Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
A new survey suggests about 20 per cent of vaccine-hesitant Canadians would lie about their COVID-19 vaccine history if injections were required for international or domestic travel.
The 2021 Smart Traveller Survey, conducted by the Travel Health Insurance Association of Canada (THIA), found that 14 per cent of Canadians are not interested in getting the vaccine, and among those, about 20 per cent would lie about it if vaccines were a requirement for travel or entry into large events.
Will McAleer, THIA’s executive director and spokesperson, said the number of people willing to lie about their vaccine history is somewhat expected given the amount of people already caught faking documentation to travel during the pandemic.
“We saw a virtual cottage industry in the international travel space with fake COVID-19 tests, the PCR tests that are required in order to get back into the country,” he said in a recent phone interview with CTVNews.ca. “All around the globe, there were fake ones popping up just so people could travel.”
As recently as May, news emerged that two travellers were slapped with $9,000 in combined fines after presenting COVID-19 test results upon arrival at the Toronto airport, while other travellers have also been fined and charged after presenting fake documents while trying to enter Canada.
The survey also found that 31 per cent of unvaccinated Canadians would get a COVID-19 vaccine if it were required for international travel.
McAleer said this information could be useful when it comes to getting more Canadians vaccinated.
“What we're saying is it could be an interesting way for the government to use a good carrot approach to getting people vaccinated by just saying: ‘Hey, look, in order to travel, you're going to need to provide proof of vaccination,’” he said.
“If it's a reality out there among many of the countries Canadians travel to, it makes sense for government to recognize that and to leverage it as best they can.”
Several countries, including Greece, Denmark, France, the Bahamas and Barbados, already require proof of COVID-19 vaccination or negative COVID-19 test for entry. Newfoundland and Labrador is also preparing to allow fully vaccinated Canadians into the province beginning on July 1.
“What we're seeing is there is a swift and full movement toward this type of proof in various forms,” McAleer said. “It's likely that they're going to be some digital technologies that get put in place. The Canadian government and provincial governments are going to have to figure out how we get our proof of vaccines.”
Vaccine proof for international travel is nothing new. Most African and Asian countries already require proof of vaccination against yellow fever before entering, depending from where the traveller is arriving.
Other parts of the world also require proof of vaccination against polio and meningococcal meningitis.
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
"It's a bit of a complicated pattern; we've got a lot going on," said Jennifer Smith of the Meteorological Service of Canada in an interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday. "[As is] typical with weather, all of these things are related."
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.