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Rosie DiManno: Unfair lockdown rules, creative compliance (what a mess)

Aug 11, 2022 , , , , by shlf

Balls of brass, The Bay.

For many months, I’ve been dropping by Pusateri’s, in the upscale Sak’s Food Hall in the basement of The Bay’s flagship emporium at Yonge and Queen, wondering when it might re-open. The coming-soon signs kept changing, most recently announcing Pusateri’s would be back in 2021.

They jumped the gun by 53 days. If only, following significant shaming, fleetingly – open Monday, the first full day of Toronto’s lockdown 2.0, closed by Tuesday. Ditto the entire department store.

I did think it odd, on the weekend, buying a pile of stuff at The Bay’s children’s department, when the clerk assured me not to worry, staff had just been told the store wouldn’t be shuttering as most of the city zippered up again. “I’m not sure how but The Bay has received permission to stay open.’’

No they didn’t, it appears.

Such an audacious workaround – runaround – of the reimposed rules nobody likes but to which most are adhering: Exploiting the narrow food vending component – groceries are essential – to keep the cash-registers cha-chinging for all the rest of The Bay’s merchandise. Dancing on the head of a tin of caviar.

The spin-bumff to my colleague claimed the company believed it was in compliance with the lockdown fiat Premier Doug Ford has triggered anew because of Pusateri’s, a feature only of the downtown location, which is why the chain’s other stories in Toronto and Peel had shut its doors.

As per the email sent to Rubin: “We understood this to be in line with the province’s direction, however we have now made the decision to close our Queen Street store (Tuesday).’’

Yeah, pull the other one.

To emphasize: While the rest of the department store had been functional since June, the Food Hall remained sealed up tight, for reasons never explained. But clearly Pusateri’s wasn’t considered essential for The Bay’s bottom line. And this is a retailer – the Hudson’s Bay Company – in a whole heap ‘o fiscal distress.

On Sunday, before the lockdown came into effect in Toronto and Peel, the two hot spots in Ontario, shoppers arriving at The Bay location at Centerpoint Mall, Yonge and Steeles, were confronted with a posted notice from the landlord saying the store’s lease had been terminated. The company has been rent delinquent at other locations across the country. Most recently, a Quebec judge ordered Hudson’s Bay to pay rent at several department stores in that province. A store has also reportedly been shuttered in B.C., for nonpayment of rent.

An Ontario judge has ordered the company to pay half the outstanding rent at its Richmond Hill location to avert eviction.

But suddenly Pusateri’s was the critical link at Yonge and Queen, even though most of the shelves were empty —no fresh produce, nothing in the dairy fridge, prepared foods section closed. Stock some gourmet items, fancy pasta and oils, however, and Bob’s your uncle.

Sell vittles and all the merchandise is your oyster.

Not so slick and now scuttled.

“I had literally 500 members in the GTA and Peel reach out to say, if they started to sell apples and bags of chips, can they become an essential service provider and therefore skirt the rules?’’ snorts Dan Kelly, president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB). “Many of them are asking tongue-in-cheek, but not really.

“That’s pretty brazen, to make the case that you’re an essential service because you’re got a tiny food department in your store. It would be like Winners claiming they’re an essential service because they sell boxes of chocolates.

“If they were successful, I’d say mazel tov, every small retailer would be able to do the same thing, but on a much smaller basis.’’

Much of the public might have a soft spot for The Bay because of its iconic status as a Canadian institution. Except the Hudson’s Bay Company has been American-owned since 2006.

One might even have a tad of admiration for the company’s chutzpah, finagling the regs. But did they think nobody would notice and competitors wouldn’t complain? Whinges that were relayed to a clearly unaware Ford on Monday, who merely observed it was “unfair’’ and big box stores shouldn’t circumvent the rules while so many small businesses have been forced to roll down the awning.

