上海龙凤419,上海419论坛,夜上海论坛 – Powered By WeiFeng TV

Category: qzyczew

qzyczew

Today’s coronavirus news: Deputy PM Chrystia Freeland takes COVID-19 test after app alert; Ontario reports 1,015 cases, 9 deaths; 11 cases at Scarborough school

Aug 10, 2021 , , , , by shlf

The latest news from Canada and around the world Saturday. This file will be updated throughout the day. Web links to longer stories if available.

9:19 p.m.: Ontario Premier Doug Ford is leaving the door open for bodychecking to remain in the Ontario Hockey League for the upcoming season.

Ford tweeted Saturday night that he is working on a return to play plan with the OHL that would involve physical contact. He acknowledged that the plan would need to be approved by health experts.

This comes one day after Ontario’s minister of sport, Lisa MacLeod, said bodychecking would not be allowed during the COVID-19 pandemic in a speech delivered to the Empire Club of Canada.

The minister says the decision to ban bodychecking came after outbreaks in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, which led to games being postponed and rescheduled.

The QMJHL is the lone league of the three major junior leagues in action, though eight of the 18 teams aren’t allowed on the ice currently. The OHL plans to start its shortened season Feb. 4.

9:00 p.m.: Manitoba said it had 349 new positive tests to report on Saturday. While the new case count was down from the record-smashing 480 on Friday, it’s still much higher than the province’s previous new-case record of 193 set Thursday.

Starting Monday, bars and restaurants in Winnipeg can open only for pickup or takeout while facilities such as movie theatres, museums and libraries must close.

The measures, along with others, will last two weeks and will be reassessed at that time.

5:12 p.m.: Stanford University researchers say U.S. President Donald Trump’s months of campaign rallies resulted in thousands of COVID-19 cases.

Trump’s rallies likely led to thousands of coronavirus cases and hundreds of deaths, according to a Stanford report released on Friday. The study estimated that 18 Trump campaign rallies this summer were linked to more than 30,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 700 deaths.

“The communities in which Trump rallies took place paid a high price in terms of disease and death.”,” the researchers wrote.

The study analyzed COVID-19 cases in counties where rallies were held from June 20 to Sept. 22. The researchers relied on information from the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

4:08 p.m.: Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, announced she took a COVID-19 test on Saturday after a notification from the national tracking app.

Her stated: “Today, I had a COVID-19 test after I received a notification from the COVID Alert app. I am isolating at home while I wait for the results of the test. My thanks to our excellent health care professionals.”

3:48 p.m.: England will once again go into lockdown on Thursday, after COVID cases surpassed one million since the start of the pandemic.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the measures late Saturday. Bars and restaurants will close other than takeout for four weeks. (Schools and universities will be open and Premier League soccer will continue.)

“We have to change with the changing pattern of the virus. And, alas, what we’re seeing now is a pretty consistent surge.”

The move follows a series of incremental and regional measures, but the virus has not slowed down. The BBC reports that the last seven days have seen an average of 23,000 daily cases and 237 daily deaths.

2:17 p.m.: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to announce a second national lockdown for England, the BBC reports.

Non-essential shops and hospitality will have to close for four weeks, sources told the BBC, but schools and universities would remain open.

1:50 p.m.: A letter sent by the Ontario Restaurant Hotel and Motel and Association to Premier Doug Ford is calling for clear and transparent data before any further dining restrictions are put in due to the pandemic.

, signed by 37 food service leaders and released publicly, also calls for consultation with the industry, based on that data, and notes major job losses that have occurred and are expected.

Ford and Toronto Mayor John Tory said this week they would like to see the modified Stage 2 restrictions on bars and restaurants lifted at the end of their 28-day-periods, though many epidemiologists say more caution is needed.

1:18 p.m.: Public health officials in Nova Scotia say they’ve identified five new cases of COVID-19 in the province on Friday.

They say four of the cases are related to travel outside the Atlantic bubble, while the fifth is connected to a previous case.

Chief medical officer Dr. Robert Strang says the uptick in cases shows the increasing risk of travelling outside the bubble as other provinces in Canada deal with a second wave of the disease. The province now has a total of 11 active cases.

12:10 p.m.: Quebec is reporting 1,064 new cases of COVID-19 today and 15 additional deaths linked to the virus.

Provincial public health authorities say 503 people are currently in hospital due to the novel coronavirus, a decline of 12 from the day before.

Of those, 82 are in intensive care, an increase of one from the day before.

Public health said six of the additional deaths took place within the past 24-hours, with the rest taking place at an earlier date.

Quebec conducted 28,222 COVID-19 tests on Oct. 29, the most recent date for which data is available.

The provincial health department has now reported 106,016 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Quebec and 6,246 deaths linked to the virus.

