A B.C. nurse is pleading with people to do a few "simple things" to get the pandemic under control after an emotionally crushing shift in the COVID-19 ward. Kendall Skuta, who works at Abbotsford Regional Hospital, posted a photo of herself sobbing to Instagram on Tuesday morning after what she described as a "particularly hard shift." She explained that she had just watched a patient die of COVID-19 not long after he was transferred out of the intensive care unit. She described watching the patient go into cardiac arrest and people running from all over the hospital to take turns doing CPR. "After his death was pronounced, we all stood there for a minute. Silent. Exhausted. Heartbroken. Lumps formed in our throats, tears filled our eyes. We looked at each other, trying to find the words — any words. There wasn't a thing anybody could say," she wrote. "The amount of death I've seen in the last year weighs on me every day." Skuta said she constantly asks herself when the B.C. public will begin taking the pandemic seriously. "Please, I'm begging you all. Stay home, wear a mask and get vaccinated if you're eligible. We are all exhausted, and I don't know how much more pain my heart can take," she wrote. In an interview with CBC News on Tuesday evening, Skuta said this death hit her harder than most. One reason is the patient's age — not yet 60 years old, and with no major underlying conditions. She said her parents are around the same age, and it breaks her heart to think of them getting sick and dying from the novel coronavirus. "A lot of people talk about age with this, and they think everybody who's got COVID or is dying from COVID is old. He wasn't," Skuta said. She'd also thought the patient was out of danger once he was transferred from the ICU. It was a reminder that during this pandemic, even positive developments can quickly turn into bad news. Skuta said she felt compelled to go public with her experience after watching Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry announce the extension of B.C.'s "circuit breaker" restrictions and hearing Premier John Horgan say restrictions on travel are coming later this week. "I feel like every time Dr. Henry comes on and announces things, people either argue it or they want something different or they just blatantly ignore the things that she's saying," Skuta said. "I just don't think people realize that the simple things she's asking for like wearing a mask and staying home and not travelling if you don't need to, really will fix the problem. It's very simple, small things to ask, and I just wish more people would be able to see that."
The federal budget fired what appears to be a warning shot at defence contractors — perhaps one in particular — by resurrecting an old policy statement in a move that may well signal where Canada's fighter jet replacement competition is headed. A little more than three years ago, in the thick of a trade dispute involving Montreal-based Bombardier, the Liberal government laid down a marker that became known informally in procurement circles as the "Boeing clause." Under the sub-headline of "Ensuring Procurement Partners Respect Canada's Economic Interests," the policy was reanimated and restated in Monday's fiscal plan, much to observers' surprise. "In December 2017, the government announced that the evaluation of bids for the competition to replace Canada's fighter aircraft would include an assessment of bidders' impact on Canada's economic interests, and that any bidder that had harmed Canada's economic interests would be disadvantaged," said the budget. "Budget 2021 confirms the government will apply this policy to major military and Coast Guard procurements going forward." Boeing vs. Bombardier Boeing, with its corporate headquarters in Chicago, is one of the biggest military and civilian aircraft-makers in the world. The company filed a trade complaint with the U.S. Commerce Department in April 2017 alleging its business was being harmed because Bombardier's C Series passenger jet was unfairly subsidized by the Canadian government. Bombardier's CSeries commercial jet takes off on its first flight in Montreal on Sept. 16, 2013. Rival Boeing filed a trade complaint with the U.S. Commerce Department in April 2017 alleging its business was being harmed because Bombardier's jet was unfairly subsidized by the Canadian government.(Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press) At the time, Boeing's military division had been on track to sell the Royal Canadian Air Force a handful of Super Hornet jet fighters — a deal that went sideways and was eventually cancelled as the trade dispute deepened. At the height of the bitter feud and after a 300 per cent duty was imposed on Bombardier jets, the Liberal government produced a policy that stated companies that harmed Canada's economic interest would be at a disadvantage. The dispute was eventually resolved when Boeing's European rival Airbus stepped in and agreed to buy a stake in the C Series jet, eventually taking a controlling ownership share in the project. The so-called Boeing clause faded into the woodwork — until Monday's budget. WATCH | Finance minister introduces Liberal budget: "Companies found to have prejudiced Canada's economic interests through trade challenges will have points deducted from their procurement bid score at a level proportional to the severity of the economic impact, to a maximum penalty," the budget says. "This policy will protect Canada's economic interests and make sure the government does business with trusted partners who value doing business with Canada." The policy revival comes at an interesting time. A US Air Force F-35A is one-of-three competitors in the bid to replace Canada's CF-18s.(Murray Brewster/CBC News) Boeing, with its Super Hornet, is one of three aerospace companies bidding on $19-billion full replacement of all of the air force's aging fighter jets — a competition in which the bids are currently being evaluated with an eye to signing a contract next year. Industry surprised The country's defence industry association is taking notice. "It's unusual to see this kind of thing in a budget," said Christyn Cianfarani, president and chief executive officer of the Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI), a national business association. "Most countries don't have such a formal economic interest test, and if they do, it would be part of their procurement rules, strategy, or requirements on a particular acquisition." Public Services and Procurement Canada was asked to clarify the reasons for resurrecting the policy. No one from the department was immediately available for comment late Monday. "We're going to be seeking more clarity on this in the coming days," said Cianfarani. "We're not aware of this test having changed any procurement outcomes in Canada since it was announced in 2017. Since CADSI doesn't get involved in specific procurements, we can't assess whether this policy would penalize one bidder over another on any given project." Softening the political ground? Defence procurement expert Elinor Sloan, a political science professor at Carleton University, was just as surprised to see the statement in the budget. She wonders whether the Liberal government is softening the political ground for its impending contract award. There is a lot of political baggage associated with the fighter jet purchase. During the 2015 federal election, the governing Liberals promised to ditch a Conservative-era plan to buy Lockheed Martin built F-35 stealth fighters and purchase something cheaper, such as the Boeing Super Hornet, and plow the savings back into a revitalized navy. "My guess is they are having to walk back that clear policy statement," said Sloan, who was also searching for more clarity from the government. "I can only read into this that [F-35 Joint Strike Fighter] will be chosen. They need to find a way, a political way, to justify this about-face." Gripen, a Swedish fighter aircraft, performs on the second day of Aero India 2017 at Yelahanka air base in Bangalore, India, Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2017. Saab offered the latest version of the fighter as part of its pitch to sell Canada a new fleet of fighter jets.(The Associated Press) Aside from Boeing and Lockheed Martin, the Swedish aircraft-maker Saab is also in the competition, with the latest model of its Gripen jet fighter.
