The University of Ottawa has made the COVID-19 vaccine mandatory for all students, faculty, staff and visitors returning to campus on September 7.
UOttawa is the first university in Canada to institute a campus-wide COVID-19 vaccination mandate, though Seneca College introduced their mandatory vaccination policy earlier this summer.
In a statement released on Tuesday, UOttawa announced students, staff and visitors will have to “attest” their vaccination status beginning on September 1 using the online “COVID-19 Assessment Tool” questionnaire.
Prior to this announcement, the University of Ottawa was only going to require students living in residence and student-athletes to be vaccinated.
The decision to mandate vaccines for everyone on campus was made by the University’s Executive Committee of the Board of Governors.
“At the dawn of a fourth wave, it is even more important to have everybody vaccinated so that we can enhance our collective immunization against COVID-19 and the variants that are emerging,” the university stated.
According to the university, “any individual who cannot be vaccinated based on medical or other grounds recognized by the Ontario Human Rights Code can request an accommodation.”
UOttawa has one-upped the University of Waterloo, which will require students and staff to self-declare their COVID-19 vaccination status using a “Campus Check-In” system. Those who are not vaccinated will need to provide a negative COVID-19 test twice a week.
According to the University of Ottawa, fully vaccinated individuals must still wear masks while inside campus buildings.
In October, Albertans will vote in a referendum to remove equalization payments from the Canadian constitution. While constitutional amendments cannot be made unilaterally by provinces, the Supreme Court has previously ruled that the federal government must enter into good faith negotiations if the people of a province vote to amend the constitution. Fairness Alberta executive director Dr. Bill Bewick says the federal government has a ‘duty’ to listen to the concerns coming from the west. He joined The Andrew Lawton Show to discuss.
Conservative leader Erin O’Toole is doubling down on pandemic fears, saying the “dangerous Delta variant” and looming “fourth wave” make it too risky for an election. True North’s Andrew Lawton says Canadians deserve the right to assess the government’s performance after the last two years, and the Conservatives need to rise to the challenge. Also, an NDP politician had to apologize for supporting constitutional liberties and the lockdown-mongers are throwing Dr. Deena Hinshaw to the wolves. Plus, Dr. Bill Bewick joins to discuss the federal government’s duty to respond to Alberta’s upcoming equalization referendum.
As part of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s push to make vaccinations mandatory for the public service and federally-regulated industries, many Indigenous and black Canadians would likely be forced to get a COVID-19 jab.
Last week, Trudeau announced that he would pursue options to make vaccines mandatory for federal workers. He made no reference, however, to the fact that First Nations band leaders and reserve staff fall under that umbrella.
A vaccine mandate on all federal employees would include thousands of First Nations leaders.
Trudeau omitted referencing the impact on Indigenous and black Canadians despite official government statistics showing that vaccine hesitancy is highest among these two communities.
Statistics provided to True North by Health Canada confirm that black and Indigenous Canadians experience the highest rates of vaccine hesitancy in Canada.
A Statistics Canada COVID-19 vaccine willingness survey from March 26, 2021, reveals that black Canadians have the lowest willingness to take the COVID-19 vaccine (56.6%), while Indigenous Canadians have the second-lowest (71.8%).
“Certain sub-groups in Canada are more likely to report COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. These include black Canadians, Indigenous peoples, newcomers, and younger adults, among others” — this according to a federal government backgrounder on vaccinehesitancy intended for healthcare workers. Statistics Canada data shows that black Canadians make up a sizable part of Canada’s public service, relative to the overall population. According to 2020 data on visible minorities in Canada’s public service, black Canadians made up 3.5% of the total federal workforce.
According to an official count, as of August 9, 2021, 71.1% of Canada’s population has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while 59.7% of Canadians have been fully vaccinated against the virus.
According to the Government of Canada’s website on federally regulated industries and workplaces, “First Nations band councils (including certain community services on reserve)” are included in the list of organizations that are federally mandated and therefore would fall under Trudeau’s proposed mandatory vaccination scheme.
The Prime Minister’s Office did not respond to True North’s request for comment on why these facts were omitted from Trudeau’s announcement on mandatory vaccines for federal employees.
