Biden's immigration bill may be divided to pass

In order to pass President Joe Biden's big vision for immigration reform it may need to be divided into individual pieces of legislation House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters Thursday. (Feb. 18)

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  • Burmese-Canadians urge Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to take further action against coup in Myanmar

    The Burmese-Canadian community is calling on the federal government to provide more material support to anti-military protesters after a week that saw some of the deadliest clashes between police and demonstrators in Myanmar since the military coup in that country. The Burmese Canadian Action Network (BCAN) sent a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Foreign Minister Marc Garneau this week, just one day after police killed 18 people and wounded 30, according to the United Nations. "We, Burmese Canadians across Canada, are calling on the Government of Canada to provide tangible support for Burmese people struggling for freedom and democracy," the letter reads. The crisis began after Aung San Suu Kyi won a landslide re-election as state counsellor of Myanmar — a position equivalent to a prime minister -- on Nov. 8 last year. The military questioned the results, accusing the winning party of fraud, before seizing power and placing Suu Kyi and other senior members of her government under arrest on Feb. 1. Since then, dozens of protesters have died -- 34 on Wednesday alone -- at the hands of police and more than 1,000 civilians and elected officials have been arrested. Anti-coup protesters maintain their position behind a barricade despite smoke from tear gas in San Chaung township in Yangon, Myanmar, on Friday, Mar. 5, 2021. Demonstrators defy growing violence by security forces and stage more anti-coup protests ahead of a special UN Security Council meeting on the country’s political crisis.(The Associated Press) From pot-banging to protesters taking to the streets clad in hard-hats and goggles to protect themselves from assaults by police, the demonstrations are happening daily, in spite of bans on political protests and on social media. The letter to Trudeau and Garneau says Canada should take further action, including helping people who are now struggling with food scarcity. The civil unrest has caused major shutdowns in the country and interrupted the people's daily lives, especially those who joined the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM). BCAN appealed to Canada to send food and material support via UN agencies and civil society organizations. "We encourage you to find ways to provide such essential assistance urgently," its letter reads. The letter also calls on Canada to officially recognize the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Htaw (CRPH). The CRPH, which was created soon after the coup with the support of 400 elected MPs, combines the Lower and Upper Houses of Myanmar's parliament. Protesters hold up placards demanding the release of detained Myanmar civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi during a demonstration against the military coup in Naypyidaw on March 4, 2021 (AFP via Getty Images) According to Tin Maung Htoo, spokesperson for the BCAN, the CRPH is currently working underground in defiance of the police and supporting the demonstrators under the radar, by releasing information and making announcements to the public. "We are quite encouraged by the [Canadian] government's stand and this stand and actions from the government is very encouraging for people on the ground in Burma, especially," he said, referring to a move by Canada and Britain to impose economic sanctions on Myanmar. The two countries made the move under the Special Economic Measures Act on Feb 18 after police violence escalated against demonstrators. We don't want to go back 20, 30 years -- back to the dark age. That is why this is the time for us to do whatever we can. - Tin Maung Htoo Maung Htoo was a student when he fled Myanmar during in 1988 after organizing protests against the military dictatorship. "More than 3,000 people, mostly students, were killed in the streets," Maung Htoo recalled. "There was no freedom of expression, association, student unions were banned." The regime lasted over 20 years, finally ending when Myanmar achieved partial democracy in 2010. Tin Maung Htoo, with the Burmese Canadian Action Network, says the people of Myanmar 'are showing their strong stand and support for democratization in the country.'(Submitted by Tin Maung Htoo) Two years before the country opened itself to the world, the military wrote a new constitution, which allowed it to keep some of its former powers, including 25 per cent of seats in parliament and control of the defence, border affairs and home ministries. When the military moved to take power in February, General Min Aung Hlaing announced the removal of 24 democratically elected ministers, naming 11 replacements.. Maung Htoo said he believes the coup is an act of desperation. He said the the military was gradually losing not only political control under Suu Kyi's leadership but also economic power, since big business organizations are military-backed and military-owned. "People are showing their strong stand and support for democratization in the country." Maung Htoo said. "We don't want to go back 20, 30 years ... back to the dark age. That is why this is the time for us to do whatever we can."

  • NY officials removed fuller tally of nursing home deaths

    NEW YORK — Gov. Andrew Cuomo's administration insisted Friday that a quest for scientific accuracy, not political concerns, prompted members of his COVID-19 task force to ask the state health department to delete data last summer from a report on nursing home patients killed by the coronavirus. The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, citing documents and people with knowledge of the administration’s internal discussions, reported late Thursday that aides including secretary to the governor Melissa DeRosa pushed state health officials to edit the July report so it counted only residents who died inside long-term care facilities, and not those who died later after being transferred to a hospital. At the time, Cuomo was trying to deflect criticism that his administration hadn't done enough to protect nursing home residents from the virus. About a third of the state's nursing home fatalities were excluded from the report as a result of the change. The revelations about the removal of the higher fatality number come as the Democrat also faces accusations he sexually harassed two former aides and a woman that he met at a wedding. Cuomo had apologized Wednesday for acting “in a way that made people feel uncomfortable” but rejected calls for his resignation and said he would fully co-operate with the state attorney general's investigation into the sexual harassment allegations. Federal investigators are scrutinizing his administration’s handling of nursing home data. Top Democrats in the state have said they want those investigations to conclude before they make a judgment about Cuomo's conduct, but in the wake of Thursday night's report, a few state lawmakers renewed calls for the governor to either resign or be ousted. “And Cuomo hid the numbers. Impeach,” tweeted Queens Assembly member Ron Kim, who said Cuomo bullied him for criticizing how Cuomo withheld nursing home data. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Friday that the allegations that Cuomo aides deleted data from the report was “troubling” and said the White House “certainly would support any outside investigation.” The July nursing home report was released to rebut criticism of Cuomo over a March 25 directive that barred nursing homes from rejecting recovering coronavirus patients being discharged from hospitals. Some nursing homes complained at the time that the policy could help spread the virus. The report concluded the policy didn't play a major role in spreading infection. The state's analysis was based partly on what officials acknowledged at the time was an imprecise statistic. The report said 6,432 people had died in the state's nursing homes. State officials acknowledged even then that the true number of deaths was higher because the report was excluding patients who died in hospitals. But they declined at the time to give any estimate of that larger number of deaths, saying the numbers still needed to be verified. In fact, the original drafts of the report had included that number, then more than 9,200 deaths, until Cuomo's aides said it should be taken out. State officials insisted Thursday that the edits were made because of concerns about accuracy. The administration initially released data about how many nursing home residents died at both hospitals and nursing homes, but quietly stopped in early May. “While early versions of the report included out of facility deaths, the COVID task force was not satisfied that the data had been verified against hospital data and so the final report used only data for in facility deaths, which was disclosed in the report,” Department of Health Spokesperson Gary Holmes said. The governor's office didn't respond to questions from The Associated Press about whether Cuomo himself was involved in removing the higher death total from the report. Scientists, health care professionals and elected officials assailed the report at the time for flawed methodology and selective stats that sidestepped the actual impact of the directive. The administration refused for months to release more complete data. A court order and state attorney general report in January forced the state to acknowledge the nursing home resident death toll was higher than the count previously made public. DeRosa told lawmakers earlier this month that the administration didn't turn over the data to legislators in August because of worries the information would be used against them by President Donald Trump's administration. “Basically, we froze, because then we were in a position where we weren’t sure if what we were going to give to the Department of Justice or what we give to you guys, what we start saying was going to be used against us while we weren’t sure if there was going to be an investigation,” DeRosa said. Cuomo and his health commissioner recently defended the March directive, saying it was the best option at the time to help free up desperately needed beds at the state’s hospitals. And they've argued community spread is the biggest risk factor for nursing homes, and that it's unlikely that most hospital patients treated for COVID-19 were contagious once they arrived. “We made the right public health decision at the time. And faced with the same facts, we would make the same decision again,” Health Commissioner Howard Zucker said Feb. 19. The state now acknowledges that at least 15,000 long-term care residents died, compared to a figure of 8,700 it had publicized as of late January that didn’t include residents who died after being transferred to hospitals. The Associated Press

