Canada

Friday July 9, 2021

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday July 9, 2021

Trudeau denies it, but signs point to early election in Canada

Covid-19 cases are down in Canada and some are interpreting Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cross-country travel this week as a surefire sign of an imminent election.

September 10, 2019

Trudeau’s whistle stop in Calgary on Wednesday started with a blunt question from RED FM host Rishi Nagar, who noted the prime minister’s back-to-back pit stops in Cowessess First Nation in Saskatchewan and in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., to make a C$420-million funding announcement to help Algoma Steel phase out coal and create jobs.

“All this shows that you are in an election campaign mode,” Nagar said. Trudeau rejected the characterization.

“Actually, it doesn’t. It shows that we are getting things done,” Trudeau said in this first in-studio interview in 16 months. “I’ve been taking advantage of the fact that our case loads are now lower that people are getting vaccinated, to be able to travel a little bit more and make the announcements on things that we’ve been working on for many, many months.”

Nearly 78 percent of eligible Canadians have so far received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine. Forty-four percent are fully vaccinated. Growing in parallel to Canada’s vaccination rates is speculation about the timing of a federal election — and anxiety over how it could be as early as late summer.

June 2, 2021

Political watchers have been viewing everything through an election lens: the return of Trudeau’s clean-shaven look, inflation climbing to its highest rate in a decade, the anticipated timing of the Canada-U.S. border reopening, a free one-time check for seniors timed for the week of Aug. 16, an increased number of in-person funding announcements, and, according to former Liberal strategist David Herle, the fact Liberal MPs have been nudged to take their vacations in July.

The country’s attention is split. Many in Canada are focused on securing second doses and family reunions, grief over the discovery of more than 1,000 remains in unmarked graves on the grounds of former Indian residential schools, and the extreme heat that saw hundreds of “sudden and unexpected deaths” in the western province of British Columbia, triggering renewed focus to climate change.

On Thursday, the prime minister’s plane landed in British Columbia where he announced a new C$3.2-billion agreement with the province to cut child care fees in half by the end of 2022.

“We’re making your life easier and more affordable,” Trudeau said in the campaign-style announcement. He said the agreement would see the creation of 30,000 high-quality spaces over the next five years. “This is what it means to be a feminist government.”

April 22, 2021

Trudeau is teasing news about the promise of a national child care and early learning system. It’s an anticipated update to a marquee proposal from this year’s federal budget that will have the attention of parents across the country, especially in vote-rich southern Ontario where there are 45 seats to be won. Annual child care costs in Toronto are the country’s highest, topping C$21,000, according to the Canadian Centre of Policy Alternatives.

“I’m very much looking forward to making big announcements on child care in the coming weeks,” Trudeau said Wednesday.

Trudeau wields power in a minority government, which means he needs the support of opposition parties to pass legislation. As prime minister, it also means he has the power to call an election.

Recent polls have placed the Liberals in single to double-digit leads, throwing open a window for Trudeau to dissolve Parliament in an attempt to turn his minority government — which has been functioning throughout the pandemic — into a majority.

The next fixed election date is Oct. 16, 2023. But under Canada’s constitutional monarchy system, the prime minister can request to dissolve Parliament at any time to trigger an election. For an incumbent government, that ability to choose a date and prepare is an advantage.

May 30, 2017

“For the Liberals, it’s the question of whether the current trends will hold into the fall,” veteran polls analyst Éric Grenier told POLITICO. Grenier, who recently launched The Writ, said Liberals will have to take stock of the political environment as the pandemic subsides.

The longer the Liberals wait, the more they risk squandering the opportunity to take advantage of the Conservatives’ polling numbers, which Grenier said are lower than those pulled by former leader Andrew Scheer in the lead up to the 2019 federal election.

“There are also some municipal elections in fall, that could complicate things,” Grenier said. “I don’t think that would be enough necessarily to prevent them from calling an election.” (Politico) 

 

Thursday July 8, 2021

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday July 8, 2021

First-dose COVID-19 vaccinations plateau across Canada, threatening path to variant resilience

The number of people getting their first COVID-19 vaccine doses is plateauing across the country, heightening the need to target harder-to-reach groups if Canada is going to achieve the vaccination levels needed to control the spread of infection.

May 22, 2021

As of Monday, 78 per cent of those eligible to be vaccinated in Canada have received at least one dose, and 41 per cent were fully vaccinated, making the country one of the most immunized in the world. Among the Group of Seven nations, Canada ranks second next to Britain with the highest number of doses administered per 100 people.

However, within provinces and territories, there are pockets with low vaccination rates across the country.

