Coronavirus: Toronto mayor announces cancellation of public events until July 2021

Toronto Mayor John Tory has announced all public events will be cancelled until July, including Canada Day, due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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  • Ukraine says it could be provoked by Russian 'aggression' in conflict area

    Ukraine's defence minister said on Saturday his country could be provoked by Russian aggravation of the situation in the conflict area of Ukraine's eastern Donbass region. The minister, Andrii Taran, said Russian accusations about the rights of Russian-speakers being violated could be the reason for the resumption of armed aggression against Ukraine. "At the same time, it should be noted that the intensification of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine is possible only if an appropriate political decision is made at the highest level in the Kremlin," he said in a statement.

  • South African variant can 'break through' Pfizer vaccine, Israeli study says

    The coronavirus variant discovered in South Africa can "break through" Pfizer/BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine to some extent, a real-world data study in Israel found, though its prevalence in the country is low and the research has not been peer reviewed. The South African variant, B.1.351, was found to make up about 1% of all the COVID-19 cases across all the people studied, according to the study by Tel Aviv University and Israel's largest healthcare provider, Clalit. But among patients who had received two doses of the vaccine, the variant's prevalence rate was eight times higher than those unvaccinated - 5.4% versus 0.7%.

  • Before Liberals get too excited about Mark Carney, they should remember Michael Ignatieff

    Sixteen years ago, a handsome man in his 50s, who had been a big deal in the United Kingdom, addressed a Liberal policy convention. He was distinguished and impressive and he possessed the political allure that comes with having been a great success at something other than politics. Though he did not admit to having any ambitions for public office, he was already being touted as a potential successor to the prime minister of the day. Less than a year later, Michael Ignatieff was the Liberal MP for Etobicoke-Lakeshore. Four years after that, he was leader of the Liberal party. But the less said about what happened after that, the better. Mark Carney is not the exact facsimile of Ignatieff. A political turn by Carney — if he is so inclined — is not fated to end in tears. But Ignatieff's story is a cautionary tale that Liberals, Carney boosters and Carney himself might want to heed before anyone gets too excited about the former bank governor's appearance at this weekend's Liberal convention. Carney was not exactly electrifying in his appearance on Friday night — though perhaps few people are when speaking via video call from their living room. But he no doubt set Liberal hearts aflutter with his comments about "the responsibility of service" and his pledge to "do whatever I can to support the Liberal party in our efforts to build a better future for Canadians." Those words will pour fuel on speculative fires that have been smouldering for years. Regardless of whether he is actually now preparing or prepared to run as a Liberal for elected office, Liberals will no doubt happily accept the credibility that any association might lend to them. Generally speaking, if the former governor of the banks of Canada and England offers his endorsement and support, you accept it. Roots in government Beyond his resume and reputation, his publicly stated concerns also fit within the broad ideas that the Liberal party has tried to associate itself with since Justin Trudeau became leader. Carney has long been interested in questions about climate change and sustainability and he is now promoting a weighty tome — Value(s) — in which he argues that human values should not be secondary to market values. But whether Carney would be any good at politics is another matter entirely. In Ignatieff's own telling of the six years he spent as a practising politician — Fire and Ashes, published in 2013 — he recalls leaving the stage after his speech in March 2005 and being met by a crush of people, including a journalist who was an old friend. "He whispered, 'Good speech,' and then realizing I really was about to take the plunge gave me the commiserating look old friends give you when they know they can't stop you doing something foolish," Ignatieff writes. Michael Ignatieff acknowledges crowd after being named leader at the Liberal Leadership Convention in Vancouver on May 2, 2009. Ignatieff emerged as a great hope for the Liberal party, the reality proved much different.(Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press) There are elements of Carney's story that distinguish him from Ignatieff. For one thing, Carney's professional life is much more grounded in Canada — before his five years as governor of the Bank of Canada, he worked for three years as a senior official in the federal department of finance and one year as the bank's deputy governor. Even after seven years as governor of the Bank of England, it should be difficult to portray him as a fairweather Canadian who's "just visiting." (Carney made sure to note on Friday that he was born in the Northwest Territories and grew up in Edmonton.) Though bank governors are necessarily apolitical — or at least non-partisan — Carney's time as governor also exposed him to a level of politics that Ignatieff had only really observed. Ignatieff had delivered lectures and written essays, Carney has done news conferences and defended policy decisions. NDP, Tories launch attacks But Ignatieff's example demonstrates that you can't really know how well someone is going to do at partisan politics until they actually try to do it. Professional politics of this sort is a series of acts that most humans don't take to naturally: stump speeches, hostile interviews, speaking in slogans and shaking hands with strangers. Your words are picked over, your mannerisms are scrutinized and you will inevitably embarrass yourself from time to time. Already, Carney has run into trouble over a recent claim that the investments of Brookfield Asset Management, for whom he now works, are producing "net-zero" emissions. Carney's argument rested on the idea that renewable energy sources in Brookfield's portfolio were resulting in "avoided emissions" that counter-balanced the firm's investments in fossil fuels. Climate experts objected to that math and Carney was compelled to acknowledge that he was mistaken. Hours before Carney spoke on Friday night, the New Democrats sent a note to reporters to rehash that gaffe. While noting that Carney spent 13 years "climbing the corporate ladder at Goldman Sachs," the NDP accused the Liberals of "court[ing] the approval of the ultra-rich and well connected." Shortly thereafter, the Conservatives issued a release describing Carney as "one of Canada's most well-known elites" and accusing him of "promot[ing] trendy new economic experiments that are popular with Davos billionaires." There would be more of that sort of thing if Carney actually crosses the threshold into politics. And then he'd be mocked relentlessly if he tried to compensate by ditching his nice suits and only ever wearing plaid shirts and jeans. Of course, if one does manage to succeed at politics there are rewards — like being able to make meaningful changes to public policy that substantially improve the lives of your fellow citizens. If you are into that sort of thing, politics might have some appeal. Carney will wake up Saturday morning as more of a political figure than he was before he spoke on Friday night. And Liberals will wake up happy for whatever excitement he might generate. But no one should get too far ahead of themselves just yet. At the very least, Carney should read Ignatieff's book before going any further.

