covid-19

Thursday March 10, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday March 10, 2022

Ontario to drop most mask mandates on March 21, remaining pandemic rules to lift by end of April

August 25, 2021

Ontario will scrap most mask mandates — including in schools, restaurants, gyms and stores — across the province on March 21, with remaining COVID-19 regulations also set to drop by the end of April. 

The province says improving health indicators, such as a stable COVID-19 test positivity rate and declining hospitalizations, as well as Ontario’s high vaccination rate and the availability of antiviral treatments, allow for these steps.

The province’s chief medical officer of health, Dr. Kieran Moore, announced the new changes Wednesday. 

“We are now learning to live with and manage COVID-19 for the long term,” Moore said. “This necessitates a shift to a more balanced response to the pandemic.”

However, Moore said removing the mask mandate “does not mean the risk is gone” or the pandemic is over.

Thursday February 17, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday February 17, 2022

Putin’s Long Tables Explained

January 22, 2022

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s every move is dissected as fears escalate that he’ll soon order an invasion of Ukraine, but attention has recently turned to why Putin sits across from a comically large table during meetings with other world leaders, the most recent instance of which came Tuesday during a meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. 

The issue took global spotlight last week after Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron sat at opposite ends of a table pegged by Reuters to be 20 feet long during their meeting in Moscow.

The extreme social distance came after Macron refused to take a Russian-administered Covid-19 PCR test, and Reuters reported Thursday it was because France didn’t want Russia to have access to Macron’s DNA, citing two anonymous sources close to Macron.

Another French official told Reuters the protocols were due to Putin living a “strict health bubble,” and the Kremlin confirmed the extreme distance is to protect Putin.

Scholz met the same distanced fate as Macron during his Tuesday meeting in Moscow, sparking memes and providing comic relief during otherwise tense negotiations.

Wednesday February 16, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday February 16, 2022

Ford’s pandemic timing is off

October 28, 2021

No question, on the COVID-19 front, things are looking up. Most, if not all, the signs and indicators point toward things brightening as spring arrives.

That said, the Ontario government’s timing on easing pandemic restrictions is, to say the least, questionable. It is not wrong for Premier Ford to declare the decline of COVID — the numbers bear him out on that. But timing is everything, and announcing the early lifting of many restrictions this week, while Ottawa is still in the grips of an illegal occupation, leaves a bad smell.

January 26, 2022

Ford insists that the timing has nothing to do with ongoing trucker protests. Maybe not, but the optics are far from good. You can bet that his haste to lift restrictions will be seen by many in the protest movement as a victory, as in, look what we’ve been able to accomplish — we’ve got the premier on the run.

In other words, the perception in many quarters will be that holding Ottawa citizens, and the Windsor Ambassador Bridge, hostage paid off.

The thing is, had Ford held off just another week, there is a good chance the Ottawa occupation would be over or nearly over. The premier’s timing, as well as the optics here, are not a good look for Ontarians. (Hamilton Spectator Editorial) 

Tuesday February 8, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday February 8, 2022

How conspiracy theorists steered Canada’s anti-vaccine trucker protest

February 26, 2021

Thousands of demonstrators have successfully occupied Canada’s frigid capital for days, and say they plan on staying as long as it takes to thwart the country’s vaccine requirements.

The brazen occupation of Ottawa came as a result of unprecedented coordination between various anti-vaccine and anti-government organizations and activists, and has been seized on by similar groups around the world.

It may herald the revenge of the anti-vaxxers.

The so-called “freedom convoy” – which departed for Ottawa on 23 January – was the brainchild of James Bauder, an admitted conspiracy theorist who has endorsed the QAnon movement and called Covid-19 “the biggest political scam in history”. Bauder’s group, Canada Unity, contends that vaccine mandates and passports are illegal under Canada’s constitution, the Nuremberg Code and a host of other international conventions.

Saturday February 5, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday February 5, 2022

Doug Ford makes statement ahead of Toronto convoy protest

Young Doug Ford: The Series

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he has full confidence Toronto police will be able to handle Saturday’s convoy protest and there will be “zero tolerance” for any potential acts of violence. 

Ford made the comments during a virtual news conference with Canada’s premiers on Friday.

“Any harassment or acts of hatred or acts of violence will have zero tolerance,” Ford said.

Ford said he has been in contact with Toronto Mayor John Tory and Ottawa Major Jim Watson to offer whatever resources are necessary. 

Protesters are expected to arrive in Toronto on Saturday and will gather at Queen’s Park.

Part of University Avenue has been closed in preparation for the protest, in order to ensure emergencies services have access to Hospital Row. 

January 26, 2022

Residents have been warned to expect a large police presence in the downtown core during the protests. 

Meanwhile, in Ottawa, protesters have gathered for nearly a week and have said they won’t leave until Canada removes COVID-19-related mandates.

“What is happening in Ottawa, in my opinion, is unacceptable,” Ford said. “Regarding Ottawa, the occupations, it’s not a protest anymore, it’s become an occupation.”

Ford said the protesters are hurting local businesses in a “big way” and believes it’s time for the situation to “come to and end.”

“You think we like lockdowns or pubic health measures? We don’t,” Ford said, adding he believes “They were necessary.”

Ford said the situation in Ontario hospitals is improving day-by-day and the province is “so close to getting back to normal.”

“We have to be united as Ontarians, as Canadians,” Ford said. (CTV News)