Race trumps knowledge when it comes to training new teachers, an Ontario court has determined. It’s a decision that defies common sense and places teachers’ rights ahead of students’ needs.
Ontario
Epidemiologist urges extended school closures, calls Ontario’s plan ‘catastrophic’
Infection Control Epidemiologist, Dr. Colin Furness, is calling on Toronto Public Health to defy the province and close schools until January 24th to prevent a potential surge of unvaccinated children being hospitalized.
Pellerin: Doug Ford’s absence on school re-opening is an abdication of leadership
After being AWOL since before the holiday break, Ontario Premier Doug Ford emerged on Dec. 28 to let everyone know a decision might be made soonish. That is nowhere near good enough. The return to school, at least in the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, is Jan. 3. People needed time to get organized, and prepare mentally for whatever would be coming, even if we didn’t know all the details of what that was. We have enough stress dealing with the stuff we know about, there is no excuse to add to the anxiety by leaving millions of us, including the kids, to spin our wheels.
FUREY: Brampton Mayor speaks out on Ontario’s misleading COVID hospital data
It’s a phenomenon that doctors and officials have known about for months, but haven’t been all that forthcoming about.
It’s what’s known as incidental hospitalizations — people who are included in the Ontario government’s daily count of people in hospital with COVID-19, but who aren’t actually in hospital for the virus.
Instead, they’ve gone to hospital for something completely different and just happen to test positive for the virus upon arrival but aren’t at all suffering from it.
Ontario’s upcoming provincial election holds many uncertainties
Ontario’s provincial election is rapidly approaching and while campaigning has already gotten well underway, the process itself comes with several unknowns.
The issues facing Ontario voters on June 2, 2022, will be similar to other elections before it. The state of the economy, handling climate change, and tackling housing affordability are all issues expected to get a lot of airtime. But like all things in the world these days, the COVID-19 pandemic and recovering from it is destined to overshadow many issues. And potentially, it may affect how the campaigns themselves function.
No one normal is talking about climate change.
‘You can’t open in January’: An infection-control epidemiologist on Omicron in schools
Natalie Philippe, a public health nurse for Public Health Sudbury and Districts, says that a school outbreak does not always involve transmission within the school. Instead, it is declared when two cases are reported in a single classroom. Often, she says, “outbreaks that occur in schools are actually from contact that occurred outside of school.” Her region has been a hotspot since the end of October — and the city’s schools have not been spared. “We know that with Omicron, we are going to be dealing with something even stronger,” Philippe says.
Ford says ‘too soon’ to say whether Ontario schools will be open to in-person learning in the new year
Speaking at a news conference late Friday afternoon to announce new COVID-19 restrictions to help curb the rapidly spreading Omicron variant, Ford spoke directly to parents and said he understands that they are concerned and waiting for news.
LEVY: Ontario and Florida could not be more different
I noticed the difference – the logical easing of draconian restrictions – as soon as I crossed the border into the United States a month ago and started driving south. In most places where I stopped – from West Virginia to Charlotte, North Carolina to Savannah, Georgia – masks were not a must unless we took an Uber.
More than four out of 10 Ontarians still plan to celebrate holidays with extended family amid Omicron threat, poll finds
There was also widespread concern expressed about gathering with unvaccinated individuals. Only about 25 per cent of respondents said that they would be comfortable doing so.
Restricting your liberties “out of an abundance of caution”
A few weeks ago, Canada implemented travel restrictions on African countries “out of an abundance of caution” in order to curb the spread of the Omicron variant. Earlier this week, these travel restrictions were lifted – they weren’t needed and were ineffective.
This week, governments across the country are implementing additional COVID restrictions – again – “out of an abundance of caution.”
This is now all about hospital capacity — so why isn’t it better after 2 years?
There are calls for Ontario to be plunged into yet another dark winter.
But before we go down that road, here are a couple of points that Ontarians who have suffered so much already should consider.
Ontario hospitals ‘urgently’ reactivating mass vaccination programs in face of Omicron: OHA president
The head of the Ontario Hospital Association says hospitals in the province are moving to urgently reactivate mass vaccination programs as the Omicron variant – the most contagious COVID-19 variant discovered so far – quickly moves to become the dominant variant in the province.
‘There is a myth out there that it’s mild,’ head of Ontario’s science table says of Omicron
“This is historical. This is unprecedented. This week Omicron will become the dominant variant in the province… People cannot imagine the sheer scale of what we are talking about here. It is really challenging,” Dr. Peter Jüni, the head of the province’s Science Advisory Table.
Delta variant cases rising in Canada’s Ontario, Omicron to hit ‘hard and fast’
Cases of COVID-19 are on the rise across Canada’s most populous province of Ontario, thanks to the Delta variant, while Omicron “will hit us hard and fast” next year, an expert panel said on Tuesday.
NDP MPP introduces bill to recognize “systemic racism” in Ontario schools
Ontario New Democratic Party MPP Laura Mae Lindo proposed a bill on Thursday to embed “anti-racist strategies” in the province’s education system.
“Students, parents and education workers should never experience racism in Ontario’s public schools and post-secondary institutions,” said Lindo. “Yet every month we learn about new incidents of racism that leave students, families and their communities reeling.”