2020-24

Saturday July 18, 2020

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday July 18, 2020

Why has there been no public information campaign about face masks?

May 6, 2020

On 24 July it becomes compulsory to wear face masks in shops and supermarkets in England. What determines how we can expect such measures to play out? Largely, three things: how confident we can be in the available evidence, the size of the estimated effect among a compliant population, and the degree of compliance.

While a lot of attention has focused – rightly – on the first two of these, the third is equally important. Compliance not only encompasses questions of whether there is adherence to the guidance, but also the quality of the adherence. It is instructive, then, to compare the case of face masks with that of another very recent public health intervention: the recommendation of handwashing to stop the spread of Covid-19.

Handwashing is simple for most people. It is relatively cheap, and the means required to comply with the request – soap, running water – were largely already available in March, when advice on doing so began. While prior knowledge on handwashing existed, public health campaigns emphasised how best to do so, with simple messaging – “sing Happy Birthday twice” – combined with regular social media and TV campaigns providing more detailed advice.

April 9, 2020

Wearing a face mask is a more complex and costly act, and less familiar. People will face various difficulties in complying. Assuming that any positive effect of making masks mandatory exists, it is vital that these benefits are maximised and any potential downsides mitigated. This raises many additional questions. What sort of masks should be worn? How should they be worn? How often can they be worn? How often do they need to be cleaned? Is it more important to emphasise mask-wearing for certain groups? Might it be sensible to not recommend mask-wearing for others?

Life in a Pandemic

All this means at least two things: first, we need a public information campaign that helps widespread, effective compliance. This must not say simply “wear a mask”, or bury the answers to these questions on a government website; it should make the guidance highly visible and clear to understand. The World Health Organization has produced infographics and films that provide a good template.

Second, compliance needs to be possible for everyone. This crisis, and actions taken to mitigate it, has already had a devastating financial impact on many people. The price in a supermarket for a disposable face mask is about 70p: that cost has to be multiplied by the number of daily trips on public transport where masks are already mandatory – and, in one week’s time, will be multiplied by the number of visits to a shop or supermarket. While fabric masks are available, they need to be washed regularly – the WHO says at least once a day – adding more costs. Face masks are already being given away for free at some Network Rail-operated train stations: this could be rolled out more broadly, to other public transport hubs and at supermarkets. (The Guardian) 



 

Friday July 17, 2020

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday July 17, 2020

Heavy lifting for long-term care awaits Doug Ford

In the 100-kilometre journey to deliver a decent long-term-care system for Ontario, Doug Ford took a baby step forward this week.

June 17, 2020

By offering a 10 per cent subsidy hike to private-sector nursing home operators who open new beds, the premier should rid the province of at least some of those disgusting, overcrowded, four-person wards that became death-traps in the COVID-19 pandemic. 

That change alone represents welcome, if overdue, progress. Indeed, the Ontario Long Term Care Association, which represents 70 per cent of the province’s 630 long-term-care facilities, applauded the changes Ford’s making.

But there’s less in the government’s new funding formula than meets the eye. If the goal is rebuilding an entire long-term-care edifice, Ontario’s stuck at the stage of digging the new foundation.

The COVID-19 pandemic laid bare the serious, even shameful, deficiencies in a vital part of Ontario’s public health-care system. The province’s nursing homes have witnessed the deaths of 1,730 elderly residents and eight workers since the outbreak began in March. That’s almost two-thirds of Ontario’s officially reported COVID-19 fatalities.

May 27, 2020

The fact that the Canadian military had to be ordered in to save seven nursing homes that were overrun by the disease proved beyond any doubt that this province had turned a blind eye to grave systemic failings. The abuse, neglect, bug infestations, bleeding infections and the residents crying for help for hours that the army discovered should have no place in this affluent, supposedly caring country. 

Correcting that, along with improving homes that if not as bad are beneath basic, acceptable standards, is a monumental challenge. What Ford did this week was simply provide new details about a previously announced $1.75-billion infusion into long-term-care facilities. 

When that money was first committed, the government promised 15,000 new beds and renovations of 15,000 existing beds over the next decade. It’s unclear if that bold commitment still stands.

