'He's in our hearts': Family and friends still seek answers one year after Nathan Wise’s disappearance
It’s been a year since Nathan Wise went missing and his family is no closer to finding out what happened to him.
In light of the emergence of the new Omicron variant of concern, calls are mounting once again for Canada to support a global initiative to temporarily waive intellectual property restrictions on COVID-19 vaccines.
Opposition politicians and medical groups are urging the Liberals to finally put their support behind a 2020 joint proposal led by India and South Africa to suspend the World Trade Organization’s Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) for the course of the pandemic.
The move would give lower-income countries access to vital information like trade secrets, designs, and copyrights to produce COVID-19 treatments domestically, and more cheaply.
In South Africa, where the Omicron is spreading quickly, less than 25 per cent of adults have been fully vaccinated against the virus, compared to the nearly 76 per cent in Canada.
Experts say this is due to a combination of vaccine inequity and hesitancy.
The government has continued to state that they are not against the TRIPS waiver, but are consulting with countries and stakeholders on the right path forward.
Ottawa also often points to their contributions to the global vaccine sharing network COVAX, of which they’ve donated more than 8.3 million surplus vaccines of a promised 200 million by the end of 2022.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh told reporters on Tuesday that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau needs to “take a position” and either support the global battle to fight the virus or protect the profits of pharmaceutical companies.
“It’s not enough for us to support Canadians and do our part here in Canada, we also have to help countries around the world and those particularly that have less means to purchase vaccines….We need to make sure that people are put first,” he said.
The Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions (CFNU) co-signed a letter to the United Nations, along with other international nursing unions, to push for political action on vaccine inequity.
Pauline Worsfold, the CFNU’s secretary treasurer and a nurse on the frontlines of the pandemic in Alberta, said the fact that Canada hasn’t agreed to sign onto the TRIPS waiver proposal is a “sin.”
“It’s inequitable to those countries that can’t afford to vaccinate, to pay the high price to vaccinate their populations…no one is safe until everyone is safe and I think this new variant is part and parcel of the proof,” she told CTVNews.ca during an interview.
Asked whether she buys into the argument that patent monopolies foster innovation and help firms recover their investments in research and development, Worsfold said “not for a second.”
A spokesperson for International Trade Minister Mary Ng previously told CTVNews.ca that the TRIPS waiver would be a priority topic discussed at the World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference that was scheduled to take place from Nov. 30 to Dec. 3.
The conference has since been postponed due to the threat of the Omicron variant.
In a statement to CTVNews.ca issued Tuesday, the spokesperson said, “Our government has always been, and will always be, a strong advocate for vaccine equity."
“We are participating in discussions to waive intellectual property protections particular to COVID-19 vaccines under the WTO Agreement on TRIPS. Canada will continue to work with international partners in the WTO towards achieving a speedy and just recovery around the world,” said Alice Hansen.
It’s been a year since Nathan Wise went missing and his family is no closer to finding out what happened to him.
Dozens of Ontarians are expressing frustration in the province’s health-care system after their family doctors either dropped them as patients or threatened to after they sought urgent care elsewhere.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
Amazon's paid subscription service provides free delivery for online shopping across Canada except for remote locations, the company said in an email. While customers in Iqaluit qualify for the offer, all other communities in Nunavut are excluded.
The fire burning near Fort McMurray grew from 25 hectares to 5,500 hectares over the weekend.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin began a Cabinet shakeup on Sunday, proposing the replacement of Sergei Shoigu as defence minister as he begins his fifth term in office.
Police are searching for a male suspect after a man was “slashed in neck” on Sunday morning in downtown Toronto and died.
There were some scary moments for several people on a northern Ontario highway caught on video Thursday after a chain reaction following a truck fire.
Health Canada announced various product recalls this week, including electric adapters, armchairs, cannabis edibles and vehicle components.
English, history, entertainment, math and geography: high school trivia teams could be quizzed on any of it when they compete at the Reach for the Top Nationals in Ottawa in June.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the NFL, despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.
The threat of zebra mussels has prompted the federal government to temporarily ban watercraft from a Manitoba lake popular with tourists.
A small Ajax dessert shop that recently received a glowing review from celebrity food critic Keith Lee is being forced to move after a zoning complaint was made following the social media influencer’s visit last month.
The Canada Science and Technology Museum is inviting visitors to explore their poop. A new exhibition opens at the Ottawa museum on Friday called, 'Oh Crap! Rethinking human waste.'
The Regina Police Service says it is the first in Saskatchewan and possibly Canada to implement new technology in its detention facility that will offer real-time monitoring of detainees’ vital health metrics.
Just as she had feared, a restaurant owner from eastern Quebec who visited Montreal had her SUV stolen, but says it was all thanks to the kindness of strangers on the internet — not the police — that she got it back.