  • Federal NDP chases younger voters by making Singh the online face of the party

    Last month, federal NDP Leader Jagmeet took part in a split-screen Instagram livestream with blogger Sarah Nicole Landry, known by the handle @thebirdspapaya to her 1.9 million followers. You won't find much talk of Canadian politics in Landry's posts, if any. They tend to focus instead on motherhood, empowerment and health. Singh stuck to much the same themes in his talk with Landry, which focused on her ideas and struggles through the pandemic — placing Singh, who has over 600,000 Instagram followers, in the role of empathetic listener. The conversation typified the NDP's digital strategy to reach Canadians between the ages of 18 to 40 — a strategy that puts Singh's personality and personal brand ahead of granular policy debates. Through social media influencers, the party wants to bypass traditional forms of advertising to project Singh's image to an audience that's hard to reach through conventional political messaging. WATCH: NDP turns to influencers Singh appears to be working to become a pervasive presence on digital platforms like TikTok and Clubhouse in the coming months. He recently put out an online call for Canadians to text him on the Community social media platform. The party is also planning to place ads in video games and wrap buses with colourful ads featuring Singh front and centre. "It's really taking a look at where people are spending a lot of their time and using that as a motivation for where we are spending money, so people get to know who Jagmeet is," said Mélanie Richer, Singh's director of communications. Building Singh's brand The party is making big plans to build Singh's brand. It's preparing to spend nearly $12 million just on ads for the next campaign — roughly what the NDP spent for its entire campaign in the 2019 election. The NDP is launching a new series of ads today, starting with one airing during tonight's game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Ottawa Senators. The ads are unconventional by Canadian party standards. Singh himself doesn't say a word in them. WATCH: Using untraditional ways to reach young voters Instead, the ads use text and images to tell a story about the party fighting for working people during the pandemic. They're aimed at those who might feel disenchanted by the results of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's promise of a new kind of politics. The challenge for the NDP is in translating digital likes into votes — especially since it's focusing on an age group that historically tends not to cast ballots in large numbers. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh takes photos with university students in Toronto on Oct. 8, 2019.(Paul Chiasson/Canadian Press) Campaign insiders argue the NDP is playing a long game. "Rather than trying to chase votes directly from younger people, we only need to find a small subset of hyper-engaged young people," said Zain Velji, a former campaign manager for Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi and former digital director for Alberta NDP Leader Rachel Notley. "Give them disproportionate access, disproportionate skin in the game, perhaps even disproportionate titles on the campaign so that they can be the standard bearers to their social network." WATCH: Singh's version of a viral rendition of Fleetwood Mac's 'Dreams' Velji said the NDP needs an approach to campaign advertising that will keep it from becoming mere noise on social media. He said the party needs to find a way to keep Singh's brand and message fresh so it continues to echo through social media influencers — giving a $12 million campaign $50 million worth of reach. Will the strategy pay off? The party needs this strategy to work if it's to make significant gains in the next federal election. The NDP is trailing the Liberals in the 18 to 34 age group by six points, said CBC polling analyst Eric Grenier —but those voters still represent opportunity for New Democrats. "Those voters might ... be the ones who are most likely to be disillusioned by the Liberals, that they're not as progressive as maybe Justin Trudeau might have said he was back in 2015," he said. "Getting younger voters to the polls in big numbers — and if they vote for the NDP — would help them a lot, particularly in a lot of urban ridings where the NDP was shut out in the last election." WATCH: Singh says young people will make history in the next election Singh told reporters on Friday he believes young people are going to make history in the next election because they're at the forefront of so many social justice movements, from the fight against climate change to Black Lives Matter. "I love the idea of young people asking their parents and their grandparents to say, 'Hey, we need help. New Democrats are the ones offering this help for us to make our future better. Please lend us your votes so that we can bring in the changes that we need to help us out,'" Singh said. "Young people can influence people around them and I'm excited for what's going to happen." Singh will rally the NDP base with a keynote speech Sunday to wrap up a three-day virtual policy convention. Today, British Columbia Premier John Horgan — the only NDP leader who currently heads a government — and veteran Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath are addressing the convention. The 2,000-plus delegates assembled virtually around the country today are debating resolutions on social security, green programs and issues of human rights and discrimination.

  • Yellowknife-born actor Dustin Milligan on what's next after Schitt's Creek

    A Yellowknife-born actor is showing his range, from playing a veterinarian on Emmy award-winning show Schitt's Creek to voice acting for a new kids series. Dustin Milligan played a key role on Schitt's Creek, a show that chronicles a formerly-filthy-rich family as they are demoted from their opulence to lead normal lives in a rural town — their only remaining asset. Schitt's Creek just wrapped up its final season and is up for 22 Canadian Screen Awards. The popularity of the show couldn't have been predicted, but seeing its success has been "pretty wild" for Milligan. "As a Canadian actor there is always this sense of 'yeah, you do the Canadian work in order to pay the bills and keep yourself busy until the larger American jobs come through,'" he said. But, when Milligan was presented with the opportunity to work with Eugene Levy, who plays Johnny Rose and Catherine O'Hara playing the role of former soap opera star wife Moira Rose, he says taking the role was an easy choice. "I looked up to Eugene and Catherine a lot as a kid and to work with them — it was a no-brainer. You never know what a show like this is going to do in terms of the final outcome and how the audience is going to receive it," he said. "Truly an unexpected dream come true." He added the actors are both "kind and generous with their time and their talents." From sitcoms to kids' TV Milligan is on the up after the hit comedy series and has a few projects on the go. Among them is Rutherford Falls, an upcoming American TV sitcom that focuses on the relationship between a fictional Native American reservation and the residents of a neighbouring small town in upstate New York. He is also starring in a new show kids' show, Super Agent Jon Le Bon!. The show is fun and goofy, and the super agents help to deceive villains while delivering an environmental message. "A lot of the hijinx we get into are related to environmental issues — global warming, climate change as well as friendships, bonding and teamwork," he said. "It's a high energy show. I think it's a lot of fun for kids, the young at heart," he said. Raised by a northern community Milligan said the support of his teachers at Mildred Hall School in Yellowknife and community members have been a guiding force in his career. "It may be cliché to say, but, I do believe in that adage of it takes a village to raise a child," he said. "I believe it was a large group of people over many, many years that continued to encourage me over the years in those moments when I needed it that has led my to pursue this job," he said. And, he says, the longer he's been away from the North, the more he realizes just how much he loves Yellowknife.

  • Turkey's Erdogan calls for end to 'worrying' developments in eastern Ukraine, offers support

    Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday called for the "worrying" developments in eastern Ukraine's Donbass region to come to an end after meeting his Ukrainian counterpart in Istanbul, adding Turkey was ready to provide any necessary support. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy held more than three hours of talks with Erdogan in Istanbul as part of a previously scheduled visit, amid tensions between Kyiv and Moscow over the conflict in Donbass. Kyiv has raised the alarm over a buildup of Russian forces near the border between Ukraine and Russia, and over a rise in violence along the line of contact separating Ukrainian troops and Russia-backed separatists in Donbass.

  • Regina resident who thought she'd be given Pfizer vaccine shocked after being told she'd get AstraZeneca