11:23 a.m.: A outbreak was declared at a Scarborough elementary school Friday afternoon after nine staff members and two students tested positive for the coronavirus.

According to Toronto Public Health, 58 students have been asked to self-isolate as a precaution. The cases are believed to be linked to a single wing of the building.

Glamorgan Junior Public Schoolremains open, as the remainder of the school does not pose a threat.

10:37 a.m.: Ontario is reporting 1,015 cases of COVID-19 today, and nine deaths.

Health Minister Christine Elliott tweeted that there are 325 new cases in Toronto, 282 in Peel, 94 in Ottawa and 88 in York Region.

The seven-day average is at 914 daily, up from 803 this time last week. Today’s total cases is the second-highest, with 1,042 reported on Oct. 25.

More than 41,900 tests were completed, and 798 more cases are considered resolved.

Ontario recorded nine new deaths, equalling the number from the previous day. The numbers hospitalized were 320 (up six), with 73 in ICU (down two).

The total deaths from the virus in the province stands at 3,136.

10:32 a.m.: Grand Chief Arlen Dumas shook his head in shock when he saw the line indicating new First Nations infections on a chart during the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs most recent COVID-19 meeting.

“Up until today the average was usually slightly below the provincial rates, but today is quite alarming,” Dumas said Friday.

Indigenous leaders and health professionals are warning that the second wave of COVID-19 is building quickly among First Nations on the Prairies. Canada’s chief public health officer, Dr. Theresa Tam, reported Friday that 26 Indigenous communities had reported two or more active COVID-19 cases. Seventeen of those were in Manitoba.

A surge of infections in Saskatchewan and Alberta is also affecting reserves. The most recent numbers from Indigenous Services Canada show 116 on-reserve cases in Saskatchewan and 79 in Alberta.

Health officials say numbers shared by Manitoba’s First Nations COVID-19 pandemic response team indicate the impact is worsening. There are 516 active cases involving Indigenous people — 171 of them who live on reserve. Manitoba’s test positivity among First Nations stands at 11 per cent. It’s 8.6 per cent for the rest of the province.

9:21 a.m.: Wimbledon champion Simona Halep has tested positive for COVID-19 and says she has “mild symptoms.” The 29-year-old Romanian player said on Twitter that she is self-isolating at home and “recovering well from mild symptoms.”

Halep is ranked No. 2 in the world. She won Wimbledon in 2019 and the French Open in 2018. Wimbledon was cancelled this year because of the pandemic.

Halep skipped the U.S. Open due to fears of catching COVID-19. She said in August that she preferred to stay and train in Europe.

7:57 a.m.: Australia has announced it will spend 500 million Australian dollars ($351 million) to secure COVID-19 vaccines for the Pacific and Southeast Asia “as part of a shared recovery for our region from the pandemic.”

The government said it would use a range of advance purchase agreements with manufacturers via the global COVAX Facility plan, which aims to ensure virus vaccines are shared with all nations.

“We are committing an additional AU$500 million over three years towards this effort,” it said. “The funding will further help ensure that the countries of the Pacific and East Timor are able to achieve full immunization coverage, and will make a significant contribution toward meeting the needs of southeast Asia.

“A fast, safe vaccine rollout … will mean we are able to return to more normal travel, tourism and trade with our key partners in the region.”

Meanwhile, officials in Victoria state reported just one new case of COVID-19 on Saturday as Melbourne residents head into a weekend of greater social freedom.

7:50 a.m.: Greece will shut down restaurants, bars, cafes, cinemas and gyms across a large part of the country, including the capital Athens, after a surge in coronavirus cases.

Outlining the measures in a televised address, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said the changes will take effect Tuesday morning and last for the whole of November.

The areas affected are most of northern Greece and the Athens region.

7:02 a.m.: The British government is considering imposing a new national lockdown in England, after its scientific advisers warned that hospitalizations and deaths from the resurgence of the coronavirus could soon surpass the levels seen at the outbreak’s spring peak.

Epidemiologist John Edmunds, a member of the government’s scientific advisory group, said cases were running “significantly above” a reasonable worst-case scenario drawn up by modelers early this month.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has introduced a system of local restrictions for England based on levels of infection. But scientists say it has not been enough.

4:55 a.m.: China has reported six new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in an outbreak in Xinjiang, bringing the total in the far-west region to 51.

Six were in serious condition, Xinjiang health authorities said Saturday. Another 161 people have tested positive but show no symptoms.

The outbreak in Shufu county, near the city of Kashgar, appears to be linked to a garment factory that employs 252 people and has been sealed off.

4:01 a.m.: The latest numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Canada as of 4:00 a.m. EDT on Oct. 31, 2020:

There are 231,998 confirmed cases in Canada.

