HONEST Canadians have returned 830,000 pandemic benefit payments

Kathleen Harris

Canadians have made more than 830,000 repayments of COVID-19 emergency aid benefits to which they were not entitled – a statistic some say reflects mass confusion over fast-tracked federal programs 

IT DOES NO SUCH THING 

IT SHOWS THE EFFICENCY AND EFFICACY OF THE PROGRAMS AND THE HONESTY OF CANADIANS WHOM CONSERVATIVES ATTACK AS LAZY AND UNWORTHY

OF UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME AS THESE PROGRAMS SHOW

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© Creative Touch Imaging Ltd/NurPhoto One of the many stores forced to close due to the financial strain of the 4-month lockdown seen during the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on July 31, 2020. Ontario has entered 'stage 3' of the 3 stage reopening plan following a 4-month lockdown to flatten the curve of the virus. Some three million jobs were lost in Canada over March and April due to the pandemic, and 2.5 million more had their hours and earnings slashed. By last month, some 3.1 million were affected by the pandemic, including 1.4 million who weren't at work due to COVID-19. (Photo by Creative Touch Imaging Ltd./NurPhoto via Getty Images)

The figures provided to CBC News by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) include repayments from recipients of the Canada emergency response benefit (CERB) and Canada emergency student benefit (CESB).

CRA said all of the repayments were voluntary.

"There are various reasons why voluntary repayments have been made: if applicants applied in error for a CERB payment from both Service Canada and the CRA for the same period, if an applicant later realized that they were not eligible for the benefit, or if an applicant returned to work earlier than expected," said CRA spokesperson Christopher Doody in an email.

Conservative MP and national revenue critic Philip Lawrence said he blames the high number of repayments on the federal government failing to explain the benefit programs to Canadians.

"During the pandemic, the Liberals continuously sent mixed messages to Canadians who were applying for emergency benefits. This caused confusion for many Canadians who were unclear if they were eligible for the benefits or not," Lawrence said.

"It was important for the Trudeau government to get the communication of these benefits right. Unfortunately, they failed to do so and left Canadians behind."

CRA said it could not cite a dollar sum for the repayments because the money is retained in a general account, along with other unrelated payments.

Rushed programs led to confusion

Toronto-based Labour lawyer Lluc Cerda called the number of repayments "huge" — and also blamed a lack of clarity on the federal government's part when it launched these benefits in the chaotic early days of the pandemic.

He said people often couldn't get through to busy CRA or Service Canada call centre agents — and when they did reach an agent, they were sometimes given contradictory information.

"I think with the way the plan was rushed into place – and I mean, the times called for it – there's definitely a lot of confusion and I think that's a large part of why people are paying it back," Cerda said.

Widespread uncertainty also may have led some people to apply for benefits, then "park" the money until tax time against the possibility that it would have to be repaid, he said. Cerda added that the uncertainty may have deterred some people who were actually eligible for benefits like CERB from even applying.

20,000 tips on suspected abuse

CRA also told CBC News it has received more than 20,000 confidential tips about suspected cheating related to COVID-19 emergency aid programs.

All anonymous tips are reviewed for evidence of fraud.

In June, the Liberal government proposed legislation that would have imposed fines or even jail time on people who deliberately lied on CERB applications. It backtracked after a public and political outcry.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau justified the move as a way to ensure integrity of the program, saying the government would crack down on the small minority of "deliberate fraudsters" but was not looking to penalize anyone who collected money unintentionally.

"We're not looking to punish people who made honest mistakes," he said.

At the time, the government was under pressure from the Conservatives to bring in stronger controls to weed out fraudulent claims and maintain an incentive for people to return to work where possible.

CRA said it will take steps to verify that claimants were eligible to receive payments. The agency keeps records showing who received the benefits and for how long; those records will be cross-checked with tax slips from employers and other relevant information to validate eligibility at tax filing time.

In cases where recipients are found to be ineligible, they will be contacted to make repayment arrangements, CRA said.