  • Strathmore and Siksika continue anti-racism work

    The Town of Strathmore and Siksika Nation are continuing their efforts for shared understanding and collaboration among residents of the two communities to combat racism. Strathmore Mayor Pat Fule and Siksika Nation Councillor Rueben Breaker provided an update of the work the two communities are leading together, via a Facebook Live address on Feb. 25. Representatives from each community started working together in 2019 to ensure First Nations people visiting and living in Strathmore have positive experiences in town, said Fule. “It’s all about creating a safer and more welcoming community,” he said. This is being done because First Nations people have experienced racism in Strathmore. “I’ve heard some quite serious and harrowing stories from people, as far as things yelled at people (and) comments made to them,” said Fule, adding the problem needs to be addressed. “We have to be willing to own it and admit that there could be a problem. This should not be happening in our community.” The COVID-19 pandemic sidelined these efforts, but now the initiative is being restarted. “Now we’re back at the table and we’re going to go hard at this, because racism is not going away,” said Breaker. The group is generating ideas to present to Golden Hills School Division (GHSD) and Christ the Redeemer (CTR) Catholic Schools to make the education lives and experiences of Siksika students “more smooth and more meaningful,” said Fule. Another focus of the initiative is policing. This follows Strathmore RCMP together with representatives from Strathmore and Siksika Nation signing a shared letter of understanding in October 2020 to develop more trust between them. “It was perfect timing, because it’s no secret that the topic of systemic racism within the RCMP is prevalent all over Canada,” said Breaker. “We want to make sure that even at the law enforcement level, that our people are treated fairly and just have that basic understanding.” Also being considered is how to improve affordable housing, social services and employment for First Nations people in town, said Fule. But these efforts are not focused on Strathmore alone, said Breaker. Strathmore and area sports teams visiting Siksika Nation to play should be welcomed there too, he said. To reach some of these goals, representatives from Strathmore and Siksika Nation are considering forming a formal anti-racism committee. To support this, town administration is looking to create terms of reference to follow, said Fule. Sean Feagan, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Strathmore Times

  • California to let Major League Baseball, Disneyland reopen

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Major League Baseball teams in California can welcomea limited number of fans back to ballparks on April 1 under new state rukes announced Friday that will also let Disneyland and other theme parks reopen for the first time in more than a year. The changes allow people to attend other outdoor sporting events and live performances in limited numbers that go into effect on baseball's opening day, when the San Diego Padres, Los Angeles Angels and Oakland A's all have home games. The A's confirmed they will have fans in the stands. Disneyland officials did not say when the park would reopen. But when it does, only people who live in California can buy tickets. The same goes for MLB games and outdoor performances, as public health officials try to limit mixing while continuing to roll out coronavirus vaccinations. Indoor events such as NBA games and concerts are not included in the new rules announced by the adminstration of Gov. Gavin Newsom. The state is acting because the rates of new coronavirus cases and hospitalizations are declining while the number of people receiving vaccines is increasing, said Dr. Mark Ghaly, California’s top public health official. “Today’s announcement is focused on building in some of the compelling science about how the virus behaves, and how activities when done a certain way can reduce risk,” Ghaly said. California divides its counties into four colour-coded tiers based on the spread of the virus. The purple tier is the most restrictive, followed by red, orange and yellow. Attendance limits are based on what tier a county is in. Outdoor sports are limited to 100 people in the purple tier. The limits increase to 20% capacity in the red tier, 33% in the orange tier and 67% in the yellow tier. Teams and event organizers can only sell tickets regionally in the purple tier. In the other tiers, teams and organizers can sell tickets to anyone living in California. No concessions will be allowed in the purple tier, while in others, concession sales will only be available at seats. Enforcing the rules will be left to venues. Ghaly and Dee Dee Myers, director of the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development, said organizers will have to sell tickets in advance and can cross-check to confirm hometowns to help with contact tracing if needed. Myers acknowledged that some people will try to beat the system, but she said officials hope people will respect the guidelines. The Oakland A’s announced rules that give a glimpse of what life will be like for fans during the pandemic. They will be seated in pods of two or four seats, and tickets will only be available on the MLB Ballpark app. Fans can order concessions on their phones and have them delivered to their seats. No tailgating is allowed, and teams will not accept cash inside the stadium. People who don’t have debit cards can purchase one with cash at a limited number of locations inside the venue. “We are excited to safely welcome fans back to our ballpark for the upcoming season,” A’s President Dave Kaval said. Theme parks can open in the red tier at 15% capacity and boost attendance limits as virus rates decrease. Again, only people who live in California can buy tickets. Indoor rides at outdoor parks will be allowed because they are typically short and can allow for proper spacing. “We can’t wait to welcome guests back and look forward to sharing an opening date soon,” Ken Potrock, president of Disneyland Resort, said in a statement. Disneyland employees have been furloughed or out of a job for nearly a year. Andrea Zinder, president of the local United Food and Commercial Workers Union that represents Disney workers, said employees are “excited to go back to work and provide Californians with a bit more magic in their lives." Disney fan Kenny King Jr.said he became an annual Disneyland passholder a decade ago and typically takes his family there five times a year. King, 38, and his family, who live in Pleasant Hill, last went to Disneyland in February 2020 for his birthday. He's excited to return with his 8-year-old daughter, who had just started enjoying rides such as Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Space Mountain, and to take his 2-year-old son, who was mesmerized by the lights and sounds when he went to the park last year. “We’ll sit there at the house sometimes and we’ll be like man, I just miss Disneyland,” King said. He said he's confident Disney will take appropriate safety measures. “They’ve had plenty of time to game plan on that,” he said. Adam Beam And Kathleen Ronayne, The Associated Press

  • COVID-19 outbreaks at two more Hamilton elementary schools

    An outbreak of COVID-19 has been declared at Cathy Wever Elementary School in central Hamilton. Two new student cases of the virus were reported at the school on Thursday. Those come in the wake of two other cases reported earlier in the week — a probable staff case on March 2 and a staff case on March 1. Three student cases were also reported at Cathy Wever on Feb. 22, Feb. 19 and Feb. 17. In a March 4 letter to families, the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board said public health put the school in outbreak status “as one of these cases” meets the definition of an outbreak. A school outbreak is defined by the province “as two or more lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases ... with an epidemiological link, within a 14-day period, where at least one case could have reasonably acquired their infection in the school.” An outbreak was also declared on Thursday at St. Michael Catholic Elementary School on the Mountain. The Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board reported two confirmed student cases of the virus at the school this week — one on March 3 and one on March 1. The students were last at school on March 1 and Feb. 26, respectively. To date, there have been a total of six outbreaks at Hamilton schools since students returned to in-person learning last month. There is an ongoing outbreak at St. Eugene Catholic Elementary School in east Hamilton where there are three confirmed cases of the virus — a staff member on Feb. 23, a “third-party employee” on Feb. 22 and a student on Feb. 15. Outbreaks at St. Teresa of Avila Catholic Elementary School, A.M. Cunningham Elementary School and St. Ann Catholic Elementary School in Hamilton have been declared over. Schools in Hamilton reopened for in-person learning on Feb. 8 with enhanced health and safety measures in place after weeks of remote learning. Kate McCullough, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Hamilton Spectator

