Canpex, the only Canadian World Series of Philately (WSP) show left on this year’s exhibition calendar, has been cancelled by organizers.
Originally scheduled for Oct. 31-Nov. 1 in London, Ont., it is Canada’s fifth national-level exhibition to fall victim to the COVID-19 pandemic. The country’s first four WSP shows – the Edmonton “Spring National,” Orapex, the annual Royal Convention and the Postal History Society of Canada Symposium – were all cancelled earlier this year.
“These are trying times we are living with in 2020,” said Canpex co-chair John Sheffield in an email statement sent to the show’s dealers today.
The decision comes as public health officials from around the world are warning about a potential “second wave” of COVID-19 cases.
“Until we get the vaccine, I don’t think we can really avoid the second wave,” Rama Nair, an expert in epidemiology with 40 years’ experience as a teacher and researcher at the University of Ottawa, told CBC News this May.
In all of recorded history, there has never been a pandemic without a second wave, B.C.’s Provincial Health Officer Bonnie Henry said this May.
“Now is our time to regroup, learn as much as we can over the coming weeks and months, and prepare,” Henry added.
Before this talk of a second wave, Canpex organizers “felt there was a slim possibility” of the show going ahead as planned, Sheffield added.
But with “the health and safety of dealers, collectors and volunteers foremost in our minds,” organizers have scrapped this year’s event.
Next year’s Canpex is slated for Oct. 16-17, 2021.