Well, that’s the crux of the thing, isn’t it? The province’s lockdown mandate for Toronto and Peel – adamantly advanced by the public health care sector, infectious disease experts, their acolytes in the media and armchair epidemiological modellers, none of whom are facing a livelihood crisis – is clear as mud, most particularly in its exclusion of big box stores from limitations.

A patron can’t shop for a novel at an independent book store but can do so at, say, Costco, or any Shopper’s Drug Mart with a rack of paperback bestsellers. Can’t in-person shop for Christmas gifts at Roots or Sephora but all the schmutta and tat you want from Walmarts is okey-doke.

We are clearly not all in this together and, yet again, the brunt of the burden, the economic fallout, has dropped on the heads of small business owners.

As of two months ago, those nostalgic freedom-flexing days of late summer, days of late summer, Kelly’s organization had projected that an average of 160,000 small businesses – one in seven approximately — would permanently close as a result of coronavirus restrictions. If not lives lost, very much livelihoods lost. That figure doesn’t include “zombie stores” that have hung out a closed sign in the desperate hope, fading, of some day reopening.

On the subject of The Bay’s sly gambit, Kelly says: “I find on one level hard to criticize them because every retailer is in a fight for their life. These restrictions, literally the government has signed their death warrants. And I understand why they’re pushing back against the actual death of thousands of Ontarians. At the same time, there’s been a huge shift since the spring lockdowns.”

Much as CFIB members grumbled about the lockdowns in March, they understand that immediate and blunt action was necessary to protect society, even if poorly thought out and clumsily imposed. But provincial governments have had some six months to get it right the second time around, which every authority warned would be coming in the second wave of the coronavirus.

“What’s different is that we know an awful lot more about COVID-19,” says Kelly. “We know how it’s spread. Businesses have taken huge numbers of precautions to protect their customers and their staff. I’m not for a second suggesting that there’s no risk in a small retailer. But independent businesses are being shut down not because the business activity is more risky than other activities, but to send a message to the public. That’s what’s really upset the small business community so much. And then on top of that to have these restrictions put in place with such an arbitrary saw-off.”

What is the point of shutting down a small business that might have a handful of customers on the premises at the same time and essentially all that traffic, from many such business, to the so-called big box stores, resulting in crowds as thick as those in supermarkets? “It’s actually making COVID exposure worse by pushing all that traffic to a handful of big box stores,” Kelly argues.

Filling their carts with essentials and non-essentials. Because they can.

In Manitoba, at least, the unfair lockdown order has been somewhat addressed by a new rule, announced last Friday, that prevents large retailers – those permitted to remain open, selling essential goods in-store, from selling any non-essential goods, other than online or via curbside service.

This isn’t quantum physics.

“It’s a lot easier to buy from Costco or delivered by Amazon than trudging down and picking it up outside the store,” says Kelly. Especially when there’s no in-store experience – the browsing, the person-to-person consulting – that draws shoppers to smaller shops.

It shouldn’t be so hard to find, as Kelly suggests, a better saw-off for these deeply threatened independent businesses and the staff they employ. A reasonable strategy would be, say, permitting three customers in-store at a time, with three staffers. “It would allow at least a heartbeat of economic activity for the small guys and take some of the pressure off the big guys.”

Pressure? In the second-quarter for 2020, Walmart’s sales shot up by 13.9 per cent over the previous quarter. Globally, Amazon has enjoyed record-breaking sales of $4.6 billion in 19 countries, including Canada.

Meanwhile, all that inventory ordered by small businesses for the make-or-break Christmas spend-a-thon is just sitting there for at least another 25 days of lockdown.

The disease is real, unrelenting and doesn’t give a rat’s ass about red ink splashed across bookkeeping records.

But government should offer a better economic solution than slam-bam-thank-you-scram.

