Canadian study builds on link between long COVID and autoimmune diseases like lupus
Some long COVID patients suffering symptoms including fatigue and shortness of breath are showing signs of autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, suggests a Canadian study that builds on similar findings elsewhere.
Manali Mukherjee, who led the study and is a respiratory researcher at McMaster University in Hamilton, said two specific abnormal antibodies, or autoantibodies, which attack healthy tissues and are known to cause autoimmune disease, persisted in about 30 per cent of patients a year after they became infected.
Military to be deployed to Nova Scotia to assist recovery after Fiona lashes region
20:55 Sep 24th, 2022
Atl-Hurricane-Fiona
Military to be deployed to Nova Scotia to assist recovery after Fiona lashes region
By: Michael Tutton
Location: Sydney
Source: The Canadian Press
Post-tropical storm Fiona, one of the strongest storms to ever strike Eastern Canada, left a trail of destruction in its wake early Saturday before lingering over western Newfoundland, where a record-breaking storm surge destroyed several homes.
Canadian city to pilot four-day work week at city hall to attract workers
The City of Merritt in British Columbia's Interior is launching a four-day work week pilot program in the hope of attracting, recruiting and retaining municipal workers.
The one-year trial, approved by council on Tuesday, will see city hall closed on Mondays, with operational hours extended Tuesday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5:45 p.m., an extra hour and 45 minutes each day.
Sean Smith, Merritt’s chief administrative officer, said wages won't change but the city is hoping the compressed work week will allow it to compete with other jurisdictions for staff.
Canada ending requirements for COVID-19 vaccines, ArriveCan app at border Sept. 30
The last of Canada's COVID-19 border restrictions will disappear at the end of this month with the expiry of a cabinet order affecting mandatory vaccinations, testing and quarantine of international travellers.
That expiry also spells the end of insisting travellers use the ArriveCan app to input their vaccine status and test results, though the app will live on as an optional tool for customs and immigration.
Canada's PM Trudeau supports ending mandatory COVID-19 vaccination rules at border
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has agreed to let a cabinet order enforcing mandatory COVID-19 vaccination requirements at the Canadian border expire at the end of this month.
The news was confirmed by two senior government sources, who spoke to The Canadian Press on the condition they not be named because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
The federal government is still deciding whether to maintain the requirement for passengers to wear face masks on trains and airplanes.
Stats Canada says Canada's homeownership rate fell in latest 2021 census release
Canada's homeownership rate is on the decline, with young adults in particular less likely to own a home in 2021 than they were a decade earlier, says Statistics Canada.
According to the latest census release, 66.5 per cent of Canadians owned a home in 2021, down from a peak of 69 per cent in 2011.
Housing prices have climbed considerably in recent years compared with Canadians' incomes. Statistics Canada says while the median household income grew by 18 per cent between 2016 and 2021, the average value of an owner-occupied home rose by 39.6 per cent.
'The bond is broken': Data shows Indigenous kids overrepresented in foster care
A Winnipeg mother says she was scarred for life when her first child was taken away at birth by social workers, who told her she was unfit to parent her newborn daughter because she was just 17 at the time.
"I don't know how one could fully heal from that trauma," said the woman, now 41, whom The Canadian Press has agreed not to identify because of her family's involvement in the child welfare system. "Having a baby taken away from birth … the bond is broken."
New census data suggests Indigenous children continue to be overrepresented in the child welfare system.
Positive Poilievre polling leads to talk of easing border restrictions: Tories
The government was motivated to reconsider COVID-19 restrictions at Canada's border because of the growing popularity of new Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, MPs from his caucus said Wednesday.
Several Liberal ministers confirmed they were discussing whether to continue the mandatory use of the ArriveCan app for international travellers and COVID-19 border restrictions like face masks which are set to expire on Sept. 30.
The cabinet has not made any final decisions but is set to meet Thursday afternoon.
Escalation of war, nuclear threats show Putin 'failing and flailing,' says Trudeau
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemned Russia's "flailing and failing" president Wednesday, joining a chorus of global outrage aimed at what he described as Vladimir Putin's panic-stricken escalation of a collapsing war in Ukraine.
Trudeau was wrapping up two days at the United Nations just as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, speaking to the General Assembly by video, pleaded with the international body to punish and isolate his country's tormentor.
De Havilland Canada to build airline manufacturing plant east of Calgary
De Havilland Aircraft of Canada Ltd. announced plans Wednesday to build a new aircraft manufacturing plant east of Calgary that could eventually employ up to 1,500 people.
The company said the facility, dubbed De Havilland Field, is to be located in Wheatland County between the communities of Chestermere and Strathmore. De Havilland said it has acquired about 600 hectares of land in the area.
It said construction could begin as early as next year, with its first buildings operational by 2025 — though the project's full buildout could take years.