_ Quebec: 104,952 confirmed (including 6,231 deaths, 89,592 resolved)

_ Ontario: 74,715 confirmed (including 3,127 deaths, 63,919 resolved)

_ Alberta: 27,664 confirmed (including 323 deaths, 22,169 resolved)

_ British Columbia: 14,381 confirmed (including 263 deaths, 11,670 resolved)

_ Manitoba: 5,374 confirmed (including 65 deaths, 2,572 resolved)

_ Saskatchewan: 3,066 confirmed (including 25 deaths, 2,299 resolved)

_ Nova Scotia: 1,104 confirmed (including 65 deaths, 1,033 resolved)

_ New Brunswick: 342 confirmed (including 6 deaths, 297 resolved)

_ Newfoundland and Labrador: 291 confirmed (including 4 deaths, 282 resolved)

_ Prince Edward Island: 64 confirmed (including 63 resolved)

_ Yukon: 23 confirmed (including 1 death, 17 resolved)

_ Repatriated Canadians: 13 confirmed (including 13 resolved)

_ Northwest Territories: 9 confirmed (including 8 resolved)

_ Nunavut: No confirmed cases

_ Total: 231,998 (0 presumptive, 231,998 confirmed including 10,110 deaths, 193,934 resolved)

qzyczew

Town waiting for funding decision on adventure playground project at Riverdale Park in Alliston

Aug 9, 2021 , , , , by shlf

There’s a reason the new equipment at the adventure playground in Riverdale Park in Alliston is still MIA.

Dan Burton, the Town of New Tecumseth’s director of parks, recreation and culture, said the equipment was on track to be installed this summer, but the work was paused after the province informed the town the project was being considered for funding through the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP).

The joint federal and provincial funding program will provide $30 billion to municipalities over 10 years for projects related to recreation, culture and public transit.

If the province hasn’t made a decision by the end of the year, Burton said, council will have to decide whether to proceed with the work as planned, with the hopes of having the playground installed next spring.

The total cost of removing and replacing the equipment has been estimated at about $440,000.

Council has also agreed to award a contract to a company to design, supply and install playground equipment for the town over the three years.

Audits performed in recent years determined that 12 playground structures need replacing.

The draft budget includes funding to install new playground equipment at Faulkner Park in Alliston and Pitel Park in Beeton, and to replace equipment at Beeton Community Park and Eastern Park in Tottenham.

Faulkner Park will cost $700,000, Pitel Park will cost $546,000, and Beeton Community Park and Eastern Park will both cost $330,000.

CHANGE APPROVED

Council has rubber-stamped a zoning-bylaw amendment to allow SmartCentres to move forward in the planning process for a mixed-use development across from Walmart that will include eight apartment buildings.

The full development at includes 350 rental units, but the first phase of the development only has one building with 42 units.

The developer has also proposed using the site for a hotel and commercial self-storage facility.

A holding symbol has been placed on the property until the town determines whether sufficient water supply is available to service the development.

qzyczew

Had your COVID-19 vaccine? Ontario will give you a card to prove it

Aug 9, 2021 , , , , by shlf

Ontario will give people who complete their proof of vaccination in case they need it to travel, to work or to go to the movies, Health Minister Christine Elliott says.

With the first vaccine shipment expected this month, Elliott promised a new public communications campaign to educate people on all aspects of the vaccinations, including why it’s important to get them and potential side effects.

There will also be a system to keep track of who gets the first primer shot to make sure they return for the booster a few weeks later.

While the vaccine will be voluntary, Elliott said Ontarians should be aware it may become a requirement for travel on airplanes, employment and other activities where there is close contact with others, given the highly contagious nature of the virus.

has infected at least 131,000 Ontarians and killed 3,808 in the province, with a record 16,151 residents now fighting active cases after testing positive in the last 14 days.

“There may be some restrictions that may be placed on people that don’t have vaccinations, for travel purposes, to be able to go to theatres and other places,” Elliott said Tuesday.

“That will be essential for people to have.”

The communications campaign will also be aimed at helping people who may be hesitant to make a decision for whatever reason, such as the rapid development or concerns it is new. .

“Some people want the vaccine but they don’t want to be first. That’s where it’s important for us to have a public campaign on awareness.”

Liberal House Leader John Fraser said communications will have to be much better than the flu shot effort this fall, where heavy demand outpaced deliveries and resulted in some pharmacies cancelling appointments because they ran out of vaccine.

“Ontarians will need clear and consistent communication to know what to expect,” Fraser added. “This means setting targets and showing your progress.”

Phase one of the vaccination effort will focus on residents, staff and essential caregivers at nursing homes, retirement homes and other congregate living situations like group homes, health-care workers such as hospital employees, Indigenous communities and people receiving home health care for chronic conditions.

That means most Ontarians won’t start getting shots until April, when phase two is expected to begin. There are no approved vaccines yet for those under the age of 18.

