2021-05

Wednesday February 10, 2021

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday February 10, 2021

Rogers, Bell and Telus collected more than $240 million from Canada’s wage-subsidy program — and Bell and Telus raised shareholder payouts

June 18, 2020

Canada’s big three telecom companies have collectively received more than $240 million from the federal government’s wage subsidy program while continuing to pay out billions of dollars in dividends to shareholders.

According to the most recent filings in provincial lobbyist registries, Bell has received $122.9 million, Rogers $82.3 million and Telus $38.6 million in support payments as part of the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS).

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the three companies have continued to pay out regular dividends to shareholders; Bell and Telus have announced increases to their annual payouts. Both Bell and Rogers have also laid off workers at their hard-hit media divisions. 

Other large businesses have also paid out dividends while receiving CEWS support, including numerous companies in the oilpatch, auto-parts maker Linamar and furniture retailer Leon’s. (Torstar, the parent company of the Toronto Star, is among the recipients of the federal wage subsidy.)

April 2, 2020

Economists say the relief payments to large, profitable companies with ample access to credit illustrate problems in the way CEWS is designed, in these cases leading to benefits for shareholders but not necessarily targeted support for workers whose jobs are at risk. One Liberal MP is calling on the government to claw back payments from companies that have paid dividends.

“CEWS is sold as a wage subsidy, but it’s really a business expense subsidy,” said Amin Mawani, associate professor of taxation at the Schulich School of Business at York University.

Mawani has argued that Canada should consider a model where the government pays subsidies only in respect of employees who miss hours of work because of the pandemic. Under the current rules of the Canadian program, businesses with any level of revenue decline are eligible for at least some level of subsidy with respect to all their Canadian employees. 

He said it is understandable that businesses would continue to pay dividends, which he described as a “cost of doing business” akin to paying interest to the bank on loans, but he questioned the need to hike payouts this year. “I don’t think shareholders were necessarily expecting an increase during the pandemic.” (Niagara Falls Review) 

 

Tuesday February 9, 2021

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday February 9, 2021

Ontario will let more businesses reopen, gradually lift stay-at-home orders

Non-essential retailers in Ontario will be allowed to reopen at limited capacity when stay-at-home orders are lifted, the provincial government said Monday, as three public health units are set to see COVID-19 restrictions loosened.

Premier Doug Ford announced the changes this afternoon as part of his government’s plan to gradually move all of Ontario’s 34 public health units back to a colour-coded reopening framework.

Ontario has been in a provincewide “lockdown” since Dec. 26, and a stay-at-home order was added four weeks ago.

“Today we’re seeing some sunlight break through the clouds,” Ford said. “My friends, the measures are working. Staying home is saving lives.”

November 24, 2020

The following public health units will move into the green category — the least stringent in terms of COVID-19 restrictions — on Wednesday:

• Hastings Prince Edward Public Health

• Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox & Addington Public Health 

• Renfrew County and District Health Unit

The stay-at-home order will be lifted then in those health units as well.

The order will remain in place in the rest of Ontario until Feb. 16, when it could be lifted in 28 more public health units depending upon COVID-19 trends at the time, the government said.

In Toronto and Peel and York regions, however, the order is set to stay in effect until at least Feb. 22.

November 5, 2020

In the coming weeks, the province will progressively move more regions back into the colour-coded system, which includes the green, yellow, orange, red and grey “lockdown” stages.

For now, though, all except the three public health units listed above will stay under the stay-at-home order. As part of today’s announcement, the province detailed some changes to the set of restrictions that apply to areas in lockdown once stay-at-home orders expire.

Chief among them is that non-essential retailers in the grey zones will be allowed to open their doors with a 25 per cent capacity limit. The province said the move is to “support the province’s economic recovery.”

The same applies to some other businesses, including discount and big box retailers, liquor stores, hardware stores and garden centres.

Meanwhile, the 50 per cent capacity limit for in-person shopping at essential retailers, such as supermarkets and other stores that primarily sell groceries, as well as convenience stores and pharmacies, will stay in place. 

June 5, 2020

Personal care services, however, are to remain closed. 

Gatherings at residences are still prohibited, but outdoor events and social gatherings of up to 10 people with two metres of distance are allowed, with masks strongly encouraged.

Funerals, weddings and baptisms are also allowed, with 10 people either indoors or outdoors, with two metres of distance between them.

Religious gatherings are similarly capped at 10 people indoors with two metres between them, and masks are mandatory. Virtual and drive-in religious services are also allowed.

Indoor recreational fitness facilities remain closed, but outdoor recreational amenities like rinks and trails are allowed to open with restrictions. Ski hills were initially listed in the province’s news release as allowed, but a government spokesperson sent out a statement saying that was a mistake, and they would not be permitted to open. (CBC) 

 

Saturday February 6, 2021

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday February 6, 2021

Trudeau tries to reassure Canadians vaccines are coming

January 28, 2021

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tried Friday to reassure Canadians his plan to vaccinate them is working despite mounting criticism his government is not getting vaccines soon enough.

Trudeau said there is “a lot of anxiety and a lot of noise,” but said Canada is still on track to get 6 million doses of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines by the end of March and 20 million in the spring.