Rosie DiManno is a Toronto-based columnist covering sports and current affairs for the Star. Follow her on Twitter:

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School board confirms COVID-19 case at Worsley Elementary in Wasaga Beach

Nov 29, 2021 , , , , by shlf

For the second time in as many days, a COVID-19 case has been confirmed at a school in South Georgian Bay.

The Simcoe County District School board confirmed a case at Worsley Elementary School in Wasaga Beach.

The board sent home letters to parents but would not confirm if it was a teacher or student who tested positive.

A classroom is closed at the school.

This follows a confirmed case at Admiral Collingwood Elementary School on Monday, which also resulted in a classroom being closed.

Corrine Lalonde has two children at the school and said the necessary steps are being taken.

“I think the school and public health are doing what needs to be done and as long as kids and teachers are following the guidelines at the school, the risk is very low,” she said. “Each parent can make a decision as to what is right for their family and child.”

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Shelters need wider testing for broad list of symptoms, study says

Nov 25, 2021 , , , , by shlf

In the throes of COVID-19’s first wave in Toronto in April, Dr. Meb Rashid remembers a single phone call delivering the results of a 60-person testing sweep at a refugee shelter.

Before the tests were done, six residents were flagged by a symptom screen, so some positive test results wouldn’t have been a shock. But when Rashid heard that 25 of the 60 were infected — a whopping 41.6 per cent positivity rate — he was floored.

“It was time to pause,” he said, “and then to scramble.”

Once the outbreak was over, Rashid and a group of medical workers examined what happened. In their new study — shared exclusively with the Star — they revealed that a dozen residents who weren’t caught by the initial symptom screen, but tested positive, had at least some signs of illness that were caught by an assessment the next day.

The findings, the research team said, highlight the need to screen for a diverse slate of symptoms. The study also calls for wider access to testing for shelter residents.

“Where there is an outbreak identified — and that is defined as having one case or more, then we definitely need to make available timely access to testing for all individuals,” lead author Dr. Vanessa Redditt said.

The new study comes on the heels of a from several Unity Health researchers, which also supports mass testing of all shelter residents if a single case is found.

Toronto Public Heath (TPH) currently makes shelter testing decisions based on things like layout, an infected person’s close contacts, and how effectively a site has implemented measures such as mask-wearing.

In some cases, it recommends everyone get tested, said Vinita Dubey, associate medical officer with TPH. But in others, it might recommend testing only one floor.

As of Monday, there were 10 COVID-19 cases reported across Toronto’s shelter system. Outbreaks within the system this fall have included one where , but an infected roommate didn’t show symptoms, and one at a refugee shelter where at least three people — — were asymptomatic.

In the case probed by the new study, residents were only screened for fevers, coughs and shortness of breath before testing, with six residents flagged. Five of six tested positive, plus 20 others — meaning 80 per cent of their cases may have at first appeared asymptomatic.

But a more thorough assessment the next day revealed that a dozen more of the infected residents had signs of illness. Within two weeks, all but three of the infected residents contacted for follow-up had reported at least one symptom.

While Redditt warned their data could be affected by recall bias — someone only noticing a mild symptom after being told they were sick — she described the change that a broader symptom screen could make in determining who had signs of COVID-19 as “striking.”

The most common symptom, both on the first day post-test and in the ensuing two weeks, was a headache — affecting 58.3 per cent of cases. The next most common symptom was loss of taste, with both exceeding the number who reported fevers, coughs and shortness of breath.

The study echoes , where only 0.7 per cent of residents with COVID-19 had a fever, 1.4 per cent had shortness of breath and 7.5 per cent had a cough.

The city’s asks about a variety of symptoms, including headaches.

Since the spring, Redditt believes there’s been “significant learning” about the virus.

To Rashid, their directives are now fairly clear: “Where in doubt, particularly people living in congregate living centres … the threshold needs to be very low for testing and isolation.”