IQALUIT, Nunavut — The Nunavut RCMP has released new, but limited details into the death of a 31-year-old man who was shot by an officer in the hamlet of Clyde River last spring. Mounties said two officers responded to a domestic disturbance at the home of Abraham Natanine the night of May 5. They said the situation escalated and Natanine retrieved a weapon, but the RCMP has not released what the weapon was. Police said the interaction evolved and resulted in an officer discharging his firearm at Natanine, who was rushed to the health centre and pronounced dead. The Ottawa Police Service earlier this month issued a statement on its independent investigation into the shooting, which found the officers involved not criminally responsible for Natanine's death. The Ottawa police have a memorandum of understanding with Nunavut RCMP to investigate serious actions involving police to determine whether charges should be laid. The reports are not made public. Qajaq Robinson, a lawyer working with Natanine's family, said she found out about the investigation's conclusion through the media. She noted there was little information in the news release issued by the Ottawa Police Service about the review of Natanine's death. "This isn't serving people and it's also not serving justice," she said. "There's such a challenge in terms of getting information, that this does nothing to enhance confidence in the RCMP, in policing or in institutions of oversight." Natanine's spouse, the mother of his two children, also learned about the investigation's findings through the news. "People, victims, family, relatives, close people to those shot and killed are finding out through the news, even when they have legal counsel supporting them and known to these institutions," Robinson said. "This system is broken and it is not serving Nunavummiut." In a statement, Ottawa police Supt. Chris Renwick said the practice in death investigations is to identify a single family liaison who can pass information from investigators to family members. In Natanine's case, a liaison was established who communicated directly with the lead investigator and was told about the conclusion one day before the news release went out, Renwick said. "The Ottawa Police Service has since learned that, regrettably, not all members of the immediate family of Mr. Abraham Natanine were made aware of the conclusion and findings prior to our release issuance and related media reporting," Renwick said. Since Jan. 1, 2020, there have been six serious encounters involving police in Nunavut, including the shooting deaths of Natanine and Attachie Ashoona in the hamlet of Kinngait. Earlier this year, the Ottawa police also cleared the officer who shot and killed Ashoona as well as the officer who knocked down a Kinngait man with a truck door during an arrest. Nunavut RCMP said they won't comment further on the Natinine shooting because they anticipate there may be other reviews. In December, Nunavut's justice minister introduced a bill that would open the door for civilian oversight of RCMP in Nunavut. The bill, as it stands, still leaves the option open for police forces to conduct third-party investigations. The bill has passed second reading and is being reviewed by Nunavut's standing committee on legislation. This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 20, 2021. ___ This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Facebook and Canadian Press News Fellowship Emma Tranter, The Canadian Press
A House of Commons committee heard startling testimony about rape and retribution from different witnesses today as it continued its examination of sexual misconduct in the military. The status of women committee heard both from complainants and from former senior military officer Bernie Boland — who alleges he stood up against the harassment of a female colleague and faced a deliberate, Department of National Defence-backed smear campaign as a result. Aviator Emily Tulloch, an air force technician, told MPs her military career has been one horrifying event after another. "I joined the Canadian Armed Forces in July 2018, and since then, I feel like I have experienced a lifetime worth of sexual assault and misconduct," she said. "I am here today to tell you that I was raped only one month into my basic training at St. Jean (Que.). One month. I was also sexually assaulted during my training at Borden (Ont.). And I have been groped and kissed unwillingly at group parties and mess events. These degrading behaviours are more common than you think." 'Treated like a criminal' Tulloch said her encounters with the military justice system have been "quite negative." She said she was interviewed three times by military police after reporting misconduct. Two of those interviews, she said, were "dreadful" experiences. "It felt more like an interrogation," she said. "During these interviews I felt investigators were not treating me like a human being, but as just another case file to them. There was no empathy and humanity, and it was so frustrating that during the second interview I left early because I felt like I wasn't being heard, and that I was being treated like a criminal." Tulloch said military police training related to sexual assault survivors must be improved. Dawn McIlmoyle, a former member of the military whose report of being raped by a colleague made national headlines in the late 1990s, told MPs she faced discipline herself over the incident involving her attacker — and was at one point made to stand alongside him during disciplinary proceedings. The system, she said, left her feeling abandoned, broken and at fault. "When I left the military, I had no self-respect, no self worth and no self value," McIImoyle said. Lt. (N) Heather Macdonald told MPs people who report sexual misconduct in the military face long odds.(CBC News/House Of Commons ) Lt. (N) Heather Macdonald, a naval combat systems engineer, told MPs that getting justice for a sexual assault in the military is even harder than it is in the civilian justice system. "Getting justice for incidents of sexual assault is generally very difficult for the average female in our Canadian society," said Macdonald, whose allegation is at the centre of a sexual misconduct investigation involving Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Art McDonald. "It becomes more difficult when you are trying to get justice through the military, under the National Defence Act (NDA) where there are more options to plead down to an NDA offence, which carries little consequences for the perpetrator. "And it becomes more difficult if you are in the navy and the incident happens on a navy ship at sea or in a foreign port." When investigations take place aboard Canadian warships abroad, Macdonald said, the military police officers who serve on those ships tend to rely on the ship's coxswain and section chiefs to do disciplinary inquiries. "This greatly reduces the chances that admissible evidence will be gathered and preserved," she said. The committee steered clear of the specifics of the assaults involving all three women; chair Marilyn Gladu noted that some of the cases "remain under investigation by military police." Former officer says he was targeted for payback Testifying before a parliamentary committee does grant military witnesses a certain freedom to speak in public they might not otherwise enjoy. Boland, a retired lieutenant-colonel, told MPs that he while worked at DND headquarters in Ottawa, he was singled out for retribution after reporting the harassment of a junior female colleague by a senior engineering manager. Bernie Boland, a retired lieutenant-colonel, tells a House of Commons committee he was singled out for retribution in DND after going to bat for a colleague who reported sexual misconduct.(CBC News/House of Commons) Boland alleged his female colleague filed a human rights complaint and DND, in its response, blamed him for the harassment. "I reported it. He was promoted. We faced reprisal and retaliation," Boland told the four-party committee. "DND, in a formal departmental submission to the Canadian Human Rights Commission, secretly made me the scapegoat for the misconduct. I was made aware of these surreptitious actions by the woman who was harassed. DND secretly making me the scapegoat was reprehensible and I vehemently protested." In a formal complaint filed last January, Boland wrote to Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan and singled the department's deputy minister for allowing the submission to go to the human rights commission. He said his colleague's complaint was "summarily dismissed" by the department, despite Sajjan's public claim that all allegations will be thoroughly investigated, no matter the rank or position of the individuals involved. Boland filed a series of documents with the committee to support his allegations. "There is a cultural problem in defence," he said, "but there is institutional reluctance to distinguish between the proximate and the ultimate cause of this problem. "From my perspective, the ultimate cause is the failure and breakdown of leadership to act in an ethical, morally-appropriate, determined and deliberate manner to arrest and eliminate misconduct." Macdonald offered a similar warning, telling MPs that the future of the Canadian military is at stake. "I worry that if nothing comes from this issue, which has so much heat and light, that we will lose hope," she said. "People in uniform will lose hope that any other issue can be fixed, and that could trigger more people leaving uniform than what our organization can handle."
Alberta reported 1,345 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday and five more deaths from the illness. Screening detected 816 new cases linked to variants of concern, with the B117 variant first detected in the United Kingdom now the dominant strain of the coronavirus in Alberta. Hospitals across the province were treating 476 patients with the illness, including 105 in ICU beds. About 1.2 million doses of the three available vaccines have been administered in the province so far, Premier Jason Kenney said Tuesday at a news conference. That includes, Kenney said: 82 per cent of those aged 75 and older. 73 per cent of those aged 65 to 74. 50 per cent of those aged 60 to 64. The premier said Alberta has the capacity to administer more than 300,000 doses a week and still plans to offer first shots to all adults in the province by June 30 if vaccine supply keeps up. The premier started off by thanking the thousands of people who have signed up for the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine and said he booked his own appointment to get a shot on Thursday. Watch | Kenney tells eligible Albertans to get immunized By mid-afternoon on Tuesday, he said, 67,900 appointments had been booked for the next 10 days. The province has about 160,000 doses of the vaccine left. "Despite delays and disappointments, our rollout keeps gaining steam," Kenney said. "We promised to offer every adult a first dose by June 30 as long as supply keeps coming in, and we will keep promise if that supply shows up." 2nd dose 'confusion' Kenney was joined at the news conference by Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta's chief medical officer of health, who took the opportunity to clear up what she called some "confusion" about the vaccine rollout. "Due to limited supply, as you know, we extended the interval between the first and second doses for all vaccines to a maximum of 16 weeks," Hinshaw said. "However, once we finish offering first doses to all Albertans 16 and over, we will start second doses as soon as our supply allows. This will likely be in later June, based on our current supply estimates. "So if you have had a first dose, please do not yet call your pharmacy or AHS to book your second dose. It will take a few more months to get enough supply for both first doses for everyone and to begin second doses. "As more doses arrive in the coming months, we will look to shorten this interval whenever possible, but this will likely not be until later in the year." 12-week interval for AstraZeneca There has also been some confusion about the interval for AstraZeneca vaccine, Hinshaw said, for which the province is using a 12-week interval between first and second doses, depending on the supply. "The reason for this is that clinical trials for AstraZeneca showed better overall protection when the interval was longer than when it was shorter," she said. "So even if we had enough supply to give second doses sooner, the shortest interval we would use for this vaccine would be 12 weeks. "The extension of timing for all second doses is based on current limited supply and evidence showing that this first dose offers significant protection. "We are also closely monitoring the emerging evidence around timing of second doses for cancer patients and others who are severely immune-compromised. We are consulting with provincial and national partners and will update Albertans if any change is made for these groups." Alberta expanded its immunization campaign on Tuesday, lowering the age of eligibility for the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine to those born in 1981 or earlier.
