Beyond Local

Health Canada said 311 patients in Canada reported a case of Bell's Palsy after getting a COVID-19 shot, though that does not specifically mean the condition was caused by the vaccine.

Numerous political leaders and health-care experts across Canada have condemned Alberta's decision to eliminate isolation, testing, and contact-tracing measures. 

The rise came largely in full-time work, which rose by 83,000 or half a percentage point and occurred in multiple sectors.

The 325-square kilometre White Rock Lake wildfire jumped Highway 97, about 40 kilometres southeast of Kamloops, late Thursday.

The union had said members would begin a "sweeping" series of actions at Canadian airports, land borders, commercial shipping ports, postal facilities, and headquarters locations if a contract hadn't been reached by early this morning.

Like employment insurance, the guaranteed income supplement (GIS) is income-tested. That means the previous year's taxable earnings — including emergency benefits — factor into how much gets doled out in the next payment period (recipients are notified of their entitlements each July).

It is the first time Trudeau has openly supported any form of compulsory vaccinations.

Federal Health Minister Patty Hajdu said recent modelling for Alberta forecasts a more serious resurgence in cases fuelled by the Delta variant, and all governments need to take reasonable steps to protect Canadians.

In an open letter earlier Wednesday, a group of 10 physicians from the Edmonton Zone Medical Staff Association said Alberta is going against advice from Health Canada, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the World Health Organization.

"The majority of our public-health resources have been directed to the COVID-19 response, as has been necessary, that has come at the cost of not fully working on other threats, like for example opioid deaths," Hinshaw said.