The Ontario government failed to consider independent schools when it distributed millions of dollars to help schools reopen safely, according to a lawsuit filed by Toronto Cheder, Metropolitan Preparatory Academy and Woodland Christian High School.
The three independent schools, represented by lawyers Aaron Rosenberg and David Elmaleh, appeared in court Monday to challenge the provincial government’s allocation of federal COVID-19 funding.
The independent schools are taking issue with the Safe Return to Class Fund – a $763 million dollar program provided by the federal government to assist schools in their reopenings after being shuttered by the COVID-19 lockdowns.
“The government isn’t required to fund private schools, but it has to consider the health and safety of all schools in the province,” Elmaleh argued Monday.
He went on to say that this is not just about keeping private schools open but keeping them safe as well.
“There should be no distinction between private and public schools when it comes to protecting teachers and students.”
Like public and Catholic schools in Ontario, independent schools were also forced to suspend in-person learning during the pandemic. While Elmaleh didn’t fault the government for its handling of the pandemic, he argued that independent schools took on additional expenses as a result of the lockdowns.
Jewish human rights organization B’nai Brith Canada is an intervenor in the lawsuit in support of independent schools. One of the lawyers representing B’nai Brith, Tommy Gelbman challenged the Ontario government by accusing them of applying the same standards during unprecedented times as they do to normal times.
The Ontario government argued that there is no historical precedent for the government to fund private education and that the prerogative of the government was to ensure that public schools receive the money to stay afloat.
“When parents enroll their children in private schools, they are effectively opting out of public funding,” one of the province’s lawyers said.
Every parent in Ontario must pay taxes to either their local public school board or their local catholic school board regardless of if their children are enrolled in private schools.
In Ontario, the estimated student population from kindergarten to grade 12 is two million students. Of that two million, approximately 150,000 school-aged students are enrolled in independent schools. Oftentimes these independent schools are catered toward more religious education.
Canadians prefer Conservative Party Leader Erin O’Toole over other federal leaders when it comes to managing the economy.
According to an August 5, 2021 poll by the Angus Reid Institute, O’Toole leads on the following issues: the deficit/government spending, the economy and energy or natural resources.
The Angus Reid Institute was founded as a “non-partisan public opinion research foundation” and regularly conducts polls on Canadian politics.
The poll surveyed 1,605 Canadians online from July 30 – August 3 on their views on federal politics. In comparison a poll of similar probability size would carry a margin of error of +/- 2.5 %.
With regard to curbing the federal government’s ballooning deficit, 32% of Canadians said O’Toole would be the best suited to tackle the issue, while only 17% believed the Liberals had the ability to reduce government spending. Meanwhile, only 10% of Canadians had confidence in the NDP to do the same.
As for the economy at large, 31% of those polled picked O’Toole as their top choice to steer Canada’s finances. The Liberals followed behind with 22% of respondents and the NDP came in third place with 11%.
On the issue of natural resource development and pipelines, 28% said that they believe O’Toole was the best suited to deal with the issues, while 17% picked the Liberals. On the other hand, 14% of Canadians said that the NDP would be suited to deal with the matter.
Despite the positive views towards the Conservatives’ ability to handle economic matters, the Liberal Party of Canada continues to lead in electability.
Angus Reid researchers found that 35% of those polled would vote for the Liberals, while 30% said they would cast their ballot for the Conservatives, followed by 19% indicating they will vote for the NDP.
Although support for the Liberals remains high, many Canadians are expressing doubt in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s abilities.
A recent online poll by Leger, revealed that 49% of Canadians were either dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with Trudeau’s performance.
Barrie’s Deputy Mayor Barry Ward wants to step in where the federal and provincial government has fallen short and put an end to boil water advisories on First Nations reserves.
As a sponsor of a recent motion on overcoming discrimination and racism in Indigenous communities, Ward hopes that the City will approve a move to allocate a portion of the 2022 municipal water and wastewater revenue to improving access to drinking water.
According to the motion, the City of Barrie would “dedicate 0.2% of its 2022 water and wastewater revenue toward efforts to improve water services in Indigenous communities in a method to be determined at a future date.”
“The 0.2% should bring in at least $100,000 in 2022,” Ward told True North.