“We are very much on track,” Trudeau said.

About 2.3 percent of Canada’s population has received at least one dose compared to more than 8.8 percent for the U.S. Most countries around the world have been struggling to vaccinate people quickly. But Canadians are comparing their country to world-leading Israel and the neighboring U.S.

Both Pfizer and Moderna have cut the number of doses Canada expected to get thus far, but Trudeau says he still expects to get 4 million doses from Pfizer and 2 million from Moderna by the end of March.

Trudeau said they are still very much on track based on what the chief executives of the companies keep telling him.

January 7, 2021

Canada didn’t get any Pfizer doses last week after the company announced a temporary reduction in deliveries so that it could upscale its Puurs, Belgium, plant to handle more production. That plant supplies all Pfizer shots delivered outside the U.S. Moderna has also had trouble scaling up production.

Trudeau reiterated that Canada has signed contracts with seven different vaccine makers and he expects Canada will get more doses per person than any other country in the world. He reiterated that everyone who wants to be vaccinated will be by September. Officials says they have agreements to import 10 doses per Canadian. Canada has a population of 37 million.

Canada does not have domestic vaccine production and the government has been getting shipments from Europe instead of the U.S., its closest ally.

Trudeau and President Joe Biden have spoken about Pfizer’s Kalamazoo, Michigan plant and Canada’s health regulator has approved that plant to supply the Canadian market, but any vaccines made in America might not be allowed to be exported despite a change in administrations.

The U.S. government has an agreement with Pfizer in which the first 100 million doses of the vaccine produced in the U.S. will be owned by the U.S. government and will be distributed in the U.S. Anita Anand, the Canadian federal procurement minister, has said the doses that are emerging from the Michigan plant are for distribution in the United States.

“We’re focused on ensuring that the American people are vaccinated, that we are getting as many shots in the arms of Americans as possible,” White House Jen Pasaki press secretary said this week. (ABC News) 

 

Friday February 5, 2021

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday February 5, 2021

Proud Boys: Canada labels far-right group a terrorist entity

Public Safety Minister Bill Blair said the decision was influenced by the group’s “pivotal role” in the 6 January riots at the Capitol in Washington, DC.

The designation allows the Proud Boys’ assets to be frozen, and members of the groups could be charged with terrorist offences if they commit violent acts.

The group is all-male and anti-immigrant, and has a history of violent political confrontations.

It was founded in 2016 by Gavin McInnes, the Canadian co-founder of Vice Media. Vice has since worked to distance itself from Mr McInnes and the Proud Boys.

The Proud Boys’ platform includes ideas espoused by former US President Donald Trump, libertarianism and traditional gender roles.

The group was mentioned by Mr Trump during the first US presidential debate last October.

July 11, 2019

Responding to a question about white supremacist and militia groups, he said, “Proud Boys – stand back and stand by”, which members of the group online took as a call to prepare for action. Mr Trump later distanced himself from them.

The announcement in Canada comes one week after the US Department of Homeland Security warned of a “heightened threat” of domestic terrorism from violent extremists unhappy with the outcome of the presidential election. 

And just hours after the announcement, the US Justice Department announced it had arrested and charged a top member of the group’s Seattle chapter. Ethan Nordean, 30, who is also known as Rufio Panman, is at least the eighth group member to be charged in connection with the Capitol riots. 

In Canada on Wednesday, Mr Blair described a “growing threat of ideologically motivated violent extremism”. He did not specify how many Proud Boy chapters are currently in Canada.

The Canadian Proud Boy groups had previously been thought of as disparate and disorganised, but the new designation suggests their perceived threat has been elevated. 

The decision was made based on “a trove of new information”, Mr Blair said. “Over the past several months, basically since 2018, we have seen an escalation towards violence for this group [the Proud Boys].” 

The escalation has continued since the US presidential election, he added. (BBC) 

Thursday February 4, 2021

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday February 4, 2021

Republicans Pledge Undying Loyalty to Trump Three Weeks After His Failed Coup

January 20, 2021

In the wake of the deadly attack on Capitol Hill incited by former president Donald Trump, a few top Republicans read the room and decided it wouldn’t be a great look to condone violence or the instigator of said violence. “The president bears responsibility for Wednesday’s attack on Congress by mob rioters. He should have immediately denounced the mob when he saw what was unfolding,” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy proclaimed. Speaking on the Senate floor, Lindsey Graham told his colleagues, “Trump and I, we’ve had a hell of a journey,” but “all I can say is count me out. Enough is enough.” Now, in a turn of events that should shock exactly no one, they’ve gone from “Trump did something really bad and we’re done with him” to “Hey, big guy, my flight lands at 11 a.m., hope to be by your place before noon! Can’t wait, missed you tons! You want me to pick up anything on my way? Bottle of Diet Coke? Dessert? I know how you love those Little Debbie snack cakes.”

Yes, three weeks after the 45th president of the United States incited an insurrection against the U.S. government, one of the most powerful Republicans in Congress who could, if he wanted to, decide to consign Trump to the scrap heap of political history is…meeting with him at his private club. Probably over lunch. A date for which they had to fly 1,000 miles in the middle of a pandemic. (Continued: Vanity Fair)