Joyce Murray
Hon. Joyce Murray
Member of Parliament for Vancouver Quadra
The Protection and Well-being of Canadians is our Priority
May 25, 2021

May 25, 2021

Dear Friends and Neighbours,
I hope you had a safe and enjoyable Victoria Day weekend – the real start of summer for many Canadians.  With pandemic restrictions set to start relaxing and vaccinations moving ahead quickly, we can look forward to summer with hope that the worst is firmly behind us.
  


COVID-19 Facts and Figures

Vaccinations continue to accelerate

  • Vaccinations are a critical factor in exiting the COVID19 pandemic crisis. As of May 24, 2021, over 21.1M vaccine doses have been administered and 23M doses delivered to the provinces and territories.
  • Every week, through at least the end of July, more than 2M doses of the Pfizer vaccine alone will be delivered. You can find more details on vaccine deliveries here.
  • Our government works closely with provinces and territories to support them in their responsibility to administer vaccinations. This includes $284M in direct federal funding to strengthen vaccine distribution systems, with a further $1B in Budget 2021.

Border Measures are working

  • Our border controls are helping keep us safe. Only 1.5% of all travellers have tested positive for COVID-19; and 0.3% and 1.9% of those passing through land and air borders, respectively, are testing positive after entry.
  • Travel is at 5% of 2019 rates – about 5,000 travellers arrive in Canada per day, compared to 121,600 in 2019. 35% are Canadian and 65% are foreign nationals allowed under exemptions (e.g., Temporary Foreign Workers, international students, essential business travellers).
  • This compares to the 75-90% of 2019 international arrivals who were Canadians. Thank you for listening to our messages to stay home.

Compliance and Enforcement is active

  • The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) currently conducts over 6,500 compliance checks each day, using tools that include verification calls, in-person visits, warning letters, and fines; compliance with border measures is very high.
  • To date, almost 210,000 travellers have received a compliance verification visit, resulting in 32,715 referrals to the RCMP. As of May 4, 2021, more than 1,300 tickets have been issued under the Contraventions Act and 15 individuals have been charged under the Quarantine Act.

Do you know about Wellness Together Canada?
In this stressful time for so many, a reminder that Wellness Together Canada (WTC) offers free and confidential online mental health and substance use supports, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Over the past year 1.2M people have received WTC help – finding reliable and useful information to support their own or others’ mental health and well-being.
 
Save the Date for an Upcoming "Brunch Connections"
Friday, June 4th at 11 am join Dr. Marina Adshade, one of Canada’s foremost economics experts on the role of women in society, to discuss how tackling three key barriers to women’s workforce participation can speed up Canada’s post-pandemic economic recovery. 
Look for an invitation with registration information later this week.

Vancouver Quadra Hidden Heroes Reminder 
Help us celebrate the people in our community who quietly give back and whose hard work and good deeds often go unrecognized. Tell us who in your organization or neighbourhood has not received the recognition you think they deserve for their volunteer contributions.  The deadline for nominations this year is June 18th, 2021.

Submitting a nomination is easy! Visit my website JoyceMurray.ca to share your reasons for nominating your Hidden Hero. If you have any questions please email my Constituency Assistant Ying Zhou at [email protected].
 
Asian Heritage Month Virtual Celebration

On behalf of the Government of Canada, the Honourable Bardish Chagger,
Minister of Diversity and Inclusion and Youth,
is pleased to invite you to a virtual celebration for
Asian Heritage Month
on Sunday, May 30, 2021, at 2:00 p.m. (PT)
on the Canadian Heritage Facebook page.



This year’s Asian Heritage Month theme, “Recognition, Resilience, and Resolve”
recognizes the extraordinary contributions that Asian communities have made and continue to make in Canada, and acknowledges the resilience and perseverance of these communities in continuing to overcome adversity throughout history. It is also a reminder for us all to continue our efforts to combat all forms of racism and discrimination, including anti-Asian racism.
Join us in celebrating the enormous contributions that communities of Asian descent in Canada have made in building the country we know and love today.
 
In case you missed it

  • At last week’s Canadian Screen Awards, Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault announced a $49 million increase to the Short-Term Compensation Fund for Canadian audiovisual productions. This boosts the Fund to $149 million until March 31, 2022, continuing our economic recovery support for a cultural sector that is so important here in Vancouver.
  • This week is Paramedic Services Week 2021, a special opportunity to thank paramedics for their hard work and unwavering commitment to Canadians’ health and safety.  Please join me in expressing gratitude to all the paramedics in Vancouver Quadra and beyond, especially for their service on the frontlines of both the COVID-19 pandemic and the Opioid Overdose Crisis.  
  •  June is National Indigenous History Month and the sixth anniversary of #IndigenousReads. Reading works by First Nations, Inuit and Métis authors is a good way for us to better understand Indigenous perspectives, cultures, and history; I plan to participate, hope you will too!

By the time you receive this, BC will have announced our province’s plan for getting life and our economy back toward normal! I’m looking forward to that planned visit with friends on deck of The Galley Patio and Grill in Jericho Park – how about you?
 
Warm regards,

The Hon. Joyce Murray, P.C., M.P.
Member of Parliament for Vancouver Quadra
Minister of Digital Government

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