#BLM

Art depicting Viola Desmond displayed on building where she was arrested in 1946

NEW GLASGOW, N.S. — An art display paying tribute to Viola Desmond is nearing completion on the building where the civil rights icon took her most high-profile stand against racial inequality in Canada

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© Provided by The Canadian Press

Desmond, a Black Nova Scotian who is commemorated on Canada's $10 bill, refused to leave her seat at the Roseland Theatre on Nov. 8, 1946.

The segregated movie theatre relegated black patrons to the balcony at the time, while floor seating was reserved for whites. Desmond, who was shortsighted and could not see properly from the back, sat in the floor section and refused to leave.

The beautician and entrepreneur from north end Halifax was dragged out of the theatre by police, arrested, thrown in jail for 12 hours and fined.

It would take 63 years for Nova Scotia to issue Desmond, who died in 1965, a posthumous apology and pardon.

The art on the side of the recently renovated Roseland Theatre was chosen through a contest created by the law firm MacGillivray Injury and Insurance Law.

A news release from the firm said lawyer Jamie MacGillivray acquired the building in 2015, after it had been condemned, and he has restored and renovated it, with the art display featuring prominently on an exterior wall.

The pieces on the building, which include several that depict Desmond sitting behind bars, are among more than 400 that were submitted for consideration.

Each of the winning submissions was photographed and sent to a manufacturer in Europe, where they were digitally printed onto panels capable of withstanding exterior display.

The committee hired contractors to mount the panels over the summer and there is also a plan to install a metal film strip, which will be woven through the artwork panels.

"This building, which for many decades bore nasty scars of racial injustice and unrest, has now been transformed into an artistic showcase of hope, peace, unity, diversity, and last but not least, inclusion," said Henderson Paris, chair of the Viola Commemorative Committee, in a news release.
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Desmond's story went largely untold for a half-century, but in recent years she has been featured on a stamp, and her name graces a Halifax harbour ferry.

A Toronto park and streets in Montreal and New Glasgow bear her name, and she was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame in 2017.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 3, 2020.

Michael Tutton, The Canadian Press

Donald Trump's alternate reality of Covid-19 crumbles as the White House obfuscates

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Some seven months into a pandemic that has killed more than 209,000 Americans, the nation is now facing a grave governing crisis with its commander in chief hospitalized -- his condition hinging on his progress over the coming days -- as the White House events of the past week serve as a textbook example of how not to handle a deadly virus

© Drew Angerer/Getty Images WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 02: U.S. President Donald Trump leaves the White House for Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on the South Lawn of the White House on October 2, 2020 in Washington, DC. President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump have both tested positive for coronavirus. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Late Saturday night, the public learned new details about why President Donald Trump was airlifted to the hospital Friday, when chief of staff Mark Meadows said during an interview with Fox News that Trump had a fever on Friday morning and his oxygen level had "dropped rapidly." Meadows added that Trump has made "unbelievable improvements from yesterday morning."

A memo from Trump's physician earlier Saturday night said that Trump had "made substantial progress" since his diagnosis but "is not yet out of the woods."

Speaking from a White House that already has a huge credibility problem with the public, Meadows' statement capped a 24-hour period that served as a master class in opacity and contradiction that raised major questions about the President's health -- and renewed questions about this administration's ability to tell the truth.

Trump has been watching and critiquing coverage of his hospitalization from the presidential suite at Walter Reed and has been agitated at what he claims are exaggerated descriptions of his condition, people familiar with the matter said.

Those people told CNN that Trump seemed particularly upset when he saw a quote saying he was displaying "concerning" symptoms on Friday attributed to person familiar with his health but later assigned by the New York Times and Associated Press to Meadows.

The comment about the President's vitals hinted that his condition was more worrisome than his doctors let on. But the President's aversion to appearing weak and sick is now what is driving the effort to project resolve, including a video he tweeted from Walter Reed on Saturday, the photos released by the White House of him working and the multiple accounts of phone calls where he sounded strong by his allies and family members.

