Native protests continue to block Canada passenger and freight rail service

   Canada column for Sunday, Feb. 16/20

   THE CANADIAN REPORT

   By Jim Fox

   Passenger and freight rail service has been virtually suspended across Canada due to Native protest blockades while police stand by and “monitor” the situation.

   Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the disruptions must be resolved “through dialogue,” not by ordering in the police.

   “We are not the kind of country where politicians tell the police what to do in operational matters,” he added.

   The blockades began a week ago over an injunction against Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs and supporters at the Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline construction site in British Columbia.

   A major concern is a blockade of the Canadian National Railway main line near Belleville, Ontario that has halted VIA Rail passenger trains and freight.

   Members of the Mohawk Nation met over the weekend with Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller but couldn't resolve the 10-day protest there.

Canadians being flown home in emergency flights out of China amidst virus crisis

   Canada column for Sunday, Feb. 9/20

   THE CANADIAN REPORT

   (c) By Jim Fox

   The first planeload of Canadians arrived home after an emergency flight out of China, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak.

   A Canadian government flight carrying 176 people from Wuhan touched down in Vancouver and then flew to Canadian Forces Base Trenton in Ontario. Another flight is being planned.

  The passengers are undergoing two weeks of quarantine and monitoring to see if they’ve contracted the virus before being released, said Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne.

   A second group of 39 Canadians also made it home to Trenton through the gracious offer to fill space on a flight chartered by the U.S. government.

   Health authorities have five confirmed cases of coronavirus in Canada and ordered the quarantine to ensure the virus doesn’t spread further.

   The Canadian government is also monitoring 285 Canadians quarantined on cruise ships off the coasts of Japan and Hong Kong.

   There are seven Canadians with confirmed cases of the virus aboard the Diamond Princess docked in Yokohama and are being treated in hospitals in Japan.

Canada prepares to fly Canadians out of China over virus outbreak

   Canada column for Sunday, Feb. 2/20

   THE CANADIAN REPORT

   (c) By Jim Fox

   The Canadian government is making final arrangements to airlift 295 people out of the epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak in China.

   Canada’s public health services has reported four confirmed cases, with three in Ontario  and one in British Columbia, of people who recently returned from China.

   Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada has applied for Chinese approval to send a plane to the locked-down city of Wuhan to transport the Canadians who have asked for help to leave.

   As well, the government is co-ordinating evacuation efforts with other countries and going through a “deliberate process” to get the Canadians home.

   The World Health Organization said the outbreak is a global emergency with China’s deaths rising on Saturday to 259 and 12,000 confirmed cases.

   Canada is assisting the international community and World Health Organization to ensure the threat from the virus remains low here and elsewhere in the world, Trudeau said.