Victoria Gibson is a Toronto-based reporter for the Star covering affordable housing. Her reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative. Reach her via email:

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Pair arrested for string of thefts, mischiefs on Midland street

Nov 2, 2021 , , , , by shlf

Two people have been charged in connection to a string of thefts and mischief incidents on Midland’s King Street.

A little before 5 a.m. on Oct. 19, officers were called to the King Street Hotel to investigate the theft of a motorcycle.

That led officers to locate and arrest a suspect who was attempting to commit another offence at a home on the street, police said. After a search, police found the suspect in possession of blue fentanyl.

Later in the morning, a King Street auto dealership reported that a number of vehicles awaiting repairs had been damaged, and some had been entered.

As a result of video surveillance, officers were able to identify two suspects.

A 31-year-old Penetanguishene man has been charged with six counts of mischief, theft under $5,000, trespassing and possession of an opioid.

He was held for a video bail hearing and will appear in court on Nov. 26.

A second person was arrested on Oct. 29.

A 31-year-old Midland man has been charged with six counts of mischief, and theft under $5,000

He was held for a video bail hearing and will appear in court on Dec. 3

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‘We just don’t know’: Georgian Bay General Hospital officials unsure how COVID-19 entered facility

Nov 1, 2021 , , , , by shlf

Local health officials are still working to try to determine the source of a COVID-19 outbreak at Georgian Bay General Hospital.

“As far as how it got into our organization, we just don’t know,” said Dr. Dan Lee, COVID-19 medical lead and chief of emergency medicine at GBGH. “It is a tricky virus that can easily be spread, and sometimes it is difficult to tell how that happens.”

The outbreak at the Midland hospital was declared Dec. 4 after a staff member and patient tested positive for the virus. On Dec. 7, the hospital announced an additional 13 cases, with 12 more staff members and another patient testing positive.

Since then, hospital staff and those with the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit have been feverishly conducting contact tracing for all 15 reported cases in an attempt to find out how it spread through the facility.

“The (health unit) is still trying to determine what the index case may have been and how it may have been transferred,” said Lee.

Hospital officials are in charge of contact tracing for the staff at the hospital and are working to determine who else at GBGH may have come into contact with the 15 positive cases. Health unit officials are doing contact tracing out into the community, including looking at recent visitors to the hospital and patients who were recently discharged.

According to Lee, nearly 500 staff members have been tested for COVID-19 following the pair of positive tests on Dec. 4.

“We made a decision over the weekend to go above and beyond what the recommendations were (from the health unit) and test all staff at the hospital,” said Lee. “I think this is going to be very helpful in limiting the transmission.”

Protocols at GBGH have been ramped up in response to the outbreak, which started in the 2 North inpatient unit. Since then, all admissions to 2 North have been halted and staff have been prevented from moving between floors.

Staff are now required to put on a gown and gloves prior to assessing any patient at the hospital. Capacity restrictions have been enhanced for staff break rooms, and more spaces have been designated as break areas to allow staff to keep their distance from one another.

“We’ve enhanced all our protocols beyond (Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care) guidelines,” said Lee.

The outbreak currently only extends to the inpatient units at GBGH, including 2 North, 2 East, 1 North, the intensive-care unit and obstetrics. The emergency department is not part of the outbreak.

“It is still safe to come in,” said Lee. “Even if we go to a facility-wide outbreak, we have all of our enhanced protocols in place to prevent the transmission of COVID-19. If everyone is following the protocols — our staff, our visitors, our patients — then there is minimal risk.”

While all non-urgent and elective surgeries scheduled at the hospital have been postponed, residents are still encouraged to seek medical attention if they need it.

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Nursing-home residents in Ontario may have to wait for a COVID-19 vaccine

Oct 29, 2021 , , , , by shlf

Nursing-home residents in Ontario are at risk of missing out on the first because of “stability” concerns in transporting the Pfizer vaccine once it arrives, provincial officials say.

The caution came as Premier revealed who is first in line for injections and Ontario set its third record high for new cases in as many days with 1,925 more people testing positive for the virus.

