Federal Court of Appeal reserves decision on B.C. ostrich cull case
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CTV News
3 minutes ago
- CTV News
‘Just gross': Parts of Saskatchewan, Manitoba dealing with ‘very high risk' air quality ratings
Much of Saskatchewan is under an air quality warning due to smoke from burning wildfires. Allison Bamford reports. Much of Saskatchewan is under an air quality warning due to smoke from burning wildfires. Allison Bamford reports. Air quality warnings blanketed much of central and southern Saskatchewan and Manitoba as smoke from northern wildfires blew in. In Saskatoon, the air quality health index hovered around the 10-plus mark for most of Tuesday, the highest rating on the scale. 'When you're in that 10+ range (on the air quality health index), anybody is at risk for symptoms,' said Christopher Pascoe, an associate professor of physiology at the University of Manitoba. 'For some health consequences if you're outside for too long.' Common short-term exposure effects can feel like seasonal allergies and include burning eyes, runny nose, throat irritation and headache. Pascoe says shortness of breath, wheezing and difficulty breathing are not uncommon. The symptoms can appear worse in those with chronic diseases. Sarah Davidson lives in Saskatoon and suffers from asthma. She says her condition makes the wildfire smoke 'extra yucky,' and is avoiding outdoor activities while using her puffer more frequently to make up for the lack of fresh air. 'Even waking up, my windows weren't even open, but you could smell it (smoke) in the house,' she said. 'It's just gross.' Davidson says she can feel it every time she breathes in that gross smell. Her chest gets tight, and she feels phlegmy. Others are combatting the side effects with masks left over from the pandemic. 'It makes me feel like I have a cold all the time. Like it's hard to breathe. I get a runny nose, and it's generally unpleasant being outside,' Aden Ritter told CTV News while wearing a mask. If people living in areas with air quality warnings must go outside for extended periods of time, health professionals recommend wearing a tightly-fitted N95 mask and taking frequent breaks indoors. Rescue inhalers and medications to open airways are important tools during these air quality warnings, according to Pascoe. 'If you have asthma or COPD, you'll need it a lot more,' Pascoe said. 'You may feel an air hunger, where it feels like you can't get a fill breath in.' Environment Canada expects the winds to shift by the weekend, which will give southern Saskatchewan and Manitoba a short break from the smoke.
CBC
5 minutes ago
- CBC
Bills mounting for family of young N.S. woman in ICU after second lung transplant
In the weeks leading up to her daughter's second double lung transplant, Lisa Ali of Cole Harbour, N.S., said she was scared to answer the phone, unsure of who would be on the other end. For more than a year, she and her 20-year-old daughter, Tahlia Ali, had been living in Toronto waiting for the life-saving surgery that is not available in Nova Scotia. That wait comes at an out-of-pocket cost for Nova Scotians — once a patient is put on the transplant list, they must move to Toronto, wait for their match, and stay for months post-surgery to recover. "I was living off my credit card and I had no way to pay it," said Lisa Ali in an interview. "I'm waiting for phone calls for lungs, but the only people that are calling me is creditors." The Alis are one of three Nova Scotia families who have spoken to CBC News in recent months about the financial devastation they have faced while waiting for their loved one to access lung transplant surgery in a different province. The Ali family said a lack of financial support from federal and provincial governments has created an immense strain during an already fraught time. One month after her most recent transplant, Tahlia Ali remains in intensive care. One of the lungs didn't take and had to be removed. "She has a lot of complications from this surgery this time around that we were not expecting," said her grandmother, Judy Robichaud. "We were expecting by this time she'd be out of ICU ... But even the doctors don't know what to expect. They're taking it one day at a time." 1st transplant in 2020 Tahlia Ali was diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension when she was seven. At the time, the family was told the condition was fatal and the only treatment was a lung transplant. She had her first transplant in 2020, when she was 16. Her family was just getting back on their feet in Nova Scotia when she developed new issues, and learned she needed another transplant. "Tahlia, right now, she's fighting," said Robichaud. "We have to go the distance because she is." Adding to the strain is the issue of money. Lisa Ali said most people don't realize that a condition of being on the lung transplant list is to have a full-time caregiver. That person cannot work, as it's their job to get the patient to the hospital for multiple appointments a week, and make sure the patient gets all of their medications. Ali thought she would qualify for employment insurance caregiving benefits when she left her job to go to Toronto, but she was shocked to learn she was less than 10 hours short of qualifying. A statement from Employment and Social Development Canada said she could have appealed that decision, but needed to do so within a 30-day window. Ali said she was overwhelmed, as she had just days to move out of her rental home, find a place to live in Toronto and get to her daughter's first appointment. "I was like, 'I don't have the energy to appeal that,'" she told CBC News. While Nova Scotia offers an allowance of $3,000 a month to families who have to live out of province long term for medical treatment, that only covers the family's rent in Toronto. Ali estimates she's racked up $20,000 in debt covering additional expenses. Now that her granddaughter is facing serious complications, Robichaud expects it will be another year before they get home. She said people have been rallying behind them, offering what they can to help make ends meet. On Saturday, Colleen's Pub in Dartmouth held an event for the family, bringing in more than $5,000. "I don't know how they would be able to manage up there if it wasn't for our family and our friends hanging in there with us and helping to support what's happening right now. I'm just unbelievably grateful for them," Robichaud said. Robichaud and Lisa Ali said both the provincial and federal governments need to do more to help families like theirs, and they plan to work with other Nova Scotia families who are advocating for change. Health Minister Michelle Thompson told CBC News last month that she sympathizes with families who are in similar situations, but said the health-care system is stretched in many directions and the department has to make tough choices. She said Nova Scotia is unique compared to other provinces because it covers some of the travel expenses of the support person who must go with the patient. "We'll continue to review that program, to hear from people. We want to be responsive," Thompson said at the time. "But it isn't a cost-recovery program and we also want to maintain the integrity of the entire system, and I know that's difficult."