    Maxine Koskie says when she heard she wouldn't be getting the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine as planned, she broke down and cried. The Regina resident is waiting for surgery and required a vaccine for the procedure — one she's been waiting for since last October. She made an appointment online for vaccinations for her and her husband at the Evraz Place immunization site in Regina, which, based on previous Saskatchewan Health Authority information, she believed was offering the Pfizer-BioNTech shot. But just before she was set to receive the shot, the nurse informed Koskie she and her husband would be getting the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine instead. "It was a complete surprise to both of us," she said. "They're acting more like a dictatorship, because they're taking away the freedom of choice," she said. "I made the conscious choice to go for a Pfizer vaccine and that was not an option for me." Koskie says she ended up receiving the shot out of necessity, but the experience left her feeling let down by the government. 'It's been very underhanded' Premier Scott Moe and Health Minister Paul Merriman need to be transparent with the people of Saskatchewan, she says. "My concern is that it's been very underhanded," she said, adding the experience left her feeling appalled. "I was so upset with the disrespect." The Saskatchewan Health Authority announced "vaccine delivery changes" in an online notice on Friday. "The SHA has re-allocated the AstraZeneca vaccine for use in the Regina mass immunization sites at the International Trade Centre and the University of Regina to allow for the administration of Pfizer vaccines through the drive-thru starting Friday, while vaccine supply is available," the health authority said online. One of the province's first mass vaccination clinics at the International Trade Centre at Regina's Evraz Place. One Regina resident is fuming after only discovering at her appointment that she wasn't getting the brand of vaccine she expected.(Matt Duguid/CBC) Koskie thinks patients should be notified directly about any changes to their appointment or vaccine plan before they arrive for their appointments. She says she wasn't alone in her anger and frustration, as others around them also expressed concern when they were informed of the change. "They need to be honest and when they change things on the spur of the moment, they need to get that information out to the public that it is going to affect." Efficacy concerns She said the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was her shot of choice because she feels it provides better protection. AstraZeneca has said its vaccine had a 76 per cent efficacy rate at preventing symptomatic illness — compared with rates of about 95 per cent for the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, and about 67 per cent for the Johnson and Johnson vaccine, which was the fourth and latest approved by Health Canada. As well, data from one small trial suggested the AstraZeneca vaccine did not protect against mild to moderate illness from the B1351 variant of the coronavirus, which was first identified in South Africa. However, Dr. Supriya Sharma, Health Canada's chief medical adviser, told CBC in a February interview that "Where it matters the most, against severe disease, hospitalization and death … [AstraZeneca] seems to be quite effective against the variant." Sharma also said laboratory tests and real-world evidence suggest the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine seems to be "quite effective" against the B117 variant, which was first identified in the United Kingdom. The clinical trials of both Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech were completed before the variants of concern took off worldwide. 'Safe and effective': health ministry In a statement sent to CBC, Saskatchewan's Ministry of Health said vaccine availability is dependent on numerous factors, including the increasing presence of coronavirus variants of concern in the Regina area. The National Advisory Committee on Immunization guidelines suggest the AstraZeneca vaccine should be used only for people older than 55. But the presence and transmission of variants of concern in Regina has required the province to "accelerate the vaccination program" for those under 55, the health ministry said. "All vaccines approved by Health Canada are safe and effective at preventing the most serious forms of COVID-19 illness and death. All residents have been asked to take the vaccine that is available to them," the ministry said. "If those receiving the vaccine have concerns regarding a certain brand of vaccine due to their medical history, they should speak to their primary care physician or a public health nurse directly prior to their appointment." The ministry also said patients are informed about the brand of vaccine they will receive, noting they are free to refuse the vaccine if they have concerns. However, Koskie says she thinks the government is "not accepting responsibility or ownership" for the fact people may be caught off guard when they're told they'll be receiving a different vaccine once they're at an appointment. "They're in a position where they have no choice," she said. She's already made a call to the ministry on the issue, and now plans to file a formal written complaint. 'Any vaccine is a good vaccine': health minister Health Minister Paul Merriman addressed questions about vaccines on Saturday, following a rare weekend sitting of the legislature. He said a "very minimal" number of people out of the thousands who have booked appointments at Evraz Place have refused a vaccine because they didn't want to take a specific brand. "Any vaccine is a good vaccine, unless there are very certain circumstances where a doctor or a health-care provider has recommended you don't do that," he said, noting people can rebook later if they're concerned about the type of vaccine offered to them. He says the province is not in a position to "pick and choose" when it comes to vaccines, and pointed out Saskatchewan Chief Medical Health Officer Dr. Saqib Shahab has already received the AstraZeneca shot. Merriman said the province will work to accommodate people who are unable to get a certain vaccine due to medical conditions outlined by a doctor, encouraging them to call into the province's vaccine line at 1-833-727-5829 beforehand. But he said there are no plans moving forward for the government to inform members of the public about which vaccines will become available to them, as supply fluctuates. "There will be, to my knowledge, no advance warning of what you are getting," he said. "People assume that they're getting one vaccine or not, but any vaccine is a good vaccine right now."

  • COVID-19 on P.E.I.: What's happening Saturday, April 10

    Even as the Atlantic bubble is scheduled to bring down barriers in the Atlantic provinces in a little more than a week, many P.E.I. tourism operators are still trying to decide whether to open this season. Coffee shops in Charlottetown are delicately discouraging "computer campers" from taking up tables for hours at a time when space is at a premium. Now with the bubble scheduled to reopen April 19, two brothers from P.E.I. now living in New Brunswick are reviving a P.E.I.-themed beer in hopes of luring Islanders to the mainland. P.E.I.'s Chief Public Health Office announced one new case of COVID-19 Friday, bringing the province's 13-month total to 162. Prince Edward Island's seesawing unemployment rate went down to 8.1 per cent in March, a year after the COVID-19 pandemic began to take a bite out of jobs. That's according to Statistics Canada data released Friday. A message issued by Buckingham Palace Friday asked Commonwealth citizens to refrain from gathering to mourn Prince Philip's death at 99, citing the need to avoid further COVID-19 outbreaks. P.E.I.'s condolences over the death of the Duke of Edinburgh will be collected online only; Lt.-Gov. Antoinette Perry said Islanders could find a link at www.lgpei.ca. Continuing pandemic restrictions have quashed any hope of staging Anne of Green Gables — The Musical at the Charlottetown Festival this summer. Organizers announced the Anneless 2021 lineup on Thursday. Prince Edward Island recorded its 162nd case of COVID-19 Friday, with news of a case linked to travel outside the Atlantic region. Elsewhere in the Atlantic region: Also in the news These Islanders are currently eligible for a vaccine People over 60. People over the age of 55 may book for an AstraZeneca vaccine at a pharmacy. People providing health care services to the public — including optometrists, pharmacists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists — and their support staff. Firefighters, police officers, power-line workers. Residents and staff of long-term care homes. Adults living in Indigenous communities. Residents and staff of shared living facilities. Truck drivers and other rotational workers. Further resources Reminder about symptoms The symptoms of COVID-19 can include: Fever. Cough or worsening of a previous cough. Possible loss of taste and/or smell. Sore throat. New or worsening fatigue. Headache. Shortness of breath. Runny nose. More from CBC P.E.I.

  • N.B. COVID-19 roundup: Edmundston to enter lockdown, high school return delayed