“The average annual water/wastewater bill in Barrie is about $880, meaning 0.2% would mean about $1.80 per household. It’s not a large amount but in my mind it would be a wonderful gesture on the part of Barrie residents toward the spirit of reconciliation, working with Indigenous communities to achieve something most Barrie residents take for granted: turning on our tap and drinking our water.”
Barrie City Council will debate the motion on Monday night. A second part of the initiative involves inviting representatives of Water First, an Indigenous-led NGO to give a presentation before the municipal Finance and Corporate Services Committee.
According to Ward, he has not yet decided whether the funds would directly fund internships by Water First which train Indigenous youth to be certified water plant operators and is open to ideas from his fellow councillors.
“Since an estimated 40% of Ontario First Nations are under boil water advisories, I think it is obvious that federal and provincial governments have not done enough,” said Ward.
Since being first elected in 2015, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has walked back on his promise to end all boil-water advisories on Indigenous land by 2021.
In October 2020, the federal government blamed COVID-19 for their failure to deliver on the matter.
“We recognize there’s lots more work to do. Travel restrictions related to (COVID-19) have made it more difficult in certain situations, but we continue to work very closely with communities across the country,” said Trudeau at the time.
Another Islamist has been placed on a peace bond after authorities expressed concerns that he might commit a terror attack.
30-year-old Daniel Khoshnood was known to the RCMP because he was an associate of convicted terrorist Kevin Omar Mohamed, who was also placed on a similar bond last week over fears that he might re-offend.
“Police uncovered some further online comments by Mr. Khoshnood suggesting support of extremist groups, and uncovered evidence suggesting that he had taken steps to locate some corrections staff with whom he had previous dealings,” Crown prosecutors told Global News.
Khoshnood has had trouble with the law in the past and has a history of making bomb threats. Khoshnood served time in prison but was released on September 23, 2019.
“You also wrote on a piece of paper (that you knew staff would find), that you wanted to find information on bomb-making techniques, chemicals used to make bombs, and that you wanted to learn how a specific terrorist made car bombs that ‘killed 77 people LOL,’” a parole decision reads.
“You told the psychologist that you had thoughts of ‘shooting people, killing people, cutting them up, just for fun … they’re just thoughts though.’” He scored “unusually high in psychopathy.”
The Public Prosecution Service of Canada has claimed that after his release, the RCMP became aware of Khoshnood’s ties to Mohamed.
According to Crown prosecutors, the two had met in person and also communicated through encrypted messaging applications.
Upon being recently arrested for a breach of probation, authorities found alleged terrorist materials on his phone.
Under the peace bond, Khoshood must follow 25 conditions including GPS monitoring for five months and entering a de-radicalization program. Khoshnood also must not have any contact with Mohamed, possess weapons or use any device that can access the internet, among other conditions.
With 25 candidates in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, the Maverick Party is hopeful for success in the upcoming election and to deliver the antidote to Western alienation.
Interim leader Jay Hill says his party will follow in the footsteps of Quebec’s historical separatist path.
“The first step is to learn from Quebec. They wrote the book on dealing with Ottawa,” interim leader Jay Hill told the Maverick Party founding convention on Saturday.
“For nearly 30 years, Quebec has sent MPs to Ottawa that represent Quebecers – we must do the same,” said Hill.
When asked if Maverick is solely a separatist party, Hill responded that his goal is “not necessarily independence, but independence if necessary.”
Founded in 2020, the Maverick Party describes their policy platform as “a reflection of what is best for the West, without compromise or any attempt to appease voters in Central and Eastern Canada.”
Hill recognizes that many Canadians in the West do not want to cut ties with Canada. This is why Hill says “the Maverick Party has adopted a Twin-Track approach to achieve greater fairness and self-determination for Western Canadians.”
The first track involves a constitutional change and creating a ‘nation within a nation,’ following Quebec’s path. Quebec has made several previous efforts to secede from the federation, conducting independence referendums in 1980 and 1995.
The second track involves completely separating from Canada and creating a Western nation. “We will make Canada work for all Canadians, including the West, or we will leave Canada,” said Hill.
