civilian airport — a sign of measures taken to protect against possible suicide car bombers entering the facility.
Vehicles carrying the Taliban raced back and forth along the Hamid Karzai International Airport’s sole runway on the military side of the airfield. Before dawn broke, heavily armed Taliban fighters walked through hangars, passing some of the seven CH-46 helicopters the State Department used in its evacuations before rendering them unusable.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid addressed the gathered members of the Badri unit. “I hope you be very cautious in dealing with the nation,” he said. “Our nation has suffered war and invasion and the people do not have more tolerance.”
At the end of his remarks, the Badri fighters shouted: “God is the greatest!”
In an interview with Afghan state television, Mujahid also discussed restarting operations at the airport, which remains a key way out for those wanting to leave the country.
“Our technical team will be checking the technical and logistical needs of the airport,” he said. “If we are able to fix everything on our own, then we won’t need any help. If there is need for technical or logistics help to repair the destruction, then we might ask help from Qatar or Turkey.”
He didn’t elaborate on what was destroyed.
Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie, the head of U.S. military’s Central Command, earlier said troops disabled 27 Humvees and 73 aircraft so they cannot be used again. He said troops did not blow up equipment needed for eventually restarting airport operations.
Afghan-Canadians worry for safety of loved ones
Afghan-Canadians worry for safety of loved ones
The airport had seen chaotic and deadly scenes since the Taliban blitzed across Afghanistan and took Kabul on Aug. 15. Thousands of Afghans besieged the airport, some falling to their death after desperately hanging onto the side of an American C-17 military cargo jet. Last week, an Islamic State suicide attack at an airport gate killed at least 169 Afghans and 13 U.S. service members.
During the evacuation, U.S. forces helped evacuate over 120,000 U.S. citizens, foreigners and Afghans, according to the White House. Coalition forces also evacuated their citizens and Afghans. But for all who got out, foreign nations and the U.S. acknowledged they didn’t evacuate all who wanted to go.
On Tuesday, after a night that saw the Taliban fire triumphantly into the air, guards now blearily on duty kept out the curious and those still somehow hoping to catch a flight out.
“After 20 years we have defeated the Americans,” said Mohammad Islam, a Taliban guard at the airport from Logar province, cradling a Kalashnikov rifle. “They have left and now our country is free.”
“It’s clear what we want. We want Shariah (Islamic law), peace and stability,” he added.
Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. special representative who oversaw America’s talks with the Taliban, wrote on Twitter that “Afghans face a moment of decision & opportunity” after the withdrawal.
“Their country’s future is in their hands. They will choose their path in full sovereignty,” he wrote. “This is the chance to bring their war to an end as well.”
But the Taliban face what could be a series of major crises as they fully take over the government. The majority of the billions of dollars Afghanistan holds in foreign reserves is now frozen in America, pressuring its now-depreciating Afghani currency. Banks have implemented withdrawal controls, fearing runs on their deposits in the uncertainty. Civil servants across the country say they haven’t received their salary in months.
Abdul Maqsood, a traffic police officer for the past 10 years on duty near the airport, said he hadn’t paid for the past four months.
“We keep coming to work but we are not getting paid,” he said.
Medical equipment remains in short supply, while thousands who fled the Taliban’s advance remain living in squalid conditions. A major drought also has cut into the country’s food supplies, making its imports even more important and raising the risk of people going hungry.
Also in question are the rights of women, who faced oppression under the Taliban’s earlier rule.
Schools have reopened, and on Tuesday morning dozens of elementary school students headed to schools in a neighborhood near the airport. The Taliban have ordered schools to be segregated but it is often not enforced for younger children.
“I am not afraid of the Taliban,” said Masooda, a fifth-grade student.
During the evacuation, U.S. forces helped evacuate over 120,000 U.S. citizens, foreigners and Afghans, according to the White House. Coalition forces also evacuated their citizens and Afghans. But for all who got out, foreign nations and the U.S. acknowledged they didn’t evacuate all who wanted to go.
