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.
Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos and his counterparts from other G7 countries agreed Monday to closely monitor and share information about the highly mutated Omicron variant of COVID-19.
The new variant emerged in South Africa, coinciding with an increase in COVID-19 cases in the region.
Its appearance prompted border closures as well as screening measures in Canada and around the world.
"The overall risk related to Omicron is considered very high for a number of reasons," the World Health Organization warned.
"There is concerning preliminary evidence on Omicron suggesting, in contrast to previous (variants of concern), both potential immune escape and higher transmissibility that could lead to further surges with severe consequences."
Two cases of the Omicron variant have been discovered in Ottawa, and public-health workers are doing contact tracing in an attempt to stamp out transmission. A confirmed case was also announced Monday in Quebec.
Officials warn more cases are likely to be found within Canada in coming days.
The G7 health ministers met virtually to discuss the new threat, underscoring the importance of ensuring all countries have access to COVID-19 vaccines and the needed supports to get them into arms.
They also expressed strong backing for an international pathogen surveillance network within the WHO, said a joint statement issued after the meeting.
The ministers agreed to reconvene next month.
The developments came as countries debated a new global convention on pandemic preparedness and response at a special meeting of the World Health Assembly on Monday.
It is only the second time the group has held an emergency summit of this kind.
If member countries agree, the assembly would begin developing what would essentially serve as an international treaty on pandemic readiness.
"Global health security is too important to be left to chance, or goodwill, or shifting geopolitical currents, or the vested interests of companies and shareholders," World Health Organization director Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at the outset of the summit.
"The best way we can address them is with a legally binding agreement between nations: an accord forged from the recognition that we have no future but a common future."
He said the emergence of the Omicron variant underlines the perilous and precarious nature of the global situation.
"Indeed, Omicron demonstrates just why the world needs a new accord on pandemics. Our current system disincentives countries from alerting others to threats that will inevitably land on their shores," he said.
The idea is to prevent another global crisis like the one posed by COVID-19 and its new, potentially more transmissible variants.
"Our position has always been that we are stronger when we work together," Duclos said Friday in support of a new convention.
A binding international agreement would help countries to collaborate and would allow Canada to more easily share its expertise on the world stage, Duclos said.
"That level of policy and scientific leadership is a sign that we can do even better in the future as we collaborate with WHO and other organization in order to prevent the incidents of future pandemics and protect Canadians against such things."
The WHO working group on the file says governments should look to develop the convention in tandem with efforts to strengthen existing international health regulations.
The working group's priorities include a focus on global equity, rapid risk detection and assessment, a global approach to misinformation and the sharing of pathogens, genetic information and biological samples.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 29, 2021.
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.
Pius Suter scored with 1:39 left and the Vancouver Canucks advanced to the second round of the NHL playoffs with a 1-0 victory over the Nashville Predators on Friday night in Game 6.
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.