The first shipment is coming from Pfizer, with locations for injections to be announced soon but likely to be at a few of the 21 hospitals with ultracold freezers need to keep the vaccines at about -80C.

Elliott said the drug company will ship boxes of the vaccine directly to hospitals the government chooses, which will be “in the areas of the greatest need,” such as the GTA hot zones for transmission of the virus.

Locations will be announced soon, and people on the priority list will have to go to the central vaccination sites.

The government has warned that nursing home residents may have to wait until a second and more stable vaccine from Moderna is approved and ready because Pfizer has advised too much jostling of the medicine can reduce its effectiveness, meaning it cannot be taken directly into long-term care facilities

“They shouldn’t be moved more than once,” Elliott said, rejecting long-term care homes as initial deployment sites for the Pfizer vaccine because they don’t have deep freeze capability.

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

qzyczew

Heather Scoffield: Want to save the economy? Let’s start with the $150 billion that Canadians have saved during the pandemic

Aug 9, 2021 , , , , by shlf

There’s a good reason why the cry to “buy local” for Christmas shopping has risen to a fever pitch, flooding our inboxes and social media streams with high-pressure ads to attend online craft markets and order takeout food.

Canadian households are sitting on more than $150 billion in savings right now, according to new calculations from BMO Capital Markets. They’re hunkering down for the duration of the pandemic, and the private sector and governments alike are nervous that all that money will sit dormant or seep out of the country and into the hands of Amazon.

It’s a huge amount of money, much larger than the fiscal stimulus package of between $70 billion and $100 billion that Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland says is on the way next year.

Like the local restaurants and the artisans at the Christmas fair, Freeland made it clear this week she has her eye on all that money. She wants to “unleash” it and see it flowing through the economy, bringing consumption, sales and investment back to life.

But not quite yet. It’s part of her government’s post-pandemic yet-to-be-designed recovery plan for the future. That’s where the tension lies.

“The government’s growth plan will include investments that deliver on our commitment to create a million jobs and restore employment to pre-pandemic levels, as well as unleash some of the Canadian economy’s pre-loaded stimulus: additional savings that have accumulated in bank accounts of some Canadians and balance sheets of some businesses,” Freeland said Monday as she presented her fiscal update in the House of Commons.

“This will foster economic rebirth in the short run and strengthen this country’s competitiveness in the long run.”

This week’s fiscal update took a small step to encourage “buy local” by announcing the intention to charge sales tax on purchases from Amazon.

But for businesses, especially small firms that have had trouble moving their operations online and keeping their customers, waiting for a recovery plan feels far too long.

They’re pushing government authorities at every level to create the conditions for at least some reopening. They’re urging funding for improved testing, help to make public places safer, more personal protective equipment for firms and broader use of the COVID-19 app.

The hope, explains Perrin Beatty of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, is to funnel some of those excess savings in people’s bank accounts into struggling businesses in a safe and cautious way — well before vaccines bring the pandemic to an end.

“We need a strategy to manage the risk,” he says.

The big pile of savings sticks out like a sore thumb when you look at the state of the pandemic economy.

Statistics Canada reported on Tuesday that Canada’s GDP grew a record-breaking 8.9 per cent in the third quarter of 2020 — which works out to a 40.5 per cent expansion if that pace were to continue for a year.

But of course it won’t continue for a year, and in fact it’s less of a boost than many economists had projected for the rebound following the pervasive pandemic closures earlier this year. The Canadian economy is still 5.3 per cent smaller now than it was a year ago, and the next few months are, by all accounts, going to be just dreadful, Christmas shopping be damned.

Despite the downturn, savings have soared. Canadians were stashing away 14.6 per cent of their disposable income this fall. That’s less than the 27.5 per cent of this summer, but far, far above the single digits of the pre-pandemic economy.

Critics are quick to say it’s proof the federal government dished out way more money than it needed do, especially in the early days of the pandemic when almost anyone could qualify for emergency response benefits.

But shows that low-income households needed most of their CERB funds to get by. Middle-class families soaked up the CERB and had to borrow more. And most of the excess savings are in the bank accounts of high-income households — likely a factor of pandemic constraints rather than government largesse or excess caution.

That’s why Doug Porter, chief economist at BMO Capital Markets, suspects the federal government may not need a big stimulus package after all. When pandemic restrictions disappear, those high-income people with the bulging bank accounts may pay off some debts, but they will also be wanting to travel, entertain themselves and their friends, and spend lots of money.

There won’t be much of a need to “unleash” anything, Porter argues, because that $150 billion will spring to life on its own accord.

“I think there’s a ton of pent-up demand,” he says.

If only it were set free in time for Christmas.