MOSCOW — Russia insisted Tuesday that it has the right to restrict foreign naval ships' movement off Crimea, rejecting international criticism amid Western worries about a Russian troops buildup near Ukraine. Ukraine last week protested the Russian move to close broad areas of the Black Sea near Crimea to foreign navy ships and state vessels until November. The U.S. also aired its concern Monday, with State Department spokesman Ned Price saying “this represents yet another unprovoked escalation in Moscow’s ongoing campaign to undermine and destabilize Ukraine.” Price noted that the move "is particularly troubling amid credible reports of Russian troop buildup in occupied Crimea and around Ukraine’s borders." The European Union also voiced concern about the troop buildup and the navigation restrictions. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov charged that the restrictions on foreign naval ships were in line with international agreements, arguing that it’s common practice to limit areas where military drills are held. He emphasized in remarks carried by Russian news agencies that the restrictions wouldn’t interfere with commercial shipping. In a separate move, Russia on Tuesday also announced restrictions on flights near Crimea for five days starting Tuesday. The Russian military is holding massive Black Sea manoeuvrs this week, involving more than 20 warships and dozens of aircraft. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov argued that such airspace closures are common international practice. Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in March 2014 after the country's former Russia-friendly president was driven from power by protests. Moscow then threw its weight behind separatists in eastern Ukraine, and the conflict there has killed more than 14,000 people in seven years. Tensions have risen in recent weeks with increasing violations of a cease-fire in eastern Ukraine and a massive Russian troop buildup along the Ukrainian border. Moscow has rejected Ukraine and Western concerns, arguing that it's free to deploy its forces and charging that they don't threaten anyone. But at the same time, Moscow sternly warned Ukrainian authorities against trying to use force to retake control of the rebel east, noting recent statements by Ukrainian military officers who held the door open for an offensive. The Kremlin said that Russia could be forced to intervene to protect civilians in the region. Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu on Tuesday accused Ukraine of trying to destabilize the situation in eastern Ukraine and lashed out at the U.S. and NATO for what he described as “provocative actions” in the Black Sea area. The U.S. and its NATO allies have regularly sent navy ships to the Black Sea and the U.S. flew strategic bombers over Ukraine, vexing Moscow. However, the U.S. reversed a planned deployment of two destroyers in the Black Sea earlier this month amid the heightening tensions. The Russian military has conducted a series of drills in southwestern Russia, in Crimea and other areas. On Tuesday, a pair of Tu-160 nuclear-capable strategic bombers flew over the Baltic Sea for eight hours, and the Northern Fleet conducted massive manoeuvrs in the Arctic, the Defence Ministry said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who had previously said that Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin was refusing to take his calls, on Tuesday offered the Russian leader to meet in eastern Ukraine to defuse tensions. "Ukraine would never start a war, but would always stand until the end," he said in a video address. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba insisted Tuesday that Kyiv wasn't planning any offensive in the east. “No, Ukraine is not planning any offensive, military escalation or provocations," he said at a news conference, adding that "we are making every effort for a diplomatic and peaceful resolution of the conflict.” Kuleba charged that the Russian buildup across the border is continuing and is “expected to reach a combined force of over 120,000 troops” in about a week and urged the West to beef up sanctions against Moscow by targeting entire sectors of the Russian economy. On Monday, the EU's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, told reporters that there are "more than 150,000 Russian troops massing on the Ukrainian borders and in Crimea,” and doubled down on the figure later before his services had to correct it in the transcript, saying the real figure was over 100,000. Recent satellite images showed hundreds of Russian military vehicles stationed at multiple bases, firing ranges and field camps along the border with Ukraine and dozens of warplanes parked at air bases in southwestern Russia and Crimea. ___ Associated Press writer Yuras Karmanau in Kyiv, Ukraine, contributed to this report. Vladimir Isachenkov, The Associated Press
A new field hospital built in a parking lot at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto will likely be ready to accept patients this week as hospitals across the region try to deal with a record spike in COVID-19 caseloads. The mobile health unit, as it is officially known, will provide care to patients who are recovering or have recovered from COVID-19. The unit will allow Sunnybrook to free up acute-care beds in hospitals during the third wave of the pandemic. Contained in a series of green tents, supported by an aluminum frame, the 2,088-square-metre unit has 84 patient beds, with room to expand to 100 beds if needed. The hospital hopes to open 20 beds in the unit this week, according to the manager in charge of the temporary medical facility. Robert Burgess, Sunnybrook's senior director of prehospital medicine, patient flow and emergency preparedness, said on Monday that the hospital is putting the finishing touches on the unit this week. "We're literally at the last pieces in terms of the structural setup," Burgess said while wearing a mask inside the unit. The unit is being prepared at a time when GTA hospitals are so overwhelmed due to record COVID-19 admissions that some patients are being transferred to other health-care centres outside the region, including southwestern Ontario. A view of the inside of the mobile health unit at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto on April 19, 2021.(Kevin Van Paassen/Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre) "We're preparing this week, as quickly as possible, to start bringing patients in," Burgess added. "Obviously, when you open a new hospital, or you open a ward in a hospital, there's a lot of work to do around staffing plans. We're working through those to ensure we're doing this in a safe fashion," he added. "Literally, with each hour that is passing, we're becoming closer and closer to the point where we can start to bring in patients on a routine basis. The hope is that we can start to bring some patients in this week. If it's safe to do so, we will proceed with that. We're all eager to start that process." WATCH | Toronto field hospital 'tool in the toolbox' for surging patient load, says emergency planner: Burgess said the hospital wants to avoid bringing critically ill patients into the unit. Each pod of eight-to-10 beds is self-contained. Several large generators provide power for the unit. He said there are many windows to provide light. He said "it would be great" if pressures eased on the health-care system in Ontario, the hospital did not need to use the unit and could dismantle it soon. "It's meant to be here as another tool in the toolbox for emergency preparedness. That is something that we would hope, but we're ready to help the province if it turns otherwise," he said. Contained in a series of green tents, supported by an alumimum frame, the 2,088-square-metre unit has 84 patient beds, with room to expand to 100 beds if needed. (Evan Mitsui/CBC) Burgess said staffing is being finalized with the help of the Ontario health ministry. The hospital is currently training staff members, providing orientation and doing simulations inside the unit to ensure people feel comfortable working there. "We are looking everywhere to find additional staff," he said. He described the unit as a "system resource," which means it could provide relief to hospitals in other areas of the province where there are pressures on the health-care system. Sunnybrook has been asked to ensure the unit will be up and running for a minimum of three months. That time period could be extended depending on needs and patient volumes, he said. Burgess acknowledged that the unit looks like a number of tents from the outside and can be startling to see, but said the unit is sophisticated on the inside. "These are structures that were developed for medical purposes. Once you're in, it's very sophisticated, it's very safe and very comfortable," he said. "We've designed the structure to be safe for patients and staff. Hopefully, patients and staff will be pleasantly surprised when they see the inside for the first time." An under-construction field hospital on the grounds of Sunnybrook Heath Sciences Centre, in Toronto, is pictured on Apr. 6, 2021.(Evan Mitsui/CBC)
Windsor police say an arrest has been made after a man allegedly pointed a gun at another driver in Walkerville on Sunday. According to police, two vehicles "became involved in a road-rage incident" around 6 p.m. on Sunday in the area of Moy Avenue and Wyandotte Street East. The vehicles entered an alley in the area of Gladstone Avenue and Wyandotte, where the man driving a black Lincoln left the vehicle and allegedly pointed a gun at the other driver, police said in a media release on Monday. Officers located the vehicle at around 7:45 p.m. at a home in Windsor. When police arrived, the suspect was outside and wearing a ballistic-style vest. No firearm has been recovered. A 34-year-old man was arrested and charged with: Pointing a firearm Threatening to use a weapon Possession of a handgun for a purpose dangerous to public peace Having face masked with intent to commit an offence Failure to comply with a release order