  • The latest numbers on COVID-19 in Canada for Friday, March 5, 2021

    The latest numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Canada as of 9:15 p.m. ET on Friday, March 5, 2021. There are 881,761 confirmed cases in Canada. _ Canada: 881,761 confirmed cases (30,146 active, 829,423 resolved, 22,192 deaths).*The total case count includes 13 confirmed cases among repatriated travellers. There were 3,370 new cases Friday. The rate of active cases is 79.32 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 20,214 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is 2,888. There were 41 new reported deaths Friday. Over the past seven days there have been a total of 277 new reported deaths. The seven-day rolling average of new reported deaths is 40. The seven-day rolling average of the death rate is 0.1 per 100,000 people. The overall death rate is 58.39 per 100,000 people. There have been 24,938,790 tests completed. _ Newfoundland and Labrador: 1,003 confirmed cases (117 active, 880 resolved, six deaths). There was one new case Friday. The rate of active cases is 22.41 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there has been 27 new case. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is four. There were zero new reported deaths Friday. Over the past seven days there has been one new reported death. The seven-day rolling average of new reported deaths is zero. The seven-day rolling average of the death rate is 0.03 per 100,000 people. The overall death rate is 1.15 per 100,000 people. There have been 200,703 tests completed. _ Prince Edward Island: 139 confirmed cases (24 active, 115 resolved, zero deaths). There was one new case Friday. The rate of active cases is 15.04 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there has been 18 new case. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is three. There have been no deaths reported over the past week. The overall death rate is zero per 100,000 people. There have been 110,916 tests completed. _ Nova Scotia: 1,651 confirmed cases (31 active, 1,555 resolved, 65 deaths). There were two new cases Friday. The rate of active cases is 3.17 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 17 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is two. There have been no deaths reported over the past week. The overall death rate is 6.64 per 100,000 people. There have been 356,686 tests completed. _ New Brunswick: 1,447 confirmed cases (34 active, 1,385 resolved, 28 deaths). There were four new cases Friday. The rate of active cases is 4.35 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 19 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is three. There were zero new reported deaths Friday. Over the past seven days there have been a total of two new reported deaths. The seven-day rolling average of new reported deaths is zero. The seven-day rolling average of the death rate is 0.04 per 100,000 people. The overall death rate is 3.58 per 100,000 people. There have been 240,032 tests completed. _ Quebec: 291,175 confirmed cases (7,290 active, 273,430 resolved, 10,455 deaths). There were 798 new cases Friday. The rate of active cases is 85.02 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 5,030 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is 719. There were 10 new reported deaths Friday. Over the past seven days there have been a total of 83 new reported deaths. The seven-day rolling average of new reported deaths is 12. The seven-day rolling average of the death rate is 0.14 per 100,000 people. The overall death rate is 121.93 per 100,000 people. There have been 6,397,936 tests completed. _ Ontario: 306,007 confirmed cases (10,378 active, 288,583 resolved, 7,046 deaths). There were 1,250 new cases Friday. The rate of active cases is 70.44 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 7,438 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is 1,063. There were 22 new reported deaths Friday. Over the past seven days there have been a total of 102 new reported deaths. The seven-day rolling average of new reported deaths is 15. The seven-day rolling average of the death rate is 0.1 per 100,000 people. The overall death rate is 47.82 per 100,000 people. There have been 11,082,737 tests completed. _ Manitoba: 32,104 confirmed cases (1,133 active, 30,067 resolved, 904 deaths). There were 53 new cases Friday. The rate of active cases is 82.15 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 385 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is 55. There was one new reported death Friday. Over the past seven days there have been a total of 15 new reported deaths. The seven-day rolling average of new reported deaths is two. The seven-day rolling average of the death rate is 0.16 per 100,000 people. The overall death rate is 65.54 per 100,000 people. There have been 539,166 tests completed. _ Saskatchewan: 29,432 confirmed cases (1,507 active, 27,532 resolved, 393 deaths). There were 212 new cases Friday. The rate of active cases is 127.85 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 1,088 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is 155. There were two new reported deaths Friday. Over the past seven days there have been a total of 13 new reported deaths. The seven-day rolling average of new reported deaths is two. The seven-day rolling average of the death rate is 0.16 per 100,000 people. The overall death rate is 33.34 per 100,000 people. There have been 584,905 tests completed. _ Alberta: 135,196 confirmed cases (4,639 active, 128,644 resolved, 1,913 deaths). There were 411 new cases Friday. The rate of active cases is 104.91 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 2,408 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is 344. There were two new reported deaths Friday. Over the past seven days there have been a total of 36 new reported deaths. The seven-day rolling average of new reported deaths is five. The seven-day rolling average of the death rate is 0.12 per 100,000 people. The overall death rate is 43.26 per 100,000 people. There have been 3,434,748 tests completed. _ British Columbia: 83,107 confirmed cases (4,975 active, 76,752 resolved, 1,380 deaths). There were 634 new cases Friday. The rate of active cases is 96.64 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 3,767 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is 538. There were four new reported deaths Friday. Over the past seven days there have been a total of 25 new reported deaths. The seven-day rolling average of new reported deaths is four. The seven-day rolling average of the death rate is 0.07 per 100,000 people. The overall death rate is 26.81 per 100,000 people. There have been 1,959,060 tests completed. _ Yukon: 72 confirmed cases (zero active, 71 resolved, one deaths). There were zero new cases Friday. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of zero new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is zero. There have been no deaths reported over the past week. The overall death rate is 2.38 per 100,000 people. There have been 8,216 tests completed. _ Northwest Territories: 42 confirmed cases (one active, 41 resolved, zero deaths). There were zero new cases Friday. The rate of active cases is 2.21 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of zero new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is zero. There have been no deaths reported over the past week. The overall death rate is zero per 100,000 people. There have been 14,790 tests completed. _ Nunavut: 373 confirmed cases (17 active, 355 resolved, one deaths). There were four new cases Friday. The rate of active cases is 43.2 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 17 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is two. There have been no deaths reported over the past week. The overall death rate is 2.54 per 100,000 people. There have been 8,819 tests completed. This report was automatically generated by The Canadian Press Digital Data Desk and was first published March 5, 2021. The Canadian Press

  • Kupcho, Ernst share lead in LPGA's Drive On Championship.

    OCALA, Fla. — Jennifer Kupcho and Austin Ernst each shot their second straight 5-under 67 to share the second-round lead Friday in the LPGA Tour's Drive On Championship. A day after playing most of the back nine with a migraine that blurs her vision, Kupcho had six birdies and a bogey at Golden Ocala. “I’m feeling a lot better today,” the 23-year-old former NCAA champion said. “I would say yesterday was pretty rough. Yeah, the whole back nine I just pretty much wanted to get off the golf course and go lay down. ... It was definitely a rough day, but was able to get through it well so that was helpful.” Golden Ocala is renowned for having replica holes from famous courses, three of them from Augusta National and two from the Old Course at St. Andrews. Kupcho won the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur in 2019 with a back-nine charge. “They are very similar and the look is definitely very similar, but I think I’m more nervous playing them than I was back then, actually,” Kupcho said. The former Wake Forest star from Colorado is seeking her first LPGA Tour victory. “I’ve been in contention before out here,” Kupcho said. “Just go out and relax and have fun.” Ernst had a bogey-free round. She has two LPGA Tour victories. “Fairways were a little allege bouncy this afternoon so got a few more wedges,” Ernst said. “You get quite a few wedge opportunities, so you have to take advantage of it with how firm the greens are." Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., shot a 3-under 69 and is 1 under for the tournament, nine off the lead. Calgary's Jaclyn Lee is 1 over and Hamilton's Alena Sharp missed the cut at 4 over. Carlota Ciganda of Spain had the best round of the day, a bogey-free 65 to get to 8 under. She played alongside Laura Davies, the 57-year-old Hall of Famer who rebounded from an opening 75 with a 69 to advance to the weekend at even par. “I love playing with her,” Ciganda said. “I think she’s amazing to play with. I think her talent is unbelievable, like everything she does with her different shots. She’s very creative. Lots of imagination.” Davies is playing on a World Golf Hall of Fame exemption. “I’m still a decent ball-striker,” Davies said. “My nerves let me down more than my game. So that’s why I’m still here playing, because I can hit the shots. It’s just hitting them in the right order. That’s the problem.” Nelly Korda, tied for the first-round lead with Kupcho and Ernst, was three strokes back after a 70. Playing in a group with sister Jessica Korda the first two days, Nelly Korda is trying to win consecutive events and run the family winning streak to three. Jessica Korda won the season-opening Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions, and Nelly Korda took the Gainbridge LPGA last week at Lake Nona. “Honestly, it’s so mentally draining," Korda said about trying to win two straight events. "I played on Tuesday. I played the back nine and I was just like, `I do not want to be out here.' But it’s just something where you’re like, `OK, it’s the first day. Let’s go, come on.’” Lydia Ko was 3 under after a 72. Second-ranked Sei Young Kim and No. 5 Danielle Kang were another stroke back, each shooting 70. Lexi Thompson and Brooke Henderson were 1 under, each following an opening 74 with a 69. Jessica Korda shot a 75 to fall to even par. Top-ranked Jin Young Ko, playing with Korda sisters, followed her opening 75 with a 72 to miss the cut by a stroke. The Associated Press