Heather Scoffield is the Star’s Ottawa bureau chief and an economics columnist. Follow her on Twitter:

qzyczew

‘We would be in serious trouble’: Federal funding has helped Collingwood businesses stay afloat during COVID-19 pandemic

Aug 6, 2021 , , , , by shlf

Guy Laporte and Craig Ashton are owners of the Craigleith Manor Bed and Breakfast.

For more than five years, they’ve aimed to make it a popular destination for tourists.

“We’re ranked as one of the top B&Bs in Canada,” Laporte said. “This makes this B&B a really busy place. It’s been absolutely fabulous for the last five-and-a-half years, until COVID smacked us.”

They closed their doors from March until July but when they reopened, they saw sales drop by 40 per cent. While August, September and October were on the upswing, rising COVID-19 cases have once again led to a downturn in business.

“We’re back now to no guests at all and it’s primarily because of what’s going on in Toronto,” Laporte said. 

It’s one of the reasons, Laporte and Ashton are thankful for the federal government’s Regional Relief and Recovery Fund, which provides businesses with loans to keep them afloat.

“Like any small business that has no revenue from sales, you still have ongoing expenses,” Laporte said. “There’s no doubt, we would be in serious trouble. This is a small business that went into debt further so that we could stay alive. We’re just happy to have the lifeline.”

Gillian Fairley is general manager of the Centre for Business and Economic Development in Collingwood, which administers the program.

She said her office has helped more than 29 businesses secure much-needed funding.

“It was critical,” she said. “When they first launched the program, we were inundated with applications. It was very much needed, it’s still needed now.”

While some of the programs have specific requirements, Fairley said her office is able to help corporations and main street businesses.

“It’s really meant to address the gaps in funding for businesses who can’t access other programs,” she said. 

Black Bellows Brewing Company opened its brewery and restaurant in the heart of downtown Collingwood in January, just a few months before the pandemic. 

“The pandemic put a huge financial strain on the company when it hit in March,” said Bryn Davies, owner of Black Bellows. “The (funding) was instrumental in getting the company back on its feet, hiring back staff that we were forced to lay off when the pandemic hit, and pivoting the business in new directions.”

Laporte said they are a small boutique operation, who can have up to six guests. He is hopeful that ski season is somewhat normal but said the funding will ““allow us to stay here, to keep this business open, even with smaller numbers of guests, until the economy comes back up.”

Story behind the story: Many businesses in the tourist industry have struggled since the pandemic and we wanted to find out how they’ve been able to stay afloat and whether relief funding has helped.

 

qzyczew

Barrie council news: Ward staying on as deputy mayor, two houses added to heritage register

Aug 3, 2021 , , , , by shlf

The deputy mayor’s chair has become a comfortable seat for Barry Ward. So he’ll keep it.

Barrie council is expected to reappoint the city’s Ward 4 councillor to the post of deputy mayor during a meeting Nov. 23. Ward was initially chosen for a two-year stint as deputy mayor in December 2018; he was supposed to be replaced by then-Ward 3 Coun. Doug Shipley for the latter half of this council term — but Shipley resigned from council in 2019 to become Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte MP.

The deputy mayor’s position was created to help reduce the number of demands on the mayor’s time.

The appointee also chairs general committee and council meetings in the mayor’s absence.

This position took the place of the acting mayor role that rotated among the city’s 10 ward councillors.

Properties to receive heritage status

Two new sites are set to be added to the city’s heritage register.

Barrie’s general committee approved requests to place homes at and streets on the register. The decision must be ratified by council next week.

The register is a publicly-accessible list of properties that have cultural heritage value or foster civic identity. These sites are usually deemed important to the community for architectural, historical or contextual reasons.

City slows down possible sale of ex-Vespra Street fire hall

Barrie will do a little more digging before moving ahead with the sale of a former fire hall property.

Council is expected to ask staff next week to look into the possibility of starting the Official Plan amendment and rezoning process for and 70 Victoria streets. Under the plan, staff will prepare a report on the matter for the city’s building committee, before the municipality proceeds with the sale of the land.

This is the location of a former municipal fire hall.

Earlier this year, staff noted the site will require nearly $500,000 in remediation work prior to redevelopment and that existing soil conditions are not ideal for supporting heavy loads.

Once that work is complete, the intention will be to create affordable housing on the property. 

To make a proposal work, city officials have indicated a willingness to close off the section of Vespra between Sanford and Innisfil streets.

qzyczew

Ottawa offers ‘expensive’ loans to pandemic-battered airlines

Jul 27, 2021 , , , , by shlf

With the national airlines council and unions calling for a bailout, Deputy Prime Minister said Tuesday that struggling air carriers can always apply to the government’s loan program for large employers.

In the wake of WestJet slashing most of its flights to Atlantic Canada last week, questions are again being raised as to whether the federal government will step in with a bailout for the beleaguered industry that would likely run into the billions of dollars.