April 9, 2020

Ford did say this week that his new funding changes mean 8,000 new beds and 12,000 redeveloped beds are in the works. Air conditioning and improved ventilation is on the way for many nursing homes. Safer, more comfortable facilities will benefit nursing home residents and staff alike.

Left unanswered is how Ford plans to provide the 30,000 beds he originally pledged for the coming years. That’s a nagging question that will not go away. There are 36,000 seniors on the waiting-list for long-term care in Ontario. Ford needs to show us all his road map for moving forward.

COVID-19 Cartoons

He needs to say if his nursing home system overhaul will include providing more hands-on, daily care for residents. It should. And what about the personal support workers who provide such essential services? They receive miserable wages for a demanding job that offers minimal security. Ford needs to increase staffing levels but also the pay and working conditions for that workforce.

In addition, the Ontario government needs a detailed plan for improving the oversight of the province’s nursing homes. If Ford is content with allowing the long-term-care system to rely so heavily on private providers, he must ensure proper transparency and accountability. That could come from the independent commission Ford wants to investigate the system. But he has yet to say when that commission will begin its job.

Not every long-term-care facility does a bad job. Too many do. Ford has signalled that transforming the system is one of his highest priorities. But what he announced this week will raise red flags that suggest he’s content with superficial fixes. We need him to completely re-invent how we care for our elderly. (Hamilton Spectator Editorial) 

 

Thursday July 16, 2020

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday July 16, 2020

UK should face ‘public and painful’ retaliation over Huawei decision, Chinese state media urges

February 12, 2020

Britain should face retaliation over its decision to ban Huawei from its 5G networks, Chinese state-backed media urged, dubbing the move “ill-founded.”

On Tuesday, the U.K. said the country’s mobile network operators will not be allowed to buy new Huawei 5G gear after Dec. 31. And the carriers must also strip out existing Huawei 5G gear by the end of 2027. 

The decision marked a U-turn by London after initially allowing Huawei to play a limited role in the U.K.’s next-generation mobile networks. 

January 30, 2020

New U.S. sanctions in May, aimed at cutting off Huawei from chip supplies made using American software and equipment, prompted an emergency review by Britain’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC). The organization said that “Huawei’s long term ability to build products using state-of-the-art technology has been severely affected.” 

“The U.K. can no longer be confident it will be able to guarantee the security of future Huawei 5G equipment,” the country’s digital minister, Oliver Dowden, said on Tuesday.

December 12, 2018

Huawei urged the government to reconsider the move, adding it was “confident” the new U.S. restrictions “would not have affected the resilience or security of the products we supply.” 

And while U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the U.K.‘s decision “advances Transatlantic security in the #5G era while protecting citizens’ privacy, national security, and free-world values,” Chinese state media urged retaliation. 

“It’s necessary for China to retaliate against UK, otherwise wouldn’t we be too easy to bully? Such retaliation should be public and painful for the UK,” the Global Times wrote. 

“But it’s unnecessary to turn it into a China-UK confrontation. The UK is not the US, nor Australia, nor Canada. It is a relative ‘weak link’ in the Five Eyes. In the long run, the UK has no reason to turn against China, with the Hong Kong issue fading out.”

The state-backed publication was referencing Britain’s criticisms of the new Hong Kong national security law that has stoked tensions between London and Beijing. (CNBC) 

 

Wednesday July 15, 2020

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday July 15, 2020

Oh, for a viable alternative to the Liberals

Merely by the celebrity of the Trudeau family, potential conflicts of interest are going to arise, as one did last week when the federal ethics commissioner opened yet another investigation over Justin Trudeau’s role in awarding a $19.5 million sole-source contract to the WE charity to administer the $912 million Canada Student Service Grant program.

July 11, 2020

The WE organization hires all kinds of speakers, performers and leaders for events intended to inspire youth to take local action for global change. Two of those speakers over the past four years were Trudeau’s mother Margaret and brother Alexandre (Sacha) who were paid $250,000 and $32,500 respectively.

His wife, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau is an ambassador for the organization.

On top of that, finance minister Bill Morneau is also drawing criticism because one of his daughters works with WE.