Akhgar reported from Istanbul. Associated Press writer Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.
A crude oil tanker is seen at Qingdao Port, Shandong province, China, April 21, 2019. REUTERS/Jason Lee
SINGAPORE/LONDON/HOUSTON, Aug 31 (Reuters) - China's demand for spot crude appears to be recovering after nearly five months of slower purchases caused by a shortage of import quotas, drawdowns from high inventories and COVID-19 lockdowns that muted Chinese fuel consumption.
Softer buying since April by the world's top crude importer and a drop in China's refining output to 14-month lows in July have depressed the prices of staple crude grades from West Africa and Brazil to multi-month lows. read more
But traders and analysts say Chinese importers are now increasing the pace of purchases and paying higher premiums to secure supplies from November onwards as lockdown restrictions ease.
A sustained rebound in demand by China may tighten supplies and support global oil prices .
LOCKDOWNS EASING
Oil demand in the world's No. 2 consumer looks to be on a recovery path as Beijing eases lockdown measures after largely containing several outbreaks of the COVID-19 Delta variant since it emerged in the country in July, traders said. read more
Traders hope Beijing will soon wrap up a probe into the resale of import quotas and tax evasion by importers that has created uncertainty in the market. A fourth batch of quotas is also expected to be issued in September or October which could revive demand from independent refiners, also known as teapots, which account for a fifth of China's imports. read more
China’s crude oil imports set for rebound following recent lull
"Chinese majors' crude stocks are very low, and once the government wraps up inspections and finalises punishments, teapots will once again import crude," Energy Aspects said in an Aug. 23 note.
Imports into eastern China's Shandong province, home to most independent refiners, fell below 3 million barrels in both July and August, compared with about 3.55 million barrels on average in the first half of 2021, said Emma Li of analytics firm Vortexa.
TRADE REBOUNDS
Traders in Asia and Europe told Reuters that Chinese buyers recently bought Brazilian and Angolan grades at higher premiums than in the previous month, while enquiries from independent refiners have increased.
This has helped Chinese markets perk up after having been "deadly quiet" for several months, a trader with a western supplier said.
Charts from Energy Aspects showing global crude balances and China majors crude days of forward cover
Angolan state oil company Sonangol recently had a spot cargo of October-loading Dalia crude quickly snapped up, while Cabinda and CLOV cargoes have also moved, likely to Chinese buyers and at higher prices than last month, traders said.
This is in sharp contrast to July, when sellers regularly offered via the Platts window cargoes of West African crudes that normally flow directly to Chinese buyers, traders added.
Last month, Unipec, the trading arm of Asia's largest refiner Sinopec (600028.SS), repeatedly offered September-loading crudes from Angola and Congo - including Djeno, Dalia, CLOV, Mondo, Sangos and Mostarda - which it had been allocated on a term basis. In all cases, the cargoes have sold slowly and at multi-month lows.
"Over the past week we have been seeing lots of teapot activity, which is healthier," a Singapore-based trader said.
"Suppliers are more bullish now compared with weeks ago."
In Asia, Petrobras (PETR4.SA) has sold 2 million barrels of Brazilian Tupi crude to Unipec at $1 a barrel above January ICE Brent for November delivery, said several traders who track deals into China. Tupi for October delivery to China traded at 20 cents a barrel above December ICE Brent futures.
China’s crude oil imports from Brazil & West Africa slumped recently but are set to rebound
Angola's Dalia crude has also been sold at $1 a barrel premium to January ICE Brent for November delivery, they added.
Brazil's oil exports to China have fallen by almost half in the past year, with shipments being redirected to India, Europe and the United States, official data shows.
Crude oil exports to China from African & Brazil
Petrobras shipped just 45% of its oil exports to China in the second quarter, versus 87% in the same quarter of 2020, according to the producer's financial statements.
