ETA Canada Travel Pass News

Police are investigating after a cargo container loaded with gold and valuables was stolen at Toronto Pearson Airport.

On the 20th, the Peel Regional Police held a press conference and announced that they were investigating after it was revealed that a cargo container unloaded by an aircraft was stolen at Pearson Airport on the afternoon of the 17th.

According to police, the value of the valuables in the container amounted to 20 million dollars.

A police official said, “The cargo container was found to have disappeared after being unloaded from the aircraft and transported to a dedicated warehouse.”

He added that he did not know the whereabouts or whereabouts of the stolen goods, including whether they are still in Canada.

During the theft, the cargo container was said to have been handled by an Air Canada aircraft.

A state of emergency has been called by the city of Hamilton, Ontario, for the growing amount of homelessness, opioid addiction, and mental health problems. The city council finally approved the motion that passed the emergency social welfare committee last week.

The declaration of a state of emergency does not immediately launch a new program to address the crisis, but the city of Hamilton could force the state to make changes if similar legislation were passed by other municipalities.

Mayor Andrea Hovath is expected to ask the Ontario government to come up with a countermeasure according to the recommendations of public health groups.

According to a report released in January, Hamilton’s number of opioid-related deaths and overdoses has risen exponentially. Opioid deaths, which stood at 26 in 2005, jumped to 166 in 2021, with more than 65% of them among men between the ages of 25 and 65.

Citing a 2021 Auditor’s Office report, Mayor Hobath argued that the Ontario government did not allocate sufficient support for the issue.

He will seek immediate funding from the Ontario government and the Ministry of Health for mental health services to account for inflation and population growth.

Several organizations that have been smuggling weapons in Toronto have been arrested.

On the 11th, Toronto police announced that they had arrested 42 Canadian nationals who had been smuggling weapons against American organizations and confiscated 173 weapons, including handguns, from both countries.

Police seized 87 handguns enroute to Canada from Chicago and 86 pistols from Toronto.

In addition, 1,454 rounds of ammunition, three sets of body armor, and 45 magazines for mass loading were also seized.

The investigation was conducted under close cooperation between the authorities of the two countries for about a year.

In Canada, the Toronto/York Region and Ontario Police and Border Services Agency participated, and in the United States, the Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms Task Force (ATF) participated.

According to police, the handgun seized in Chicago was wrapped in cushioning material and hidden in a suitcase, preparing to be transported to Canada. Most of the suspects were identified as residents of Ontario, with more than half from Toronto.

A police official explained that weapons smuggled into Canada are sourced from states such as Florida, Ohio, Arizona, Georgia, and Texas in the United States, and are legally purchased locally.

After being smuggled across the border into Canada, the price is multiplied fivefold and sold on the black market, he added.

“Because of these revenues, there is a high demand for arms trafficking, and weapons are sold to each individual or criminal organization in need,” he said.

 

The investigation also uncovered 1.5 kilograms of fentanyl, a narcotic painkiller with a market value of $300,000, and 1.8 kilograms of cocaine, valued at $190,000, police said.

Turning on a charcoal barbecue in the house to warm up is tantamount to committing suicide.

According to the state-run CBC, 11 members of a family almost died from carbon monoxide poisoning on the morning of the 7th in Ottawa, where power was cut due to the ice rain that occurred on the 5th.

Rescue teams and fire departments were dispatched to a house located on Arnold Drive, Ottawa at 7:30 am on the 7th, found 11 family members with symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning, and rushed them to the hospital. Those who received treatment are currently recovering.

When the house became cold due to a power outage, they turned on a charcoal barbecue on the second floor to warm themselves up and were poisoned by carbon monoxide. Fortunately, one of the family members felt unwell and called 911 to prevent a catastrophe.

When rescuers and firefighters arrived on the scene, the carbon monoxide concentration was 180 parts per million (ppm).

In general, if you are in a place where the concentration of carbon monoxide is 200 ppm, you will feel a headache within 2 to 3 hours and lose your judgment.

At a concentration of 1,600 ppm, death occurs within 2 hours, and at 12,800 ppm, within 3 minutes.

Typical symptoms include headache, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, and shortness of breath.

A shortage of family doctors has put a red light on Ontario’s primary care system.

A recent study by the Inspire Primary Healthcare Inspire-PHC project found that as of March last year, at least 415,000 Toronto residents did not have a family doctor.

The number of people without a family doctor surged in the first two years after the pandemic, leaving at least 72,000 without access to primary care. They went to emergency rooms and walk-in clinics instead of family doctors.

According to the study, the percentage of people without a family doctor was higher in the low-income group earning the minimum wage than in the high-income group, showing the inequality situation in medical services.

Currently, at least 120,700 people in Toronto’s lowest-income households do not have access to regular care from a family doctor. In particular, the shortage of homes in western Toronto, north of downtown, and the Scarborough area was notable.

Dr. Mekalai Kumanan, president of the Family Justice Association of Ontario (OCFP), said the statistic was deeply concerning. If it is difficult, it will have a negative impact on personal health.”

In this regard, medical organizations and medical associations have called for additional investment in primary care and warned that health care reform is needed so that all citizens can access home care.

The Inspire-PHC Project is a research group of more than 125 primary care researchers, clinicians, scientists, and policymakers working towards equitable access to high-quality primary health care in Ontario.

Deputy Minister Cho Seong-hoon “Implementation within this year”

The fare burden for passengers transferring from GO Transit to TTC will be reduced.

On the 31st, Deputy Minister of Transportation Cho Seong-hoon (Stan) announced that the TTC will be included in the GO Transit fare consolidation program this year.

