holiday

Saturday January 9, 2021

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday January 9, 2021

As airlines entice travellers, health expert says gov’t must enforce stronger travel rules

A Toronto-based health expert says the federal government should be doing more to crack down on non-essential travel as the COVID-19 pandemic intensifies in Canada.

June 27, 2020

“We’ve been relying mostly on the honour system. We just think, OK, we put out a recommendation, people will do the right thing,” said Dr. Lauren Lapointe-Shaw, a general internist at the University Health Network and assistant professor at the University of Toronto.

“We know from every other area of life that that’s unfortunately not the case.” 

Several Canadian officials from across the political spectrum came under fire this week for travelling abroad during the pandemic, despite federal government warnings to avoid all non-essential travel. Their reasons for travelling ranged from visiting ailing relatives to vacationing in the Caribbean.

Air Canada is now facing backlash as well for launching an ad campaign that encourages Canadians to travel to vacation spots like Hawaii and the Caribbean, as long as the right hygiene protocols are enforced along the way. The Current reached out to Air Canada for comment, but did not receive a response.

Meanwhile, a new federal rule came into effect Thursday that requires all air travellers entering Canada to provide a negative COVID-19 test result before boarding a flight into the country.

This comes as COVID-19 cases continue to climb across the country. The COVID-19 case count in Ontario broke records again on Friday, while Manitoba extended its lockdown by another two weeks.

Lapointe-Shaw outlined a few other measures the government could take to ensure Canadians are following guidelines around travel. 

“As Canadians exit [the country], they’re not even asked to present the reason [for] their essential travel,” she told The Current’s Matt Galloway. “There isn’t even a form that asks you, you know, ‘What among these essential categories is your category?'”

Were the government to adopt such a practice, it could deter some people from leaving the country, because travellers would be “actively lying” if they didn’t fit into one of the essential travel categories listed on the form, she explained.

Requiring returning travellers to be supervised during self-isolation, and putting the administrative cost of running such a program on travellers’ backs, could also limit the number of people deciding to escape for leisure purposes, Lapointe-Shaw said.

She pointed to New Zealand as one country that’s already leading the way in enforcing travel measures.

Anyone entering the country needs to have a voucher to quarantine for two weeks in a managed self-isolation centre and provide a negative COVID-19 test result. It costs travellers thousands of dollars to stay in self-isolation there. 

“But furthermore, their recommendation is not, ‘Avoid non-essential travel,'” Lapointe-Shaw said. “It is, ‘Do not travel.’ So the wording is much more definitive.” (CBC)

 

Saturday April 11, 2020

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday April 11, 2020

Families celebrating Easter and Passover must get ‘creative’ amid pandemic

Coronavirus cartoons

Eating in front of a computer isn’t quite the same as feasting with family, but that is likely the reality for most celebrating Easter, Passover and other faith-based holidays as the COVID-19 pandemic has robbed people of the chance to gather.

Gatherings of more than five people are illegal.

Organizers of groups of more than five may be charged under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act, which carries a fine starting at $750.

But the law won’t apply to households that have more than five residents.

It will force families to get creative.

April 19, 2003

“Many pastors have been able to provide streaming and online Masses and other adapted forms of prayer to support people’s personal prayers,” Monsignor Murray Kroetsch of Hamilton’s Roman Catholic Diocese said in a statement from the city.

Families can also have a virtual family dinner with others through programs like Skype or Zoom or host an online Easter egg hunt for children.

(Remember, Doug Ford did deem the Easter Bunny as an essential worker.)

“While the doors to our houses of worship may be closed, the gateways to both Heaven and our soul remain open. During these holidays, let our spirt soar with genuine connection,” Rabbi Daniel Green from the Adas Israel Congregation and Dean of the Hamilton Hebrew Academy, added. (CBC) 

 

Thursday August 16, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday August 16, 2018

Ottawa to declare federal holiday to mark legacy of residential school system

June 3, 2015

The Liberal government will declare a federal statutory holiday to mark the tragic legacy of the residential school system, fulfilling a recommendation made by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC).

In a statement, a spokesperson for Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez said the department is working with Indigenous peoples to determine the best date for this sort of commemoration.

July 13, 2017

“We have committed to fulfilling all of the calls to action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Call to Action 80 asks the government of Canada to establish a National Day for Truth and Reconciliation to honour the survivors of residential schools,” said Simon Ross, the minister’s press secretary.

“That’s exactly what we will do, and we will do that in partnership with Indigenous Peoples.”

Canada Day 2017

Two days are currently under consideration: June 21, which is National Indigenous Peoples Day, and September 30, which is named “Orange Shirt Day.” It is named for the bright orange shirt given to six-year-old Phyllis Webstad by her grandmother in 1973; it was taken from her by administrators when she attended the St. Joseph Mission School in Williams Lake, B.C. The date was chosen because it’s around the time Indigenous children were taken from their homes and sent to residential schools. 

It’s not yet clear when the new federal statutory holiday will be implemented, but the official said conversations with Indigenous peoples are well underway.

June 12, 2008

Constitutionally, it’s up to the provinces and territories to determine which statutory holidays exist in their jurisdictions.

Nothing in any federal legislation would force them to follow suit and implement a day to mark the horrors of the residential school system.

So a new federal holiday would apply only to workers in federally regulated industries — like the federal public service, banks, interprovincial and international transportation companies, TV/radio, telecommunications, fisheries and Crown corporations, among others — unless the provinces took action on their own. (Source: CBC) 

 

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