In the High Level health unit in northern Alberta, for example, 21 per cent of the eligible population had received at least one dose, and in Manitoba, 19 per cent of the eligible population in the municipality of Stanley had received at least one dose.

While the number of people receiving second doses continues to climb, those receiving their first doses have stalled at fewer than 100,000 a day since June 20.

January 30, 2021

With the rise of more transmissible variants, some epidemiologists estimate at least 80 per cent to 90 per cent of the eligible population will need to be fully vaccinated to keep COVID-19 rates under control.

Reaching those levels will be critical as we head into the fall, when people start spending more time indoors again at the same time the highly infectious Delta variant is expected to become the dominant variant of the virus in most of the country, said Cordell Neudorf, professor in the department of community health and epidemiology at the University of Saskatchewan.

“That’s when we expect the next wave to hit, unless we get high enough immunization coverage,” Dr. Neudorf said.

December 11, 2020

Now that those most willing and able to get immunized have received at least one vaccine, health authorities must ramp up their efforts to vaccinate groups that are more difficult to reach, said Nazeem Muhajarine, an epidemiologist and professor of community health and epidemiology at the University of Saskatchewan.

And that will require different targeted approaches, he said, since those who remain unvaccinated are a heterogenous group. They include people who are willing to be vaccinated but have difficulty accessing clinics, individuals who have lingering questions about the safety of vaccines and those who refuse to be vaccinated altogether.

May 8, 2021

The latter, whose refusal is generally ideologically driven, are a minority, making up an estimated 10 per cent of the population, Dr. Muhajarine said. Another 12 per cent to 14 per cent of Saskatchewan adults he has been tracking say they are hesitant about getting vaccinated.

“It’s the hesitant group that we need to be able to convert get a vaccine,” he said. “They’re not saying they would not get one, but they’re also saying they will not readily line up, be the first in line.” (Globe & Mail) 

 

Wednesday July 7, 2021

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday July 7, 2021

‘Historic’ step as Trudeau appoints Canada’s first Indigenous governor general

Canada will have its first ever Indigenous governor general after prime minister Justin Trudeau appointed Inuk leader Mary Simon as the Queen’s representative in Canada.

January 15, 2019

Describing the move as a “historic” step, Trudeau announced Simon’s appointment on Tuesday after coming under mounting pressure to choose a new viceregal. His previous selection resigned after allegations of bullying in January.

“Canada is a place defined by people. People who serve those around them, who tackle big challenges with hope and determination, and above all, who never stop working to build a brighter tomorrow,” said Trudeau. “In other words, people like Mary Simon.”

Originally from Kangiqsualujjuaq, in the Nunavik region of Quebec, Simon is a longtime advocate of Inuit rights. She previously served as the former president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, the country’s national advocacy organization for Inuit. She also served as Canada’s first Inuk ambassador in Denmark and for circumpolar affairs.

June 1, 2021

“I am honoured, humbled and ready to be Canada’s first indigenous Governor General,” she said, also giving remarks in Inuktitut, her first language. “I can confidently say that my appointment is a historic and inspirational moment for Canada and an important step forward on the long path towards reconciliation.”

Simon’s appointment comes at a time when Canada’s rocky relationship with Indigenous nations has worsened, following the discovery of more than one thousand unmarked graves across the country.

In her remarks, Simon spoke of the need for the country to “fully recognize, memorialize and come to terms with the atrocities of our collective past” as more is learned about the legacy of residential schools.

January 29, 2021

Trudeau’s previous pick for governor general, Julie Payette, resigned in January after a number of anonymous staff told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation they were berated by Payette to the point of tears. Others said that she would call their work “shit” and order them out of her office.

The position is largely symbolic but once formally installed, Simon will outrank Trudeau as holder of highest federal office in Canada, second only to the Queen.

Ahead of a looming election, Trudeau had faced pressure to appoint a governor general. One of Simon’s tasks will be to dissolve parliament upon the prime minister’s request.

Simon’s landmark appointment also comes amid growing skepticism over the role the monarchy plays in Canada.

According to recent polling 55% of respondents believe the royal family is no longer relevant. Given the chance, 43% of respondents said they would eliminate the position of governor general. Only 22% would opt to keep the role as is. (The Guardian) 

 

Saturday July 3, 2021

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday July 3, 2021

‘The virus will infect them’: Vaccine hesitant Americans think variant risk exaggerated, poll shows

There are few things more normal than the sight of a crowded beach on the 4th of July weekend. However, even as Americans celebrate Independence Day with renewed verve this year, freedom from the virus may still be far off with a highly transmissible delta variant infecting unvaccinated communities.