As expected, the first phase of shots will go to residents, staff and essential caregivers at nursing homes, retirement homes and other congregate settings, health-care workers such as hospital employees, Indigenous communities and adults receiving home health care for chronic conditions.

The second phase for the rest of the population is not expected to begin until April, with priorities for who will get injections to be set later, and will take six to nine months.

“People are going to have to be patient that their turn will come,” Rick Hillier, the retired general heading Ontario’s vaccine task force, said Monday.

“We’re still very far, very far, from having the millions of vaccinations we need.”

With it likely that small amounts of vaccine will arrive in the initial stages of distribution — perhaps next week — the first shots will be aimed at “hot zones” with the highest infection rates like the GTA, said Rick Hillier.

He expects about 85,000 doses, enough for 42,500 people because of the two-stage injection protocol, in the first shipment.

The plan is to do injections at central sites, requiring people to travel to them.

Aside from requiring ultracold storage, Pfizer has advised the province it’s important to minimize jostling of its vaccine to maintain its effectiveness.

“Too much movement around can…cause a deterioration,” said Dr. David Williams, Ontario’s chief medical officer.

That’s why nursing-home residents may have to wait a few weeks for the next and more stable vaccine from Moderna. It all depends on final guidance from Pfizer, said Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott.

“Obviously, many of the residents in those long-term-care homes or many of the retirement homes, in fact, could not come out and go to a vaccination site,” Hillier said.

But he told reporters that vaccinating staff and essential caregivers going to those facilities will “dramatically” decrease the risk to residents waiting for shots.

“We know the disease comes in from the outside,” said Donna Duncan of the Ontario Long-Term Care Association, estimating 624,000 doses will be needed for nursing home staff, residents and caregivers.

The virus has killed at least 2,305 nursing home residents and eight staff, including 12 residents who died in the last day, accounting for 61 per cent of Ontario’s fatalities from the pandemic. There are outbreaks in 113 nursing homes.

Ontario’s all-time high of 1,925 new daily marked the start of the third week in lockdown for Toronto and Peel.

Associate medical officer Dr. Barbara Yaffe said more time is needed to assess the “full impact” of the restrictions and noted computer modelling several weeks ago forecast Ontario could hit 6,000 cases daily if no measures had been imposed.

“It would have been a lot worse,” she added.

Deputy NDP Leader Sara Singh said the repeated records in new cases show the government has been making “empty claims” the pandemic is under control.

The new infections reported Monday boost the seven-day moving average of infections to an all-time high of 1,820.

That’s up 16 per cent in the last seven days, an increase from 10 per cent the previous week.

A total of 5,703 Ontarians have tested positive for COVID-19 since Friday and there have been 61 deaths, including 26 in the latest Ministry of Health report.

Hospitalizations are up 17 per cent in the last week to 725 people, with the latest critical-care report showing 223 people in intensive care, an increase of 22 in one day.

That means the province will soon top the record of 283 COVID-19 patients in ICU at the peak of the first wave last spring, said Anthony Dale, president of the Ontario Hospital Association.

“It’s really just a matter of time before we reach and move beyond that threshold,” he added. “Ontario is facing a brutal winter. We’ve got to turn this around.”

Health officials have warned non-emergency surgeries begin to get cancelled once ICUs hit 150 COVID-19 patients and become virtually impossible at 350.

Rob Ferguson is a Toronto-based reporter covering Ontario politics for the Star. Follow him on Twitter:

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Dozens arrested, millions in cash and property seized in police bust of high-end illegal casino in Markham mansion

Oct 29, 2021 , , , , by shlf

Illegal gaming operations — including one held in a lavish $9-million, 20,000-square-foot Markham mansion — prospered after the province shut down legal casinos because of COVID-19, police say.

“It opened up an opportunity for these more extravagant locations,” Supt. Mike Slack of York Regional Police said on Wednesday in front of a newly built stone residence on Decourcy Court near Warden Avenue and Major MacKenzie Drive.