  • Saskatchewan court weighs what to do with different Humboldt Broncos lawsuits

    REGINA — A Regina judge has reserved his decision on whether to delay one of the many lawsuits filed after the deadly Humboldt Broncos bus crash. Lawyers spent Friday arguing what a delay would mean for a group of grieving parents who want to move ahead with their case, and what's fair for all the victims who were on the junior hockey team's bus that day. Sixteen people were killed and 13 were injured when, on April 6, 2018, an inexperienced truck driver went through a stop sign and into the path of the bus at a rural intersection near Tisdale, Sask. Justice Graeme Mitchell said he's sensitive to how important the matter is. At one point during Friday's hearing, he struggled to know for certain how many individual lawsuits stemmed from the crash. At the core of Friday's hearing was a proposed class action and whether a lawsuit brought by five other parents shortly after the crash should wait until the courts decide if the class can go ahead. John Rice, a Vancouver lawyer working on the class action, said the representatives for nine surviving Broncos players were OK with not bringing their cases forward until after the April 2022 certification hearing. But the lawyer for five other parents, who all lost children, said his clients don't want to wait. There's no guarantee the class-action will be certified, Kevin Mellor said, and it could be appealed, prolonging the process by several years. "Justice delayed is justice denied," Mellor told the court. He said not only would forcing a delay inflict psychological harm on the parents, they would be burdened with more legal costs. They have already spent thousands of dollars on the case getting expert reports and finding witnesses, he said. Mellor said the last thing the families he's representing thought they would have to do is defend themselves against other families to have their day in court. Rice acknowledged the suffering these parents have faced. But, he said court needs to consider what's fair for all Broncos victims, who would also be impacted by court delays. Because all the lawsuits share similarities, what happens in one affects others, he argued, and the "least-worst option" is for everyone to wait until the certification hearing. After first expressing he wanted to be delicate, Rice said: "Those that were killed won't be coming back." "I would ask, my Lord, when you're contemplating the comparative duress of these litigants please juxtapose the duress of those who had children killed ... with the enduring, living harms — physical and psychological — of the ... surviving players," Rice said. He also suggested the lawsuit from the five families would not be heard in the next year or so, and the delay would be temporary. "The closure that they so deservedly want will not happen in any event before the application for certification is heard." The class action so far includes the families of 24-year-old Dayna Brons, the team's athletic therapist from Lake Lenore, Sask., who died in hospital, and injured goalie Jacob Wassermann, 21, from Humboldt, Sask. It names as defendants the Saskatchewan government, the truck driver and the Calgary-based company that employed him. Rice said other families have since joined, including the families of Broncos coach Darcy Haugan and bus driver Glen Doerksen. Both men were killed. The class action is also open to families who billeted players, first responders and members of the general public traumatized by the crash scene. The early lawsuit represents the families of five who died in the collision: assistant coach Mark Cross, 27, from Strasbourg, Sask.; Jaxon Joseph, 20, of St. Albert, Alta.; Logan Hunter, 18, of St. Albert, Alta.; Jacob Leicht, 19, of Humboldt, Sask.; and Adam Herold, 16, of Montmartre, Sask. "I lost my best friend on April 6, 2018," reads an affidavit filed by Adam's father, Russ Herold. "I farmed with him. I hunted with him. I snowmobiled with him. I taught hockey to him and I coached him. My family would spend summer and winter seasons together at our family cabin as a family. Adam spent hours on the water wakeboarding. "Now, nobody goes." In court filings, Mellor also said a delay could create problems because the truck driver, Jaskirat Singh Sidhu, could be deported to India after he is released from prison and before any civil trial. In court, Rice said it's unlikely Sidhu would be deported before the end of the year and the class action also wants to hear from him. — With files from Bill Graveland in Calgary. This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 5, 2021 Stephanie Taylor, The Canadian Press

  • Six Nations council asks businesses to close or reduce hours to help stop spread of COVID-19

    Amid an ongoing spike in COVID-19 that claimed another life on Friday, Six Nations of the Grand River elected council has decided to close some government departments for two weeks and has asked non-essential businesses to follow suit. “This is in direct response to the high case numbers of COVID-19 here at Six Nations,” elected council said in a statement announcing the closure, which will be in force until March 19 and possibly beyond. Public buildings are now closed to residents, and government services will be limited to “urgent needs only.” Six Nations is contending with 114 active cases of COVID-19 and has one of the highest per capita rates of the disease in the province. Public health announced on Friday that a band member succumbed to the disease, the fourth COVID-related death since Feb. 2 and the fifth overall. No information was provided about the deceased. Four band members were in hospital as of Thursday. “We must all come together to ensure that we don’t lose any more community members to this virus,” elected council said in a statement. “This past year has been incredibly difficult for Six Nations, but we must continue to persevere and protect one another.” To underscore the message that residents need to stay home to stop the spread of the virus, elected council has asked non-essential businesses to close for two weeks, and for essential businesses to limit their opening hours to between noon and 6 p.m. Council said the closure will not see the return of physical barriers and checkpoints that were put up in the pandemic’s early days to control access to the reserve. Six Nations Health Services has identified large gatherings as one source of infection, with residents disregarding pleas from public health not to get together with people outside their household. The situation has reached a point where public health recommends residents wear masks inside their own homes to protect seniors and other vulnerable family members. J.P. Antonacci, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Hamilton Spectator

  • One-time childcare payment available

    The provincial government has established a new one-time benefit for parents for daycare costs during the pandemic. The Working Parents Benefit, announced during a government news conference on Feb. 24, will provide a one-time payment of $561 to parents in the province. To be eligible, parents must make less than $100,000, have children in childcare, and have paid three months of childcare between April 1 and Dec. 31, 2020. Examples of eligible childcare include licensed or unlicensed daycare, day homes, out-of-school care, or preschool. This new support will help families invest in childcare and preschool, but will also create economic stimulus, said Rebecca Schultz, the province’s minister of children’s services. The program is being funded with $108 million of unspent funds from Children’s Services to support the families of up to 192,000 children, according to the government. Applications for the benefit are made online, the date of opening varying regionally to manage volume, between March 1 to March 5. Applications will be open until March 31. A MyAlberta Digital ID is required to apply for the benefit. Sean Feagan, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Strathmore Times

  • Coronavirus variants of concern continue to spread in Toronto, Peel as regions head into grey lockdown level

    As Toronto and Peel Region head into the grey lockdown, the number of coronavirus variants of concern continue to grow in the province. Erica Vella has more.

  • The latest news on COVID-19 developments in Canada on Friday, March 5, 2021

    The latest news on COVID-19 developments in Canada (all times eastern): 7:20 p.m. B.C. is reporting 634 new cases of COVID-19, for a total of 83,107 cases since the pandemic began in the province. There have also been four new deaths, pushing the death toll from the virus to 1,380 in B.C. Four new cases have been confirmed to be variants of concern, bringing the total to 250, of which 222 are the strain first found in the U.K. and 28 are the variant first detected in South Africa. Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix say this has been a week of progress, as the province gets ready to begin age-based immunizations and integrate the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine into its program. Henry and Dix say the newly approved Johnson & Johnson vaccine will be another tool in its program that will help accelerate protection of people in B.C. --- 6:15 p.m. Alberta is reporting 411 new cases of COVID-19 and two more deaths due to the virus. The province says 22 cases are of the more contagious variants. There are currently 243 people are in hospital with COVID-19, and 44 of them are in intensive care. --- 4:40 p.m. Alberta Health Minister Tyler Shandro says word of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine being approved is just more good news. Shandro's response came on the one-year anniversary of the first case of COVID-19 being identified in his province. He announced this week that all Albertans who want a vaccination will be able to do so by the end of June. Shandro said there is still no schedule or any word on how many more doses will be available from J&J but assumes it could accelerate the vaccination process. --- 4:25 p.m. Prince Edward Island is reporting one new case of COVID-19 today. Health officials say the case involves a man in his 50s who is a close contact of a previously reported infection. P.E.I. has 24 active reported cases of COVID-19. --- 3:50 p.m. Indigenous Services Canada says there were 1,300 active COVID-19 cases in First Nations communities as of Thursday and 21,836 cases since the pandemic began. There have been 245 deaths in First Nations communities. The department says more than 127,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in over 480 First Nations, Inuit and territorial communities as of Thursday. It says about 40 per cent of people in those communities have received at least one dose. --- 2:50 p.m. Saskatchewan is reporting 207 new cases of COVID-19. The province also says two more people have died from the illness. There are 138 people in hospital with the virus, and 22 of them are in intensive care. --- 1:50 p.m. Ontario's updated vaccination plan will see shots administered based on factors including age, neighbourhood, existing health conditions and inability to work from home. The province notes, however, that the plan doesn't factor in the newly approved Johnson & Johnson shot and additional doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. Shots will go to seniors 75 and older starting in April with a goal of offering first shots to everyone 60 and older by the end of May. Doses will also be offered starting in April to people with specific health conditions and some caregivers, including those in congregate settings. Thirteen public health units, including Toronto, Windsor, York and Peel, will receive additional doses for hot-spot neighbourhoods between April and June. Essential workers who can't work from home will be offered doses at the end of Phase 2, while adults 59 and younger are expected to receive the shot in July, though the timeline is subject to change. --- 1:40 p.m. Manitoba is reporting 53 additional COVID-19 cases and one death. The province is also reporting one new confirmed case involving the variant first seen in South Africa. The percentage of people testing positive continues to drop, with the five-day average at three per cent. --- 1 p.m. New Brunswick is reporting four new cases of COVID-19, three of which are in the Miramichi region. Health officials say the province has 33 active reported cases and three people are in hospital with the disease, including two in intensive care. New Brunswick is announcing it will ease public health restrictions across the province as of this Sunday because COVID-19 infections are on a steady trend downward. The province's chief medical officer of health, Dr. Jennifer Russell, says the decision to shift to the lower, yellow pandemic-alert level will be revisited if there is a spike in cases over the weekend. As well, Russell is confirming that with the expected arrival of the first shipment of the two-dose Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine later this month, the province is pledging to provide one dose of COVID-19 vaccine to every New Brunswicker before the end of June. --- 12:50 p.m. A stay-at-home order will lift next week in Toronto, Peel Region and North Bay Parry Sound. The three Ontario regions were the last ones still under the order, while most of the province transitioned back to the government's colour-coded pandemic response framework last month. Toronto and Peel will go into the strictest "grey lockdown" category of the framework, as recommended by public health officials in those regions. The province says North Bay will be placed in the red zone, the second most restrictive level of pandemic measures. --- 12:45 p.m. There is one new case of COVID-19 in Newfoundland and Labrador. The figures released today bring the total number of active cases in the province to 113. Health Minister John Haggie said he was feeling optimistic and said the province is on track for a "new summer" where residents can travel around the island. The province is inviting people who are asymptomatic to seek testing to see if there are any pockets of COVID-19 still undetected in the province. --- 12:05 p.m. Pfizer has told Canada it will speed up delivery of the shipments of its COVID-19 vaccine. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says 1.5 million additional doses are coming in March. He says another one million doses will come ahead of schedule in both April and May. Trudeau says that means there will be eight million doses of the Pfzier-BioNTech vaccine in Canada by the end of this month. --- 11:55 a.m. Nunavut is reporting four new cases of COVID-19 today for a total of 17. All the new cases are in Arviat, the only community in Nunavut with active cases of COVID-19. Despite the rise in cases, chief public health officer Dr. Michael Patterson says the outbreak in Arviat is contained. Arviat has been under a strict lock down for 112 days, with all school and non-essential businesses closed and travel restricted. --- 11:45 a.m. Nunavut's health minister says the territory is on track to receive 38,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine by mid-March, enough to vaccinate 75 per cent of the eligible population. Lorne Kusugak says there will be at least one vaccination clinic in all of Nunavut's 25 communities by the end of March. Kusugak also announced a mass vaccination clinic will launch in Iqaluit on March 15. Starting March 10, residents ages 18 years and up can call Iqaluit Public health to book an appointment. --- 11:10 a.m. Quebec is reporting 798 new cases of COVID-19 today and 10 more deaths linked to the virus. Health officials say hospitalizations dropped by nine, to 617, and that 111 people were in intensive care, a drop of four. The province says it administered more than 18,000 doses of vaccine, for at total of 510,479. --- 10:40 a.m. Ontario is reporting 1,250 new cases of COVID-19 in the province. Health Minister Christine Elliott says that 337 of those new cases are in Toronto, 167 are in Peel Region, and 129 are in York Region. The province also reports a single-day high of 35,886 doses of COVID-19 vaccine administered since Thursday's update. Ontario also reports 22 more deaths linked to the virus. --- 10:35 a.m. Nova Scotia is reporting two new cases of COVID-19 today. Health officials say the new cases are in the health region that includes Halifax. They say one case involves a close contact of a previously reported infection and the other is under investigation. The province has 31 active reported cases of the disease. --- 10:20 a.m. The Manitoba government is now predicting it will be able to provide all eligible adults with a first dose of COVID-19 vaccines by the end of June. Officials say it might even be as early as mid-May, depending on the flow of supplies. The timeline has been moved up by months as more vaccines have been approved by the federal government. --- 10 a.m. Health Canada has approved the COVID-19 vaccine from Johnson and Johnson, saying it has the evidence showing the vaccine is both safe and effective against the novel coronavirus that causes the disease. It is the fourth vaccine to be approved in Canada and the first and only one Canada has purchased that requires just a single dose. Canada has pre-purchased 10 million doses, with options to buy another 28 million. --- This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 5, 2021. The Canadian Press

