Wednesday, February 11, 2026
ADVT 
National

O'Toole staffer tests positive for COVID-19

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 16 Sep, 2020 05:59 PM
  • O'Toole staffer tests positive for COVID-19

Federal Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole says he, his family and some party workers are in self-isolation after an aide tested positive for COVID-19.

A statement from the party says the O'Tooles are getting tested, informing the Opposition leader's recent contacts and keeping his son home.

"My family and I are feeling well, but we take COVID-19 very seriously," O'Toole said in the statement.

"Today was going to be Jack’s first day back at school, but instead we will be getting tested and self-isolating per public health guidelines. The health and safety of my family and all Canadians is my top priority."

O'Toole was to appear at a party event in Alberta Wednesday evening, part of a mini-tour of the Conservative heartland in the West.

And he was just in Quebec, where he met Premier Francois Legault on Monday.

The Conservatives say the staffer who has the respiratory illness was travelling with him.

The federal parties are still sorting out how the House of Commons will function when it resumes next Wednesday. The Liberals favour a hybrid model, with some MPs in the chamber and others participating via videoconference with a mechanism for voting online.

The Conservatives have been arguing for MPs to participate in person only, with limits on the number of members in the chamber at a time and staggered voting when it's needed.

Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet is also in self-isolation, awaiting the results of his own COVID-19 test after both his spouse and an aide tested positive for the illness.

Blanchet's aide's positive test, a few days after the Bloc caucus met in person in St-Hyacinthe, Que., prompted dozens of MPs and party workers to isolate themselves.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's wife Sophie Gregoire Trudeau tested positive for COVID-19 early in the pandemic but recovered.

MORE National ARTICLES

WATCH: Alcohol approved in Vancouver parks but there is a catch

WATCH: Alcohol approved in Vancouver parks but there is a catch
Park board commissioners in Vancouver have voted in favour of allowing alcohol consumption in 22 parks around the city, but relaxing with a cold one likely won't happen soon.

WATCH: Alcohol approved in Vancouver parks but there is a catch

Remdesivir approved for severe COVID-19 symptoms

Remdesivir approved for severe COVID-19 symptoms
Health Canada has approved the use of remdesivir to treat patients with severe symptoms of COVID-19.

Remdesivir approved for severe COVID-19 symptoms

Stigmatizing Hutterites will deter COVID response: Tam

Stigmatizing Hutterites will deter COVID response: Tam
Canada's chief public health officer says discrimination against Hutterites will not help build trust as some colonies across the Prairies experience outbreaks of COVID-19.

Stigmatizing Hutterites will deter COVID response: Tam

1 life sentence for man who killed Vancouver pair

1 life sentence for man who killed Vancouver pair
A single life sentence of 25 years in prison has been imposed on 27-year-old Rocky Rambo Wei Nam Kam for the murders of a Vancouver couple two years ago.

1 life sentence for man who killed Vancouver pair

HMCS Fredericton returns after six-month mission

HMCS Fredericton returns after six-month mission
Nearly three months after a helicopter crash claimed the lives of six crew members, HMCS Fredericton returned to its home port of Halifax Tuesday.

HMCS Fredericton returns after six-month mission

Probe of student program turns to Kielburgers

Probe of student program turns to Kielburgers
The co-founders of WE Charity argued before a House of Commons committee that the organization wasn't plucked to run a student-volunteer program because of any close ties to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, laying out details about how much the endeavour would likely cost and why the charity used a seemingly complicated structure to manage it all.

Probe of student program turns to Kielburgers