    Parts of northwestern New Brunswick will go into lockdown in response to a surge in cases of COVID-19. The Edmundston and Haut-Madawaska areas will be placed under the tighter restrictions effective Saturday at 11:59 p.m. Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Jennifer Russell urged residents of the region to stay home and said an effort is being made to send more vaccine to the area. "The new variants of COVID-19 have changed the course of this pandemic," she said. Saint-Léonard, Grand Falls, Drummond, New Denmark and Four Falls will remain under the Red level. The Saint-Quentin and Kedgwick regions will remain in the Yellow level. Public Health is reporting 19 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, with 15 in the Edmundston region. The other four cases are spread out across the Fredericton, Moncton and Saint John regions. The province also reported its 33rd death from COVID-19, an individual in their 70s in Zone 4. Twenty patients are hospitalized in the province, including 13 in intensive care. Most are at the Edmundston Regional Hospital, which was forced to redirect admissions after reaching capacity this week. High school delay New Brunswick is reversing a controversial decision to send students back to high school full-time on Monday. New Brunswick's teachers' union has been calling on the province to delay full-time, in-person classes that are expected to resume on Monday. Zone 4 is not included under the red phase. Health Minister Dorothy Shephard announced plans to delay the return across the province as a "precaution." "We need to be quite confident that we're not contributing to the problem, and this gives us time to watch the cases," she said. École Saint-Jacques in Edmundston reported two cases of COVID-19 on Friday. (Bernard LeBel/Radio-Canada) High school students have been following an alternate-day system since September, aiming at reducing the risk of COVID-19 transmission. On days where they are not present in-person, students have been learning virtually from home. Vaccine clinics were held at schools in preparation of the change, offering the shot to teachers and school staff. But some educators and parents criticized the decision. Zone 4 was not expected to follow the change. The update comes as hundreds of households in the Edmundston area are self-isolating after a school confirmed cases of the COVID-19 variant first reported in the U.K. École Saint-Jacques confirmed two cases on Friday. The District Scolaire francophone du Nord-Ouest told all students, staff and anyone they live with to self-isolate until Sunday at 11:59 p.m. There are about 300 students at the elementary school. The self-isolation directive applies to anyone who was at the school April 6-8. Family members are asked to remain in their homes over the weekend while contact tracing is underway. Public Health will reach out directly to close contacts. Hundreds of families are self-isolating after two cases of COVID-19 were confirmed at École Saint-Jacques in Edmundston.(Bernard LeBel/Radio-Canada) École Saint-Jacques will move to virtual learning on Monday and Tuesday. Classes are expected to resume in person on Thursday, after a previously scheduled day off. A childcare facility within the school will also close on both days. A case was also confirmed at an Edmundston daycare on Friday. With the rise in cases, the Edmundston hospital has been forced to restrict admissions and redirect patients to other facilities. Variants prompt lockdown New Brunswick's hardest-hit region is returning to a lockdown for the second time this year. Under those measures, all non-essential businesses in the region must close. People must continue to maintain a single-household bubble and non-essential travel in or out of the area is not permitted. Schools in the area will move entirely to virtual learning. The Edmundston region is continuing a series of large-scale vaccine clinics and is expected to be prioritized for additional doses in the coming weeks. There have been 16 cases of transmission of COVID-19 variants in Zone 4. Dr. Jennifer Russell, the province's chief medical officer of health, said she is concerned about the presence of variants of COVID-19.(Government of New Brunswick) Russell said every COVID-19 case is now being treated as a highly contagious variant moving forward. She said three vaccinated people are currently in hospital. One person was fully vaccinated with two doses and more than two weeks had passed, one person had not passed 14 days, and another had only received one dose. Health officials are closely monitoring the Saint John and Moncton regions as areas of concern for the variant. More than 200 people in Saint John are currently self-isolating after possible exposure at a church service. Russell would not specify which presumptive variant is involved until lab results return in the next few days. 148 active cases New Brunswick now has 148 total active cases. The new cases on Saturday are as follows: In the Edmundston and Grand Falls region (Zone 4), there are 15 new cases. Public Health said 15 are contacts of previous cases, and the other three are under investigation: Three people 19 and under. Two people in their 20s. Two people in their 40s. Three people in their 50s. Four people in their 60s. A person in their 70s. The Fredericton region (Zone 3) is reporting two new cases: Two people in their 30s, both travel-related. The Saint John region (Zone 2) has one new case: A person 19 and under, travel-related. In the Moncton region (Zone 1), there is one new case: (CBC News) New Brunswick has confirmed 1,713 total cases, including 1,531 recoveries. There have been 33 deaths. Public Health conducted 1,386 tests on Friday, for a total of 266,621. Possible exposure in Saint John Public Health has identified possible public exposure to the virus at the following locations in Saint John: Thursday, April 8 between 1:15-2 p.m. – Service New Brunswick, 15 King Square North. Friday, April 9 between 5-6 p.m. and Thursday, April 8 between noon-1 p.m. – McAllister Place, 519 Westmorland Rd. What to do if you have a symptom People concerned they might have COVID-19 symptoms can take a self-assessment test online. Public Health says symptoms shown by people with COVID-19 have included: Fever above 38 C. New cough or worsening chronic cough. Sore throat. Runny nose. Headache. New onset of fatigue, muscle pain, diarrhea, loss of sense of taste or smell. Difficulty breathing. In children, symptoms have also included purple markings on the fingers and toes. People with one of those symptoms should: Stay at home. Call Tele-Care 811 or their doctor. Describe symptoms and travel history. Follow instructions.

  • Ontario government issues emergency orders to bolster hospital capacity as COVID-19 cases soar

    On Friday, the provincial government issued two emergency orders to help with hospital capacity and staffing issues amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Erica Vella reports.

  • Erin O'Toole says 'I didn't hide who I was' running for Conservative leader

    OTTAWA — Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole says he didn't hide who he was while running for the party's leadership as the "true blue" candidate. O'Toole was asked about how some see him as Liberal-lite during a question-and-answer session Saturday evening. The session closed out a conference hosted by the Canada Strong and Free Network, formerly the Manning Centre. O'Toole says he finds those making such comments to be "humorous." He says he's been trying to grow the party since winning the leadership race last year. He also says Conservatives have to fight an election on the issues of today rather than those of decades past. "I didn't hide who I was when I was running for leader," said O'Toole. "All of the things I ran on, I'm still running on now. I'm also though, reaching out and trying to communicate our Conservative ideas to more people in new ways." O'Toole says some of what differentiates him from Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is his willingness to slash millions from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and modernize its mandate, as well as crack down on illegal rail blockades. The theme of Saturday's conference was "build back right," which played off Trudeau's oft-expressed wish to "build back better" when helping Canada's economy recover from the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic. The think tank's annual convention — moved online because of the COVID-19 pandemic — was billed as the largest networking event for both small-c and big-C conservatives to discuss current issues. Among them was how to expand the scope of the Conservative movement. Lilly Obina, a black woman who campaigned for different Conservative candidates and ran for a nomination in 2015, said one reason the party doesn't resonate with the black community is its messaging around cuts, which needs to be better explained. The senior project executive with Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada told a panel that economics are important to the black community, who she said can feel targeted when the party talks about reducing the size of government. "We need to be able to empathize with what goes (on) in the black community," she said. "For example, when they say we are experiencing systemic racism, let's recognize that, let's be empathetic. You might not have solutions to everything, but at least just acknowledge that the problem exists." Tenzin Khangdsar, who did cultural outreach for Alberta Premier Jason Kenney when he served as Immigration Minister under former prime minister Stephen Harper's Conservative government, said the party has had previous success with reaching newcomers despite the present-day challenges. The former candidate pointed to how a large number of their votes were captured under former prime ministers Brian Mulroney and Harper, the latter of whom was aided by Kenney's efforts to build relationships with immigrant communities. "He was dubbed the minister of curry in a hurry for a reason," said Khangdsar, citing how he would attend upwards of 15 community events in a weekend. "No one likes when it you're approached just during an election, that's very transactional." He suggested forging personal relationships is an important way to sway votes among new immigrants and ethnic-Canadians, , even more so than with non-ethnic residents. "Our playbook was very simple: We were very confident that most new Canadians were small-c conservatives. We just had to make them big-C Conservatives," Khangdsar said. "And I would even add that applies to most Canadians." Harper was among those who appeared at Saturday's conference in a pre-taped panel discussion with former British prime minister David Cameron. Moderated by Senator Linda From, the centre's president said their talk couldn't be publicized beyond the conference because of a contract with the former leaders. This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 10, 2021. Stephanie Taylor, The Canadian Press

  • Italy reports 344 coronavirus deaths on Saturday, 17,567 new cases

    Italy reported 344 coronavirus-related deaths on Saturday against 718 the day before, the health ministry said, while the daily tally of new infections fell to 17,567 from 18,938 the day before. Italy has registered 113,923 deaths linked to COVID-19 since its outbreak emerged in February last year, the second-highest toll in Europe after Britain and the seventh-highest in the world. Some 320,892 tests for COVID-19 were carried out in the past day, compared with a previous 362,973, the health ministry said.