The Maverick Party supports greater provincial autonomy in taxation, pensions, immigration and policing. They plan to eliminate all carbon taxes and implement five proposed constitutional amendments.
“Without the West, Canada would be a third world country,” said Hill. His policy platform includes the promise to eliminate the equalization formula and remove “current constraints on the Fiscal Stabilization Program that prevents Alberta from receiving billions of dollars in equalization rebates.”
Maverick Party members are excitedly awaiting the fulfillment of Alberta Premier Jason Kenney’s promise to hold a referendum on equalization payments on October 18, coinciding with the municipal elections.
Although Alberta has no power unilaterally to change the equalization program, Kenney said it does “elevate Alberta’s fight for fairness to the top of the national agenda, in a sense, it takes a page out of Quebec’s playbook.”
The Maverick Party foundation convention on Saturday also involved training sessions on social media strategy for candidates and asked member delegates to vote on the party constitution, bylaw, governing council and policies.
Hill says the party “won’t run in ridings where conservative candidates won by a small margin in the past.” Instead, their aim is to prevent splitting the vote between a conservative candidate and someone from either the NDP or Liberal party.
This story was updated on Wednesday August 11 to reflect new information
Passengers arriving at the International terminal at Pearson Airport were met with chaos over the weekend due in part to a “work-to-rule” action by the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA), True North has learned.
Passengers were forced to wait upwards of two to three hours on their plane before being cleared to proceed to the customs hall.
Once permitted to enter the hall, passengers were met with more chaos – including sprawling lines, tired and angry travellers, closed-off machines and little direction or customer service to answer the many questions of frustrated and confused passengers.
The usual triage system used to screen passengers had been removed, and every single arriving traveller was asked multiple questions by border officers.
Passengers were told the reason for the delay was a “work-to-rule” decision by the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA).
Last month, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that Canada would unilaterally open its border with the United States – a move not reciprocated by US President Joe Biden. To add insult to injury for the Trudeau government, CBSA then announced that its union had voted to strike.
Work-to-rule is a form of job action where union employees do no more than the minimum required by the rules of their contract, intentionally causing a slowdown or decrease in productivity in order to gain the upper hand in bargaining power. In the case of the CBSA, officials were stopping every single passenger and asking more questions than necessary.
“I’ve never seen anything like this in my 13 years flying,” an Air Canada flight attendant told True North, exacerbated by being made to force passengers to remain seated even after landing from a long international flight.
Many passengers arriving at the International terminal on Saturday evening missed connecting flights after being forced to wait on their plane before trying to navigate the chaos at customs.
Entire banks of customs machines were intentionally turned off, making the wait even longer than it otherwise would be.
CBSA’s job action compounded with restrictive COVID-19 procedures limiting the number of people permitted in the customs area at Canada’s largest airport, creating an unprecedented and frenzied scene at Pearson.
According to a report in the Toronto Sun, the Greater Toronto Airport Authority (GTAA) introduced a “capacity metering program” where passengers are deplaned in groups of 50 every five minutes once a plane arrives at its gate.
On Tuesday August 3, CBSA’s union had served a strike notice to the federal government, but since border officers are considered “essential workers” they cannot institute mass “walk-offs.”
Instead, on Friday August 6, the union started its work-to-rule campaign at more than 100 land ports of entry at the border and the four airports remaining open to international travel.
An eleventh-hour deal was reached late on Friday between CBSA and the Trudeau government to avoid further strike actions, but work-to-rule procedures were still being used over the weekend.
Even though a deal was reached, the strike caused massive delays across the country.
In Ontario, there was a 50-minute delay at the Thousand Island Bridge at Lansdowne, 75 minutes at the Queenston-Lewiston Bridge and 90 minutes at the Peace Bridge in Windsor.
The queue at Pearson International Airport was running upwards of three hours on Saturday evening.
The new deal struck by CBSA includes an average annual wage increase of more than 2% as well as other workplace perks.
A union spokesperson told CTV that the bargaining team would reconvene Tuesday August 10 to discuss the next steps for ratification of the deal. The deal had not been finalized as of Wednesday August 11.
The CBSA chose the worst time to strike – causing massive disruptions at a crucial time when the country is finally taking steps to open up after a year-and-a-half of isolation and closures.