  • Struggling Canucks need to 'figure it out from within': GM Jim Benning

    Vancouver Canucks fans hoping a big trade will solve the beleaguered team's issues this season are likely to be disappointed. General manager Jim Benning said Friday that the Canucks need to rely on pieces they already have as they work to salvage a disappointing campaign. With COVID-19 protocols in place and a flat salary cap, making moves is more difficult this year, he said. "We can’t look to the outside to improve things," Benning told reporters. "We’ve got to figure it out from within.” It's possible that some bodies could move before the NHL's trade deadline on April 12, he added, but noted that blockbuster deals have been few and far between this year. “I expect we’re going to get some calls on our players and we’re just going to see where it goes," Benning said. It's been a difficult season for the Canucks (10-15-2). After impressing many in the playoff bubble last year, Vancouver won just two games in February and currently sits in second-last spot in the all-Canadian North Division, four points out of a playoff spot. A brutal schedule hampered the squad to start the year, Benning said, limiting how much time the group had to practise. The GM believes the group has performed better recently, and said the results could be different through the second half of the season. The Canucks beat the first-place Toronto Maple Leafs 3-1 on Thursday night. “Of course I’m not happy with our record," he said. "But I think if you play the right way, do things the right way, we’ll start winning our share of games and our record will be better than it is right now.” Canucks coach Travis Green also thinks his team should have more points based on how Vancouver has played in recent weeks. “Yes, maybe things haven’t quite gone perfectly this year. But we’re only halfway through the season and I like the way our team’s been playing as of late," Green said. “We’ve got a great group of young players that are still learning their way playing in a tougher division this year. And I agree with what (Benning) said — the future is very bright for the Vancouver Canucks.” Two underperforming teams in the North Division have already opted to make coaching changes this season. Last week, the Montreal Canadiens fired Claude Julien and promoted assistant Dominique Ducharme to interim head coach, and on Thursday night, the Calgary Flames announced they had dismissed head coach Geoff Ward and rehired Darryl Sutter in his stead. Vancouver isn't planning to follow suit. “I’m not looking to make a coaching change," Benning said. "I think (Green) and his staff have done a good job with our group.” Green's contract expires at the end of the season, and despite the results through the first half of the season, the Canucks would like to keep him around long-term, Benning said. “My feeling on Travis is we really like him, he’s done a good job with this group. He’s our coach," he said. "I don’t comment on player negotiations, I’m not going to comment on coaching negotiations. But it’s something that we’d like to get done moving forward.” Green isn't the only contract Benning and his team need to get done, however. Three of the team's top young stars will be needing new deal come the end of the season, including centre Elias Pettersson, defenceman Quinn Hughes and goalie Thatcher Demko. The Canucks will start working on those contracts after the trade deadline, Benning said. Getting the business dealt with is likely to be a costly endeavour. Hughes (two goals, 20 assists) and Pettersson (10 goals, 11 assists) are the team's No. 2 and 3 scorers respectively, and Demko is solidifying his spot as Vancouver's starting goaltender with a .911 save percentage. Between the outstanding deals, a flat salary cap and a looming expansion draft, the Canucks are facing unprecedented challenges, Benning said. While it's not the season he expected, the GM believes the challenges will be good for the club long-term. “I look at it as adversity is a good thing. People are hard on you but you try to figure out a way to get better," he said. "Players, everyone involved — coaching, management — we have to be mentally tough to get through these tough times. But I think once we get through them, it’s going to make everybody stronger — the players are going to be better, all of us, we’re going to be stronger for going through this adversity.” This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 5, 2021. Gemma Karstens-Smith, The Canadian Press

  • Trump offers early endorsement for loyal SC governor

    COLUMBIA, S.C. — Former President Donald Trump on Friday endorsed South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster's bid for a second full term in 2022, continuing their yearslong alliance in a move to strengthen ties with the early-voting state that Trump won twice. In a statement through his Save America PAC, Trump commended McMaster's efforts on behalf of the military, veterans and law enforcement, saying the Republican “has my Complete and Total Endorsement as he runs for re-election!” The endorsement, along with other recent moves, continues to signal Trump's desire to maintain ties with South Carolina, home of the first presidential primary votes in the South. Earlier this week, Trump formally endorsed U.S. Sen. Tim Scott in his own 2022 reelect bid, also complimenting Scott’s work on behalf of the military, law enforcement and veterans. Last month, Trump gave backing to Drew McKissick for a third term as chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party, signalling a desire to wade not only into state-level politics but also to play a role in maintaining the local party framework in places that backed his presidency and where his support remains steady. But the former president’s relationship with McMaster goes deeper, predating either man’s administration. In early 2016, then-Lt. Gov. McMaster threw his support behind Trump’s presidential bid, becoming the first statewide-elected official in the country to do so. That summer, McMaster was one of two speakers to formally nominate Trump at the Republican National Convention. The move helped boost Trump to a double-digit victory in South Carolina’s early primary. It also surprised many allies and friends of McMaster, a longtime member of South Carolina’s establishment GOP circles. But McMaster’s wager paid dividends a year later, when Trump picked Nikki Haley as his U.N. ambassador, allowing McMaster to ascend to the governor’s office, a post he had long sought. In 2018, as McMaster sought his first full term in office, Trump campaigned for his ally roughly 12 hours before polls opened in a GOP runoff race, which McMaster ultimately won. ___ Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP. Meg Kinnard, The Associated Press

