A recent surge of #Delta variant-fuelled COVID-19 outbreaks at seniors homes across Canada is amplifying concerns that unvaccinated health care workers are contributing to the spread of the virus.
Experts say anything less than national, mandatory #Covid_19 vaccination policies puts the frail elderly in seniors’ homes at risk of catching the virus from those individuals responsible for their care.
British Columbia, Alberta and Quebec have made vaccination a condition of employment for health care workers. Other provinces, including Saskatchewan and Ontario, are giving the option to get vaccinated or tested regularly for COVID-19.
Alberta and Saskatchewan, Canada's two hot spots, are struggling with a crush of unvaccinated COVID-19 patients. Outbreaks in long-term care in Alberta soared to 103 from 61 in one week, according to data from the province.
LTC homes in B.C. began declaring a new outbreaks in late July and early August.
“It was almost all unvaccinated workers who were bringing it in,” B.C. Seniors Advocate Isobel Mackenzie said. Recent outbreaks have started with vaccinated staff, she said.
CMA president Katharine Smart said political leaders need to move beyond the personal choice narrative on vaccinations, because that stand has consequences for everyone else in society.
“We really feel strongly that people have a right to expect safety, and the only way to ensure that is to have all the [health care] workers vaccinated against COVID-19,” Dr. Smart said.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s re-elected minority government will face calls from the NDP for new taxes on the “ultra-rich” and calls from the Bloc Québécois for billions in new spending on health and seniors.
But both Bloc Leader Yves-François Blanchet and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, who Mr. Trudeau will need to turn to for support in the House of Commons, are pledging to make the new Parliament work.
The Bloc will push the demand from Quebec and other provinces for a major increase in federal health transfers, and wants changes to the Liberal government’s plan to boost Old Age Security benefits by 10 per cent, starting in July, 2022.
Evergrande, China’s second-largest property developer, is on the brink of collapse.
Mounting problems within the property giant are rattling global financial markets with investors worried about the potential for a reprise of the 2008 financial crisis.
Evergrande Group, founded in 1996, is one of China’s biggest builders of apartments, office towers and shopping malls and one of its biggest private sector conglomerates.
The sprawling corporate with hundreds of development projects under way across China owes the equivalent of more than US$300-billion – an amount equal to roughly 2% of Chinese GDP.
The same old Liberals will form the next government – but with a new agenda of measures that affects your personal finances if you’re a parent, a home buyer, a senior or a high earner, writes @rcarrick.
Since affordability was an election theme for all parties, @rcarrick explains how the Liberal election promises will affect your finances – from new taxes to daycare to help for home buyers.
So now the question that is being asked is: Was the campaign worth it?
Political columnist @JohnIbbitson and parliamentary reporter @kkirkup join #TheDecibel to break down what happened on election night and what it means for the country.
🔊 @kkirkup: Perhaps this election is going to go down as the Groundhog Day Election. Frankly, I think, there is a sentiment among a large number of Canadians that this election didn’t need to happen in the first place. And, yet, here we are.
@JustinTrudeau didn’t get the Liberal majority he hoped for in Monday’s election, but with 158 seats leading or elected, the party is set to govern in a 44th Parliament that looks largely the same as the 43rd. #elxn44
In coming days and weeks, Trudeau is likely to face questions from his caucus about whether the snap #elexn44 call was worth it, but Monday night he focused on what he called the “clear direction” from voters to stay on a progressive course.
Winner: Jenica Atwin, the Green Party floor-crosser who joined the Liberals just three months before the election, held a small lead with most polls reporting. Atwin made a major breakthrough for the Greens in 2019 as their first MP from Atlantic Canada. tgam.ca/2Z8AhO2
Winner: In #KitchenerCentre, the Green Party appeared to have made a long-awaited Ontario breakthrough, thanks in part to a Liberal party candidate withdrawing from the race. Mike Morrice looked set to win with roughly 33 per cent of the vote.