Food prices rising and Britain rolls out COVID-19 vaccine: In The News for Dec. 8

In The News is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to kickstart your day. Here is what’s on the radar of our editors for the morning of Dec. 8 …

What we are watching in Canada …

A small number of vulnerable Canadians could be immunized against COVID-19 before the holidays, as the first doses of the Pfizer vaccine are set to arrive next week.

It comes as Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia and Newfoundland and Labrador revealed that they would be inoculating residents.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said yesterday that Canada will receive 249,000 doses of the vaccine by the end of December.

Health Canada approval is expected this week and first shipments are on track to arrive next week. 

Saskatchewan is set to reveal its vaccine distribution plan later today.

Premier Scott Moe says the province has ultracold storage in place to receive the Pfizer vaccine, which is pending Health Canada approval, with the first doses expected to arrive next week. 

The premier says his Saskatchewan Party government will start vaccinations “as quickly as physically possible.”

Immunization requires two doses administered weeks apart, so the initial batch would be enough for nearly 125,000 Canadians.

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Also this …

A new report says food prices will be going up in Canada next year.

The 2021 Food Price Report says rising bread, meat and vegetable prices are all expected to push grocery bills up to five per cent higher. 

That means an average Canadian family of four will pay as much as $695 more on food next year, for a total grocery bill of nearly $14,000 for the year.

Sylvain Charlebois, a Dalhousie University professor and lead author of the report, says Canadians won’t see a break at the grocery store any time soon. 

He says researchers are forecasting the highest increase since the annual report’s inception 11 years ago. 

The report by four Canadian universities says the pandemic, wildfires and changing consumer habits are all to blame for increasing food prices.

Researchers found that meat prices could increase as much as six-and-a-half per cent, with poultry leading the way. 

Also, wildfires in California will mean paying more for produce while higher wheat costs are pushing up prices in the bread aisle. 

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What we are watching in the U.S. …

Critics of Canada’s most controversial cross-border pipeline projects aren’t taking their demise for granted under president-elect Joe Biden. 

A new report from the U.S.-based Rainforest Action Network says two of them — Keystone XL and Enbridge’s Line 3 pipeline — are being “rammed through” in the final weeks of Donald Trump’s presidency. 

The report points to a long list of prominent international banks it says are lined up to back the projects as evidence they are far from dead. 

Biden’s campaign has already made it clear the president-elect intends to rescind presidential permits for TC Energy’s Keystone XL project once he takes office. 

But Jason Disterhoft, the report’s author, says there’s an effort afoot to make it difficult for Biden to follow through on that commitment. 

Disterhoft says it will fall to the banks to decide in the coming months whether to honour their own commitments to limiting the emissions that cause climate change. 

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What we are watching in the rest of the world …

British health authorities rolled out the first doses of a widely tested and independently reviewed COVID-19 vaccine Tuesday, starting a global immunization program that is expected to gain momentum as more serums win approval.

The first shot was given to Margaret Keenan, who turns 91 next week, at University Hospital Coventry, one of several hospitals around the country that are handling the initial phase of the program on what has been dubbed “V-Day.”

“I feel so privileged to be the first person vaccinated against COVID-19,” said the former jewelry shop assistant, who wore a surgical mask and a blue Merry Christmas T-shirt decorated with a cartoon penguin wearing a Santa hat and red scarf. “It’s the best early birthday present I could wish for because it means I can finally look forward to spending time with my family and friends in the New Year after being on my own for most of the year.”

The first 800,000 doses are going to people over 80 who are either hospitalized or already have outpatient appointments scheduled, along with nursing home workers. Others will have to wait their turn.

Public health officials have asked the public to be patient because only those who are most at risk from the virus will be vaccinated in the early stages. Medical staff will contact people to arrange appointments, and most will have to wait until next year before there is enough vaccine to expand the program.

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On this day in 1869 …

Timothy Eaton opened a small dry-goods store at the corner of Yonge and Queen streets in Toronto. Eaton revolutionized the commercial practice of the day by offering satisfaction or money refunded. His store became one of the largest department stores in North America. In September 1999, Sears Canada announced it would buy the outstanding common shares of the insolvent Eaton’s.

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In entertainment …

Montreal’s Osheaga Music and Arts Festival has announced headliners for next summer’s event, saying while times are uncertain, organizers need to plan for the future.

A media release says the festival will run July 30 through Aug. 1 at Parc Jean-Drapeau with live performances from the Foo Fighters, Cardi B, and Post Malone.

The statement says organizers “have been working relentlessly behind the scenes to create the ideal circumstances for Osheaga to move ahead without a hitch.” 

It adds they “will follow all COVID-19 guidelines (as they evolve) and continue to update the status should anything change.”

Event producer and promoter Evenko says it will issue refunds if the event can’t go forward.

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ICYMI …

Scientists have sifted through nearly 6,000 years of seabird droppings to get what they say could be the first long-term reading on how their numbers are affected by humans.

A published research paper describes how scientists drilled down through 5,800 years of lake sediments on an island off Canada’s East Coast.

Those sediments — mostly the droppings of thousands of seabirds that have nested there for millennia — were used to estimate bird populations over the centuries. 

While there have been big swings, metres and metres of bird guano suggest that the biggest and most permanent drop came when humans settled on nearby islands in the 19th century. 

The paper suggests that today’s populations of Leach’s storm petrel on the island just off St. Pierre and Miquelon are only about 16 per cent of the historical norm.

Co-author John Smol of Queen’s University in Kingston, Ont., says the technique could be used to establish long-term populations for other species, one of the main challenges in conservation.    

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 8, 2020

The Canadian Press