  • Five new COVID-19 outbreaks in Hamilton on Friday

    Hamilton reported 64 new COVID-19 cases and five new outbreaks on Friday, as presumed variant cases continued to rise. The city now has 398 active cases, a decrease for the fourth straight day. The number of cases which screened positive for a variant rose by seven, bringing it to 88. All COVID-19 cases in Ontario are now screened for the COVID-19 variants that first appeared in the U.K., South Africa and Brazil. Cases that screen positive for a variant are then sent for confirmation. Nearly all those cases end up being confirmed, according to Hamilton’s medical officer of health. To date, Hamilton has had four confirmed cases of the B.1.1.7 strain, which first appeared in the U.K. The city reported five new outbreaks on Friday. Queen’s Garden long-term-care home on Queen Street North is back in outbreak with one staff case as of March 3, a day after its previous outbreak was declared over. AbleLiving Services Supportive Housing in the Strathcona neighbourhood has one staff case in the outbreak declared March 4. The facility offers apartments with 24-hour care for people with disabilities. The Carlisle Retirement Residence, on Main Street East at Wentworth Street South, has one staff case. St. Michael Catholic Elementary School on the Mountain and Hillfield Strathallan College, near Mohawk College, each have two cases. New cases were also reported in ongoing outbreaks at shelters. Two more patron cases were reported at the Salvation Army Booth Centre at 94 York Blvd. There have now been 54 cases in this outbreak, of which 43 are patron cases. The Good Shepherd Men’s Centre on Mary Street reported one new staff case, bringing it to three. There have been 12 cases in the outbreak. Four new staff cases were reported at Hamilton-Wentworth Detention Centre on Barton Street East. As of Thursday, Public Health Ontario was reporting a reproduction number of 1.03 for Hamilton, a slight improvement from the 1.11 rate one week prior, but still higher than the 0.7 threshold suggested for fast-spreading variants. Public health reported no new deaths on Friday. Maria Iqbal, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Hamilton Spectator

  • Transforming transit

    This spring, Winnipeg’s civil service will unveil its new master plan for public transit, coming on the heels of Ottawa’s announcement to shovel billions of dollars into programs across the country over the next decade in an effort to lower emissions from the transportation sector. This convergence of public money and planning seems to offer Winnipeg a chance to reimagine what is possible in the realm of transit — what the system could be going forward, despite past failings. However, it is quickly becoming clear there are no visions of streetcars or light rail dancing in their heads. Dreams for Winnipeg’s transit system are much smaller, even among its biggest proponents, which speaks to how far the system still has to go in order to meet a threshold of service that would successfully convince people to leave their cars at home. Or, even more radically, not buy a car in the first place. Breaking people of their car-driving habit is a key aspect of national and municipal climate plans. More than 40 per cent of greenhouse-gas emissions in Manitoba came from the transportation sector in 2018. Of the emissions from transportation, about 37 per cent comes from vehicles classified as light-duty cars and trucks. Electrification will help lower passenger-vehicle emissions, but prospective civic policies also rely on getting more people out of their vehicles altogether and on to bikes, buses and trains. “Investments in public transit will also require some behavioural changes on the part of commuters,” declared the Senate’s 2017 report on decarbonizing the transportation sector. “Unless taking transit is easier, faster and cheaper than taking a car for one’s daily commute, investments will not result in the desired emission reductions.” Ideally, all of the pieces are meant to come together to help solve the emissions problem. But in Winnipeg, the road forward is shaping up to be a long, slow one. ● ● ● Coun. Vivian Santos grew up getting around the city by bus, accepting the hour-long commute between her Southdale home and downtown that would otherwise take 15 minutes by car. As she got older, a bike became a better alternative to the bus, cutting her commute time in half. “I stopped taking transit because it was just, to be honest, a waste of my time in the morning,” she says. In the decades since, bus service hasn’t really improved, but her financial flexibility did, plus she added kids to the mix. And so, the Point Douglas councillor made the same choice most Winnipeggers who can afford it make, and she bought a car. There are now two in her household to shuffle her family around the city. Her children are getting to the age where they could start taking transit on their own — and she’d like to encourage them to do so — but it’s not realistic, based on where they live in the northwest part of the city. “There’s actually no transit service out here, to be honest with you. So if my son were to take transit, he would actually have to walk 10 minutes to McPhillips. Or he’d have to walk maybe seven minutes the other way down towards Pipeline and Templeton. So we’re really kind of outside of the transit system,” she says. Winnipeg has some of the lowest transit use rates per capita in the country, according to a recent report from Climate Reality Canada, the Canadian arm of former U.S. vice-president Al Gore’s international environmental non-profit organization. Among large cities with more than 600,000 residents, Winnipeg came in last, with an average of 67 transit trips per person annually. The next lowest was Calgary with 84. The Canadian leader in transit trips per capita is Montreal, with 236. Nationally, transit ridership has increased from roughly 1.8 billion regular service trips in 2009 to 2.1 billion in 2017, according to the Canadian Urban Transit Association. But in Winnipeg, ridership stalled and even declined in that same time period, according to city statistics. The last census revealed Winnipeg was the only Canadian city where commuting by public transit had declined over the preceding 20-year period. Santos believes getting more people on transit isn’t about building rail lines or any other flashy, grand plans. To her, it’s much more simple — it’s about making transit more frequently accessible and reliable, and charging less money to use it. “I think a good balance of both should be done,” she says. “They need to be done together. Because I understand that if we lower the fees, we’re going to have more people come on, we’re gonna see an uptick rate of people taking the transit. So obviously, we need to increase purchasing buses, and we need to better our frequency.” To that end, she put a motion before the city’s public works committee in February to study what the impact of lower fares might be in Winnipeg. It was rejected in a 2-2 vote. Curt Hull, director of Winnipeg’s Climate Change Connection, agrees with Santos’s evaluation of what’s needed to bring the transit system up to speed, and explains why aiming higher at this point isn’t practical. “Implementing rapid transit by rail is really a long ways further from where we are. You don’t start with that. You start with building the demand with things like developing frequent service, and then once you get enough demand, enough ridership on a particular route, then you make it rail. So we’re a long ways away from that,” Hull says. Efforts to regenerate the transit system with rapid bus instrastructure — the second leg of the Southwest Transitway was completed last spring — have proven lacklustre, Hull says, but he is hopeful new, less capital-intensive improvements will help deliver more riders. In addition to Santos’s hopes for more frequent, cheaper service, Hull adds a couple of things to the wish list. The routes need to be simple, he says, and access to lines criss-crossing the city needs to be easy. He envisions something like an on-demand service for suburban neighbourhoods, where a small van or a similar vehicle shuttles a rider to the main bus lines. Having regular but empty buses running through those neighbourhoods doesn’t make sense, he says, but you can’t cut them off from the network, either. “The issue is the availability of funding for it,” he says. ●●● Winnipeg relies more heavily on the fare box to fund transit than any other city in the country on a per capita basis, which pins the system’s progress directly to ridership. It’s a chicken-and-egg scenario — the system can’t be improved until ridership increases, but that won’t happen without system improvements. It also puts the system at risk for ridership fluctuations, as was the case for most of last year because of the pandemic. Across the country, transit ridership fell by more than 60 per cent in 2020, according to Statistics Canada. While it rebounded somewhat in the summer months, those minor gains were lost again amid the second wave in late fall and early winter. “That hits our system that much more than other systems,” says Coun. Matt Allard, chair of Winnipeg’s public works committee. Winnipeg’s reliance on fare-box revenues was cemented in 2017 when the provincial government moved away from its 50-50 funding agreement with the city. In 2019, fares represented 45 per cent of total expenditures on transit, which amounted to $91.7 million of $204 million. At the public works committee meeting in February where Santos put forward the idea of free or lower-fare transit, the conversation quickly turned from one that was simply about buses and dollar figures to a much more complicated question: is public transit something Winnipeggers consider to be a public good? Taxpayers who are childless or do not have school-age children still contribute money to the education system. Taxpayers who do not borrow books from the library still pay to keep the lights on and the shelves stocked. Those who do not drive still pay to keep the roads maintained. And all of those services are free of direct costs to the user. Winnipeggers have come to an implicit agreement that some things are in the public’s interest to fund. But so far, Winnipeg and its residents have yet to bring public transit under that umbrella. As long as the system relies heavily on the fare box, it will not be viewed as a public good. At least not to the same extent that other services are. Much like parents not bringing their children to a park with broken swings and garbage strewn everywhere, a neglected transit system will not yield higher ridership. It will not be a civic source of pride, as it is in many other cities. “Convenient access to public transit” is among the United Nations’ indicators for sustainable development goals. Yet, Winnipeg fails to meet measures of success that were created as goals in developing countries. International Institute for Sustainable Development targets for appropriate wait times and distance to the closest bus stop are unattainable for a third of Winnipeggers. Transit investments have been found to have significant positive spillover effects in economic development, especially in sectors such as tourism. It also stands to reason riders save money that would have otherwise have been spent on a car. Then there’s the significant shared benefits between climate interests in transit and equity policy across different socio-economic classes. “If you see transportation as a way of participating in society — which it certainly is — the more accessible transit is, the more people can easily get around and the more their experience becomes comparable to somebody who owns a vehicle, who’s more economically advantaged,” Allard says. The push for change has become louder as the urgency of climate action increases. Carolyn Kim, the director of transportation at the Pembina Institute, argues that making the decision as a city to invest in transit would be transformational, in itself. “If you’re able to increase the level of service, and people can ride a bus that is more frequent, it’s more reliable. It’s affordable,” Kim says. Also critical to the conversation is deliberately targeting dense housing and business development along the main transit arteries, she adds. Getting people onto transit is about making it a more convenient, cheaper alternative to driving. So the flip side of the equation, though often unpopular politically, is to find ways to increase the cost of driving through increased parking rates, lowering parking availability and other planning tools. It’s another avenue to pursue transformational changes, Kim says. Take London, as an example. The British city has created an “ultra-low emission zone” where, depending on how much your vehicle pollutes the air, you are charged a daily fee to drive in certain areas. Cities are free to get creative with policies and find solutions that work for them, Kim says, but they have the power to set priorities and pathways that change residents’ behaviour. ●●● Winnipeg is also contemplating where the electrification of buses fits into the picture. A pilot project for the use of both battery-electric and hydrogen fuel-cell buses will be considered by council this spring. Allard says he’s looking forward to debate on the topic, but to him, more buses on the road — regardless of how they’re powered — is the priority, since the transit fleet is responsible for such a small fraction of emissions in the city compared to personal passenger vehicles. Joanna Kyriazis, a senior policy adviser with Clean Energy Canada, warns against that kind of thinking, pointing out that electric buses actually stand to save cities money, since operation and maintenance costs are so much lower, even if up-front costs to purchase the vehicles are still higher. “The life of a bus is 12 to 18 years. And so if we keep making diesel bus purchases today, that that decision has consequences for another two decades,” she says. And the added allure of electric buses might be another way for the city to persuade drivers to park and ride, she says. Along with electrification, the new buses also come with GPS to track where they are on routes, and that information can then be sent to users. Generally, they also come with electronic-pass scanners, so riders don’t need to fumble with correct change and tickets. All of these upgrades make the transit experience better, she says. Plus, no more diesel fumes. “It’s also a great way for people to experience an electric vehicle for the first time. And the more we see them on our streets, the more we ride them, the more we see how many benefits they deliver, the more likely those riders are to go and buy an electric car themselves. So there are these spillover effects,” Kyriazis says. “Doing the same thing we’ve always done isn’t working. And so modernizing and connecting these vehicles is going to help improve the rider experience.” In Winnipeg, transformational changes might not be as big and headline-grabbing as they are in other cities, but this city is coming from behind and has more ground to make up if transit is going to become a priority. Rail lines or a world-class network of multi-modal transit aren’t on anyone’s realistic wish list. But perhaps Winnipeg is on the verge of a different radical change. One where transit isn’t looked at as a lost cause, but rather something to be invested in for the good of the community. Sarah Lawrynuik, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Winnipeg Free Press