His comments came after police announced they have arrested a husband and wife for allegedly running the multimillion-dollar gambling operation, as well as dozens of alleged gamblers.

Their arrests were part of a police operation called Project End Game, which also involved raids on residences in Toronto and Vaughan.

The gated, high-security Markham mansion had an extensive wine cellar and bar, kennels for German shepherd guard dogs, 32-foot high ceilings, 13 bathrooms, elevator, indoor pool and an eight-car garage, set on a lot of almost 2 acres.

Gamblers needed an invitation to attend and once inside, they could dine on illegal delicacies including shark fins from a chef’s kitchen, police said.

There was no social distancing or requirement to wear masks to ward off COVID-19 in the opulent illegal Markham gambling centre, Slack said.

“Human sex trafficking is also suspected and is under investigation,” Slack said.

Investigators with the York Regional Police Guns, Gangs and Drug Enforcement Unit said they seized 11 guns and more than $1 million in cash when they raided the mansion as part of a probe into illegal gaming and organized crime.

No one was injured in the July 23 raid, in which 92 tactical officers stormed the mansion.

Eleven firearms, including a loaded AR-15 assault rifle and .357 magnum revolver, more than $1 million in cash and $1.5 million in alcohol were seized, police said.

A planned raid a week earlier was called off at the last minute when helicopter surveillance showed there were a half dozen children on the premises, Slack said.

Deputy Chief Brian Bigras said gambling is far from being a victimless crime.

“It most often leads to increased violence,” Bigras said.

Charged with keeping a common gaming house, unauthorized possession of a firearm, possession of a stolen firearm and selling liquor without a licence is Wei Wei, 52, of York Region, who police said was the owner of the operation.

His wife, Xiang Yue Chen, 48, was charged with keeping a common betting house, possession of proceeds of crime and selling liquor without a licence, as was their daughter, Chen Wei, 25.

Wei Dong, 32, who lived on the premises, was charged with multiple offences, including keeping a gaming house, 11 counts of unsafe storage of a firearm and possession of a stolen firearm.

There were related raids staged by police on July 30 on Woodland Acres in Vaughan, in which three people were arrested and more than $70,000 cash were seized and at 3276 Midland Ave. in Toronto in which gaming equipment and more than $20,000 were seized, police said.

“The money moving through these underground casinos leads to huge profits for criminals that fund other ventures such as prostitution and drug trafficking,” York Region Police Chief Jim MacSween said in a prepared statement.

“This illegal high-stakes gambling also leads to gun violence, armed robberies, kidnappings, extortion and other serious violent offences within our community,” MacSween said.

Peter Edwards is a Toronto-based reporter primarily covering crime for the Star. Reach him by email at

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Confused on COVID rules? You’re not alone

Oct 28, 2021 , , , , by shlf

Rising cases — an average of more than 1,400 new cases daily over the past week — forced the Ontario government to make a tighter grip on restrictions this week. Toronto and Peel Region are now on lockdown, meaning the closure of non-essential businesses and strict limits on gatherings.

But that kind of clear communication has been more exception than rule. The Ontario government (among other governments) has been criticized for its confusing, and at times, contradictory messaging and policies on COVID restrictions. The Toronto Star has reported on how the Ontario government has of its own public health doctors, how Toronto Public Health officials have had to sign and how for Canadians.

The news has led to a confusing and frustrating time for many who want clear guidance on what behaviours and activities are safest.

Roxanne Khamsi, science journalist and contributor to WIRED Magazine, joins This Matters to talk about the muddied waters of public health messaging and why that makes controlling COVID in the second wave that much harder.

Listen to this episode and more at or subscribe at , , or wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts.