Reporting by Florence Tan in Singapore, Noah Browning in London and Sabrina Valle in Houston; editing by Gavin Maguire and Richard Pullin
The United States on Monday completed its withdrawal from Afghanistan, ending its longest war and closing a chapter in military history likely to be remembered for colossal failures, unfulfilled promises and a frantic final exit that cost the lives of more than 180 Afghans and 13 U.S. service members, some barely older than the war itself.
Hours ahead of U.S. President Joe Biden's Tuesday deadline for ending the U.S. war, air force transport planes carried a remaining contingent of troops from Kabul airport. Thousands of troops had spent a harrowing two weeks protecting a hurried and risky airlift of tens of thousands of Afghans, Americans and others seeking to escape a country once again ruled by Taliban militants.
Taliban fighters then watched as the last U.S. cargo planes departed just before midnight, firing their guns into the air, celebrating victory after a 20-year insurgency in Afghanistan that drove the world's most powerful military out of one of the poorest countries.
In announcing the completion of the evacuation and war effort, Gen. Frank McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command, said the last planes took off from Kabul airport at 3:29 p.m. ET, or one minute before midnight in Kabul.
Shortly after, the Taliban proclaimed "full independence" for Afghanistan. Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said early Tuesday that "American soldiers left the Kabul airport, and our nation got its full independence."
Evacuation marked by threats, attacks
The airport had become a U.S.-controlled island, a last stand in a 20-year war that claimed more than 2,400 American lives.
The closing hours of the evacuation were marked by extraordinary drama. American troops faced the daunting task of getting final evacuees onto planes while also getting themselves and some of their equipment out, even as they monitored repeated threats — and at least two actual attacks — by the Islamic State group's Afghanistan affiliate.
Taliban fighters investigate a damaged car after multiple rockets were fired in Kabul on Monday. The rockets struck in the city's Salim Karwan neighbourhood some three kilometres from the airport, witnesses said. (Wakil Kohsar/AFP/Getty Images)
Earlier Monday, Islamic State militants fired a volley of rockets at Kabul's rapidly emptying international airport without hurting anyone.
All day, U.S. military cargo jets came and went despite the rocket attack. The Taliban released a video shot from the airport's grounds, saying the Americans had removed or destroyed most of their equipment and that troop numbers were far lower. "It looks like today will be the last day," one of the unidentified fighters said.
With the departure of the last of its troops, the U.S. ends its 20-year war in Afghanistan with the Taliban back in power. Many Afghans remain fearful of them or further instability, and there have been sporadic reports of killings and other abuses in areas under Taliban control despite their pledges to restore peace and security.
Biden said he would address the American people about the withdrawal Tuesday.
In a statement Monday evening, he said he ended the mission as planned on the recommendation of the military's Joint Chiefs and commanders on the ground, saying it was the best way "to protect the lives of our troops, and secure the prospects of civilian departures for those who want to leave Afghanistan in the weeks and months ahead."
In the last 24 hours, the American military evacuated about 1,200 people from the area on 26 C-17 flights, while two coalition flights flew out 50 others, the White House said.
Biden said he has asked U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to lead a continued coordination with international partners "to ensure safe passage for any Americans, Afghan partners, and foreign nationals who want to leave Afghanistan."
Taliban fighters hold Taliban flags in Kabul Monday. The group has reportedly tightened security around the airport in light of the attacks. (Khwaja Tawfiq Sediqi/The Associated Press)
Taliban tightens security
The two-week airlift brought scenes of desperation and horror. In the early days, people desperate to flee Taliban rule flooded onto the tarmac and some fell to their deaths after clinging to a departing aircraft.
On Thursday, an Islamic State suicide attack at an airport gate killed more than 180 Afghans and 13 U.S. service members.
The extremist group is far more radical than the Taliban, which seized power in Afghanistan earlier this month after capturing most of the country in a matter of days.
The two groups have fought each other in the past, and the Taliban have pledged to not harbour terrorist groups.
The Taliban tightened their security cordon around the airfield after the attack, clearing away massive crowds of Afghans who were desperate to flee the country in the waning days of the U.S.-led airlift. Taliban fighters are now stationed along a fence near the main runway.