  • The ‘biggest bonfire’ of burning masks won’t see its moment just yet

    While vaccinations across B.C. have made people more hopeful, the acting chief medical officer at First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) says it’s not time to celebrate just yet. The first round of COVID-19 vaccines have made their way across B.C., and Dr. Shannon McDonald says her staff is feeling “more hopeful now” than they have been for many months. “We’re definitely on the downhill of this pandemic, but there’s still so much work to do,” McDonald tells IndigiNews. According to McDonald, 23,000 First Nations people have now been vaccinated in 120 First Nations communities across the province. “At this stage, COVID-19 vaccines are an extra layer of protection, rather than a replacement for the public health orders and recommendations from our Provincial Health Officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry,” says a Feb. 22 post on FNHA’s website. Even people who have been vaccinated are expected to “stay the course,” wearing masks and physically distancing, says McDonald. While people may associate their vaccination with freedom, evidence shows that it takes two to three weeks for people to develop significant immunity, says McDonald “Even a vaccine that is 92 per cent or 95 per cent effective after two doses means that five to eight per cent are not protected,” she explains. “We don’t know for sure yet, whether or not somebody who’s been immunized can still carry the virus.” McDonald uses the example of strep throat in children, where after contracting, kids will test positive due to the bacteria, even if they’re not sick — and pass along the strep to others. “We are concerned that even though somebody is immunized and they are protected, we don’t know for sure if they can still carry and transmit the virus to others.” Professionals are still unsure about how well the vaccines prevent the spread of the virus, she says. “We can’t know this until we see the impact of the vaccinations,” McDonald explains. A small percentage of people who have been vaccinated might still be able to carry and spread the virus, she says. Some vaccine hesitancy came from early precautions around who might not be good candidates for immune responses to vaccinations. While it’s still true that some people are advised against the vaccine because of preexisting health conditions, McDonald says she’s encouraged by a recent statementfrom the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada, which “very clearly [states] that the benefit of vaccine for pregnant and breastfeeding women far outweighs the risk.” McDonald says she advises people that “if they have chronic health conditions, that may prevent them from mounting an immune response.” She adds that she’s not talking about people with allergies, diabetes or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. “We really want people in those circumstances to get their [vaccines],” she says. She says she understands there are people with vaccine hesitancy, and her recommendation is to seek out reliable information. “It’s really important to educate yourself, and not just by Dr. Google. It’s to make sure you have trusted sources of information to help you make the decision,” she says. FNHA offers a service called ‘Virtual Doctor of the Day,” McDonald shares, an initiative that is meant to reduce barriers for access to information and healthcare. It is intended to serve Indigenous people who have limited, or no access to their own doctors. Doctors are on call seven days a week to provide medical advice, prescriptions and referrals. Appointments are made by calling 1.855.344.3800. A medical office assistant (MOA) will answer your call and ask for your name, Personal Health Number OR status card number, birthdate and address. The MOA will match you with an available doctor in your area, for an appointment by Zoom video call or by phone. “There is such a gap for a lot of people in terms of having a primary care provider that they have a relationship with,” she says. The Virtual Doctor of the Day serves all Indigenous people living in B.C. “More than half of the Virtual Doctor[s] of the Day are Indigenous physicians, which is amazing. They all have other jobs, and they do this for us to support the communities.” McDonald says FNHA is working towards vaccinating 70 per cent of the population in B.C., which is when they can claim “community immunity,” or “herd immunity.” But to ensure that schools, workplaces, and services remain open, people need to continue to follow health protocols, she says. “We will still be sticking to our bubbles, staying home, only going out when absolutely necessary. No unnecessary travel and wash your hands, wash your hands, wash your hands. Wear a mask, anytime you’re in public, and especially if you’re indoors,” McDonald says. “Those are going to be consistent messages for a while yet. I think we will all have the biggest bonfire in history to burn our masks when this is all done, but for now we still need to hang out with the mask on.” McDonald hopes the changes in vaccine availability will bring it to more people, and earlier. One change is the rescheduling of second doses, to be four months after the first dose, instead of one month. “The evidence now shows you’d be very well protected during that period. And then the second dose as a booster. One of the things that does is free up a whole bunch of doses, to increase the number of people that are going to get their first [dose].” The current provincial schedule might shift to reflect an improvement in supply, expected to come in the next few weeks, says McDonald. “That may be pushed forward depending on the supply of vaccine. We’ve had a lack of vaccine coming in for lots of different reasons, both Moderna and Pfizer vaccines have been slow to come. In the next few weeks we’re getting the normal supply and that will continue.” McDonald also hopes the ongoing testing will result in vaccine approvals for children and youth under 18 years of age. The next task for McDonald is vaccinating First Nations people who are living off reserve. “The next piece of work that’s coming up, that I’m working with our regional teams and regional partners and the ministry, is for our urban population.” McDonald wants“to make sure that the vaccine is going to be available to everybody.” The larger urban mass vaccination clinics may not work for some, and McDonald is seeking vaccine clinics in places that feel culturally safe, are easily accessible, and close to transit. “We still have a lot of work to do, but there’s a good possibility that there will be an alternative route other than just the mass vaccination planning.” In the meantime, she has another message. “Be kind to yourself. We’ve seen so much impact on people’s mental and spiritual health. Sometimes people will crawl into themselves and not share and not call a friend and not go out for a walk with the dog. “Those moments of self care, of being really honest with yourself about what you’re feeling, making sure you’re getting sufficient rest, because we’re all working harder.” Odette Auger, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Discourse

