Friday June 4, 2021

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday June 4, 2021

Ontario won’t reopen schools for in-person learning this spring, Ford announces

Ontario students won’t return to in-class learning before September, Premier Doug Ford announced at a news conference Wednesday.

May 27, 2021

“It was a hard choice to make,” Ford said.

“I don’t want to risk the health of our kids and cutting off their summer.”

On Monday, Ford said his government was reviewing responses to a letter sent last Thursday that solicited advice on reopening schools from a range of expert groups including public health officials and teachers’ unions.

At Wednesday’s news conference, Ford said some experts believed students should be back in class, but they could not promise that kids being back in schools wouldn’t lead to thousands of new COVID-19 cases, especially when variants of concern are considered.

In a news release, the province said recent modelling from the Science Advisory Table showed that if Ontario reopened schools to in-person learning, the province could see an increase in the number of new daily COVID-19 cases by six to 11 per cent.

October 14, 2020

That same modelling also predicted a spike in cases could occur if Ontario starts reopening the province before mid-June — something Ford said Wednesday he is now proposing.

“By remaining cautious and vigilant, we protect our summer. We protect September,” Education Minister Stephen Lecce said.

The province says schools will continue to remain open until the end of June for special education students who cannot be accommodated through remote learning.

May 29, 2020

Most students in Ontario have been learning remotely since April 19 due to soaring rates of COVID-19 amid the third wave of the pandemic.

Ford said the province is pushing for a “safe and normal” return to school in September. “We’ll use this time to get our teachers and students vaccinated,” the premier said.

The province will also be making upgrades to air systems in schools, Ford said.

Critics slammed the province’s decision Wednesday. During question period, NDP Leader Andrea Horwath pointed out that Ontario is the only province in Canada without kids in class.

Sketch

“And there’s a reason for that. It’s not an accident,” she said. “This government walked us right into the third wave, ignoring the advice of experts.

“Kids in the classroom were supposed to come first. That was what was supposed to be the priority.”

Sam Hammond, president of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO), said in a statement that Ford’s government has failed to manage the pandemic by ignoring stakeholders, including recommendations from the science table.

“This advice included repeated calls for smaller class sizes, improved ventilation, and adequate personal protective equipment for educators,” Hammond said.

Young Doug Ford: The Series

“Under false pretenses, Minister Lecce spent nine months insisting schools were safe, without any evidence to confirm this. This government’s utter disregard for the safety of students, educators and other education workers cannot be ignored.”

In a statement, the Children’s Health Coalition, which includes organizations such as SickKids and McMaster Children’s Hospital, said it is “deeply disappointed” that Ontario hasn’t acted upon a “broad consensus for a regional reopening of in-person learning” reached by experts in public health and teachers’ organizations alike. (CBC) 

 

Thursday June 3, 2021

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday June 3, 2021

The Catholic Church must atone for its role in residential schools

According to the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation, the remains of 215 children have been found in the grounds of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School. It’s grotesque, heartbreaking but — if we’re honest — not completely surprising. As we peel away the layers of lies and myths surrounding the treatment of Indigenous people in this country, few horrors seem impossible.

June 1, 2021

Residential schools and the damage they caused still form an open wound, and while apologies don’t fully heal, they do at least help begin some sort of closure. Which is why the reluctance of the Roman Catholic Church to show official and public contrition is so painful. This B.C. school was run by that church from 1890 to 1969, when the federal government took charge. It was closed nine years later.

The Catholic Church wasn’t alone in the residential school affair, but it is it alone in refusing to fully acknowledge its crimes. In 1986 the United Church stated, “We imposed our civilization as a condition of accepting the gospel. We tried to make you be like us and in so doing we helped to destroy the vision that made you what you were. We ask you to forgive us and to walk together with us in the Spirit of Christ so that our peoples may be blessed and God’s creation healed.”

Seven years later, Archbishop Michael Peers, Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, issued a profoundly moving document: “I accept and I confess before God and you, our failures in the residential schools. We failed you. We failed ourselves. We failed God … I am sorry, more than I can say, that we tried to remake you in our image, taking from you your language and the signs of your identity.”

