Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Canada is extending a ban on nonessential travel with the United States and the rest of the world until July 21, officials said on Friday, prompting frustration from businesses and U.S. legislators.
Canada is under pressure from companies and the tourism industry to ease the ban, which was imposed in March 2020 to help contain spread of the coronavirus and has been renewed on a monthly basis ever since.
But Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stood firm, saying the border would stay largely shut until 75 per cent of Canadians had received the first of a two-dose coronavirus vaccine and 20 per cent had been given both shots.
Although Trudeau said Canada had basically achieved the first target, official data released after he spoke showed 73.4 per cent had received their first shot. Only 14.7 per cent of the eligible population has had both shots as of Friday afternoon.
"Even a fully vaccinated individual can pass on COVID-19 to someone who is not vaccinated," Trudeau told reporters, saying Canada needed to avoid "any further massive waves."
The extended border closure comes as the western province of Alberta unveiled plans to fully reopen on July 1, lifting virtually all remaining public health restrictions, after 70 per cent of eligible Albertans received their first vaccination dose.
The travel ban does not affect trade in goods but Statistics Canada said total exports of services in 2020 compared with 2019 fell by 17.7 per cent and imports of services plunged by 24.0 per cent, in part due to the border restrictions. Travel and transportation services were particularly hard hit.
"The inability of the U.S. and Canadian governments to reach an agreement on alleviating border restrictions ... is simply unacceptable," said U.S. Representatives Brian Higgins and Bill Huizenga, co-chairs of the Canada-U.S. Interparliamentary Group.
The United States is Canada's largest trading partner.
Harley Finkelstein, president of Canadian e-commerce company Shopify Inc , tweeted that the extended border closure was the wrong decision. "We need to open the border for fully vaccinated travelers immediately," he wrote.
The Canadian Chamber of Commerce - a national group that advocates for businesses - lamented what it said was Ottawa's excessive caution.
"All of the science would say we should be moving ahead to reopen the border. We don't even have a plan at this point," said Perrin Beatty, the group's president and chief executive.
Ottawa will reveal on Monday how it plans to start easing measures for fully vaccinated Canadians.
(Additional reporting by David Shepardson in Washington and Nia Williams in Calgary Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Matthew Lewis)
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
The deaths of four people on a farm near the Saskatchewan village of Neudorf have been confirmed a murder-suicide.
Genetic analysis has shed light on a long-standing mystery surrounding the fates of U.S. President George Washington's younger brother Samuel and his kin.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.
The Parole Board of Canada has granted full parole to one of three men convicted in the brutal murders of three McDonald's restaurant workers in Cape Breton more than 30 years ago.
Rainfall warnings of up to 90 millimetres and other alerts have been issued for six Canadian provinces, according to the latest forecasts.
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
A bus carrying worshippers headed to an Easter festival plunged off a bridge on a mountain pass and burst into flames in South Africa on Thursday, killing at least 45 people, authorities said.
Calgary police have shut down a number of bridges into and out of the downtown core as officers deal with a distraught individual.
B.C. conservation officers recently seized a nine-foot-long Burmese python from a home in Chilliwack.
A New Brunswicker will go to bed Thursday night much richer than he was Wednesday after collecting on a winning lottery ticket he let sit on his bedroom dresser for nearly a year.
The Ontario government is introducing changes to auto-insurance, but some experts say the move is ill-advised.
A Toronto restaurant introduced a surprising new rule that reduced the cost of a meal and raised the salaries of staff.
Newfoundland’s unique version of the Pine Marten has grown out of its threatened designation.
A Toronto man is out $12,000 after falling victim to a deepfake cryptocurrency scam that appeared to involve Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
It started small with a little pop tab collection to simply raise some money for charity and help someone — but it didn’t take long for word to get out that 10-year-old Jace Weber from Mildmay, Ont. was quickly building up a large supply of aluminum pop tabs.
There’s a group of people in Saskatoon that proudly call themselves dumpster divers, and they’re turning the city’s trash into treasure.
Ontario is facing a larger than anticipated deficit but the Doug Ford government still plans to balance its books before the next provincial election.