  • Rockyford family honoured with farm award

    A local family with deep ties to the Rockyford area is being honoured for best representing the values of the family farm within their rural community. Gordon and Darlene Koester and family, with Koester Cattle Co. Inc., was a recipient of the BMO Farm Family Award, presented by the Calgary Stampede and BMO Bank of Montreal. This awards program was created to promote a renewed urban-rural relationship and to recognize outstanding southern Alberta farm families who best typify the value of the family farmer to society. The Koester’s local ties started in 1928, when the family moved from Iowa to Rockyford. Joe, one of nine children, and his wife, Tillie, purchased their own farmstead in 1950, raising eight children. Their son Gordon and his wife Darlene took over the family farm and raised four children. Sons Matthew and Adam became an integral part of the family farm operation, but in 2015, they decided to pursue their off-farm careers on a full-time basis. Bradie, one of the couple’s two daughters, and her husband, Dan, then jumped at the opportunity to come home and farm, and are now at the helm of the operation. The family winning the award was a surprise, said Gordon, in an interview. “I was taken back by the nomination, thinking there’s a lot of deserving people out there,’ he said. “I was humbled to be chosen, that’s for sure.” The Koesters have been an integral part of their community. Gordon is the past president of the Rockyford Lions Club and past chairman of the Rockyford Agricultural Society, Hall Board, Curling Club, Parish Council, Knights of Columbus and Minor Hockey, and is also a 25- year member of the Seed Growers Association. Darlene helped establish ringette in the Rockyford Community 30 years ago, and was a coach and manager throughout the years while her daughters played. She was also the Rockyford Rodeo secretary for 25 years in addition to driving a school bus for three decades. Dan and Bradie belong to the Rockyford Minor Hockey and Ringette Association as coaches and board members, in addition to Rockyford’s Ag Society, Lions Club, Rodeo Committee, Parish Council and Knights of Columbus. They also coach their girls’ fastball teams as well as play ringette and hockey on adult teams. Dan belongs to the Strathmore Seed Cleaning Plant and is entering his second year as chairman. Being established for multiple generations has helped the Koesters make such an impact in their community, said Gordon. “My father and mother taught us to be part of the community and make sure things work,” he said. “We’re a small enough community that everybody can take a turn.” Sean Feagan, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Strathmore Times

  • Nipissing Chief concerned for members who need mental health and addiction services

    The Chief of the Nipissing First Nation, west of North Bay, said he is concerned for his people who may be suffering with mental health, addiction, loneliness and isolation issues during the COVID-19 global pandemic. Chief Scott McLeod said even the strongest-minded, most stable members of his community are experiencing COVID fatigue now that we’ve been dealing with the virus for about a year now. “Humans are very social creatures and I think we took that for granted before COVID hit. Staying at home doesn’t seem all that difficult until you start doing it for weeks on end,” the Chief said. “Everybody is really tired and wants to see us get back to some sense of normalcy. Our health department has been working non-stop with increases in everything from addictions to mental health issues. COVID has exacerbated problems that were already plaguing our community.” Chief McLeod said it has been challenging to deal with people who need mental health assistance because due to COVID they have to be treated and counselled from a distance. “The problem is that during these lockdown occurrences, addiction treatment centres which have waiting lists for services are simply not taking any new people during lockdown mode. It’s very problematic,” Chief McLeod said. “We do have supports within our community that we offer that don’t involve institutionalization. We do have programs like the ‘Right Path' that offer an array of services and assist those who want to get on a better path of life choices. But it’s still very hard. It’s a difficult situation to deal with at the best of times, never mind during a global pandemic.” Chief McLeod said addiction and mental health issues are not unique to and not just confined to Indigenous communities. He said the whole world is having to deal right now with similar problems that have been made worse by the coronavirus. The Chief is a staunch supporter of land-based, culturally-relevant treatment programs, an approach that has worked well with Indigenous people right across the country who are suffering from mental health and addiction issues. “They tend to provide better results especially when you combine language and culture into those models. We are looking at various ways to help including those traditional approaches,” the Chief said. “We are looking at the best methods to treat addictions. Unfortunately trying to plan things during a pandemic makes things difficult.” The Chief made his comments just before an announcement by the provincial government on March 4 where the Conservatives pledged over $12.8 million to immediately expand and enhance culturally appropriate mental health and addictions services for Indigenous peoples, families and communities across the province. Details were released by Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health, and Michael Tibollo, Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions. "Now more than ever, it is critically important to ensure that everyone, including Indigenous communities, can access the safe and effective mental health and addictions services they deserve - when they need them and where they need them," said Minister Elliott. "Our government is committed to working with Indigenous communities and other health system partners to build a comprehensive and connected mental health and addictions system that people from every corner of the province can access.” Gen Couchie, spokesperson for Nipissing First Nation, said it is not yet clear exactly how then territory will benefit from the new funding. She added that increased funding in the area of mental health and addiction treatment could be a huge help as the territory works to assist its vulnerable citizens. Couchie was also cautiously optimistic that the new funding could be used for an outreach program that the First Nation is currently developing. John McFadden is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter covering Indigenous issues for MuskokaRegion.com, ParrySound.com and Simcoe.com. His reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative. John McFadden, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Orillia Today

  • Ramped-up vaccine rollout brings hope to Thunder Bay

    Frances Wesley said a sense of relief could be felt in the room at the first vaccine clinic held for off-reserve First Nations members living in Thunder Bay. The smell of sage burning from the smudge bowl used to bless the Pfizer COVID-19 doses and the nurses administering them also filled the room with reassurance as a lineup formed outside of people scheduled to get their first shot. Ms. Wesley, the executive director of the Matawa Health Co-op, an organization that serves nine First Nations communities in Northern Ontario, said close to 200 doses were administered to its off-reserve members in a clinic that first opened this week. She said the Matawa group prioritized vulnerable people including those older than 60, the homeless or precariously housed and those with mental-health illnesses. Thunder Bay moved back into the province’s grey lockdown zone last week as it continues to struggle to get a handle on the virus, which has spread significantly among the city’s homeless and precariously housed, many of whom are Indigenous and First Nations. Chief Chris Moonias from Neskantaga, one of the Matawa First Nations, declared a state of emergency last month after an outbreak infected 12 members living in the city. Chief Moonias said most of those cases have been resolved, however one of his nephews remains in the ICU. According to a 2018 community report, close to 500 people are in homeless situations, such as couch surfing or accessing emergency shelters in Thunder Bay. Ms. Wesley said the doses for Matawa’s clinics are being provided by the Thunder Bay health unit based on how many people register. She said Matawa was able to move quickly because it has extensive health care resources, including nurses and physicians on staff. She said Matawa worked with health directors from each of their communities to get a list of those living in the city for registration. There are about 4,000 members from the nine Matawa First Nations who live in Thunder Bay, according to Ms. Wesley. “Some people will say no,” she said. “Others are so excited they can hardly wait.” She said they’ve already been approached by other First Nations and groups about holding clinics for their off-reserve members and communities accessible by road. Remote Indigenous communities were given immediate priority because of their isolation and inadequate access to health care. Nishnawbe Aski Nation, a political organization representing 49 mostly remote First Nations, said more than 9,000 members living in remote communities have been vaccinated so far as Operation Remote Immunity nears completion. Meanwhile, public-health units and regional health authorities are leading the rollout in urban Indigenous and road-access communities. Nishnawbe Aski Nation noted there’s a sense of urgency for those close to hot spots such as Thunder Bay as COVID-19 cases and outbreaks in the city continue to put lives at risk. Ontario Regional Chief RoseAnne Archibald is a member of the provincial vaccine task force and says the goal is to vaccinate all First Nations in Ontario by April 30. She said clinics to vaccinate people 55 years and older have already begun in some urban locations such as Anishnawbe Health Toronto and Shkagamik-Kwe Health Centre in Sudbury. The Thunder Bay District Health Unit says it’s already vaccinating the homeless population in the city with partners at different clinics and that many road-access communities in the district have received their first doses. The health unit said it is still in the planning stages with Indigenous organizations for vaccinating off-reserve members in the district. Ontario announced Friday its plans to move to Phase 2 of its vaccine rollout plan based on age and risk, focusing on ages. Indigenous communities and people were identified as a priority group at the beginning of the pandemic and vaccine rollout because of higher rates of poorer health outcomes and higher risk of COVID-19 infections and transmission. Thunder Bay wasn’t listed as a COVID-19 hot spot region slated to get additional doses in the province’s transitional plan. Dr. Dirk Huyer said it was based on historical, not current, data of hot spots such as Peel and Toronto. Willow Fiddler, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Globe and Mail