Christina Provost moved into her rental home in Prospect, N.S., a year ago. She decorated the house, she enrolled her kids in school nearby, and she expected to stay for years. About a month ago, Provost's landlord told her she was selling the house. Provost and her three kids had to find a new place to live by July 1. "I am devastated," Provost told CBC News. "I made this my home. Even though she owns it, it's still my home and I'm being displaced with absolutely no options whatsoever." Provost is part of a growing number of renters across Nova Scotia who are being evicted because their landlords are selling their homes or small rental units. Due to the current housing crisis in the province, many have no place to go. Provost said her post about the issue in a public Facebook group garnered over 100 messages from people in the same boat. "There's this middle class where we don't need to be in [subsidized] housing, but we also can't qualify for a mortgage right now due to divorce, being a single mother, accidents, work layoffs," she said. "There's so many reasons why people can't qualify for a mortgage that doesn't make them a bad person, but that genre of people, the in-betweens, are being completely left in the wind right now." ACORN's Halifax peninsula chapter advocates for low-income tenants and workers.(Francis Ferland/CBC) Hannah Wood, the chair of the Halifax peninsula chapter of ACORN Nova Scotia, an organization that advocates for low-income tenants and workers, said her group has been seeing a massive increase in tenants whose landlords are selling their units. Wood noted that "because landlords are selling homes and not rental buildings, most of the tenants living there are families and people who are going to have a very difficult time finding affordable rentals." The vacancy rate in the Halifax Regional Municipality grew to 1.9 per cent in 2020, but remains one of the lowest in the country. ACORN said there are 4,000 people on the wait list for public housing and the construction of new housing can't keep up with the number of people who are being displaced. Breaking sales records The growing demand for housing, meanwhile, is taking place against the backdrop of a real estate boom in the province. The Nova Scotia Association of Realtors compiled data that shows 1,577 units were sold across the province last month, a new sales record for the month of March and an increase of more than 65 per cent from March 2020. The average selling price of a home was also up by more than 26 per cent from the previous year. For many landlords, it's more profitable to sell their homes than to rent them out. Some are getting out of the business and moving into more profitable ventures like AirBnB or house flipping. Others are offloading their income properties now as a way to recoup costs from damages and regular maintenance. CBC spoke to multiple landlords from across the province who all had similar reasons for selling. John Bartlett, who owns rental properties in Dartmouth and Middleton, said he's selling most of his units because they've been damaged by tenants and trying to remedy the situation by going through the residential tenancy board simply takes too long. "Quite frankly, the way the housing market is now, it is the only time that I've looked at my property and said, 'Now I may be able to recoup some of my money that I've lost over the years.' And it has been a lot," he said. 2% rent cap a challenge for landlord A two per cent rent cap was instated in the province last November as a way to combat what advocates call a housing crisis in the province. Paul Finnemore stands in front of one of his rental properties in Kentville.(Submitted by Paul Finnemore) Some small landlords say the legislation makes it difficult to turn a profit because the cost of building supplies has risen since the COVID-19 pandemic. Paul Finnemore owns 17 rental units in Kentville and Middleton. He said his business plan revolves around buying old, run-down rentals, fixing them up and making them more livable. "And then we were planning to increase those rents. A little more than two per cent," Finnemore said. "Two per cent doesn't even cover ... the rate of inflation. "There's a mortgage payment. There's property taxes. There's insurance. Sometimes there's often utilities, water, heat lights — the whole bit — and then regular maintenance and stuff like that. So to make that formula work can be very challenging when we're not able to raise the rent even to a reasonable level." Finnemore cleaned up and renovated this property in hopes of renting it out.(Submitted by Paul Finnemore) This week, Provost found a new rental home to move to with her children. Not everyone is so lucky. Chris Ramsay had lived in his three-bedroom duplex in Colchester County for a year when he received a two-month eviction notice because his landlord was selling the property. He said having kids makes it much harder for someone to find a rental, though discriminating against families with children is illegal. Chris Ramsay and his two year old daughter, who are racing to find a new place to live before the two month eviction notice is up. (Submitted by Chris Ramsay) He said there are hundreds of people applying for each rental as soon as it goes on the market, and many landlords don't even respond to his inquiries. Ramsay said he had to apply for a rental in Cape Breton because he is so desperate to find a place to live. He is worried this will impact his ability to see his eldest daughter, who lives in the Annapolis Valley. Ramsay said he might have to resort to some unconventional living situations for himself and his two-year-old daughter if he doesn't find a place soon. "If I don't get approved [for the place in Cape Breton], in all honesty, me and my friend have shopped the idea around that if I could go on Marketplace or Kijiji and find an old camper or pop-up trailer to camp in his backyard and figure out what to do from there," he said. "Or try to find a motel, or anything, because right now those are getting pretty booked up as well. It's desperate times." MORE TOP STORIES
(CBC) There's a subgenre on TikTok of conservative Albertans whose video posts on the social media platform involve strongly worded political rants spoken directly into the camera. These videos are often visceral, profanity-laced and directed at Justin Trudeau. But lately, they've taken aim at a different target. "Jason Kenney, you're spineless," one man says in a post from early April, shortly after the Alberta premier announced a re-introduction of public-health restrictions aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19. "It's a sad day that we voted you in as a conservative leader for this province because we thought you were going to do something good for us. You never did nothin'." Another man, who describes himself as a "separatist Albertan" who has "had enough of dictatorship," echoed the sentiment. "Jason Kenney, your big, tough growl seems to have become a puppy's whimper," he says, his lips curling into a snarl at the end of each sentence. "Your bulls--t lockdowns are splitting this province and your caucus." "And by the way," he adds, lifting a middle finger to the camera. "Lock this down. Because I can't wait to vote your ass out." These guys are presumably among the 27 per cent of Albertans who, according to a recent CBC News poll, would vote for neither the UCP nor the NDP if an election were held immediately. Analysts say these voters could play a significant role in determining the outcome of the next election, depending on how they ultimately decide to cast their ballots. Exactly what role, however, is a complicated question, because these voters are a diverse group. The angry guys posting videos on TikTok highlight just one segment of that group, who fall more at the right end of the political spectrum. There's also a sizable chunk of more centrist voters, and a smaller contingent who lean to the left. But the largest group of these non-NDP, non-UCP voters didn't specify a particular party they would support; they just knew they didn't like either of the top two choices. In political-science terms, these folks are sometimes referred to as "orphaned voters." The poll gives us some insight into who these people are. Respondents were asked about much more than just their vote choice, and a pattern emerges when you examine the orphaned voters' answers to other questions. For the most part, they look like disaffected conservatives. That highlights a serious — but not necessarily fatal — threat for the re-election hopes of Kenney and his United Conservative Party which, for now at least, looks more divided than ever. What 'orphaned voters' look like You can see how this all breaks down in the following chart. Each dot represents a respondent in the poll. They are grouped by their vote choice and organized, left to right, by where they self-identify on the political spectrum. (Chart: John Santos & Robson Fletcher) The red dots at top represent voters who said they support either the Alberta Liberal Party, the Green Party of Alberta or another, smaller political party. Add them all up, and this group represented about six per cent of voters. For the most part, they clustered around the centre with a lean to the political left. Another five per cent of voters said they support the Alberta Party. These people also tend to be centrists, but lean a little more to the right. They are represented by the turquoise dots in the second row. The third row of green dots shows supporters of the Wildrose Independence Party and the Independence Party of Alberta. These folks made up about five per cent of voters as well, and tended to veer further right. The fourth row of grey dots — accounting for about 11 per cent of the electorate — indicates those who said they wouldn't vote NDP or UCP, but did not specify a particular party that they would support. These are the "orphaned voters" and they could be one of the biggest wildcards in the upcoming election, according to data scientist John Santos, who helped design the poll. When Santos looks at those grey dots, he sees a lot of similarity with the row of blue dots right below them, which indicate UCP supporters. This, he says, suggests that many of the orphaned voters "have been disenchanted with the UCP but can't bring themselves to vote for the NDP, and either don't know about or aren't sold on one of the independence parties." "They're still sitting on their hands," Santos said. Where do 'orphaned voters' go? Santos says it's obviously bad news for Kenney and his party to have lost the support of these Albertans, many of whom likely voted for the UCP in the 2019 election. But, with the next election set for 2023, there's still plenty of time to staunch the bleeding and heal the wounds. "They might all or mostly go back to the UCP en masse," Santos said. "Or they might go to one of the right-leaning independence parties. But I think there's few of these folks who would go to the NDP, and that's a big problem for Rachel Notley." For now, the NDP leader must be pleased with the poll numbers, which put her party at 40-per-cent support. That's enough to likely win a majority government, but it's far from a shoo-in victory. And plenty can change between now and the next election. Melanee Thomas, a professor of political science at the University of Calgary, believes the UCP has reason for hope, despite its poor polling numbers. "I actually don't think it's all that grim for their future prospects," she said. The threat of the UCP losing significant support on its right flank to an upstart party, she believes, is not as dire as some within the party might worry. Historically, she said, it may have been a "political pastime" in Alberta to build new parties from the ground up when voters tire of the ones they have. But going from a nascent political movement to a viable alternative is easier dreamed than done. Far more upstart parties have fizzled than have succeeded, and the key for those rare successes has typically been a strong leader. "That leadership factor matters," Thomas said. "It's one thing to have a party. It's quite another thing to have a party that has a leader who is able to get fundraising done in such a way that they can actually then get onto the stage to compete meaningfully." Jason Kenney celebrates his 2017 victory as the first official leader of the Alberta United Conservative Party with his opponent, Brian Jean, at right.