  • How Toronto police will enforce Ontario's stay-at-home orders, amid third COVID-19 wave

    The Toronto police chief is urging the public to abide by provincial stay-at-home orders. The order, which came into force on Wednesday, is in place for the next four weeks, as Ontario attempts to curb rising case counts. On Friday, Ontario reported another 4,227 cases of COVID-19, the second-most on a single day at any point during the pandemic. "I urge all Torontonians to please comply," said Chief James Ramer in a Saturday news release. "Do not go out unless it's for essential reasons only." Toronto police are not allowed to stop cars or enter homes simply to check if a person is complying with the order, nor can they compel a person who is outside to explain the reason they left their home. However, if officers have "probable grounds to suspect someone has violated" a public health order, they are allowed to ask for identification and a person who refuses can be arrested or charged with obstructing a police officer.

  • Why some women are pushing back against alcohol and the wine-to-unwind culture

    Allison Garber says from the outside it looked like she had it all together. The communications business owner and mother of two may not have looked like a problem drinker. But she says she found herself willing the clock to hit 5 p.m. every day so she could open a bottle of wine and pour a glass. Then "not so patiently" waiting for her kids to go to bed so she could have a few more. Garber decided she had a problem with drinking in 2018 and sought help. She's been sober now for more than two years and is thankful her recovery came before the pandemic did. "I am so glad that I was not still stuck on this train where I viewed alcohol as a reward for getting through a tough day," she said. "[The pandemic] just amplified everything. It has amplified how we use alcohol as a form of self-medication, as a form of self care. "And that message is reinforced almost everywhere you go. You've had a long day, pour yourself a glass of wine." WATCH | Allison Garber says it was hard to come to the realization she had a problem with alcohol: Drinking among women has increased steadily in recent years. In 2018, the Report on the State of Public Health from Canada's chief public health officer identified alcohol use in women as one of the most pressing concerns of our time. The report highlighted that from 2011 to 2017, deaths attributed to alcohol increased by 26 per cent among Canadian women, while alcohol-related deaths in men increased just five per cent. The pandemic has led to soaring alcohol sales and some Canadians are reporting increased binge drinking. A Statistics Canada survey released in January shows many Canadians are not just pouring themselves a single glass. Almost one in five who responded to the survey said they consumed five or more drinks — the equivalent of a bottle of wine — on the days they reported drinking alcohol in the previous month. The agency says this is higher than before COVID-19 hit. When women drink, the health effects can be staggering. Drinking three to six alcoholic beverages a week increases the risk of breast cancer in women by 15 per cent. Women who drink two glasses of wine daily have a 50 per cent increase in their risk of breast cancer. "What we might consider to be very modest amounts of alcohol are still really significant from a health perspective," said Dr. Jennifer Wyman, associate director of the Substance Use Service at Women's College Hospital. Right now, Canada's Low-Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines recommend no more than 10 drinks per week for women and 15 for men. The agency in charge of these guidelines, the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction, is looking now at whether they should be changed. The current guidelines need to be revised to reflect the risks, said Dr. Wyman. WATCH | Dr. Jennifer Wyman talks about why she feels the low-risk alcohol guidelines need to change: One drink a day or seven a week would likely be more reasonable, she said, adding that the guidelines are meant to be a maximum even though they may not always be treated that way. Dr. Wyman says she thinks some people view the guideline's 10-drinks-a-week maximum and interpret that as being what the average person is drinking. "And therefore, if that's what they're drinking, then they're sort of within the middle of the spectrum and they're doing OK, as opposed to that's really the maximum number that you should be thinking about," she said. "And it doesn't mean that you should be aiming to hit that every week. That should be the tops." Just as the upper limits for alcohol consumption are different for women and men, so are the reasons why they drink. The pressure put on women to fill several different roles has many counting down to the time that they can pour a glass of wine, Dr. Wyman says. "I think that women tend to drink as a coping mechanism," she said. A report from Canada's chief public health officer identified alcohol use in women as one of the most pressing health concerns, with deaths attributed to alcohol increasing by 26 per cent among Canadian women from 2011 to 2017. Since then, the pandemic has led to soaring alcohol sales.() Alcohol is often seen as the quickest decompression tool, says Ann Dowsett Johnston, who wrote the book Drink: The Intimate Relationship Between Women and Alcohol. "If you can't get to a yoga class, if you can't figure out how you're going to fit that in, or a long bath, or a walk around the block — you're making dinner, you're at the vegetable chopping block, you pour a glass of wine." Alcohol consumption is reinforced socially as well. Girls nights out, popping champagne for a celebration, wine at a book club. It's how we celebrate, relax and reward ourselves, Dowsett Johnston said. It has also become a social media phenomenon that moms need wine to cope. There are wine glasses emblazoned with "mom juice" and "because kids." "I think the whole notion of mommy drinking has become a meme, and I think that there's far too much humour about it. I think it's a serious social issue." Dowsett Johnston says the pandemic has only added to the burdens many women carry. WATCH | Ann Dowsett Johnston discusses the challenges facing women that may influence their alcohol consumption: The "mommy juice" marketing to help cope is something life coach Alexis McCalla resents. "You're making an assumption that they can't handle their life, so they have to go out and drink," the Whitby, Ont., mother said. "And now you're normalizing it." McCalla never drank an amount even close to the 10 drinks a week upper limit, but said she found herself having a glass of wine to unwind during the pandemic more often than she normally would. Previously, opened wine bottles would go unfinished. But she says she found herself making more frequent trips to the liquor store to numb the fear she was feeling about COVID-19. She says she journaled and asked herself tough questions, and in the end realized she was drinking more because she worried about her family getting sick during the pandemic. Once McCalla got to the root of her fears, she says she decided to stop drinking, doing an alcohol-free period with a few of her clients. She's also working with some of them to address the anxieties at the core of their alcohol consumption. McCalla has had a single glass of wine since then and found she wasn't interested in restarting, realizing she was getting a better night's sleep and a harder workout the next day if she didn't open a bottle. "I could have gone and read another book. I could have spoken to friends or journaled and learned more about myself." Life coach Alexis McCalla said once she decided to cut out alcohol altogether, she realized she was getting a better night's sleep and a more effective workout the next day.(Alexis McCalla) McCalla and the women she has helped are not the only ones questioning their drinking. Dawn Nickel is based in Victoria, B.C. She's the founder of SheRecovers, an addictions recovery program tailored to women. Nickel says in the last year, the number of women who have reached out has exploded. "Our Facebook group went from 2,000 people to 7,800 in the last year." Nickel says not every woman contacting the program has an alcohol abuse disorder. For some, abstinence is the goal, for others it could be cutting back. "We just talk about, like, what are your goals? What's your intention? Do you want to slow down? Do you want to stop? You pick it and we'll support you to get there." The pandemic may have led to more drinking, but with so many recovery programs now online, Nickel says finding help is also easier and more convenient than ever. So is finding a safe space to question why they need alcohol to cope. "There's so much support for them now," Nickel said. "We're having these conversations for the first time in society around what we're being influenced by, and who says we have to have a bottle of wine every evening to unwind." For Garber, recovery involved a more traditional 12-step program. "I knew that if I continued down this path, I was going to face some dire consequences. I could see it clearly. And so I made a choice to reach out to a friend who I knew was in recovery herself." Now, Garber is supporting other women who reach out and need help. She joined a running club and trains for races. She runs on the waterfront every Saturday and on the days when Halifax's famous clouds part, she takes a moment to stop and take a picture of the sunrise, grateful for how far she's come. "I stop at the same place every time," she said. "It's just this chance to say thank you to whatever it is out there that helped me stay here." Watch full episodes of The National on CBC Gem, the CBC's streaming service.

