Bank of Canada cuts key rate for first time in more than 4 years
The Bank of Canada has cut its overnight rate by 25 basis points, a move not seen since the beginning of the pandemic.
Lennard Skead says he felt like he'd been put in jail for a crime he didn't commit when he returned to Canada from South Africa on Thursday.
Skead, who lives in Brandon, Man., said he wasn't allowed to leave a Toronto quarantine hotel until the day after he received a negative result on the COVID-19 test he completed when he arrived in Canada.
"Our negative results came out on Saturday, but we are not allowed to leave until the quarantine officer calls us and tells us you can leave now. Nobody called us. Nobody called us until Sunday," said Skead, who was travelling with his wife, Charlotte.
Skead, who is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, said in an interview Monday that by the time he was told he could leave, he had already cancelled a flight back to Manitoba, keeping him in the hotel for another day. It was Skead's third negative COVID-19 test of the trip.
Canadians travelling from one of 10 African countries, including South Africa and Egypt, are required to obtain a COVID-19 test in the country they're travelling from, obtain a second test while in transit and get a third after arrival in Canada. They are required to stay at a designated facility on arrival.
Health Canada said in an email Monday that the requirement for testing in transit "is in place so that the risk of the traveller being exposed to the virus and its variants between the time of testing and boarding the plane, which can take up to 72 hours, is reduced."
Tiffany Gaura, who returned to Calgary from Cairo on Saturday, said she felt after landing in Canada that she was being punished for travelling to Africa.
"From the time you give them your passport, they call somebody immediately who then stays with you, takes you through to a separate secondary screening area where they question you extensively, read you your rights, tell you you have a right to a lawyer and you're being transported by the federal government to an isolation facility," she said in an interview Monday.
While the quarantine facility is in a hotel, she said, it doesn't have any of the usual hotel services, like a restaurant, cleaning or room service.
Gaura, who was travelling with her two children, aged five and eight, said she doesn't understand why she had to stay in a quarantine hotel instead of returning to her nearby home to isolate there.
"This is absurd for a family with a solid quarantine plan, who has no history of not following public health directives, who's fully vaccinated, who's following all the rules, who has done all the PCR tests," she said.
Asked about reports of poor conditions in federal quarantine facilities, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said Monday the requirement is "a necessary and fair trade-off."
"We're not going to spare any expense or resources when it comes to protecting Canadians, including at the border. We're going to continue to provide clear travel guidance to all Canadians and others who are travelling to Canada," he told reporters in Ottawa.
Gaura said she thinks Canada's decision to place additional restrictions only on African nations at a time when the Omicron variant of the novel coronavirus is present in Europe and the United States is "opportunistic and xenophobic."
She said she was lucky she was able to clear German customs and get a PCR test while transiting in Frankfurt, because while Canada has put restrictions on Egypt, Germany has not.
On Saturday, the federal government announced that travellers coming from South Africa and transiting through Frankfurt would be exempt from the in-transit testing requirement until Dec. 13.
Tasha-ann Bussell of Rossland, B.C., whose husband was in South Africa for his brother's wedding, said he was able to use that new exemption to get on a flight home, due to land in Calgary Monday.
"He's exhausted and stressed," Bussell said in an interview Monday. "We have three small children and my youngest and the middle child have birthdays in December so he'll miss that ... at least he's gonna be home for Christmas."
She adds she's not angry with the government for implementing the regulations because one of her children is immunocompromised.
"I really appreciate the fact that they are trying their best," she said. "It's just hard. That's all it is."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 6, 2021.
-- With files from Fakiha Baig in Edmonton.
------
This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Facebook and Canadian Press News Fellowship.
The Bank of Canada has cut its overnight rate by 25 basis points, a move not seen since the beginning of the pandemic.
The Hospitals of Regina Foundation (HRF) issued an official apology on Wednesday following comedian Rob Schneider's set at a fundraising event on Saturday night.
If an Oilers fan in Edmonton has the spare time, they can not only potentially witness their hockey heroes win and take a step closer to claiming puck glory, they can brag that they journeyed the longest distance between two NHL markets to do it.
Air Canada is now offering free beer and wine on flights within Canada and the U.S. until the end of the year.
Billionaire Elon Musk is questioning diversity and inclusion hiring practices, using the social media platform he owns to criticize a job posting from the University of British Columbia.
Five people associated with the Hells Angels motorcycle gang are facing charges after police raided two homes and two unlicensed bars in Waterloo Region.
President Vladimir Putin warned Germany on Wednesday that the use of its weapons by Ukraine to strike targets inside Russia would mark a 'dangerous step.'
McMaster Children’s Hospital is pausing scheduled tonsil and adenoid surgeries for patients under the age of 18 after officials say two pediatric patients who underwent the procedure died shortly after being discharged.
It was Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s birthday on Monday, but he could've probably done without the package that one of his more obscure backbenchers dropped on his doorstep, writes former NDP leader Tom Mulcair in his latest column for CTVNews.ca.
Marking a milestone, Lakeshore resident Olga White celebrated her 107th birthday in style Wednesday.
The municipality of Tantramar, N.B., is holding a sale to get rid of surplus items it acquired after the Town of Sackville amalgamated with smaller communities last year.
For several weeks, a mysterious social media user has apparently been leaving $50 bills hidden across Metro Vancouver.
A statue dedicated to the Royal Regina Rifles Regiment has been officially unveiled in France just ahead of the 80th anniversary of D-Day.
A Cape Breton is this year's recipient of the McEuen Scholarship, which gives him basically a full ride to the medical school at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.
Mounties in Kelowna nabbed a would-be burglar with an apparent sweet tooth over the weekend.
When Alyssa Anklewich’s history teacher assigned her Westwood Collegiate class an essay about D-Day, the 15-year-old had other ideas.
Many people are familiar with the benefits of being in nature, but forest therapy goes a step further than a simple walk in the woods.
The Stanley Cup was passing through town Friday, and Lanny Legend took it upon himself to take it for a surprise visit.