Toilet paper apologies

Such apologies were requested in the 94 recommendations from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asked Pope Francis personally to make such a statement when the two leaders met. Indeed, the House of Commons voted by a margin of 269-10 to formally invite the Pope to reconsider his reluctance.

Francis has said that he takes the issue “seriously,” but that “after carefully considering the request and extensive dialogue with the bishops of Canada, he felt that he could not personally respond.” In 1991, the Canadian Bishops said, “We are sorry and deeply regret the pain, suffering and alienation that so many experienced” at the residential schools, and two years later added that “various types of abuse experienced at some residential schools have moved us to a profound examination of conscience as a Church.” But that’s it, and it’s just not enough.

One of the central obstacles is that a church already mired in legal and financial troubles regarding abuse cases is frightened of the repercussions that might follow after a formal apology regarding residential schools. It’s already been asked to honour its financial obligations under the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement, and to raise $25 million for Indigenous healing, as demanded in the residential schools settlement of 2007. That simply hasn’t happened.

October 23, 2020

While Pope Francis is progressive on many issues, he’s been worryingly opposed to acknowledging the church’s failings. In 2017, for example, he refused to apologize for the church’s history of sexual and physical abuse of children in Chile, and only changed his position after enormous public pressure.

Beyond the financial and legal consequences, there is also the issue of the church’s reputation. While many Catholics, and many leaders within the church, are ashamed at the very idea of the residential school system, conservative elements within the church see it more as a noble effort that was badly handled than an ideal that was flawed in itself. They are tired of what they see as apologizing for well-intended failure as opposed to immorality, and still look to their missionary work as important and ethical. That is where they are so out-of-step with other churches, and public opinion.

It may well take a new Papacy to change all this, and a Pope with the courage to ignore both the more traditional elements in his church, and his financial advisers who are terrified of prolonged compensation battles. That’s tragic not just for the victims of the residential schools, but for the message of Christianity as well. (Michael Coren, iPolitics)

Wednesday June 2, 2021

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday June 2, 2021

PM says cabinet discussing ‘further’ actions in response to mass grave uncovered at residential school

Amid calls to go beyond lowering flags at federal buildings and to fund the research and excavation of residential school burial sites Canada-wide, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau didn’t have any tangible next steps to announce Monday but said discussions are underway following a horrific discovery in British Columbia.

July 23, 2019

Trudeau said he will be speaking with his cabinet about the “next and further” actions the federal government should take in response to the discovery of remains of 215 children at the site of a former residential school in Kamloops, B.C.

Trudeau said that Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller, Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett and Northern Affairs Minister Dan Vandal will be discussing what role the federal government should be playing, noting “an awful lot” remains to be done when it comes to reconciliation.

Trudeau said determining where and how many more Indigenous children’s remains may be buried in this country is “is an important part of discovering the truth,” and there will be more done by the government, but offered no concrete commitment.

“We are committed to reconciliation. We are committed to truth. We are committed to being there to help the Indigenous communities understand the past and move forward into the future the right way. And as they make requests, as there is a need for discovering more, we will continue to be there,” Trudeau said. “We haven’t looked at exactly what the processes, or the needs are entirely, but Canada will be there to support indigenous communities as we discover the extent of this trauma.”

November 9, 2018

On May 28, the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation announced that it had found the remains at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School, using ground-penetrating radar. The discovery prompted calls for a national day of mourning and saw people across Canada set up memorials.

Among the concrete actions opposition MPs called for on Monday were for the federal government to follow through on the 94 Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s calls to action under its jurisdiction, and to stop fighting residential school settlements in court.

“It is not good enough for the federal Liberal government to just make symbolic gestures to commemorate this horrible loss. We are calling on the federal government to do something concrete. The Liberal government can’t on one hand grieve this horrible tragedy, this horrible loss while they are still taking Indigenous kids to court,” said NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, who became visibly emotional when speaking about the lives lost and the families left behind without answers.

June 3, 2015

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) issued its final report on residential schools in 2015, concluding that they constituted a cultural genocide. The comprehensive and extensive findings detail the inhumane mistreatment inflicted on Indigenous children who were taken from their families and sent to one of the more than 130 institutions across the country. The last school closed in 1996, 25 years ago.