Freeland’s mention of the large employer loan program will likely do little to soothe the airlines’ concerns over liquidity. The council that represents them and the unions that represent their workers say the loan program is unworkable for a sector that needs low-interest, multi-year assistance.

Meanwhile, the opposition and have said reimbursing passengers for flights cancelled due to the pandemic should be a key condition of any potential bailout.

Last weekend, Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc told CTV’s “Question Period” that the government was exploring a range of options, including taking a stake in the airlines.

When asked Tuesday about financial assistance — and specifically whether the government’s Large Employer Emergency Financing Facility (LEEFF) program would be used — Freeland said she has been having discussions with airline and union officials.

“The LEEFF program … is a form of significant liquidity support that is available for all Canadian companies to apply for,” she said.

Announced in May, the program would provide a loan of at least $60 million to the country’s biggest employers — those with annual revenues of more than $300 million and whose financial needs during the COVID-19 pandemic are not being met through conventional financing.

Freeland also pointed out that the airlines have “taken significant advantage” of the government’s wage subsidy to cover a portion of workers’ salaries since the spring, receiving more than $1 billion.

On Tuesday, about 250 airline workers demonstrated on Parliament Hill, carrying signs reading “Save Canadian aviation,” and demanding federal aid for the sector.

Lisa Kampis, a CUPE union representative with Sunwing in Montreal, said airlines cannot continue to survive “without some form of financial sustainability package,” but rejected suggestions that Ottawa should take an ownership stake.

“You’re asking Canadian airlines to wait it out, and still pay their bills,” she said. “How can you pay millions upon millions in bills every day, be socially responsible, assume more costs, do the wage subsidy program and not get anything to help them ride it out?”

LEEFF loans start with an interest rate of five per cent, rising to eight per cent the following year, which critics say makes them unpalatable to many companies including airlines.

“It’s expensive money,” said John Gradek, a former Air Canada executive who is now a faculty lecturer and program co-ordinator in aviation leadership at McGill University.

“That’s been (airlines’) major concern with applying for LEEFF — the cost of the program is much more than what the market would normally charge for those types of loans.”

The president of one of the unions representing Canada’s pilots said LEEFF has been raised in government-airline discussions.

“Certainly over the last number of months that has been reiterated as a program that’s available,” said Tim Perry, Canadian president of Airline Pilots Association International, which represents pilots from airlines including WestJet and Air Transat.

“However, it’s not a program, upon consideration, that seems to be really workable for this sector, and that has been sort of evidenced by a distinct lack of participation.”

It’s unclear just how many airlines have applied to LEEFF. Porter Airlines confirmed it did apply to better understand the terms of the loan, but “we are currently assessing our ongoing capital requirements and whether pursuing a LEEFF loan is appropriate for Porter,” the company told the Star on Tuesday.

Representatives of Air Canada and WestJet did not respond to requests for comment on Tuesday.

The National Airlines Council of Canada has urged Freeland to move beyond the program to ensure the survival of an industry whose business is down 90 per cent or more.

“LEEFF was not designed in the context of a specific industry remaining at Stage Zero for an indeterminate time period, while other aspects of the economy are allowed to methodically reopen across the country,” council president and CEO Mike McNaney wrote to Freeland in August.

“Aviation is remaining at Stage Zero because of sector-specific policies. We therefore require a sector-specific liquidity response.”

The council called for measures that included loans or direct assistance, with an approach that recognizes “recovery is going to be a multi-year process and ensures government financial terms reflect the potential lengthy downturn in industry revenue.”

LEEFF would also allow the government to take a stake in public companies. Gradek said while airlines may not be interested in the LEEFF program itself, they could be open to government taking a stake as part of a bailout package — a reversal from their stance in the spring.

“I think the industry is saying, ‘Wait a second this is now four months later … We’re ready to talk about what it is the government is prepared to offer us in terms of dollars and the conditions attached to those dollars,’” Gradek said.

Perry, whose union has been pushing for low-interest loans, agreed that there appears to be an openness now to the idea of the government getting more involved.

“I think that earlier on in the pandemic … most airlines were reluctant to entertain that at all,” he said.

“Now the situation has grown in severity and I think the willingness to participate in a program such as that would really come down to the details.”

With files from Tonda MacCharles

Jacques Gallant is a Toronto-based reporter covering legal affairs for the Star. Follow him on Twitter:

qzyczew

Martin Regg Cohn: Ontario’s PC government has changed its tune on hiking our debt. Don’t expect the same on raising taxes

Jul 19, 2021 , , , , by shlf

It took a Progressive Conservative government and a pandemic to push Ontario’s debt beyond $400 billion.

Now it’s barrelling toward $500 billion, which translates into half a trillion dollars — plus or minus. That adds up to the biggest debt for any “subsovereign” entity on the planet.

Is our province in over its proverbial head?

