Hello,
After some early hiccups, shipments of COVID-19 vaccines are set to ramp up over the coming weeks and months. The federal government has maintained that all Canadians who want a shot can receive one by September.
But getting there may still be a challenge. Health-care providers and pharmacies tell The Globe that they are concerned by a lack of information and planning that is needed to map out vaccine distribution this year.
Ontario finally announced this morning that it will set up an online booking system by March 15 for people to get their shots. Quebec and Alberta are starting to inoculate all older seniors this week, but Ontario will not start with a similar campaign until the third week of March. At that time, those who are 80 or older can get shots, followed by 75 and older on April 15, 70 and older on May 1 and 65 and older on June 1.
Retired general Rick Hillier, chair of the province’s vaccine task force, warned that timeline could fluctuate depending on changes to vaccine shipments.
Meanwhile in B.C., Dr. Bonnie Henry said yesterday she has issued an order to allow dentists, midwives, pharmacy technicians, retired nurses and others, with appropriate training, to work in immunization clinics.
There are plans for 172 mass-vaccination sites across the province as part of a mass vaccination effort.
All of B.C.’s long-term care and assisted-care workers and residents have been vaccinated, and the plan now is to turn to seniors 80 and older living in the community. “These seniors and elders will receive vaccine information in the next two weeks. So please be patient,” she said.
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TODAY’S HEADLINES
Now that MPs have backed a parliamentary motion declaring China’s persecution of Muslim minorities to be genocide, MPs, including some from the governing Liberals, are calling for specific government action.
Despite Ottawa declaring an end to unlawful prisoner isolation tactics, the latest report from two government-appointed researchers finds federal prisons continue to practice solitary confinement and torture.
A new poll finds Canadians see the United States in a more positive light since Joe Biden’s electoral victory over Donald Trump, while negative impressions of China are on the rise, according to a new Nanos Research survey.
And there are big changes for an iconic Quebec TV talk show that has been a key platform for federal politicians, including Jack Layton and Justin Trudeau, seeking to reach out to Quebec voters. The Globe and Mail’s Eric Andrew-Gee wrote about Tout le monde en parle last November. On the exit of Dany Turcotte, Mr. Andrew-Gee says today that, “The long-time sidekick of host Guy A. Lepage was known as the show’s ‘fou du roi,’ or court jester, and played a key role by interjecting with quips or questions to give long interviews the feel of a dinner-party conversation rather than a conventional Q&A. The departure of Mr. Turcotte – a well-liked figure on one of the province’s most enduringly popular TV shows – has renewed a conversation about ‘cancel culture’ and political correctness in Quebec, where many leading figures in politics and journalism say they believe freedom of expression is under attack.”
OPINION
John Ibbitson (The Globe and Mail) on a welcome new dynamic in the first meeting between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Joe Biden as U.S. President: “More than anything, everyone just seemed so relieved. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government faces plenty of challenges in its relations with U.S. President Joe Biden’s new Democratic administration: securing exemption from the Buy American procurement policies that could harm Canadian manufacturers; protecting Line 5, an Enbridge oil pipeline under threat of closing that could choke off oil flowing to Sarnia through Michigan.”
Andrew Coyne (The Globe and Mail) on the perils of government borrowing: “The recent report of the Commons finance committee contains 145 separate recommendations for this spring’s federal budget. They urge the government to spend more on everything from long-term care to universal pharmacare to a national early learning and child-care system and beyond: on young and old, on education and housing, on cities, on airports, on and on and on. Recommendation 111 calls on the government to ‘make investments’ in an apparently limitless number of industries, with particular ‘focus’ on ‘auto, rail, clean water, aerospace, shipbuilding, construction materials, pharmaceuticals [as well as] telecommunications and media.’ Have I missed anything? Oh yes: It should also ‘consider the implementation of a universal basic income program.’”
Robyn Urback (The Globe and Mail) finds Canada’s hotel quarantine program leaky and half-baked. “As a way to disincentivize non-essential travel, the federal government’s new rule requiring a three-day hotel stay for international travellers actually makes sense. Not only will many potential jetsetters balk at spending upwards of $2,000 on three days in an airport hotel (though the actual costs appear to be much lower), but surely the prospect of wasting hours on a government-run hotline to book a quarantine reservation is unpalatable enough to keep most Canadians at home. Indeed, only a masochist would willingly put himself or herself in a position to hear, ‘We are experiencing higher call volumes than normal’ for several hours straight.”
Thomas Mulcair (The Ottawa Citizen) foresees a spring federal election: “Anyone who entertained doubts that Justin Trudeau is doing everything he can to clear the runway for a spring election only had to look at events of last week to understand that he’s going to go to the polls as soon as he decently can. From gun control to language rights, Team Trudeau has been checking the boxes on unfulfilled promises and making new ones on the pandemic front.”
Max Fawcett (The National Observer) on challenges that federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh may be causing Alberta NDP Leader Rachel Notley: “With barely two years until the next provincial election in Alberta and the governing UCP cratering in the polls, the prospect of Rachel Notley’s NDP forming government again seems downright realistic. There’s just one problem: the federal NDP keeps getting in their way.”
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