Grandparents killed in wrong-way crash on Hwy. 401 identified
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
As Canada strengthens its travel restrictions amid the rise of the Omicron variant, frustration and confusion is ensuing for travellers stuck at quarantine facilities.
Last week, Canada announced travel bans affecting 10 African countries. Canadian citizens and permanent residents who had been in any of the 10 countries are required to stay at a quarantine facility upon returning to Canada, regardless of vaccination status, as they wait for the results of an arrival COVID-19 test. Canadians or permanent residents returning from these 10 countries are also required to present a PCR test result taken from a third country.
For people waiting for their test results in quarantine facilities, some say it goes beyond patience.
Tiffany Gaura and her five- and eight-year-old daughters arrived at a facility with hallways covered entirely in plastic after flying back to Calgary from Egypt, one of the countries covered under the Canadian government's travel restrictions.
"We get very unhealthy meals dropped at our door, three times a day. There's a security guard outside the rooms. I mean, you can't go outside. There's no fresh air," she told CTV News.
"I was not at all mentally prepared for that sort of a welcome"
It was a similar experience for Jessica Sirois, who had to stay at a quarantine facility in Toronto after returning from Egypt.
"I spent all night last night trying to call the front desk to get water to my room and some fruit or something healthy because they give you basically carbs," Sirois told CTV News.
For Sarah Mossad, who also flew back to Toronto from Egypt, her room didn't even have heating and the only water that was available was from the rusty bathroom faucets. She told CTV News that she had to wait until 4 p.m. the next day for a room change.
"I just had to wear a lot of sweaters that day, which I didn't have a lot of, coming back from Cairo's 30-degree weather," she said.
"You're in this room with poor ventilation, not knowing when if you're going to get basic needs like water and things like that."
Travellers are also reporting that they're being left in the dark by quarantine officers after they receive their test results.
Sirois had already received her negative results for her arrival test. But as of Monday afternoon, she had not received any word from quarantine officers on when she could go back home.
"I just actually got an email saying that my PCR tests came back negative again. No one has contacted me in terms of when I can go home. Like, I have no idea." she said. "I don't have COVID but they're treating me like a criminal."
Sirois isn't the only one who has had to deal with a lack of communication. Mossad had to wait 36 hours to hear from an officer after she got her negative test result.
"I was up all night, waiting for my negative test. As soon as I got it, I called and told them that I had a negative test. No calls were returned, no information," she told CTV News.
Things got so bad for Mossad, she ended up calling 911 out of panic and frustration after there was no answer from any of the phone numbers that she was provided.
"It was like really mentally tough. You know, I just wasn't sure if we were going to spend two more days there. I wasn't sure if we were going to ever leave," she said.
Public Safety Minister defended the federal quarantine facilities when asked about the conditions on Monday.
"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.
Mark Johnson, a spokesperson for the Public Health Agency of Canada, told CTV National News in an email statement that the agency is working to boost its capacity to let people go home closer to the time they receive their negative test results.
“Every traveller staying at a designated quarantine facility has access to 24-hour support and ongoing medical monitoring,” Johnson said.
There's no timeline on how long these measures for those coming from the 10 designated countries will remain in place. For travellers who are cleared to leave the quarantine facilities, they'll have to continue to quarantine at home until it's been 14 days and get another COVID-19 test on day eight of their quarantine.
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
Three people have been arrested and charged in the killing of B.C. Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar – as authorities continue investigating potential connections to the Indian government.
The Vancouver Canucks are moving on to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
TD Bank Group could be hit with more severe penalties than previously expected, says a banking analyst after a report that the investigation it faces in the U.S. is tied to laundering illicit fentanyl profits.
A Quebec man who pleaded guilty to threatening Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier François Legault has been sentenced to 20 months in jail.
RCMP say human remains found in a rural area in central Saskatchewan may have been there for a decade or more.
A source close to singer Britney Spears tells CNN that the pop star is 'home and safe' after she had a 'major fight' with her boyfriend on Wednesday night at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood.
As Wegovy becomes available to Canadians starting Monday, a medical expert is cautioning patients wanting to use the drug to lose weight that no medication is a ''magic bullet,' and the new medication is meant particularly for people who meet certain criteria related to obesity and weight.
Drew Carey took over as host of 'The Price Is Right' and hopes he’s there for life. 'I'm not going anywhere,' he told 'Entertainment Tonight' of the job he took over from longtime host Bob Barker in 2007.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.
Out of more than 9,000 entries from over 2,000 breweries in 50 countries, a handful of B.C. brews landed on the podium at the World Beer Cup this week.
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.