Finance Minister Rod Phillips shakes his head: “No.”

Not to worry, Phillips says reassuringly in the middle of the cavernous Toronto Star newsroom, now nearly empty in mid-pandemic. He is and the newspaper’s senior leadership, and he is on the spot — even if socially distanced.

In opposition, his Tories pointed accusing fingers over Ontario’s rising repayment burden. Now, in power, their fingerprints are all over that debt.

It can now be said that the Tories are doing the right thing — not the right wing thing. Borrowing big is risky, but doing less would be reckless.

At what point does Ontario’s debt load reach the point of no return?

The rate of return for the province’s infrastructure investments has never been higher, because : 1.6 per cent a year, according to his . Phillips is correct that in the worst of times, there has never been a better time to borrow — and lock in for the long term.

Ontario is not an over-leveraged private firm, nor an overstretched household. The province is deeply diversified, endowed with valuable natural resources, rich human resources and unrivalled competitive advantages — geographic and governmental.

True, the province is not a nation. Hence the old bugaboo about our so-called “subsovereign” status, about which it is often said that we have borrowed more money than any comparable subnational jurisdiction on earth.

But what does that mean in the real world?

Yes, Ontario is uniquely indebted. But it is also uniquely endowed and uniquely positioned — a province unlike any other, by virtue of its population but also its economic heft and industrial base. Other provinces have not been so lucky of late, running out of runway when investors balked at their public debt offerings.

Hence the recurring spectre of the debt wall that haunts every government, not least the NDP government of the early 1990s: What if Wall Street or Bay Street stops buying our bonds because they deem our debt not a good bet?

A provincial treasurer cannot allow himself to discuss such delicate matters in public, so Phillips opts for discretion over speculation. Suffice to say there are countless reasons that the bond markets cannot now resist buying a half-trillion dollars in Ontario debt.

Perhaps the real answer is that no other jurisdiction fits our subsovereign description, both in terms of debt obligations but also governing obligations. American states are restricted in their borrowings, which is why our province is more indebted than any of them, and thus different by definition.

American governments also have less onerous responsibilities, notably in health care — OHIP delivers universal coverage that no U.S. state offers, yielding savings to employers who aren’t saddled with costly private health plans. Comparing us to overseas jurisdictions is equally pointless because we are incomparably well situated, given our proximity to American markets and a stable currency.

There’s another reason bond markets and credit rating agencies like Ontario’s debt, but which the finance minister is also loath to discuss publicly. Just as it’s too risky for Phillips to rattle the bond markets over our debt, it’s also too dangerous for him to discuss dreaded tax increases.

The reason our debt keeps ballooning is that our taxes aren’t keeping pace. Put another way, the better way to get a grip on our spiralling debt isn’t to cut spending on services — already the lowest per capita in Canada — but raise taxes to catch up with other provinces, such as Quebec.

The question is not merely ideological but fiscal. Credit rating agencies can see for themselves that Ontario has a strong tax base to bail itself out — if not now, later; if not mid-pandemic, perhaps post-pandemic.

Ontarians will eventually have to level with themselves about the delusion that we can continue to pay low taxes and low hydro rates while bankrolling rising costs and growing investments that keep us competitive. Perhaps that’s why Phillips has quietly ignored his party’s pledge in the last election to lower hydro rates by a further 12 per cent.

Promise made, promise kept — on hold.

As it is, the treasury is already bleeding billions of dollars to pay for hydro subsidies dreamed up by the last Liberal government to ratchet down costs for ratepayers on the backs of taxpayers (egged on by the Tories in opposition, echoed by the NDP). In this month’s budget, Phillips opted to lower hydro rates further — but only for commercial customers, not for ordinary taxpayers who will be footing the bill.

The finance minister is betting lower electricity costs will attract more industrial investment, which in turn broadens the rate base. But taking on yet more debt to pay endless electricity bills is a gamble.

Phillips has a sleight of hand up his sleeve. He is not only borrowing other people’s money in record quantities, he is also spending other people’s money in vast quantities — courtesy of federal cash flow that has reached record heights.

Ontario still won’t say how much, but it’s a question I put to the finance department on budget day, and again Friday to Phillips in the Toronto Star newsroom. As ever, he pledged full transparency.

Promise made, promise kept — on hold. We’ll keep asking.

Martin Regg Cohn is a Toronto-based columnist covering Ontario politics for the Star. Follow him on Twitter:

qzyczew

Had a baby during the pandemic? Midland’s Well Baby clinic is here to help

Jul 15, 2021 , , , , by shlf

Having a baby during the pandemic adds an extra layer of worry for new parents, says a registered nurse.

“A lot of moms are scared when they come in — Scared about doing something wrong, and nobody has told them what to do. And it’s COVID-19,” says Rebecca Sloan, who is part of the Well Baby team, operating out of the North Simcoe Family Health Team at in Midland.

