www.theasianstar.com Vol 19 - Issue 42
Saturday, November 21, 2020
Vancouver City approves planning for road tolls into downtown & Central Broadway Vancouver city approves Climate Emergency Action Plan that could see levy placed on all vehicles entering Vancouver downtown core. Green Party Coun. Pete Fry said in a social media post that council voted in favour of the plan Tuesday night. It’s said to be part of a drive to make Vancouver one of the greenest cities in the world. Another section of the plan proposes a carbon pollution surcharge on gas or diesel vehicles. The entire strategy is not slated to take effect until at least 2025 and meetings will be held over the next 18 months to gather public reaction. As Vancouver ponders downtown toll for drivers, experts warn it could harm low-income commuters Continued on page 6
BCCDC illustrates most common ‘exposure settings’ An update from the B.C. Centre for Disease Controls provides a clear picture of not only where COVID-19 is most prevalent, but in which settings it is being spread. The update, published Nov. 12, shows Surrey has more cases than any other city in the province, with at least 3,993. Surrey is also home to more than 27 per cent of B.C.’s confirmed cases. Extending north to 40 Avenue, South Surrey-White Rock is in a different health boundary than the rest of Surrey, and reported 298 cases.
Canada is ‘getting into trouble’ as COVID-19 cases spike Dr Fauci says America’s top infectious disease specialist Dr. Anthony Fauci says Canada, once an example of managing COVID-19, is wading into dangerous territory as the virus surges across the world. “Right now, the entire planet is in trouble. If you look at almost every country, there are very few exceptions,” Dr Fauci said, “The European Union, if you look at the number of new infections, it’s out of sight. The United States is out of sight. Canada, which was supposedly doing so well, is also getting into trouble.
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Premier Horgan calls for restrictions on non-essential travel in Canada The premier of British Columbia says Canada needs a national strategy to discourage non-essential travel between provinces. With COVID-19 numbers surging in his province and across the country, John Horgan says he’ll be calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to implement a panCanadian approach to limit travel within the country. “We need to make sure that those who want to come to British Columbia must do so only if it is essential for their business or their well being,” Horgan said. “What I’m suggesting is that the people of Quebec, Ontario and Manitoba need to know that they should stay in Quebec, Ontario and Manitoba, until we get to a place where we can start distributing a vaccine across the country.”
Provinc-wide social gathering ban plus masks must indoor in BC British Columbians must now wear masks in all indoor public places, officials announced, as part of sweeping new measures to crack down on the province’s second wave of COVID-19. Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said on Thursday that
she reversed her stance on the issue after hearing that businesses were concerned about having to enforce guidelines on mask-wearing in a bid to slow the spread of the disease. “You name it, for the most part,” Henry said, referring to the wide list of places Continued on page 6
Nigerians are leading global asylum claims to Canada despite Covid-19’s travel restrictions In February, data showed that, for the fifth year in a row, more Nigerians emigrated to Canada in 2019 than the year before. Another marker of that exodus is that the number of
Nigerians issued permanent residence (PR) permits by the Canadian government has tripled since 2015. In 2019 alone, 12,595 Nigerians were issued the permits.