Thousands of would-be passengers who paid for tickets remained in the lurch at the end of 2020. Air Canada reported it held $2.3 billion in advance ticket sales during the fourth quarter.
A total of 368 people are currently hospitalized, with 121 of them in intensive care units as half the cases in the province now involve variants of concern, mostly the one first identified in the United Kingdom.
The National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians says the pandemic has provided extra incentive for foreign states to target Canada’s health, science and technology sectors, particularly when it comes to vaccine research.
The speech says the province's NDP government will hire thousands of new workers for long-term care and fix cracks exposed in the system by COVID-19, improve surgery wait times and build new hospitals, including one in Surrey.
The standing committee on national defence has been probing the issue, including specific allegations made against former chief of defence staff Gen. Johnathan Vance.