  • 7 arrested at Mississauga demonstration in response to SIU clearing police in killing of Ejaz Choudry

    Seven people were arrested on Saturday at a demonstration in response to Ontario's police watchdog's ruling to not lay criminal charges against the officer who shot and killed Ejaz Choudry, a 62-year-old man with schizophrenia. Choudry's family and community members gathered in Mississauga around 1 p.m. outside his apartment building, at the intersection of Morning Star Drive and Goreway Drive, where he was killed while having a mental health crisis last summer. The demonstration happened days after the release of a report by the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) into Choudry's death. "The SIU keeps letting the cops who do their jobs terribly off with no warning, no consequences, leaving families and communities reeling and with questions and then no answers," said Asher Hill, who was at the gathering. Ahead of the planned demonstration, Peel police in a tweet Saturday morning recognized people's right to peacefully protest. A few hours later, they tweeted that demonstrators were occupying the roadway of the intersection of Morning Star Drive and Goreway Drive. They encouraged drivers to use alternate routes. Choudry's family and community members gathered in Mississauga on Saturday around 1 p.m. outside his apartment building, at the intersection of Morning Star Drive and Goreway Drive, where he was killed while in crisis last summer. (Jessica Ng/CBC) At 4:30 p.m., protestors made it clear that they were going to move the demonstration onto the nearby train tracks, said Peel police spokesperson Akhil Mooken. In response, officers created a police safety line to prevent people from occupying the tracks. That's when some demonstrators tried to push their way through them, Mooken said. As a result, he said, seven demonstrators were arrested. As of Saturday night, charges were still pending. The demonstration was organized by the Malton People's Movement (MPM), a group that was formed in response to Choudry's death, to fight against police brutality and support families of those killed or injured by police. Advocacy group demands answers from Peel officials On Tuesday, SIU director Joseph Martino said that the Peel Regional Police officer who fired two bullets into Choudry's chest acted reasonably when he opened fire from the balcony of the man's locked apartment on June 20 of last year. Choudry's family had called a non-emergency line requesting medical assistance for him. They said he was in crisis and reportedly had a pocketknife, the SIU's report said. After an approximately three-hour encounter, Choudry was shot and killed by police after they found him wielding a large kitchen knife and shouted at him in English — a language his family has said he didn't properly understand — to drop the weapon, the report said. Ejaz Ahmed Choudry, a 62-year-old father of four with schizophrenia, was fatally shot by Peel Regional Police last June. Ontario's Special Investigations Unit says there will be no criminal charges in his death. (Submitted by Choudry family) Speaking to CBC News at the demonstration Saturday afternoon, MPM member Vijay Balasundaram said there have been too many incidents of police violence, and the group is taking to the streets until they get some kind of justice. "We have no choice," he said, pointing to other cases where the SIU has cleared police in fatal encounters involving people in crisis, such as Regis Korchinski-Paquet, D'Andre Campbell and Clive Mensah. "Enough is enough," Balasundaram said. "The community needs justice, the community needs accountability." He said rallies and protests like the one on Saturday have catalyzed instances of police reform, such as officers being made to wear body cameras while on duty and Peel police suspending a program that put uniformed officers in schools. The advocacy group is demanding that officials in Peel Region, such as Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie and Peel Police Chief Nishan Duraiappah, respond to their actions. They also want to know the name of the officer who killed Choudry, which was omitted in the SIU report. Police need more help in mental health response: officer Police spokesperson Mooken said because the SIU did not lay any charges, the officer has a reasonable right to privacy under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. "As an organization, we do have to respect that," he told CBC News Saturday afternoon. Mooken said as a result of Choudry's death, Peel police started a pilot project where officers are trained with body cameras. He said they will begin using them while on duty later this month, but said they need more support in responding to people with mental health issues. "Police should not be the primary responders to a mental health crisis," he said. "We need to work to find an alternative solution to how we can support those that are suffering a mental health crisis and will continue to work with our partners and continue to advocate for them." Loss of hope in police force, SIU Sean Akan, another MPM member, says something more needs to be done when it comes to holding police accountable for their actions. "We have multiple Black men killed, we have brown men killed ... No matter what the context, everyone has the officers cleared," Akan said. "That's the most frustrating thing." He said he has lost hope in the police force and the SIU. Aruna Sharma was Choudry's neighbour for two decades and described him as being very nice and gentle. Aruna Sharma (bottom right) became visibly emotional when describing Choudry, her neighbour of two decades. She said she is angry at the SIU's decision to clear police in her friend's killing. (Jessica Ng/CBC) "He [had] some problems. It doesn't mean police can come and shoot him. And [the police officer] was not punished," she said, becoming visibly emotional in an interview with CBC News. Sharma said she is angry with the police watchdog's decision regarding the death of her friend.

  • Trudeau slams 'disconnected' Conservatives in sharply worded speech to party faithful