(Jeff McIntosh/Canadian Press ) She said the absence of a competitive third party may leave some voters who find themselves angry with the UCP considering scant alternatives: supporting the NDP, which may not be ideologically aligned with their general beliefs, or exiting the political process altogether. That scenario could present a different kind of threat to the UCP, one in which the party simply can't regain the trust of the voters who are currently disaffected and make up enough ground on the NDP. If that degree of anger against the governing party persists until the next election, Thomas believes Kenney will only have himself to blame. "In 2018 and 2019, I think Kenney's particular strategy of being willing to stoke anger was effective in the short term, but really dangerous in the long term, because once people get angry, they stay angry," she said. "The anger doesn't go away, but the target can move." The 3rd (and 4th and 5th) party voters That anger is palpable in the anti-Trudeau TikTok users who have recently turned on Kenney. But many of these folks also express support for independence parties to the UCP's right. If their words match their actions, they're not coming back to a party with Kenney at the helm anytime soon. The bigger question will be which way the genuinely "orphaned voters" who supported the UCP in the last election decide to break when (or if) they vote again in 2023. How many are angry enough to throw their support behind an upstart party further to the right than they are normally inclined to vote, especially if that party espouses full on Western separation? Conversely, how many are disillusioned enough to back the provincial New Democrats, a party that tries to position itself closer to the political centre but remains tied at the hip to the federal NDP and its staunchly left-wing politics? Further complicating the political calculus are the small but potentially meaningful group of voters who currently support one of the minor parties. Will Alberta Party supporters stick to their guns or resign themselves to a new, two-party reality and pick one side over the other? Do the Alberta Liberals continue to try to build their brand in the province, after winning zero seats and less than one per cent of the popular vote in the last election? Alberta Liberal Party leader David Khan, 2nd from left, and Alberta Party leader Stephen Mandel, at right, greet their opponents at the 2019 Alberta Leaders Debate in Edmonton. Both Khan and Mandel stepped down from their parties' helms after failing to win any seats in the ensuing election. (Codie McLachlan/Canadian Press) After decades of one-party rule, Alberta has morphed into more of a two-party political system. But Thomas believes the current lack of enthusiasm for the UCP throws the doors open for all sorts of political manoeuvres and outcomes over the next two years. "When people don't identify really forcefully with a party, it makes more space for other issues to have more of an effect," she said. Santos believes there is the possibility of the harder-right vote coalescing around a third-party alternative, but that would likely require that side of the spectrum, which is currently splintered, to see a merger of its own. Many conservatives fear a reborn Wildrose or strong separtist party on the right could split the conservative vote and allow NDP candidates to come up the middle, but Santos says that fear could also be a blessing in disguise for the UCP if push comes to shove. "If the Wildrose Party and the Independence Party merge and suddenly become a more potent electoral force, people's preferences will change," he said. "That could bleed away more supporters from the UCP on their right flank … but that could have a second-order effect of making centrists who weren't so sold on the UCP now suddenly think, well, I need to go back to the UCP to block the NDP from becoming government again." Play this game of hypothetical politics long enough, and you can come up with all sorts of different permutations of how things might unfold. It's enough to make your head spin. The bottom line is that — one way or another — the voters who currently look at the UCP and the NDP and say "none of the above" could very well be the ones who ultimately end up deciding which party wins power in two years' time.
The latest numbers on COVID-19 vaccinations in Canada as of 10:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday, April 20, 2021. In Canada, the provinces are reporting 240,000 new vaccinations administered for a total of 10,483,418 doses given. Nationwide, 944,342 people or 2.5 per cent of the population has been fully vaccinated. The provinces have administered doses at a rate of 27,661.261 per 100,000. There were 1,198 new vaccines delivered to the provinces and territories for a total of 13,304,460 doses delivered so far. The provinces and territories have used 78.8 per cent of their available vaccine supply. Please note that Newfoundland and Labrador, P.E.I., Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and the territories typically do not report on a daily basis. Newfoundland and Labrador is reporting 26,085 new vaccinations administered over the past seven days for a total of 138,422 doses given. The province has administered doses at a rate of 264.35 per 1,000. In the province, 1.85 per cent (9,674) of the population has been fully vaccinated. There were zero new vaccines delivered to Newfoundland and Labrador for a total of 173,840 doses delivered so far. The province has received enough of the vaccine to give 33 per cent of its population a single dose. The province has used 79.63 per cent of its available vaccine supply. P.E.I. is reporting 7,925 new vaccinations administered over the past seven days for a total of 43,018 doses given. The province has administered doses at a rate of 271.186 per 1,000. In the province, 6.04 per cent (9,579) of the population has been fully vaccinated. There were zero new vaccines delivered to P.E.I. for a total of 53,545 doses delivered so far. The province has received enough of the vaccine to give 34 per cent of its population a single dose. The province has used 80.34 per cent of its available vaccine supply. Nova Scotia is reporting 60,428 new vaccinations administered over the past seven days for a total of 218,018 doses given. The province has administered doses at a rate of 223.402 per 1,000. In the province, 3.31 per cent (32,255) of the population has been fully vaccinated. There were zero new vaccines delivered to Nova Scotia for a total of 320,200 doses delivered so far. The province has received enough of the vaccine to give 33 per cent of its population a single dose. The province has used 68.09 per cent of its available vaccine supply. New Brunswick is reporting 42,913 new vaccinations administered over the past seven days for a total of 204,576 doses given. The province has administered doses at a rate of 262.263 per 1,000. In the province, 2.44 per cent (19,028) of the population has been fully vaccinated. There were zero new vaccines delivered to New Brunswick for a total of 255,205 doses delivered so far. The province has received enough of the vaccine to give 33 per cent of its population a single dose. The province has used 80.16 per cent of its available vaccine supply. Quebec is reporting 48,475 new vaccinations administered for a total of 2,448,409 doses given. The province has administered doses at a rate of 286.141 per 1,000. There were 1,198 new vaccines delivered to Quebec for a total of 3,042,405 doses delivered so far. The province has received enough of the vaccine to give 36 per cent of its population a single dose. The province has used 80.48 per cent of its available vaccine supply. Ontario is reporting 90,409 new vaccinations administered for a total of 3,995,187 doses given. The province has administered doses at a rate of 271.984 per 1,000. In the province, 2.37 per cent (347,597) of the population has been fully vaccinated. There were zero new vaccines delivered to Ontario for a total of 5,242,495 doses delivered so far. The province has received enough of the vaccine to give 36 per cent of its population a single dose. The province has used 76.21 per cent of its available vaccine supply. Manitoba is reporting 9,051 new vaccinations administered for a total of 350,977 doses given. The province has administered doses at a rate of 254.885 per 1,000. In the province, 5.08 per cent (69,997) of the population has been fully vaccinated. There were zero new vaccines delivered to Manitoba for a total of 479,010 doses delivered so far. The province has received enough of the vaccine to give 35 per cent of its population a single dose. The province has used 73.27 per cent of its available vaccine supply. Saskatchewan is reporting 5,278 new vaccinations administered for a total of 357,447 doses given. The province has administered doses at a rate of 303.139 per 1,000. In the province, 3.64 per cent (42,950) of the population has been fully vaccinated. There were zero new vaccines delivered to Saskatchewan for a total of 397,575 doses delivered so far. The province has received enough of the vaccine to give 34 per cent of its population a single dose. The province has used 89.91 per cent of its available vaccine supply. Alberta is reporting 31,205 new vaccinations administered for a total of 1,196,428 doses given. The province has administered doses at a rate of 271.789 per 1,000. In the province, 5.44 per cent (239,277) of the population has been fully vaccinated. There were zero new vaccines delivered to Alberta for a total of 1,456,295 doses delivered so far. The province has received enough of the vaccine to give 33 per cent of its population a single dose. The province has used 82.16 per cent of its available vaccine supply. British Columbia is reporting 34,484 new vaccinations administered for a total of 1,414,644 doses given. The province has administered doses at a rate of 275.674 per 1,000. In the province, 1.72 per cent (88,263) of the population has been fully vaccinated. There were zero new vaccines delivered to British Columbia for a total of 1,731,470 doses delivered so far. The province has received enough of the vaccine to give 34 per cent of its population a single dose. The province has used 81.7 per cent of its available vaccine supply. Yukon is reporting 580 new vaccinations administered for a total of 45,971 doses given. The territory has administered doses at a rate of 1,101.603 per 1,000. In the territory, 49.74 per cent (20,755) of the population has been fully vaccinated. There were zero new vaccines delivered to Yukon for a total of 54,320 doses delivered so far. The territory has received enough of the vaccine to give 130 per cent of its population a single dose. The territory has used 84.63 per cent of its available vaccine supply. The Northwest Territories are reporting zero new vaccinations administered for a total of 44,646 doses given. The territory has administered doses at a rate of 989.517 per 1,000. In the territory, 42.71 per cent (19,271) of the population has been fully vaccinated. There were zero new vaccines delivered to the Northwest Territories for a total of 56,300 doses delivered so far. The territory has received enough of the vaccine to give 120 per cent of its population a single dose. The territory has used 79.3 per cent of its available vaccine supply. Nunavut is reporting 487 new vaccinations administered for a total of 25,675 doses given. The territory has administered doses at a rate of 662.991 per 1,000. In the territory, 29.13 per cent (11,282) of the population has been fully vaccinated. There were zero new vaccines delivered to Nunavut for a total of 41,800 doses delivered so far. The territory has received enough of the vaccine to give 110 per cent of its population a single dose. The territory has used 61.42 per cent of its available vaccine supply. *Notes on data: The figures are compiled by the COVID-19 Open Data Working Group based on the latest publicly available data and are subject to change. Note that some provinces report weekly, while others report same-day or figures from the previous day. Vaccine doses administered is not equivalent to the number of people inoculated as the approved vaccines require two doses per person. The vaccines are currently not being administered to children under 18 and those with certain health conditions. In some cases the number of doses administered may appear to exceed the number of doses distributed as some provinces have been drawing extra doses per vial. This report was automatically generated by The Canadian Press Digital Data Desk and was first published April 20, 2021. The Canadian Press