For much of this year, Trump has spun an alternate reality about the dangers of coronavirus — disputing science and the efficacy of masks, downplaying the risks to the American people, and making false statements about how 99% of coronavirus cases in America are "totally harmless" or that the virus "affects virtually nobody."

He encouraged his aides and advisers to live in that dangerous fantasy land, pushing his luck to the limits as late as this past week when he again recklessly gathered thousands of unmasked Americans at his political rallies and packed the top officials in government into a Rose Garden ceremony for his Supreme Court nominee. All the while, White House officials embraced the fallacy that administering rapid coronavirus tests frequently at the White House could provide a shield of immunity.

The President's construct crumbled Friday when he was airlifted to Walter Reed after contracting the virus, while many aides, advisers and allies were testing positive for Covid-19 after interacting with him over the past week.

The White House seemed to be continuing to downplay concerns about the severity of the virus Saturday morning when the President's physician, Navy Cmdr. Dr. Sean Conley, gave a news conference at Walter Reed where he described the President as upbeat and feeling good, without revealing any of the alarming developments with his oxygen levels the day before.

Undermining the confidence in the information coming from the White House, Conley gave confusing statements Saturday morning about how long it's been since the President was diagnosed with Covid-19, which he later had to try to clean up.

Conley was evasive about whether the President had received supplemental oxygen (CNN confirmed he had). Conley also refused to pinpoint when the President had his last negative test or to detail whether any tracing had been done to determine how he contracted the virus.

A potential superspreading event at the White House

Many of the Trump aides or contacts who have recently tested positive for Covid-19 attended the White House festivities honoring Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett on September 26, in the Rose Garden.

At least seven people attending the event, including the President and first lady, have tested positive. University of Notre Dame President the Rev. John Jenkins, former counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway and Republican Sens. Mike Lee of Utah and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who were seated relatively close to each other, tested positive. Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie also tested positive and checked himself into the hospital Saturday as a precautionary measure, because he has asthma.

Conway, Christie, Trump's senior adviser Hope Hicks and his campaign manager Bill Stepien — who have all tested positive — were also all involved in debate prep ahead of Trump's Tuesday clash with Democratic nominee Joe Biden.

It "seems highly likely this originated at the SCOTUS announcement last week," a senior administration official told CNN's Jake Tapper of the outbreak among GOP officials. "It may have come from the Hill. The next major concern will be securing Capitol Hill and protecting lawmakers," the official added.

Trump did not address anyone else's diagnosis during his video message from Walter Reed Saturday. As he praised the medical care he had received at Walter Reed, he sought to spin his hospitalization to his advantage by making it sound like his diagnosis had been inevitable, even though he took few precautions to prevent it.

The President said he was "starting to feel good" and that he was receiving therapeutics he said are like "miracles coming down from God."

"This was something that's happened, and it's happened to millions of people all over the world and I'm fighting for them, not just in the US," Trump said. "We're gonna beat this coronavirus — or whatever you want to call it — and we're gonna beat it soundly."

Thanking the American people for their well wishes, Trump said the true nature of his condition would be revealed in the coming days: "You don't know. Over the next period of a few days, I guess that's the real test, so we'll be seeing what happens over those next couple of days," Trump said.

The President said the decision to go to Walter Reed on Friday was his. He suggested he didn't like the prospect of staying isolated at the residence: "Lock yourself in, don't ever leave, don't even go to the Oval Office, just stay upstairs and enjoy it, don't see people, don't talk to people and just be done with it."

That statement from Trump, clearly attempting to make himself look like a decision-maker in command of the situation, contradicts reporting from CNN's Kevin Liptak and Kaitlan Collins that the President was reluctant to go to the hospital.

"I had to be out front and this is America, this is the United States, this is the greatest country in the world, this is the most powerful country in the world," Trump continued in the video. "I can't be locked up in a room upstairs and totally safe, and just say, hey whatever happens, happens. I can't do that."


White House concerns about optics

The President appeared to be breathing and talking without effort during the video released Saturday, but it remains unclear how severe his symptoms have been, beyond Meadows' comments to Fox Saturday night.