    In his most sharply partisan speech in months, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told Liberal policy convention delegates Saturday they must redouble their efforts to secure victory at the polls to prevent the "disconnected" Conservatives from governing. In a 20-minute virtual address to thousands of party members, Trudeau said Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole "can't quite grasp" the struggles that Canadians have endured over the last year during COVID-19. He suggested the Tories would have been less generous with relief programs and unreliable pandemic stewards had they been in power. While most pandemic programs unanimously passed the House of Commons, Trudeau claimed O'Toole would have cut the Canada emergency relief benefit (CERB) — "a lifeline for millions of people during the worst economic crisis in a century." He also accused the Conservatives of thinking young people are "lazy" and argued they would have left students in the lurch during the pandemic. The Conservatives supported the CERB program but O'Toole has said he worries such payments could endanger the country's work ethic. "Canadians do not want the CERB," O'Toole said in December. "They want the ability to get their lives back and to get back to work." PM accuses Conservatives of 'flirt[ing] with disinformation' Trudeau said O'Toole and the Conservative caucus have undermined public confidence in the government's vaccine procurement efforts while sowing doubt about the public health officials charged with leading Canada through the crisis. "How disconnected do you have to be to flirt with disinformation on public health and vaccines while a deadly virus takes loved ones, friends, and neighbours?" Trudeau said. The Tories have condemned the government's immunization campaign, which got off to a rocky start due to short supplies. For weeks, Canada was among the lowest-ranked western countries in terms of vaccine deployment. Trudeau said the promised vaccine "ramp up" is starting to bear fruit, with more than 10 million shots distributed nationwide to date and many more on the way. "Erin O'Toole's Conservatives gleefully told Canadians it might be years until they got their shot. The reality is very different," he said. 'Falsehoods and division' While he said the Liberal Party has been crafting "a real plan for the real problems" of a post-pandemic Canada, Trudeau accused the Conservatives of "offering falsehoods and division." He pilloried Conservative Party delegates who voted down a resolution at their policy convention last month to acknowledge that "climate change is real." "How disconnected do you have to be to refuse to admit climate change is real, even as people's basements flood and wildfires tear through communities?" Trudeau said. He encouraged Liberal activists to reach out to Conservative family members and friends who might be disillusioned by that party's stance on environmental issues. "Phone up a friend who has a different perspective, and maybe didn't vote for us in the past. Perhaps they're feeling disenchanted. Perhaps they're feeling left behind because they know climate change is real," Trudeau said. Criticism of the Conservative convention climate vote has been a recurring theme at this Liberal get-together. During a panel discussion on climate matters Friday, Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson called the vote "astonishing" and said the Tories were "abandoning" workers who will be part of a green-friendly shift. Natural Resources Minister Seamus O'Regan said Tories have failed to meaningful address climate issues and have rather "stuck their head in the sand." Liberal MP Marci Ien, a co-host of the convention, said the Conservatives "refuse to admit [climate change is] even real." Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole holds a press conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Tuesday, April 6, 2020. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau slammed the Conservative Party's stance on climate change issues Saturday.(Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press) While Conservative delegates narrowly voted down the "climate change is real" resolution, the party's policy book already mentions climate change and includes some environmental policy options for a future Tory-led government. O'Toole has promised to release a plan to drive down Canada's greenhouse gas emissions. He has said he'd repeal the Liberal government's carbon tax on consumers but supports levying a tax on large industrial emitters. With many polls indicating most Canadians still don't have a clear idea of who O'Toole is and what he stands for, Trudeau sought to brand him Saturday as a political opportunist who will say and do just about anything to get elected. He said O'Toole made promises during the Conservative leadership election that he's now abandoned as he pivots to the centre to attract more moderate voters. "He's already shown that he's willing to say different things to different people at different times if he thinks it will help him get ahead," Trudeau said. O'Toole has said repeatedly he is pro-choice, but Trudeau said the Tory leader's promise to allow free votes on conscience issues like abortion makes him a half-hearted defender of women's rights. Trudeau also claimed O'Toole's more laissez-faire approach to gun control threatens public safety. "He says he wants to make communities safer. But to get the support of the gun lobby, he promised to make assault weapons legal again," Trudeau said of O'Toole. Trudeau said the Liberal Party has made progress while in government, citing the Canada child benefit, increases to pension payments for seniors and the government's commitment to the environment as policy successes. But "there's still work to do," he said. Trudeau said his government would "have people's backs" as the country copes with a third wave of the pandemic, promising to continue rent subsidies for small businesses and payments for out-of-work Canadians. Earlier Saturday, Liberal convention delegates endorsed a universal basic income policy, a "green new deal" to hasten the transition to cleaner energy sources and new national standards for the country's long-term care homes, among other progressive policy options. Trudeau made no mention of those ideas in his speech but said party members are the "heart of our Liberal movement" and they will shape the actions of his government. "On the big things that are still ahead, just like on everything we've already done, I know I can count on you to remind us that better is always possible," he said.

  • Sask. pharmacists could start administering COVID-19 vaccines as early as April 19: health minister

    Saskatchewan's Health Minister says pharmacists in the province could be administering vaccines as soon as April 19, depending on supply. "We were allocating a specific amount and we'll increase that week over week until we can get the pharmacists up to full speed," Paul Merriman told reporters on Saturday. Currently, people 55 and older in Saskatchewan can book an appointment online for a vaccine, or go to a drive-thru or walk-in clinic. That excludes Regina's drive-thru vaccination site, which is open only to people ages 52 to 54, and the Northern Saskatchewan Administration District, where those 50 and older can book an appointment. Merriman said the pharmacists will be administering the Moderna vaccine. However, the supply of that vaccine isn't stable right now. Merriman said due to delays in shipments outside the Saskatchewan Health Authority's control, about 30,000 appointments have had to be rebooked in the past three weeks. He said engaging pharmacists to deliver shots will help move more vaccines out. "We've been working with the Pharmacy Association [of Saskatchewan] for weeks," Merriman said. "I've been told they're doing their training right now on the vaccine process, administering the data into that and how it's going to go."

  • What's behind Ontario's abrupt shift toward vaccinating everyone in COVID-19 hotspots