CBC
an hour ago
- CBC
Measles cases extend beyond Alberta, Ontario, hotspot map shows
The spread of measles both within provinces and between one another is keeping doctors and health officials across much of Canada on their toes. The pace of the outbreak is accelerating in Alberta and more than 3,400 people have been confirmed with measles there and in Ontario so far this year. Measles hangs in the air and is one of the most contagious known viruses, infectious diseases specialists say. Joseph Blondeau, head of clinical microbiology at Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon, says the more widespread the measles virus is in the province, the more opportunities there are for an individual who may not yet know they're infected to interact with others at social events and transmit it to others. Measles can cause fever, cough and redness of the eyes, followed by white spots next to the molars and a rash that usually starts around the hairline and moves down the body. "It's not just one geographically restricted cluster in the province," said Blondeau, who is also the provincial lead for clinical microbiology at the Saskatchewan Health Authority. While the outbreaks are concentrated in Alberta and Ontario, maps of hotspots across Canada reflect how precarious the situation is in several other provinces, meaning some doctors are recommending vaccines for travel within the country. "What worries me all the time is that we need to be careful about new individuals that are at a higher risk for more severe infection because those are the ones that could end up with complications, whether it's pneumonia or infection of the brain." Two doses of measles, mumps and rubella vaccine offer 97 per cent protection, said Dr. Ayisha Kurji, an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Saskatchewan. Measles is considered eliminated in Canada, but that status could be lost given the extent of spread, largely among those who are unvaccinated. "It's a vaccine that we know a lot about." Immunization clinics improve access Manitoba started experiencing a significant increase in measles in the spring and there doesn't seem to be a decline, said Dr. Davinder Singh, medical officer of health for the province's Southern Health-Santé Sud health region. Notably, Singh said, the southwest area is most impacted, which corresponds with it having the lowest immunization uptake for measles-containing vaccines, he said. There are also pockets of low immunization across Manitoba. Medical experts are conducting home visits for those who can't travel, offering pop-up clinics when a group of families needs immunization and extending hours into the evening, depending on local needs, Singh said. Vaccination, immunity and records: Your questions on measles, answered At-risk Albertans mindful of summer plans as measles cases climb Infants aged six months to under 12 months in some provinces where measles is circulating are eligible for what's called a dose zero to protect them sooner than when children routinely receive two doses. Manitoba residents who are being evacuated due to wildfires are also offered vaccines, Singh said. Cases likely underreported Southwestern Ontario has faced hundreds of measles cases since April. Now there's been a consistent downward trend over the past few weeks, said Dr. Rod Lim, director of pediatric emergency medicine at the Children's Hospital at London Health Sciences Centre. "We remain alert and able to provide care to those that need it," Lim said in an email. For every person who has measles, Singh said, there are likely several others who had it and haven't been tested. "Unconfirmed cases kind of hang out there," said Dr. Gerald Evans, a medicine professor at Queen's University and an infectious diseases specialist who practises at Kingston Health Sciences Centre. Evans said he thinks the issue of underreporting is a bigger problem with the American data, where the ratio of deaths and hospitalizations to cases appears out of sync with the reported number of cases. The total stands at 1,309 as of July 15, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's website. There have been three confirmed deaths from measles in the U.S. in 2025. In June, Ontario reported the death of an infant who was born prematurely and infected with the highly contagious virus while in the womb. The child also had other serious medical complications unrelated to the virus, the province's chief medical officer of health said. In Atlantic Canada, P.E.I. and Newfoundland and Labrador have no active measles cases, with one in Nova Scotia and 15 in New Brunswick so far this year. On the Pacific Coast, B.C. has more than 120 cases, while Yukon has not seen any measles in 2025. The Northwest Territories had a single measles case in the spring. There have been no cases in Nunavut, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada.
