Health Minister Christine Elliott says there are 329 new cases in Toronto, 192 in Peel Region, and 116 in York Region.
Canada
Federal government unveils “assault-style” firearm buy-back program plans
Banff-Airdrie MP Blake Richards questioned the firearm buy-back program as it failed to not only take into account the perspective of rural residents, but also lacked clarity on the tangible safety it will provide and the full cost of the program.
“The idea that somehow taking guns out of the hands of law-abiding firearms owners will somehow make a difference in crime is absolutely a ludicrous suggestion to make,” Richards said. “Criminals are the ones that are using guns and crimes, they don’t obtain their guns legally— They smuggle them, they get them in other illegal fashions. This will do nothing to address crime.”
Vaccine passport for international travel ‘very live’ discussion among G7 countries: Hajdu
While Hajdu wouldn’t say if it’s an idea Canada is pushing for—requiring some form of proof of vaccination to travel to Canada—she said other nations and industry groups are looking into the kind of evidence or documentation that could be requested in order to travel internationally.
A behind-the-scenes look at why Canada delayed 2nd doses of COVID-19 vaccines
Canada is now an outlier in the global vaccination rollout. No other country in the world has delayed second doses up to four months, and there is no evidence yet on the long-term effect it could have on immunity to COVID-19.
Religion vs. State Day 2: should churches in B.C. really be closed?
On Tuesday, I went back to the Vancouver courts to report on the second day of a Supreme Court of British Columbia hearing, where Chief Justice Christopher Hinkson is set to rule on a legal challenge that was filed by the the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms. The JCCF is challenging the B.C. government’s restrictions against peaceful protests and in-person worship services.
@erinotoole is a flip-flopping, centre-left Red Tory.
I called it the day after he was elected leader. @erinotoole is a flip-flopping, centre-left Red Tory. His ‘true blue’ mask has fallen. He’s quickly losing support.
DON’T SPLIT THE VOTE.
Join the only principled conservative anti-globalist party: #PPC https://t.co/21FeU1tGIB
— Maxime Bernier (@MaximeBernier) March 6, 2021
Sloan: The Great Purge Has Begun
When I was ejected from the Conservative caucus, I made it clear the controversy wasn’t just about me, but about silencing the many thousands of voices like mine within the party, and in society.
They want people like me to vote and donate to the party, but otherwise to sit down and shut-up. It’s why the party got so upset when I started encouraging my followers to attend the upcoming Conservative Convention. They are scared that strong Conservatives will actually take action against the Red-Tory, Liberal-lite leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada.
Birth tourism drops by 75 per cent early in COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted many sectors, and this includes birth tourism in Richmond.
Richmond Hospital saw non-resident births drop from about 40 per month to an average of 10 per month in the first five months of the pandemic, a drop of about 75 per cent.
Ontario NDP launch environmental platform, pledge to bring back cap-and-trade system
Ontario’s New Democrats say they would create a new cap-and-trade carbon pricing system if elected in 2022.
The official Opposition made the promise in an environmental policy plank of their election platform, released on Saturday at a morning news conference.
Party leader Andrea Horwath said the province needs the carbon pricing system to help fight climate change.
The Alberta Government has turned Care Homes into Outbreak Centres
Currently, if someone returns to Canada on an international flight not only do they have to go out and get a specific COVID-19 test three days before their return, but they are welcomed back to the country with a three-day stay in a quarantined hotel. They are required to pay for this hotel stay before they can return to their homes which in many cases may have only been a few kilometres away from the hotel.
After hearing that, one assumes that the government’s management of public health and safety in this COVID-19 crisis is one guided by the utmost caution, perhaps one may say, the response could be viewed as overly cautious. More to the point, surely these strict lockdowns must be nothing compared to the measures taken to protect our seniors in care homes. That is where you would be wrong.
Article: “Here’s what can happen if the Kielburger brothers refuse to testify before parliament “
The ethics and the procedure and House affairs committees have both requested that Craig and Marc Kielburger come forward and testify. They declined. In a March 3 statement, WE Charity referenced Feb. 28 comments by NDP MP Charlie Angus, who said he wrote to the Canada Revenue Agency and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police requesting an investigation into the charity.
“Accordingly, WE Charity and its leadership are declining the additional requests to testify from the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics and also the Procedure and House Affairs Committee,” said a WE Charity press statement.
The statement said the charity has already testified at various “highly partisan” committee meetings, and that it would continue to work with Dion’s investigation.
At this point, the committees could issue a summons, compelling the Kielburgers to attend. If they continue to refuse, according to the House of Commons Procedure and Practice, the committee can report it to the House of Commons, and the House “then may order the witness to appear” and they will be “called to the Bar” — a literal brass bar across the House of Commons — to explain themselves.
The House has the power, similar to a court, to compel someone’s presence.
“If the witness disobeys the order, the witness may be declared guilty of contempt,” the House manual says.
Canada announces $2.75 billion investment in zero-emissions buses and charging infrastructure
The news was announced by Infrastructure and Communities Minister Catherine McKenna, and Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry Francois-Philippe Champagne. According to The Government of Canada, the money will also support municipalities, transit authorities, and school boards. Furthermore, it will assist in clean transitioning and increase the electrification of Canada’s transit systems. Lastly, the investment will deliver on the government’s commitment to help purchase 5,000 zero-emission buses over the next five years.
Are China, India and Russia “Vaccine Super-Powers”?
Here:
Of the top 10 countries in the world on a doses per capita basis, six of them are using vaccines from Russia, China or India. Canada is 42nd in the world on a doses per capita basis according to Bloomberg News Service’s vaccine tracker. News reports and information from government websites show 16 of the countries ahead of Canada are using shots from one of those three countries.
While Western nations, including Canada, scramble to get doses for their citizens, the governments in Beijing, Moscow and New Delhi are shipping vaccine abroad to make new friends, even as their own national vaccination efforts lag behind the rest of the world.
This week, China’s ambassador to Canada, Cong Peiwu, said his country always planned to help the world.
(Sidebar: what a lying sack of crap.)
“China stated in the early stages that once vaccines were developed and deployed they will become a global public good, so we are just honouring our commitment to help people, especially in developing countries,” he said. “We know the virus knows no borders.” …
Guy Saint-Jacques, a senior fellow at the University of Alberta’s China Institute and a former Canadian ambassador to Beijing, said China is clearly using the vaccines to help its image.
“This is part of their efforts to burnish their reputation abroad because they know that it has been tarnished with all the mistakes they made handling the pandemic and also they want to contrast themselves with Western countries,” he said.
Canada to take COVAX vaccines, won’t share doses until every Canadian is inoculated: Anand
Canada will take its share of vaccine doses from the internationally funded COVAX initiative and will not give any doses to other countries until all Canadians are vaccinated, said Procurement Minister Anita Anand.
51% of Canadian businesses uncertain they can remain open: Canadian Chamber of Commerce
A new survey by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce found that a majority of Canadian business owners are worried that they might be forced to shut down before the end of the year due to the financial hardships brought on by the pandemic.