    Premier Doug Ford's government has frequently altered its COVID-19 strategies, but none of those changes have seemed quite so abrupt as this week's announcement that everyone in Ontario's hardest-hit neighbourhoods aged 18 and up can get vaccinated. The province had previously signalled there would be some extra vaccination push directed toward the places most affected by the pandemic. But all the documentation released by the Ministry of Health until this week showed that those efforts would focus on older age groups. On Tuesday morning, senior government officials in charge of the vaccination rollout gave a detailed briefing on the timeline for April through June. It declared the start of targeted vaccinations in hotspots, but only for people aged 50 and up. Barely 24 hours later, Ford announced that all adults in those hotspots would be eligible to get vaccinated immediately. "As we speak, mobile vaccination teams are being organized to get vaccines to where they will have the greatest impact," Ford said Wednesday, during his news conference announcing Ontario's new stay-at-home order. The implication in Ford's words "as we speak" was that the move had come about with lightning speed — not typical for the provincial government apparatus. So what really happened? The neighbourhoods in and around Toronto with the largest proportion of racialized workers have throughout the pandemic borne a disproportionate burden from COVID-19. Yet Ontario's vaccination campaign was failing to reach those very neighbourhoods. The shift in strategy notably came just days after a change of leadership in the province's vaccine task force. Orlando Mosca, 71, gets his first dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at St. Fidelis Parish church, in Toronto, on Apr. 7. Nurses from Humber River Hospital run clinics in the church as part of a community outreach program to vaccinate seniors at their place of worship.(Evan Mitsui/CBC) Always planned The province's own COVID-19 Science Advisory Table has for weeks called for a concerted vaccination push in the most-affected areas. Such a campaign would "directly address the inequitable impact of COVID-19 on disadvantaged populations in Ontario," said a briefing issued by the Science Table in February. The province had always planned to pour more vaccines into high-risk areas, said Dr Isaac Bogoch, an infectious diseases specialist, member of the provincial vaccination task force and one of the co-authors of that Science Table briefing. That still leaves open a question for the Ford government: if a full-court press in hardest-hit neighbourhoods was always the plan, why was it absent from Tuesday's detailed vaccination timeline yet suddenly present in Ford's news conference on Wednesday? "The variants and COVID are moving at record speed and we have to be nimble in adapting to it and responding to it," said Health Minister Christine Elliott in an interview Friday. "That's why you see sometimes these changes in plans that we just have to make because of the way COVID is moving." WATCH | Who can get a COVID-19 vaccine in Ontario's designated high-risk zones: Change of leadership Ontario paid retired general Rick Hillier $20,000 a month to be head of the vaccine distribution task force. He left the post at the end of March. One of the final efforts of Hillier's tenure was the rollout of vaccines at more than 300 pharmacies in Toronto, Kingston and Windsor. It turned out that vaccines were not allocated to pharmacies in most of the northwest and northeast portions of Toronto, the neighbourhoods worst-hit by COVID-19. Retired general Rick Hillier finished his term as chair of Ontario's COVID-19 vaccine distribution task force at the end of March(Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press) For weeks after Hillier's planned departure became public knowledge, senior government officials said that he would not be replaced. The officials said Hillier had accomplished the mission of setting up vaccine distribution channels, the system was running smoothly, and the two deputy ministers on the vaccination task force would handle things from here on in. The government then quietly reversed course and appointed a replacement for Hillier. By contrast with the fanfare around Hillier's arrival last fall, or his departure, the government didn't even issue a news release about the new chair of the vaccine distribution task force. He's Dr. Homer Tien, CEO of the province's air ambulance service Ornge. Tien has a lengthy background as a trauma surgeon and a three-decade career as a military physician in the Canadian Armed Forces, rising to the rank of colonel, with a role as chief of military medical and surgical specialities. Dr. Homer Tien, CEO of the province's air ambulance service Ornge and a veteran trauma surgeon, was named head of Ontario's COVID-19 vaccination task force earlier this month, replacing retired general Rick Hillier.(Submitted by Ornge) He later became medical director for the Tory Regional Trauma Centre at Toronto's Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, then chief medical officer for Ornge before becoming its CEO in 2019. Dr. Peter Jüni, the head of the COVID-19 Science Advisory Table, is giving Tien significant credit for the shift to vaccinating all adults in the most-affected communities. "The first conversation we had, the two of us, was directly related to that," said Jüni in an interview Thursday. "He [Tien] wanted to know more about our strategy that we laid out in February and whether it would indeed make sense to enhance this strategy." The Science Table has done further data analysis showing that a concerted effort to vaccinate all adults in the high-risk neighbourhoods would result in "a dramatic increase in the control of the pandemic," said Jüni. "Tuesday afternoon we had the science table meeting where we presented the results of our analysis. Dr. Tien was at this meeting and the results were very convincing." CBC requested an interview with Tien, but it was declined by a spokesperson for Solicitor General Sylvia Jones, whose ministry is responsible for the vaccine task force. Public health caught by surprise The move to put greater emphasis on vaccinations in the places most affected by COVID-19 has widespread support from experts. "You should really pour your water on where the fire is burning hardest to help quell the pandemic," said Bogoch in an interview this week with CBC News. He said the shift was made possible by the recent ramp up of vaccine supplies. The move came as startling data revealed far lower vaccination rates in neighbourhoods worst-hit by COVID-19 compared with the wealthier areas where the virus has had little impact. Sources in the provincial health ministry and local public health units tell CBC News the declaration that all adults in the hotspots would be eligible for vaccinations caught them unawares. Plans to vaccinate younger adults in the most-affected areas were not on the table in any official health ministry documents issued before Wednesday. This COVID-19 vaccination clinic at Downsview Arena is run by Humber River Hospital in conjunction with the City of Toronto. (Paul Smith/CBC) For adults living in COVID-19 hot spot communities, "vaccination should begin with the oldest individuals and decreasing in age until reaching those aged 50," says the province's guidance document on priority populations for the current phase of the vaccination campaign, dated March 23. The 22-page vaccination plan provided to journalists Tuesday does not mention vaccinating all adults regardless of age in the hard-hit neighbourhoods. "Adults aged 50+ in 'hot spot' communities in 13 PHUs [public health units] are prioritized as part of Phase 2 of Ontario's vaccine distribution plan," the document reads. All this could suggest the shift in emphasis and the change in leadership of the vaccine task force are not a coincidence. Ontario administered more than 100,000 doses of vaccine per day on three consecutive days this week. More than 2.6 million people have received at least one shot, roughly 22 per cent of the province's adult population.(Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press) 113 high risk postal codes Those aged 50 and up in all the areas designated as high-risk — 113 postal code areas stretching from Windsor to Ottawa — can now make vaccination appointments via Ontario's booking portal. It's not yet clear how people younger than 50 will be able to sign up for vaccinations in the hardest-hit areas. A message on Ontario's COVID-19 vaccination web page says, "If you are aged 18-49 and live in a designated hot spot, find your public health unit and check their website for details about vaccination in your area." Nor is it clear when the vaccination campaign will extend to all younger adults in all of the designated zones. For the moment, the push for vaccinating people younger than 50 starts in Toronto and Peel, due to high transmission rates. Mobile teams and pop-up clinics will be established to administer vaccines to people aged 18 and up in high-risk areas in Toronto and Peel, as supply allows, the government said in a statement. The government's plan allocates 920,000 additional doses of vaccine to the most-affected areas. It is far from certain that this is enough to cover the bulk of the adult population in the target areas. CBC News asked the Ministry of Health of Friday for an estimate of the adult population in the 113 designated postal codes, but officials said they could not provide an answer until Monday. However, using census data from 2016, CBC calculated that more than 4.2 million Ontarians live in the areas. If roughly 80 per cent are adults, vaccinating 75 per cent of the adult population with one dose would require about 2.5 million doses. Ontario administered more than 100,000 doses of vaccine per day on three consecutive days this week. More than 2.6 million people have received at least one shot, roughly 22 per cent of the province's adult population.

  • Alibaba fined $2.8 billion on competition charge in China

    BEIJING — Alibaba Group, the world’s biggest e-commerce company, was fined 18.3 billion yuan ($2.8 billion) by Chinese regulators on Saturday for anti-competitive tactics, as the ruling Communist Party tightens control over fast-growing tech industries. Party leaders worry about the dominance of China's biggest internet companies, which are expanding into finance, health services and other sensitive areas. The party says anti-monopoly enforcement, especially in tech, is a priority this year. Alibaba was fined for “abusing its dominant position” to limit competition by retailers that use its platforms and hindering “free circulation” of goods, the State Administration for Market Regulation announced. It said the fine was equal to 4% of its total 2019 sales of 455.712 billion yuan ($69.5 billion). “Alibaba accepts the penalty with sincerity and will ensure its compliance with determination,” the company said in a statement. It promised to “operate in accordance with the law with utmost diligence.” The move is a new setback for Alibaba and its billionaire founder, Jack Ma, following a November decision by regulators to suspend the stock market debut of Ant Group, a finance platform spun off from the e-commerce giant. It would have been the world's biggest initial public stock offering last year. Ma, one of China's richest and most prominent entrepreneurs, disappeared temporarily from public view after criticizing regulators in a November speech. That was followed days later by the Ant Group suspension, though finance specialists said regulators already had been worried Ant lacked adequate financial risk controls. Alibaba, launched in 1999, operates retail, business-to-business and consumer-to-consumer platforms. It has expanded at a breakneck pace into financial services, film production and other fields. The government issued anti-monopoly guidelines in February aimed at preventing anti-competitive practices such as exclusive agreements with merchants and use of subsidies to squeeze out competitors. The next month, 12 companies including Tencent Holdings, which operates games and the popular WeChat messaging service, were fined 500,000 ($77,000) each on charges of failing to disclose previous acquisitions and other deals. Regulators said in December they were looking into possibly anti-competitive tactics by Alibaba including a policy dubbed “choose one of two,” which requires business partners to avoid dealing with its competitors. Also in December, regulators announced executives of Alibaba, its main competitor, JD.com, and four other internet companies were summoned to a meeting and warned not to use their market dominance to keep out new competitors. Joe McDonald, The Associated Press

  • Thousands protest in Belgrade, demand government action to stop pollution

    Several thousand people blocked traffic in front of the Serbian parliament on Saturday in a protest against lack of government action to prevent water, land and air pollution by industries such as the mining sector. Protesters, who came to Belgrade from all over Serbia, held banners reading "Cut corruption and crime not forests," and "Young people are leaving because they cannot breathe". In recent years Serbia has started selling its mining resources to foreign companies, despite opposition by local residents who had warned that increased ore exploration could cause greater pollution.