Air turbulence: When can it become dangerous?
Flight turbulence like that encountered by a Singapore Airlines flight on Tuesday is extremely common, but there's one aspect of severe turbulence an aviation expert says can lead to serious injury.
Almost half of Canadians plan to abandon social distancing during holiday gatherings and hug, kiss and shake hands with friends and family, a new poll shows.
The poll by Leger in collaboration with The Canadian Press found that 45 per cent of Canadians say they will "greet others with a handshake, hug or kiss" at Christmas parties and other holiday gatherings.
In Ontario, the number prepared to ditch social distancing over the winter vacation rose to 50 per cent, compared to only 37 per cent in B.C.
Among 18- to 34-year-olds, the proportion comfortable with hugging friends and relatives over the holidays rose to 52 per cent.
Christian Bourque, Leger's executive vice-president, said the finding suggested that Canadians may be becoming complacent about the risk of COVID-19 because they are vaccinated.
Forty-nine per cent of Canadians confessed they were not afraid of catching the virus.
"Canadians are showing indications that they are relaxing. Now that there is a fifth wave in Europe, Canadians are indicating that they are heading for a holiday season where they will take too many chances," Bourque said.
He said he found the findings surprising because, while "taking chances is cultural in the U.S.," Canadians tend to be more cautious. He said the bold attitude may be due to "COVID fatigue" or because many Canadians now think: "All of us are vaccinated in our house, what's the problem?"
At the same time, 81 per cent of Canadians asserted that they would respect all "remaining" safety measures during the holiday season.
The poll of 1,547 Canadians between Friday and Sunday cannot be assigned a margin of error because internet-based polls are not considered truly random samples.
Forty-seven per cent of Canadians say they would ask people if they are vaccinated before inviting them to a holiday party.
And only 35 per cent said they would invite someone who is not fully vaccinated into their home.
More than a third plan to celebrate with more friends and family, though not at pre-COVID-19 levels.
Canadians continue to tighten their belts with 46 per cent saying they had no plans to spend more money over the holidays than last year. Only seven per cent said they were planning to spend "a lot more."
Little more than a third of Canadians said they were planning to do their shopping at the mall, like they used to, with 42 per cent saying they would stick with shopping online.
Sixty per cent of Canadians would shop around for the best price, and only 22 per cent said they would be prepared to spend "a little more" to support local retailers.
The poll suggests that Canadians are not flocking to fly to sunny spots during the peak holiday period, despite the introduction of vaccine passports.
Only 18 per cent plan to get on a plane to see friends and family during the vacation and nine per cent have plans to fly to a vacation spot during the holiday.
Seventy-nine per cent of Canadians support vaccine passports, while 21 per cent of Canadians say they oppose them.
While the federal government's handling of COVID-19 receives a cautious thumbs up from the Canadian public, confidence in some provincial premiers remains weak.
In Alberta, only 33 per cent of those polled said they were satisfied with the measures that Premier Jason Kenney had put in place to combat COVID-19, while in Saskatchewan, 37 per cent were satisfied with Premier Scott Moe's pandemic action plan.
This compares with 77 per cent of Quebec residents who think Premier Francois Legault has done a good job fighting COVID-19.
Sixty-three per cent of Canadians say they are satisfied with action taken by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government to fight COVID-19.
A third are dissatisfied with the government's handling of the crisis.
The poll found that only 51 per cent of Canadians think that the worst of the pandemic is over.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Nov. 23, 2021.
Flight turbulence like that encountered by a Singapore Airlines flight on Tuesday is extremely common, but there's one aspect of severe turbulence an aviation expert says can lead to serious injury.
British Columbia serial killer Robert Pickton was attacked and sustained life-threatening injuries in a Quebec prison Sunday in what officials described as a 'major assault.'
In his latest column for CTVNews.ca, former NDP leader Tom Mulcair argues that if there's an unofficial frontrunner in the eventual race to replace Justin Trudeau as Liberal leader, it has to be former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney.
The Toronto Blue Jays have offered tickets and a signed baseball to a fan who says she was struck in the face by a 110 m.p.h (177 km/h) foul ball at Friday’s game.
Members of a killer whale pod related to an orphan orca calf that escaped a remote British Columbia tidal lagoon last month have been spotted off the northeast coast of Vancouver Island.
Ontario Provincial Police continue to investigate a long weekend fatal boat collision on Bobs Lake, north of Kingston, Ont.
An investigation has been opened into the death of Matthew Perry and how the “Friends” actor received the anesthetic ketamine, which was ruled a contributing factor in his death.
House of Commons Speaker Greg Fergus is facing fresh Conservative-led calls to resign, this time over "very partisan" and 'inflammatory' language used – the Liberals say mistakenly – to promote an upcoming event.
As Prime Minister Justin Trudeau continues the 'Team Canada' charm offensive to U.S. lawmakers and business leaders, Canada's ambassador to the United States downplayed the effect of another Trump presidency on Canada.
Montreal photographer captured the moment a Canada Goose defended itself from a fox at the Botanical Garden.
Public libraries in Atlantic Canada are now lending a broader range of items.
Flashes of purple darting across the sky mixed with the serenading sound of songs will be noticed more with spring in full force in Manitoba.
Catching 'em all with impressive speed, a 7-year-old boy from Windsor, Ont. who only started his competitive Pokémon journey seven months ago has already levelled up to compete at a world championship level.
A sanctuary dedicated to animals with disabilities is celebrating the third birthday of one of its most popular residents.
2b Theatre recently moved into the old Video Difference building, seeking to transform it into an artistic hub, meeting space, and temporary housing unit for visiting performers in Halifax.
A B.C. woman says her service dog pulled her from a lake moments before she had a seizure, saving her life.
A Starbucks fan — whose name is Winter — is visiting Canada on a purposeful journey that began with a random idea at one of the coffee chain's stores in Texas.
Members of Piapot First Nation, students from the University of Winnipeg and various other professionals are learning new techniques that will hopefully be used for ground searches of potential unmarked grave sites in the future.