In the capital's Chahr-e-Shaheed neighbourhood, a crowd quickly gathered around the remains of a four-door sedan used by the attackers. The car had what appeared to be six homemade rocket tubes mounted in place of back seats. The Islamic State and other militant groups routinely mount such tubes in vehicles in order to move them undetected.
"I was inside the house with my children and other family members. Suddenly there were some blasts," said Jaiuddin Khan, who lives nearby. "We jumped into the house compound and lay on the ground."
Some of the rockets landed across town in Kabul's Salim Karwan neighbourhood, striking residential apartment blocks, witnesses said. That neighbourhood is some three kilometres from the airport. There were no immediate reports of injuries.
A C-17 Globemaster takes off as Taliban fighters secure the outer perimeter alongside the American-controlled side of Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Sunday. (Marcus Yam/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images)
Five rockets targeted the airport, said navy Capt. Bill Urban, a spokesperson for the U.S. military's Central Command.
A defensive weapon known by the acronym C-RAM — a Counter-Rocket, Artillery and Mortar System — targeted the rockets in a whirling hail of ammunition, he said. The system has a distinct drill-like sound that echoed through the city at the time of the attack.
The IS statement, carried by the group's Amaq media outlet, claimed the militants fired six rockets.
In Washington, the White House issued a statement saying officials briefed U.S. President Joe Biden on "the rocket attack at Hamid Karzai International Airport" (HKIA) in Kabul, apparently referring to the vehicle-based rocket launch.
"The president was informed that operations continue uninterrupted at HKIA, and has reconfirmed his order that commanders redouble their efforts to prioritize doing whatever is necessary to protect our forces on the ground," the statement said.
White House spokesperson Jen Psaki later told reporters that Biden does not regret his decision to go ahead with the U.S. troop withdrawal.
"The president stands by his decision to bring our men and women home from Afghanistan," she said. "Because if he had not, his view — and the view of many experts in military out there — is we would have sent tens of thousands potentially, or thousands at least, more troops back into harm's way, risking more lives or more people to fight a war the Afghans were not willing to fight themselves."
Renewed risk of terrorism
Asked whether Americans are now less safe with the Taliban in power, Psaki said the U.S. will not allow terror to grow in the region.
"We are not going to do anything that's going to allow terrorists to grow or prosper in Afghanistan — or any terrorist organization."
But a former staffer from the George W. Bush administration says there is an absolute risk that this will mark a turning point
"This may be the kickoff to a new age of Islamic terrorism," said Peter Rough, senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, in an interview with CBC News. "This could be a metastasizing moment, a big victory for Islamic terrorists. They have now Afghanistan, a country, after having lost the caliphate in Syria and Iraq. So there is danger here to be sure."
WATCH | Rough discusses how U.S. leaving Afghanistan may spark greater world threat:
A potential new risk in Afghanistan
8 hours ago
Former George W. Bush administration staffer Peter Rough, now with the Hudson Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based think-tank, discusses whether the situation in Afghanistan may mark the beginning of a new age of terrorism. 7:13
Taliban says normal travel will resume
The airport had been one of the few ways out for foreigners and Afghans fleeing the Taliban takeover. However, coalition nations have halted their evacuations in recent days, leaving the U.S. military largely alone at the base with some remaining allied Afghan forces.
The U.S. State Department released a statement Sunday signed by around 100 countries, as well as NATO and the European Union, saying they had received "assurances" from the Taliban that people with travel documents would still be able to leave.
The Taliban have said they will allow normal travel after the U.S. withdrawal is completed on Tuesday and they assume control of the airport. However, it remains unclear how the militants will run the airport and which commercial carriers will begin flying in, given the ongoing security concerns.
WATCH | Trudeau says Canada will work with allies to help Afghans left behind:
Canada will continue working to help civilians leave Afghanistan: Trudeau
13 hours ago
Working closely with allies, Liberal Party Leader Justin Trudeau says Canada will continue to work on getting civilians out of Afghanistan. 1:07
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