Asked repeatedly why more has not been done, and when more concrete progress can be expected, Trudeau said that he knows there is impatience, but the federal government can’t act alone. (CTV) 

 

Tuesday June 1, 2021

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday June 1, 2021

Canada-wide search urged as children’s remains found

The Tk’emlups te Secwepemc First Nation announced last week that remains were found at a former residential school set up to assimilate indigenous people.

July 13, 2017

The find sparked outrage, prompting some in Canada to lay out tiny shoes at makeshift memorials. 

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pledged help but gave few details.

“As a dad, I can’t imagine what it would feel like to have my kids taken away from me,” Mr Trudeau told reporters. “And as prime minister, I am appalled by the shameful policy that stole indigenous children from their communities.”

While he promised “concrete action” when asked what the government would do he did not offer specific commitments.

Perry Bellegarde, national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, said in a statement the families “deserve to know the truth and the opportunity to heal”.

“A thorough investigation into all former residential school sites could lead to more truths of the genocide against our people,” Mr Bellegarde said.

June 12, 2020

In Charlottetown on Prince Edward Island, a statue of Canada’s first Prime Minister, John A Macdonald, is being removed following the discovery of the children’s remains. Macdonald’s role in residential schools has made him a target for protesters.

The children found on Thursday were students at the Kamloops Indian Residential School in British Columbia that closed in 1978. Some were as young as three years old. 

Canada’s residential schools were compulsory boarding schools run by the government and religious authorities during the 19th and 20th Centuries with the aim of forcibly assimilating indigenous youth.

June 3, 2015

Kamloops Indian Residential School was the largest in the residential system. Opened under Roman Catholic administration in 1890, the school had as many as 500 students when enrolment peaked in the 1950s.

The central government took over administration of the school in 1969, operating it as a residence for local students until 1978, when it was closed.

In 2015, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada – set up to examine the history and impact of the residential schools – reported that the system amounted to “cultural genocide”. (BBC)

The discovery of unmarked graves at the former site of a residential school in Kamloops, BC, has sent Canada into paroxysms of shock and horror, which is an appropriate response, except that we already knew about this.

 

Saturday May 29, 2021

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday May 29, 2021

Government Advisory Panel Calls For An End To Canadian Quarantine Hotels

As the US continues its reopening after COVID-19 pandemic measures, Canada’s restrictions are gradually lifting in some provinces as vaccination numbers increase. Nonetheless, the controversial quarantine hotels are still in place as a precaution against the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus — a requirement that some experts are now calling upon the government to lift.

November 28, 2020

A new report has been released from the COVID-19 Testing and Screening Expert Advisory Panel, a group providing guidance to the federal government, detailing these recommendations. “The current requirement for all air travellers to quarantine in government-authorized accommodations should be discontinued,” writes the panel of doctors and advisors. “However, travellers subject to quarantine must provide a suitable quarantine plan for approval and then adhere to this plan. If the traveller does not have a suitable quarantine plan, they should be required to adhere to an alternative one (for example, in designated quarantine facilities).”

Other factors that play into the recommendation include the administrative costs that these hotels use (and the resources drawn from other pandemic response), as well as the cost to travelers themselves. “Travellers face an added cost (up to $2000 CAD per person), time commitment and a burden to book government-authorized accommodation,” notes the report, which points out that some travelers are bypassing the hotels by crossing into Canada by land from the US. There have been cases where prospective visitors have even falsified test result paperwork to avoid the quarantine (charges were later laid).

February 13, 2021

Introduced earlier this year, the quarantine hotels, meant to reduce casual, non-essential travel to or from Canada, have been largely successful in their intended goal. The mandatory three night stay at a pre-booked quarantine hotel while awaiting results of a PCR (polymerase chain reactions) test discouraged many from flying: February data from the Canadian Border Security Agency showed a decrease of almost 55 per cent in terms of passengers flying into Canada after the quarantine hotel restrictions were implemented. During that month, the Canadian government also began routing all international flights, including those from the US that had been previously exempted, through four airports: Toronto, Montreal, Calgary and Vancouver. (Forbes)