Changes to Canada's elections act. New rules for judges' pensions. Retroactive authorization for First Nations to postpone elections during the pandemic. New powers for the immigration minister to issue instructions on express entry for permanent resident applicants. None of them have much, if anything, to do with government spending or the economy. However, they are among several non-budgetary measures included in the 739-page budget tabled by Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland in the House of Commons Monday. Officials say some of the measures outlined in the budget may be included in the upcoming budget implementation bill. Others, however, may be presented to Parliament as part of separate bills. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government is not the first to quietly include non-monetary measures in a budget or a budget implementation bill instead of separate, standalone legislation. It was a hallmark of former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper's government. For example, in 2015, the Harper government included a provision in a budget bill that retroactively rewrote Canada's access to information law to protect the RCMP from being charged by the Information Commissioner for destroying gun registry documents before legislation to scrap the gun registry was adopted by Parliament. The Liberal Party's 2015 campaign platform sharply criticized the practice, saying Harper's government had "used omnibus bills to prevent Parliament from properly reviewing and debating" proposals. "We will change the House of Commons standing orders to bring an end to this undemocratic practice," Trudeau's Liberals vowed. WATCH | Chrystia Freeland delivers federal budget Conservative Ethics Critic Michael Barrett said this budget wouldn't be the only time the Trudeau government has included non-monetary measures in a budget. "The Trudeau government has been known to use the budget to benefit Liberal insiders, like the time they buried a deferred prosecution agreement for SNC Lavalin in Budget 2018," he wrote. "Given the Liberal's past actions we will be reviewing the legislation very closely." Here are some of the non-budgetary measures contained in the Trudeau government's omnibus budget. Elections Act On Feb. 19, Ontario Superior Court Justice Breese Davies struck down a key section of Canada's elections law designed to curb misinformation during elections, saying it was an unjustifiable restriction on the right of Canadians to free speech. In March, the government decided not to appeal the ruling and said it would study how to ensure that deliberate false statements are covered under the election law. The government included plans to act in its budget on Monday. "Budget 2021 proposes to introduce amendments to the Canada Elections Act to specify that making or publishing a false statement in relation to a candidate, prospective candidate, or party leader would be an offence only if the person or entity knows that the statement is false." Judges In February, Quebec Superior Court Justice Michel Girouard resigned shortly before Justice Minister David Lametti was poised to ask Parliament to remove him from office. But while Girouard's resignation put an end to an eight-year legal battle to keep his job that the Canadian Judicial Council estimates cost Canadian taxpayers millions of dollars, it left Girouard with a lucrative federal pension. "Throughout this entire period, Michel Girouard has continued to receive his full salary despite not sitting, and he will now receive a pension for life, all at the expense of Canadian taxpayers," Justice Richard Wagner, chairperson of the council, wrote in February as he called for reforms to the process that reviews the conduct of judges. Girouard, named to the bench in 2010, has been collecting a $329,900 annual salary and building up pension credits but hasn't heard any cases since January 2013, following an allegation that he bought illegal drugs from a client. In the wake of former Justice Michel Girouard's eight-year fight to keep his job, provisions were included in the budget to allow a judge's pension benefits to be frozen.(Radio-Canada) While that allegation wasn't proven, in February 2018 the Canadian Judicial Council found that Girouard "attempted to mislead and conceal the truth during the process of review of allegations against him," and recommended that he be removed from the bench. Girouard qualified for early retirement and pension on Sept. 30, 2020 as he was fighting his removal. However, a passage in Monday's budget could stop that from happening again. "Budget 2021 proposes to amend the Judges Act to freeze a judge's pension entitlements, as of the date the Canadian Judicial Council recommends a judge's removal from office." Justice department officials say the change is unlikely to apply retroactively to Girouard. Charities and terrorists The government is proposing measures to crack down on charities it believes are affiliated with terrorist organizations. Currently, when a group is listed as a terrorist entity, its charitable status can be revoked but only after an administrative process. If that process recommends its charitable status be revoked, the group can appeal that decision in court. The budget, however, proposes to give the minister of national revenue the power to immediately revoke the registration of a charity. The provision does not mention any right of appeal. The government is also proposing to add someone who has been a member of a terrorist entity to the category of "ineligible individuals" involved with a charity. If a charity has an "ineligible individual" on its board or among its officers the Minister of National Revenue can refuse or revoke the charity's registration or suspend its right to issue official donation receipts. The budget also proposes allowing the minister to suspend a charity's authority to issue official receipts for a year or revoke its registration if it makes a false statement to maintain its registration as a charity. All of the measures would take effect upon royal assent of the bill. First Nations elections When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in spring 2020, the Trudeau government adopted regulations to allow First Nations to cancel or postpone elections that were due to take place during the pandemic. Since then, 116 First Nations have used the First Nations Election Cancellation and Postponement Regulations to postpone elections. Earlier this month, Federal Court Justice Sébastien Grammond sided with a challenge launched by a member of the Acho Dene Koe First Nation in the Northwest Territories and struck down a section of the regulations that dealt with elections held according to custom. Grammond ruled that the federal government had overstepped its powers under the Indian Act and the Acho Dene Koe First Nation did not have the power to extend its own term of office. Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller has said the regulations are "a key tool" in managing COVID-19 risks in First Nations and the government will appeal the ruling. Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller has vowed to appeal a ruling striking down regulations that allowed postponement of First Nations elections during the pandemic. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press) Meanwhile, Monday's budget includes plans to retroactively validate the postponement of elections over the past year. "The government proposes to introduce legislation that would ensure that the First Nations Election Cancellation and Postponement Regulations (Prevention of Diseases) are deemed to have been validly made since April 7, 2020." Immigration According to the budget, Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino is about to get new powers to choose who gets faster track entry into Canada. "The Government of Canada intends to propose amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act to provide the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada with authority to use ministerial instructions to help select those candidates who best meet Canada's labour market needs from among the growing pool of candidates who wish to become permanent residents through the Express Entry System." The budget says Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino will get the power to issue ministerial instructions on express entry of permanent resident applicants.(Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press) It comes only a few days after the government announced a plan to help health-care professionals and essential workers already in Canada get permanent status in Canada. Elizabeth Thompson can be reached at elizabeth.thompson@cbc.ca
Saskatchewan's minister of health has apologized for speaking in error in regards to how patients hospitalized by COVID-19 are counted in provincial data. Minister Paul Merriman incorrectly stated during the human services committee meeting on April 15 that COVID-19 patients who are hospitalized, but no longer infectious, are not included in the province's hospital or ICU count. He corrected the error days later. "If they are in the hospital, and tested positive, no matter how long they remain in that hospital, they will still be counted as that," Merriman said Monday during Question Period. "That's my apologies." The minister will notify the committee in writing that he was mistaken in his answer, said a spokesperson for the ministry. Health policy consultant Dennis Kendel said it was "very concerning" for the minister to relay flawed information. "The health minister is the highest public official, accountable to the public, for managing the entire public health system, or governing it, I might say," Kendel said. "If he/she doesn't understand what the terminology means, that's very worrisome." How recoveries are reported The government deems someone "recovered" 10 days after they receive a positive COVID-19 test because they are no longer considered infectious, regardless if they are still hospitalized from the virus. Kendel said the ministry should use the word "non-infectious" instead, as the word "recovered" can sow confusion. Dennis Kendel said the Ministry of Health should use the word “non-infectious” instead as the word “recovered” can sow confusion. (Trent Peppler/CBC) "In addition to the people who are in the hospital, who are obviously not recovered, a high percentage of people develop long symptoms and require help and support from the health-care system," Kendel said. He said words matter and so does communication with the public. "If we don't understand the severity of this, we're more inclined to accept less interventional measures by the government," Kendel said. Saskatchewan a hotspot for COVID-19 hospitalizations Saskatchewan continues to have one of the highest rates of COVID-19 hospitalizations among all the provinces. On April 17, chief medical officer Dr. Susan Shaw said on CBC's White Coat Black Art with Dr. Brian Goldman that Saskatchewan is "seeing similar things, if not the same things" as Ontario when it comes to health-care workers burning out and hospitals having limited ICU capacity. During a presentation to physicians on April 15, the SHA said "if current trajectory holds, our health system will be overrun." Last week, the SHA made the unprecedented moved of placing two COVID-19 patients in some rooms to make space for more patients. On Monday, hospitalizations continued to grow. The province reported 200 COVID-19 patients in hospital, an increase of 11 from Sunday, with 43 people in the ICU, 31 of whom are in Regina. The Saskatchewan Health Authority said it includes both infectious and non-infectious patients in its hospitalization and ICU numbers.(Apu Gomes/AFP/Getty Images) Shaw told Dr. Goldman there's "a frustration, and at times it gets into anger because we do know that COVID can be prevented." "Sometimes I'm standing in the ICU looking after a young parent of young children, treating that person knowing that it's preventable," Shaw said. "I think that causes a lot of moral distress and that is going to add up, that is going to build up and I think it is going to spill over in ways that we can't really understand yet."