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It’s still too early to know if Toronto’s new COVID-19 restrictions are working, health officials say

Oct 26, 2021 , , , , by shlf

It will take more time to know whether renewed restrictions in Toronto are helping to dampen the transmission of , the city’s medical officer of health said Monday.

“I don’t think we have yet seen the full impact,” said Dr. Eileen de Villa, speaking at a COVID-19 update from city hall.

“I look forward to seeing what comes in the next few weeks.”

The number of new COVID-19 infections in the province hit new highs on the weekend, with Ontario reporting .

On Monday Toronto reported another 300 cases, while the number of hospitalizations climbed to 132, an increase of 17 people in one day, according to Toronto Public Health.

“I think it’s reasonable to think that part of the surge we’re seeing in Toronto is tied to Thanksgiving,” de Villa said. “It’s been 14 days since Thanksgiving Monday.”

Cases also spiked two weeks after Labour Day.

Dr. Barbara Yaffe, Ontario’s associate medical officer of health, said Monday there were a number of clusters related to family gatherings on Thanksgiving weekend.

She said that while the province’s total Monday — 851 cases — was down from the weekend, the seven-day average for new cases was up to 878, a 20 per cent increase over the prior week.

She said more than three-quarters of cases in the last few days came in Toronto, Peel, Ottawa and York, which are all in a modified Stage 2, with gyms shuttered and restrictions on indoor dining in place.

The seven-day average for positivity is also up to three per cent, compared to 2.6 per cent a week ago.

Yaffe noted that outbreaks are being seen among sports teams, including hockey and football teams in Ottawa.

She added that the person who triggered likely contracted the virus in a bar in Toronto, and that people who are infected with COVID-19 are about three times more likely to have dined in a restaurant.

It’s been two weeks since gyms were closed and renewed restrictions on dining indoors were put in place in Toronto, but Mayor John Tory offered a glimmer of hope to business owners that re-opening will, at the very least, be thoroughly considered.

The renewed restrictions, imposed on Oct. 10, were initially set to last for 28 days.

Tory said that he has asked de Villa to prepare at least one scenario in which bars and restaurants and gyms can be safely re-opened at that time.

“I am, of course, not able to say today whether we will be in a position to adopt these kinds of scenarios on day 29, but I am determined to work with the province to see that we have them ready and I am extremely hopeful that we will, in fact, be in a position to do so,” Tory said.

“We need a safe path forward for our restaurants and other establishments.”

Tory said it’s difficult to balance public health priorities — keeping people safe from COVID-19, while also ensuring that doing so doesn’t create more negative health outcomes.

“People’s overall sense of well-being, their mental state, their employment and financial status and a number of other things are all a part of public health,” Tory said.

Lockdown measures are being met with protests in Quebec, where the owners of about 200 gym, dance, yoga and martial arts facilities say they plan to re-open Thursday in defiance of restrictions currently in place.

Francine Kopun is a Toronto-based reporter covering city hall and municipal politics for the Star. Follow her on Twitter:

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New Tecumseth taxpayers could be asked to pay this much more in 2021

Oct 25, 2021 , , , , by shlf

The budget is kicking off with a capital levy of $38.4 million, which works out to a 1.95 per cent general levy increase.

The town is also adding a 0.5 per cent increase to replace aging infrastructure, bringing the proposed increase up to 2.45 per cent.

For the average owner of a home worth $452,695, this would translate to a property tax increase of $56. This is slightly below the previous year’s increase of $70.

The budget working session will take place Nov. 9 starting at 9 a.m.

A public input session will be held Nov. 10 at 7 p.m.

Residents who want to make comments need to

The town plans to pass the budget on Dec. 14.

Major capital projects proposed for 2021 include:

• Dayfoot Street reconstruction

• 7th Line road improvements

• Fire Station 4 and Fire Station 3 expansion

• Gravel road program

• Faulkner Park construction

• Boyne River Trail West

• Beattie Bridge Creek crossing

• Development application tracking system

• Urban design and place making guidelines