By: Thomas I. Likness
EBC Edmonton Bureau

EDMONTON (Eagle News) — The mission seemed simple enough — two planes fly to China to pick up medical supplies and return back to Canada.

But something went wrong. The pilots returned Monday empty handed.

One of the planes was a Canadian government charter and the other was chartered by one of the provinces.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday it is not easy to get goods out of China these days.

“There are severe restrictions on the ground in China in terms of how long a plane can actually stay in their airports before having to leave whether it’s full or not,” said  Trudeau. “At the same time supply lines and truck shipments to the airports are difficult and interrupted by check points and quarantine measures.”

Trudeau added for the most part, Canada has been able to ensure it gets the equipment it needs.

“It’s always a challenge to get the PPE into Canada at a time when the global market is very, very competitive,” he said.

(Eagle News Service)