A Have an idea for a story? Minews@theotherpress.ca Statistics Canada reports on COVID-19 impact » Government counting agency details anxiety of Canadians Atiba Nelson Staff Reporter ost Canadians know Statistics Canada as the government agency responsible for either sending surveyors to front doors across Canada, or for mailing out census forms to collect information on individuals. However, the mandate of the organization extends far beyond counting people; the agency wants Canadians to have the economic, social, and environmental information to function as citizens and decision makers. As such, the Statistic Canada creates knowledge products to relay important information to Canadians. The most recent product centers around the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Canadians. “The magnitude of the COVID-19 crisis is unprecedented and is having a profound effect on the health, social, and economic activities of Canadians,” said Statistics Canada in a press release regarding the information gathered. “Our organization is committed to supporting decision makers and to informing Canadians by generating rich, timely, and relevant data and analysis about the current pandemic.’ The national agency employed a new data collection method called crowdsourcing for their latest knowledge translation products. Although the details of the new collection method are sparse, the government website states the method distributes a questionnaire to a big community of users with the idea that individuals are experts in their local environments. Therefore, the findings are a reflection of the thoughts of Canadians and their experiences living in the time of COVID-19. Statistics Canada reports that regardless of age, many respondents described themselves as very or extremely anxious about overloading the health system and the health of the nation’s most vulnerable people. “Close to 6 in 10 seniors report being very or extremely concerned about their own health,” read the headline on the Daily—the Statistics Canada webpage that releases the generated knowledge products. Conversely, young Canadians, age 15 to 24, were anxious about the social stressors of COVID-19, instead of the health worries. The respondents in this age group listed several social stressors, such as stress from confinement at home (41 percent of sample), the possibility to civil disorder (43 percent), and stress about the ability to maintain social ties (36 percent). This age group also reported that the pandemic would have a “moderate” or “major” impact on their ability to meet their financial obligations, as youth were worried that they would lose their jobs or self-employment income as a result of COVID-19 (43 percent). Although the new way of collecting data and opinions from Canadians featured responses from a large swath of Canadians, the method used does not allow the national statistical agency to generalize the results to the overall Canadian population. Canadian Forces chopper crashes into the Ionian Sea » Several witnesses questioned as investigation opens Miron-Morin, Kevin Hagen, Brenden lan MacDonald via Canadian Armed Forces Photos of Abbigail Cowbrough, Matthew Pyke, Matthew Cousins, Maxime Tania Arora Staff Writer few moments before its scheduled anding aboard HMCS Fredericton where its shipmates were ready to receive it, the CH-148 Cyclone helicopter crashed into the Ionian Sea off Greece. The aircraft carried six passengers—four aircrews and two sailors. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau released a statement on the event on the beginning of the month. “Today, with the call to end the search and rescue mission, I join all Canadians in mourning the loss of six Canadian Armed Forces members in the CH-148 Cyclone helicopter accident near Greece earlier this week,” he said. The victims of the crash were Sub- Lieutenant Abbigail Cowbrough, Captain Brenden Ian MacDonald, Captain Kevin Hagen, Captain Maxime Miron-Morin, Sub-Lieutenant Matthew Pyke, and Master Corporal Matthew Cousins. The rescue team was able to recover the safety recorders of the flight as they were designed in a way that they would break away in case of an accident and float to the surface. They are currently under analysis in e Eats out? e Statistics Canada reports on COVID-19 impact e Playing in the pandemic ..and more + —_—_—— Photo by Billy Bui Ottawa at the National Research Council. The helicopter crashed into deep waters, which added to the difficulties faced by the rescue team to recover it. Trudeau appreciated the brave-hearted ina press release about the incident. “Every day these brave Canadians in uniform put themselves in harm’s way to keep our country and our citizens safe, and together we will honour their service to Canada and our closest allies,” he said. Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan said to Reuters, "We will leave no stone unturned.” He further added that this incident is an example of the dangers men and women in the Armed Forces face every day. Italy, the US, Greece, and Turkey have also joined the Canadian troops in the rescue mission. So far, only the remains of Sub-Lt. Abbigail Cowbrough have been recovered; the other five are considered missing. The CH-148 Cyclone helicopter was doing a training exercise during a mission when contact was lost. The military is not concerned about the loss of the vehicle. Sajjan has promised to keep the family and public informed of the progress on the incident.