The disadvantage of having a baby during the pandemic is there is less physical support for new parents and less access to community resources, said Sloan.

That’s why she’s trying to get the word out about the Well Baby program. It’s an OHIP-supported program available for parents of children, from birth to age three, which has now converted to offering the majority of appointments over the phone.

Sloan was recently a part of the Midland Cultural Centre’s ‘Our Health: World of my Baby’ virtual program, where she said every family can benefit from the program that offers baby check-ups at each milestone, as well as a connection to a registered nurse, dietician, social worker and nurse practitioner.

“You’ve got four different professions until they are three years old,” said Sloan.

Well Baby staff also communicate with clients’ family doctors and specialists.

Mom Rebecca Merkley didn’t think she needed the extra help through the clinic, but then her second baby developed severe allergies.

“At five months, my husband gave her peanut butter and she got a big rash on her face. We went to an allergist in Barrie and discovered she is allergic to any dairy, all kinds of nuts and eggs,” said Merkley.

“For a while, it was pretty scary,” said Merkley, because those ingredients are in all types of food, including infant cereal.

Going into the Well Baby clinic made all the difference.

“I’d recommend it to any new mom for sure. They answer all your questions. They give you so much information,” said Merkley.

Her daughter Alice was switched to a soy-based formula and her eczema got better. She now tolerates almond milk.

The silver lining to having a baby during the pandemic is that everything is more relaxed ,and keeping a small social bubble can bring families closer together, said Sloan.

“The expectation to be out there doing things is gone. They feel they are bonding with their baby, and bonding as a nuclear family.”

Newborns are particularly prone to respiratory ailments, so strictly following health guidelines of a small social bubble, hand washing, and mask-wearing is especially important, Sloan said.

The virtual program ‘Our Health: The World of my Baby’ can be viewed through the Midland Cultural Centre website at or through Rogers TV.

For more information about Well Baby, visit the website: or call

STORY BEHIND THE STORY

With people more isolated at home due to the pandemic, it’s a challenging time if you have a newborn and a lot of questions. The Well Baby clinic now offers appointments over the phone, with access to four professions.

qzyczew

Simcoe Muskoka health unit reports 75 new COVID-19 cases over the weekend — yes, that’s a record

Jul 5, 2021 , , , , by shlf

COVID-19 had an awfully reproductive weekend in the Simcoe-Muskoka region.

On Nov. 2, the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit reported 75 new laboratory-confirmed cases of the virus, in the first public update of statistics since Friday. This is the highest weekend jump in numbers since the start of the pandemic.

Of the new incidents reported, 23 are in New Tecumseth. Bradford (15), Barrie (12), Innisfil (eight), Ramara and Tay (three each), Clearview and Collingwood (two each) and Adjala-Tosorontio, Essa, Gravenhurst, Penetanguishene, Tiny and Wasaga Beach (one each) also had cases. The municipality of residence is still pending for one incident.

Ten people are 17 years of age or under. Two fall into the 80-plus demographic.

One case, a Barrie boy 17 years of age or under, is linked to an educational setting outbreak. The health unit could not confirm Monday the specific facility linked to this incident. However, this kind of outbreak occurs in either a childcare centre, college, university or elementary, secondary or trades school. The affected individual may also be listed by the health unit, even if the outbreak happens outside its jurisdiction. 

Two incidents (an 18- to 34-year-old Barrie woman and a 65- to 79-year-old Clearview man) are connected to workplace outbreaks; one (an 80-plus Gravenhurst woman) is associated with an institutional outbreak.   

The health unit says there have been 1,429 total cases in the region since the start of the pandemic — though 1,166 successfully recovered. Six people are currently hospitalized.

Fifty residents have died, including 34 in long-term-care and retirement facilities.

An outbreak was declared at Waterford Retirement Community in Barrie Monday. Outbreaks are also ongoing at three long-term-care and retirement facilities — Beeton’s Simcoe Manor, Alliston’s Riverwood Senior Living and Gravenhurst’s Granite Ridge Retirement Facility.

The Simcoe County and Simcoe Muskoka Catholic district school boards also reported several cases linked to their facilities in recent days. Tay Shores Public School in Victoria Harbour closed two classrooms after two people connected to the facility tested positive.

Innisfil Central Public School is reporting three incidents. Hillcrest Public School in Barrie has been linked to one case; a classroom has been closed as a result.

On Nov. 1, Tottenham’s Father F.X. O’Reilly Catholic School and Alliston’s Banting Memorial High School were each linked to a single case. Banting closed a classroom as a result. 

Also, an outbreak is ongoing at Bradford District High School, where three people are infected and two classrooms have been closed.

All of the aforementioned schools remain open.

For more information on the local effect of COVID-19, visit .