I’m not convinced anything overtly nefarious happened here. There is a big difference between corruption and conflict of interest. The public service has said it was their recommendation to award the contract.

June 23, 2020

But good gracious, the cabinet still had to rubber-stamp it and at the very least two seasoned public figures should know, at the very least, to recuse themselves, especially after being sanctioned twice by the ethics commissioner.

What happened to transparency and doing politics differently?

I find it extremely discouraging that we can’t get beyond these kinds of simple ethics issues. We’ve had 153 years of political scandals from both of the seesawing governing parties. Can we ever expect something different? Is human nature really that intractable?

October 23, 2015

I have lots of friends who despise Trudeau. They believe he is only prime minister because of his celebrity. There’s some truth to that. There were better candidates in the Liberal leadership race, but it’s doubtful any of them could have won the election in 2015, or at least a majority government.

My Trudeau-despising friends think he is entitled, narcissistic, incompetent and insincere.

It’s getting pretty hard to argue with that, not that I have ever whole-heartedly defended him, my only real defence being that the Liberals as a whole are the lesser of evils.

Of course, all the opposition calls for criminal investigations and for Trudeau to resign are political posturing. Ultimately, he will get his knuckles rapped for a third time and his fate will be in the hands of public opinion when the next federal election rolls around.

Unfortunately, at this point, I still don’t see a viable alternative emerging. (The Interior News) 

 

Tuesday July 14, 2020

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday July 14, 2020

When will it be safe to reopen the U.S. border?

How much longer can this go on? How much longer can the world’s longest undefended border remain largely sealed? 

April 18 2020

It’s an increasingly urgent question facing Canadian governments. Even with the U.S. border open for commercial business, and exceptions being made to allow families to reunite, our joint border is mostly closed. And the impact is huge.

This discussion is relevant this week for a couple of reasons. First, the current emergency border-crossing restriction package is set to expire July 21. Second, the government is facing mounting pressure from commercial interests.

The Canadian Travel & Tourism Roundtable, a coalition of 120-odd travel and tourism companies including Canada’s major airlines, last month sent an open letter to the government calling for the loosening of travel restrictions. 

A second open letter was sent by Canada’s airlines and many of Canada’s biggest companies including banks and telecoms.

On one hand it is hard to blame the tourism sector, which has been among the hardest hit by the pandemic, for putting its economic interests first. But it is also more than a little troubling that airlines were quick to do away with social distancing minimums when we know they are crucial in slowing the spread of COVID-19. 

May 24, 2020

Fortunately, it’s not up to the tourism/travel sector to make public policy. That’s up to the government, and based on what top officials such as Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland are saying, protecting public health is still the top priority. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said: “We are going to be very, very careful about when and how we start reopening international borders.”

Something most people do not recognize is that cross-border traffic is already increasing thanks to loosening of some restrictions. The volume of traffic crossing land borders has increased from about 115,000 a week from late April to early May to 175,000 a week in late June. Officials say those figures include commercial and non-commercial traffic. The number of non-commercial highway travellers entering Canada has nearly doubled over that period, going from about 3,300 a week to about 6,500.

June 2, 2017

At the same time as Canada is allowing more cross-border traffic, the situation in the U.S. is deteriorating. As recently as the weekend states like Florida were announcing record new infections and deaths. Florida alone reported more than 15,000 new cases. American leadership is polarized, with the Trump administration basically in denial. Some states are rolling back reopening, others seem unwilling to do so despite exploding infection rates.

Worst of all, America has no apparent unified strategy to regain control. Even if Trump loses the November election, it’s predicted to take months to change direction and get COVID under control. 

Under these circumstances, how on earth could Canada even consider significantly loosening border controls? Doing so would literally put at risk everything this country has done right to flatten the pandemic curve. All the work and sacrifice Canadians have endured would be at risk. 

It is said that governing in these times is an ongoing struggle to balance safety with renewed prosperity. Fair enough. But on some fronts there can be no overall compromise. The U.S. is not a safe place to be, and Canada should not face further exposure until things change. That could easily keep the border closed until the end of this year, at least, say infectious disease experts.

It’s a sad reality with a great cost to Canadians and our economy. But we have no choice. (Hamilton Spectator Editorial)