Ontario reported 3,469 more cases of COVID-19 and 22 more deaths from the illness on Tuesday, as the province announced that some pharmacies in the Greater Toronto Area would begin offering 24/7 appointments for the AstraZeneca vaccine. In a news release, the provincial government said 20 Shoppers Drug Mart locations would open round-the-clock appointments starting as early as Wednesday. Sixteen of the 20 locations are in Toronto and Peel and York Regions, according to the release. Additionally, pharmacies will now be allowed to offer walk-in vaccine appointments, the province said. Eligible adults are urged to call their local pharmacy beforehand to see if it is offering walk-in services. More than 1,400 pharmacies and some primary care providers in Ontario began offering the AstraZeneca to adults aged 40 and over this morning. WATCH | Co-chair of Ontario's science table on latest restrictions: 'It wasn't what we recommended' Meanwhile, today's case count is the fewest in the province since April 8. The new infections come as labs completed 40,596 tests for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, and logged a positivity rate of 10 per cent. Another 158 people with COVID-19-related illnesses were admitted to hospital, according to the Ministry of Health, bringing the total to 2,360. Of those, 773 are being treated in intensive care, while 537 require a ventilator to breathe. All three figures are new pandemic highs for Ontario. Critical Care Services Ontario, a government agency that compiles a daily internal report for hospitals and health organizations, said that 68 additional patients were admitted to ICUs Monday alone. Public health units collectively administered 90,409 doses of vaccines Monday, a third straight day below the province's target of at least 100,000 daily. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Health, however, said that an all-day Rogers outage forced some clinics to do paper-based reporting, meaning today's total is an underestimate of how many shots were actually administered. Clinics are expected to upload revised data to Ontario's central tracking system through the day. Some 347,597 people have gotten both shots of a COVID-19 vaccine. As of last night, Ontario had used about 76 per cent of the 5,242,495 doses it has received to date. Ontario Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk said this morning that as part of the 2021 audit cycle, her office will review data the province used to develop its vaccine distribution strategy. Earlier this month, NDP Leader Andrea Horwath called on the auditor general to look into how the government built its list of 114 hot spot postal codes, and if any political considerations were introduced in the process. The Ministry of Health said previously that the decisions were based on data from Public Health Ontario. Meanwhile, today's new cases include: 1,074 in Toronto 775 in Peel Region 406 in York Region 256 in Durham Region 197 in Ottawa 130 in Halton Region 106 in Niagara Region The seven-day average of daily cases fell to 4,319. A nearly month-long period of exponential growth in the seven-day average appears to have slowed in recent days. The 22 additional deaths reported today push the official toll to 7,757. The seven-day average of daily deaths rose to 25, a new high for the third wave of the pandemic. Paid sick leave dominates question period The question of paid sick leave for workers who fall ill with COVID-19 was front and centre again during question period at the legislature, where Premier Doug Ford was conspicuously absent for a second straight day. The issue resurfaced after new COVID-19 restrictions announced by Ford last week did not include emergency sick leave despite repeated calls from the government's science table, outside public health experts and physicians for Ontario to supplement the federal program currently available. Horwath attempted to garner unanimous consent for a provincial paid sick day program, which existed in Ontario until the Ford government nixed it in 2018. Government MPPs voted down the motion. Labour Minister Monte McNaughton then went on to say he was disappointed the federal government didn't boost or improve its own paid sick leave program, the Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit (CRSB), in Monday's budget. McNaughton's comments echoed comments made on the budget by Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy, who acknowledged that sick pay is key to curbing the pandemic but stopped short of committing any provincial help, even though paid sick leave is provincial jurisdiction. Speaking to reporters afterward, Health Minister Christine Elliott suggested the province might be rethinking that position. "It was apparent yesterday with the federal budget that they weren't making any amendments to their sick benefits program and so those gaps still remain and that is what we are going to be addressing." For his part, Ford has said the province doesn't want to duplicate the CRSB. Public health experts and labour advocates have criticized the program as needlessly complicated and financially insufficient. Inconsistent policies are 'ineffective', experts say Meanwhile, Ontario's Science Advisory Table released a document outlining what it believes should be the province's next steps, in which it reiterated the importance of paid sick leave. The document urges the province to offer an emergency benefit to workers that's immediately paid out and more money than the federal program currently provides. "Policies that harm or neglect racialized, marginalized and other vulnerable populations will not be effective against a disease that already affects these groups disproportionately," the advisory table said. "As noted in repeated studies from around the world, inconsistent policies with no clear link to scientific evidence are ineffective in fighting COVID-19." The province needs to allocate more vaccines to hotspot neighbourhoods with vulnerable populations and essential workers, the group said. It also called for the province to deem more workplaces non-essential and order their closure, as well as restrict travel between regions. The advisory table also urged the province to allow small groups of people from different households to meet outdoors if they're wearing masks and physically distancing. "Policies that discourage safe outdoor activity will not control COVID-19 and will disproportionately harm children and those who do not have access to their own greenspace, especially those living in crowded conditions," said the advisory table. People should not be gathering indoors with people from other households with the exception of safe essential workplaces, it said. That advice goes against the province's current rule that allows up to 10 people to attend wedding ceremonies, funerals and other religious gatherings indoors.
Nova Scotia is restricting all non-essential travel for provinces west of its New Brunswick boundary. Premier Iain Rankin says the month-long restrictions follow a rise in COVID-19 cases related to travel from outside the province.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -At least two groups of China-linked hackers have spent months using a previously undisclosed vulnerability in American virtual private networking devices to spy on the U.S. defense industry, researchers and the devices' manufacturer said Tuesday. Utah-based IT company Ivanti said https://blog.pulsesecure.net/pulse-connect-secure-security-update in a statement the hackers took advantage of the flaw in its Pulse Connect Secure suite to break into the systems of "a very limited number of customers." Ivanti said https://kb.pulsesecure.net/pkb_mobile#article/l:en_US/SA44784/s that while mitigations were in place, a fix for the issue would be unavailable until early May.