April 27, 2021

“They are going to be fodder for the virus,” said Dr. Richard Novak, head of infectious diseases at UI Health. “The virus will infect them, it will mutate in them and the new variants will come from them and we’ll all be at risk.”

According to the latest ABC News/Washington Post Poll, three in 10 adults said they have not gotten a coronavirus vaccine, and definitely or probably will not get one.

Of this group, 73% believe U.S. officials are exaggerating the risk of the delta variant and 79% think they have little or no risk of getting sick.

“It’s almost heartbreaking that now the two populations that need this, the most are urban minority patients and rural white patients, are the ones that are saying no in the loudest numbers,” said Dr. Mark Loafman, with the Cook County Health Department. “That group of patients that were able to hear facts and be reassured, we got to them. It’s this group that the facts aren’t going to fix it for them.”

March 17, 2021

“It’s been long enough,” said Christina Brown, who got her first shot Monday. :I started seeing results. Everybody was doing it. I wasn’t hearing nobody having that bad of side effects. I said alright I’ll go get it, and see what happens.”

However, there are still others who feel their freedom to choose was taken away.

“I felt like I was forced into it. I had to have surgery and my doctor basically told me that in order for me to get the surgery I literally had to get the shot. So this is my only reason to get the shot,” said 23-year-old Tamarianna Tate. “Otherwise, I wouldn’t. I wouldn’t. I’m was a strong believer in not getting the shot. ”

The Delta variant now accounts for 25% of all cases in the United States. It’s estimated by the end of August that number will surpass 90%. (ABC) 

 

Wednesday June 30, 2021

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday June 30, 2021

Make Canada Day a time for reflection

By almost any standard, Canada can be judged one of the world’s best countries. Yet its riches, rewards and life-changing opportunities are not enjoyed equally by all who inhabit this land.

June 25, 2021

By almost any estimation, Canada’s history is filled with rousing stories of courage, vision and achievement. Yet there remains a long and shameful record of past injustices — many of which have yet to be set right.

Most notably, evidence of the glaring wrongs done to the people who first called this place home is now out in full public view as never before. As shocking as the recent discoveries of almost 1,000 unmarked gravesites at former First Nations residential schools in British Columbia and Saskatchewan have been, they have also provided one more necessary jolt to this nation’s collective conscience.

All these contradictions and paradoxes explain why it is so difficult for people to know how to mark Canada’s 154th birthday on Thursday. Do we wave the flag or lower it to half-mast? More than a year into a devastating pandemic and just as the arrival of another summer offers glimmers of respite, many Canadians ache for something to celebrate, something like the festive national holiday they’ve cherished in years past.

June 2, 2021

Yet Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has wisely called for this July 1st to be a more sober affair. Having reached a similar conclusion, many communities across the country have cancelled their traditional Canada Day festivities.

This is not the same as cancelling Canada Day itself, however, and no one is seriously recommending such a move that would, even for this one, fraught year alone, deny the country its nationwide holiday. But let’s also agree that after the discoveries of the graves of so many First Nations children, many Indigenous people would understandably consider the traditional celebrations with their parades and fireworks to be completely tone-deaf. 

We do not anticipate a clear national consensus on the matter of July 1, 2021. Whatever people do or don’t do this Canada Day, we would only urge everyone to pause and reflect upon what Canada is, how we got here and what remains for us to do — together.

There are abundant national treasures for which we can all give thanks. Judged by our national living standard, our health care and education systems and by the enviable rights and freedoms we enjoy, it is easy to see why this is so. The land itself, in all its staggering beauty and enormity stretching across a continent, lies waiting for new generations to explore. No wonder hundreds of thousands of people from around the world arrive eagerly each year to start a new life with this goal in mind: becoming new Canadians. And how wonderful it is that they do.

June 26, 2018

But none of this can or should drown out the voices of the Indigenous people who knew and loved this land for millennia. They are reminding us daily of what we need to regret, lament and correct. For this to happen, the Trudeau government must move from reflection to taking the action it has promised for years. It continues to ignore far too many of the recommendations from the 2015 Truth and Reconciliation Commission. 

The recent passage through Parliament of new legislation, Bill C-15, could bring overdue, transformative change by codifying with greater meaning than ever before the rights of Indigenous people to their land and self-government. But an even greater commitment to learn and change must be there, not just for our federal leaders but for all of us.

When that happens, even those who feel unable to celebrate the creation of Canada 154 years ago may be able to support something different: the creating of a new Canada today. (Hamilton Spectator Editorial)