Senate, House report at least 30 COVID-19 cases in Parliamentary Precinct since pandemic’s early days
There have been at least 30 confirmed COVID-19 cases on the Hill, including three among Senate staff, 16 employed by House administration, and 12 in security since a few months after the onset of the pandemic, according to each body. Since the Senate started to formally monitor cases in July 2020, there have been three […]
‘You are walking on eggshells’: infectious disease docs say ‘trust in vaccines is fragile,’ NACI guidance unhelpful
Last week’s messaging from the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) about the AstraZeneca vaccine has eroded trust in public health communications, say infectious disease experts. NACI officials said last week that getting the AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines made sense for some Canadians, but that the higher risk that those two could cause […]
Biden scores big with developing nations while Canada appears to be sitting on sidelines
The Canadian government could have been on the wrong side of the world vaccine issue. By failing to immediately join the United States president in his call for an end to patent protection for coronavirus vaccines, Canada risked losing its globally positive reputation. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has already signalled he may replace an initial […]
Research on pandemic lessons will get us out of COVID—and the next one
There is no doubt the COVID-19 pandemic has infiltrated every aspect of our lives. For post-secondary institutions across Canada, COVID-19 forced our teaching activities to move online, and at the onset of the pandemic, led to the suspension of research activities. Shuttered research labs and the cessation of community-based research in Canada and across the […]
Liberal MPs in Toronto’s hot spots ramp up outreach to support mass immunization, address hesitancy
Toronto MPs representing hot spots say the city responded well to mass vaccinations targeting neighbourhoods at highest risk of infection, and say they’ve been ramping up their outreach to aid the effort. In April, Ontario designated 114 hot-spot neighbourhoods, 53 of which are in Toronto and sit in 20 federal ridings, all Liberal save for […]
Meeting Canada’s new emissions targets will require changes to land use, agriculture, and diets
The recent Leaders’ Summit on Climate brought bold statements and strengthened commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The U.S. and the EU promised cuts beyond previous pledges. While less aggressive, Canada announced it will cut greenhouse gas emissions by 40 per cent to 45 per cent from 2005 levels in the next 10 years, significantly […]
Canada’s most vulnerable being let down again
It’s been said that the greatest weapon we have to fight a pandemic is information. In this respect, perhaps symbolic of the pandemic experience as a whole, Canada is failing its most vulnerable citizens. In the Macdonald-Laurier Institute’s COVID Misery Index, we have ranked Canada against 14 other countries in terms of the harshness of […]
Russia does itself no favours as it tries to sell Sputnik V vaccine
LONDON, U.K.—Somewhere in the bowels of the Russian Ministry of Health, until recently, was a tormented medical bureaucrat who had to calculate the daily COVID-19 death toll. He was tormented because he had been told that the number must not rise beyond 400. We know that because for the past couple of weeks, he was […]
Recuperating from the pandemic-wrought mental health blows
OTTAWA—May is Mental Health Month. It feels as good a time as any to revisit mental wellness, particularly as many Canadians continue to battle their way through the third wave of the pandemic, hoping for some believable hope. An earlier-than-expected second vaccination maybe? Some possibility of summer activities that allow for broader family visits, mobility, […]
So, Ontario, how’s electing unqualified, anti-government populists working out for you?
OTTAWA—Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s handling of COVID-19 and the public response are reminiscent of the way things went with former U.S. president Donald Trump’s bumbling, deceitful tenure. On the life-and-death issue of paid sick days, Ford and his cabinet have taken such an outrageous, indefensible position that everyone is struggling to find ways to talk […]