The budget bill announced by the Ontario government on the 23rd of last month included a plan to expand the toll program throughout Greater Toronto.

Since March of last year, commuters using GO Transit have not paid an extra fee when transferring to more than a dozen Greater Toronto Area transit systems, excluding the TTC.

The former Liberal Party government signed an agreement with Metrolinx to give a $1.50 discount on fares when transferring from GO Transit to TTC, but the agreement was canceled in 2020 after the Conservative Party came to power.

“Unlike in the 1960s and 1970s, many workers these days move to other areas for work,” said Jan de Silva, chairman of the Toronto Board of Trade.”

As it becomes easier to visit Korea with the electronic travel permit exemption (online version dated 29th), travel demand is expected to increase further.

According to the travel industry, recent air demand has fully recovered to the pre-corona level, but it is expected that the burden on customers will increase due to the rising air fares.

Toronto Travel Agency said, “The temporary exemption from electronic travel permit is good news for the travel industry, but ticket inquiries are already flooding.” “There is a big difference in air ticket prices for each round-trip itinerary, but round-trip fares until September are about $2,800. Recently, Economy class seats were sold for $4,600. Normally, Air Canada’s airfare was cheaper than Korean Air’s, but now it’s a similar situation.”

Paran Travel also said, “Until September, there were not enough seats and airfare went up considerably. The number of travelers coming to Toronto from Korea also increased rapidly.” Tickets for April are almost sold out.”

Both Sebang Travel and Paran Travel said, “The special sale starts at around $1,600 after mid-September, but there are still seats left.” It will continue to rise,” he said.

The United States and Canada have reached an agreement on illegal immigration between the two countries.

In exchange for allowing Canada to return to the United States those who enter through its unofficial border, Canada has decided to officially accept some immigrants.

According to the New York Times and others, the two countries agreed to close the Roxham Road, an unofficial border passage between New York and Quebec, Canada, and allow Canada to accept 15,000 additional immigrants by next year.

Immigration to Canada from the United States surged in 2017 as the Donald Trump administration tightened its crackdown on illegal immigrants.

Last year, more than 39,000 immigrants from the United States entered Canada through unofficial borders, including the Roxham Road, a dirt road between New York and Quebec. Compared to 2017, it has doubled.

As the number of informal immigrants increased, this issue also emerged as a major issue between the two countries.

The agreement came as President Joe Biden visited Canada for the first time after taking office. According to this agreement, the two countries plan to revise the “Safe Third Country Agreement” (STCA). The agreement, which came into effect at the end of 2004, allows those who have left their country to seek asylum in the first safe country they arrive at.

If someone wants to enter Canada from Central and South America via the United States, they must apply in the United States before entering Canada, so they can be sent back. So far, the agreement only covered official borders, and at unofficial borders like Roxham Road, Canada couldn’t apply to return migrants coming through the United States.

“The new agreement will extend across the entire border, and asylum seekers who have entered informally will be returned,” Reuters news agency said. Instead, Canada has decided to accept 15,000 immigrants who are trying to escape violence, persecution, or economic hardship from Central and South America to enter Canada via the United States on a humanitarian basis.

Airport Nexus Centers resume operations one by one.

The Nexus program, which enables expedited border crossings between Canada and the United States, will fully resume next month.

The Nexus Registration Center, which was closed due to the pandemic in March 2020, opened in the United States in April last year. But in Canada, the reopening has been delayed because of disagreements over the rights of U.S. border agents to own firearms and other legal protections.

In January, the two countries agreed to a compromise on this issue at a summit, announcing that Canadian border agents would interview Nexus applicants separately from US agents at eight airports across the country. Prior to the pandemic, agents from both countries worked together.

The Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) will open Nexus Registration Centers at Halifax and Winnipeg airports on the 27th. After that, six other airports will resume registration center operations sequentially. Finally, on the 24th of next month, Toronto and Ottawa airports will open registration centers.

Federal Public Security Minister Marco Mendicino said the number of Nexus card applications in July last year rose 21 per cent in three months to nearly 342,000 but had only processed about 100,000 by the end of January.

Nexus is a program suitable for those who frequently travel between Canada and the United States and can drastically reduce immigration screening time. You can register after interviewing at a center near the US-Canada border. The subscription fee is $50 for 5 years.

Toronto police are struggling as more drivers use license plate plastic covers.

The use of license plate covers, which are commonly seen on cars driving on Ontario’s roads, is illegal under the traffic law.

This is because even if it is made of transparent plastic, it is difficult for the police to accurately identify the license plate number. Some products are designed to make it difficult for stop sign and speed cameras to identify license plates of offending vehicles.

These products are readily available on the online store Amazon and auction site eBay, or at Canadian Tire retail stores. However, in recent years, sales of these products have increased significantly in Ontario, causing controversy.

The problem is that while selling license plate covers is legal, installing them on vehicles is illegal.

Over the past three years, the number of vehicles using license plate covers filmed by Toronto’s automated enforcement cameras has skyrocketed. According to data from the city of Toronto, in 2020 alone, 11,000 photos, or about 5.3% of all photos taken, were discarded because license plates failed to read due to blurry images. By 2022, the cumulative number of unreadable photos reached 82,000, accounting for 18% of the total number of violating vehicle shootings.

A Toronto Police official admitted that the current traffic enforcement officers are focusing on four violations: speeding, drinking, distraction, and dangerous driving, and that license plate cover enforcement is not working well. However, he emphasized that it is illegal, saying, “Plastic covers reduce the legibility of license plates and cause other problems such as glare.”

Allison Stewart, co-principal of Cycle of Toronto, a bicycle advocacy group, said, “Not only the use of license plate covers should be banned, but the sale as well.”