Dr. Ryan Warshawski says he's a little bit addicted to watching Yukon's online vaccine tracker. It keeps a running tab on how many Yukoners have received their first and second doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. But Warshawski, president of the Yukon Medical Association, is a little concerned by what he's seen lately. "Every time I watch it, I try and see that needle go a little bit higher — and it seems like we're stalling out," he said. "And I worry now that the limitation is not lack of access to vaccines, or lack of access to vaccinators, but lack of interest in getting vaccinated." The last weekly update showed that 25,065 people, or 71 per cent of eligible adults in Yukon, had received their first shot as of Monday, while 20,326 people, or 59 per cent of those eligible, had also received their second shot. Warshawski calls that an "absolutely fantastic" achievement — but says there's still a ways to go in order to reach herd immunity in the territory. "The unfortunate problem with vaccines and with pandemics is, we really need to get as many people as we can vaccinated." Yukoners don't even need an appointment anymore to get vaccinated — clinics now accept walk-ins. Lower uptake in some regions So far, the lowest rate of vaccine uptake is in the central territory and the southeast. As of Monday, 47 per cent of eligible adults in central Yukon had received their second dose, compared to 74 per cent in western Yukon. Younger adults in Yukon have also been slower to get jabbed, according to the government's data. The rate of vaccination increases by age group, with those 70 years and older most likely to have received their shots. Yukon's COVID-19 vaccination rate by region, as of Monday.(Yukon government) Warshawski says there may be many reasons why the vaccination rate has slowed. "I think some people are just, you know, a little bit blasé about it. They sort of say, 'well, if I get COVID, I'm young, I'll probably be fine. I don't really feel the need to get vaccinated,'" Warshawski said. He also says some people just don't trust institutions, or don't like feeling as though they're being told what to do. "Listen, I live in the Yukon, too. I get it. You know, I don't always like being told something by an authority figure," he said. "So I would encourage anyone who has questions, who isn't sure, who's really just feeling like this is just being pushed upon them — please just talk to us. You know, call your doctor, call your community health nurse." He also recognizes that some people just won't be persuaded, no matter what. He points to misinformation that circulates online, and how some people can become deeply immersed in it. "The challenge is, is that it is virtually impossible to have a real conversation with these individuals," he said. "I don't think there's a lot of hope of me reaching some people." The Whitehorse COVID-19 vaccine clinic opened to all adults over the age of 18 last month, becoming the first capital city in Canada to do so. It's now open for walk-ins.(Steve Silva/CBC) Still, he encourages others to do what they can to battle misinformation by asking questions of their health providers, and sometimes, by pushing back on social media. "It would be wonderful if, you know, people were chiming in and we were creating sort of an online movement that was sort of evidence-based." Vaccinations, he says, still offer the best chance to move beyond the pandemic — and Yukon health officials are trying to figure out how to keep people from feeling blasé about the shot. "The reality is, I don't want to be up at three in the morning looking after COVID patients — I would rather be sleeping. You know, I would rather be taking my kids to the pool that no longer has any restrictions on it," he said. He also has a message for those who've been vaccinated already. "Take a moment, pat yourself on the back. You know, you've done the single greatest thing you can to help end this pandemic."
Early childhood educators on P.E.I. are doing a "happy dance" after seeing their wish of a national child-care plan included in Monday's federal budget. If the federal Liberals carry through on the plan, the cost of child care could fall by 50 per cent by the end of 2022, with the goal of getting the price down to $10 a day by 2026. Daycares might also see better wages to help recruit and retain workers, said Jennifer Nangreaves, the executive director of the Early Childhood Development Association of P.E.I. "There were many people before me advocating for this for many, many years — going back 50 years. So it's been wished for, hoped for, so there's many people doing a happy dance." While she's excited for what the federal plan means for early childhood educators, she's also happy about what it means for parents. Currently about $680 a month The monthly cost for child care on P.E.I. is now about $680 a month, or $34 a day. "When you're thinking about how child care can sometimes be like university tuition or mortgage payments — you know, you're saving for child care — it shouldn't be that way," Nangreaves said. She said she doesn't believe Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland's budget pledge is a hollow election promise, and looks forward to seeing more details and legislative changes to make the plan a reality. "Canada's economy needs Canada's families, needs this national child-care system. It's been talked about for many years," she said. "So I think, election or not, it's happening." More from CBC P.E.I.
The Ontario Nurses' Association (ONA) is demanding better personal protective equipment (PPE) to protect its members from the aerosol and asymptomatic spread of COVID-19. In an application for judicial review filed in February, the ONA said the province hasn't done enough to protect health-care workers from COVID-19, singling out a directive from Ontario's chief medical officer of health as inadequate. When they do ask for it, in many cases it's a battle. - Vicki McKenna, Ontario Nurses' Association At the time of the application, the ONA said nearly 19,000 health-care workers had been infected in the province. "What we are asking for is the chief medical officer now to step up," said ONA president Vicki McKenna. Specifically, the union wants the province to explicitly acknowledge that the virus can be transmitted through the air, that asymptomatic transmission occurs and that nurses need the highest level of precaution available. Vicki McKenna, president of the Ontario Nurses' Association, says health-care workers continue to be denied adequate PPE. (ONA/Twitter) 'Restricted access' to adequate PPE Currently, the directive to hospitals and long-term care homes only recognizes that COVID-19 is spread through droplets, McKenna said. Nothing in the directive specifically mentions protection from airborne transmission, she said. "[Not] putting those statements in the directive [is] causing major issues in the workplace," McKenna said. "[We] still, after all this time, we have nurses and health professionals out there that have restricted access to the proper PPE for airborne transmission. And when they do ask for it, in many cases it's a battle." McKenna said the PPE available to nurses should include N95 masks, if not reusable elastomeric or powered air purifying respirators. Mario Possamai, former senior adviser to the 2007 SARS commission, says Ontario missed many opportunities to better protect workers.(Craig Chivers/CBC) Lessons from SARS The ONA argues the province is ignoring the precautionary principle, a key lesson from the SARS crisis that dictates maximum caution during an outbreak, even if our knowledge about how the disease spreads is incomplete. "From the earliest days of the pandemic, our public health leaders, based on really limited information, dismissed the possibility that COVID-19 could be spread through the air," said Mario Possamai, former senior adviser to the 2007 SARS Commission, who has also written a report on COVID-19 for the ONA. "We could have really focused on ... better protection for health-care workers, better ventilation, all the things that are involved in addressing an airborne risk. We missed that opportunity … and it's disappointing." Federal health officials only recognized the airborne spread of COVID-19 in November, and quietly updated their guidelines. Ontario's Ministry of Health said it cannot comment on the case as it is before the courts. The first hearing for the judicial review is scheduled for May 12.
FREDERICTON — New Brunswick confirmed on Tuesday a first case in the province a patient experiencing blood clots after receiving the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. The patient in their 30s received the vaccine in mid-March, before its use was limited to people over the age of 55, chief medical officer of health Dr. Jennifer Russell said in a statement, adding that the individual has recovered. She said health officials have confirmed "a case of a rare blood clot associated with low platelets known as vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia." “While every adverse reaction is unfortunate, it is important to remember that these blood clots are extremely rare,” Russell later told reporters in Fredericton. “The vaccine helps prevent the much higher risks associated with COVID-19 infections.” She said New Brunswick will continue to provide the AstraZeneca vaccine to people 55 and older. New Brunswick on Tuesday reported no new cases of COVID-19 for the first time in more than one month. The province has 139 active reported infections and 21 patients in hospital with the disease, including eight in intensive care. A portion of the Edmundston region in the northwestern part of New Brunswick has been under a lockdown for 10 days and has the majority of the active reported cases in the province. Russell said travel continues to be the biggest factor in the spread of the novel coronavirus. "Travel is riskier now than at any other time during the pandemic," she said. "If you are going to travel, you must be prepared to properly self-isolate away from your loved ones for an entire two-week period. If you can't do that, then you really shouldn't travel." Health Minister Dorothy Shephard said the Atlantic premiers may delay the reopening of the regional travel bubble beyond May 3. The bubble would allow residents of Atlantic Canada to travel freely between the four provinces without having to isolate. Shephard said people 65 and older in New Brunswick can now schedule an appointment for their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. There will be 19,000 spaces available at clinics over the next two weeks, she added. Meanwhile, Shephard said she has issued a call for health-care workers available to respond to a request for help from Ontario Premier Doug Ford. Ontario is hard-hit by a third wave of COVID-19 that is putting its health-care system under tremendous strain. "We are seeking individuals who have the necessary skills and are able to go to Ontario to assist with their health-care efforts," Shephard said. "Specifically, Ontario is in need of nurses, respiratory therapists, perfusionists and anesthesia assistants. "While New Brunswick does not have the available resources within the regional health authorities, any health-care workers who are retired or working outside the health-care system are being encouraged to assist," the minister said. This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 20, 2021. Kevin Bissett, The Canadian Press