There is a long history of White House officials covering up or obfuscating about the medical condition of the sitting President — from Grover Cleveland's secret surgery to remove a tumor in his mouth aboard a friend's yacht, to John F. Kennedy hiding his Addison's disease.

Officials in the Trump White House have carefully calibrated their statements about the President's health over the past few days in what seems like an effort to put the best face on the diagnosis at a time when the President is 30 days from Election Day and trailing in the polls. Mail-in voting has already begun in certain states across the country.

The President tweeted that he had tested positive for coronavirus around 1 a.m. ET Friday, hours after attending a Thursday night fundraiser in Bedminster, New Jersey, where he met with a small group of donors indoors with no masks, before addressing a larger crowd outdoors. Trump got his first positive coronavirus test result Thursday after returning from that trip, a White House official said Saturday evening.

Hicks had begun experiencing symptoms the previous night while accompanying the President on his trip to Minnesota for a fundraiser and rally Wednesday night. It's unclear whether the President was tested around that same time, given how closely they work together.

On Friday, Meadows at first described the President as energetic with mild symptoms. But the President was abruptly taken to Walter Reed Friday evening in what officials described as an "abundance of caution." Other sources told CNN Friday that the President had a fever and some trouble breathing.

On Saturday morning, Conley acknowledged that the President had a fever at one point, but refused to say what his temperature was or give the press a rundown on the President's vital signs.

He declined to say whether medical tests had revealed any damage to the President's lungs. And he also would not say how many people in the President's orbit may have been exposed, given that Trump rarely wears a mask. One of the White House aides who works closest to Trump has tested positive, a White House official confirmed to CNN.

Conley was most evasive about whether the President was given supplemental oxygen, repeatedly stating that the President was not currently receiving any. Another Walter Reed doctor treating the President told reporters at the Saturday morning news conference that Trump told doctors: "I feel like I could walk out of here today."

Conley said Trump had been fever-free for 24 hours and had experienced an "extremely mild cough," nasal congestion and fatigue.

But Conley's rosy pronouncements were contradicted minutes later in a statement that was given to pool reporters from a source familiar with Trump's health, who was later identified by the New York Times and the Associated Press as Meadows.

"The President's vitals over the last 24 hours were very concerning and the next 48 hours will be critical in terms of his care. We are still not on a clear path to a full recovery," the source later identified as Meadows told pool reporters.

That's the statement, according to the New York Times, that made Trump furious at Meadows and prompted the President to take to Twitter to say he was feeling well.

On Saturday evening, Conley said in a memo that the President "remains fever-free and off supplemental oxygen with a saturation level between 96% and 98% all day," which is within the normal range for blood oxygen levels.

While the President was still at the White House Friday, he was administered the experimental Regeneron antibody cocktail, a promising treatment that has not yet been approved by the Food and Drug Administration that was intended to help boost the President's immune system as he fights the virus.

Once Trump was at Walter Reed, doctors initiated the antiviral drug remdesivir. He is receiving a five-day course of the drug, which has been shown to shorten recovery time for some coronavirus patients.

Thousands

REACTIONARIES protest anti-coronavirus restrictions in Germany over weekend

BERLIN (Reuters) - Thousands of demonstrators in southern Germany protested against coronavirus restrictions over the weekend, police said on Sunday, although organisers failed to mobilise enough people for a planned human chain around Lake Constance

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© Reuters/ARND WIEGMANN General view shows people gathering during a protest against the government's restrictions in Konstanz

Thousands of counter-demonstrators in Constance also turned out to show support for the government's measures to contain the coronavirus while also protesting against right-wing supporters in the other group, police said.

© Reuters/ARND WIEGMANN Man displays a poster during a protest against the government's restrictions in Konstanz

Overall, police counted between 10,500 and 11,000 people taking part in the different demonstrations on Saturday and the two-day protests continued on Sunday with sunny weather likely to draw in further participants, a police spokesman said.

© Reuters/ARND WIEGMANN A protester wears a mask reading "Merkels muzzle" during a demonstration against the government's restrictions in Konstanz

"So far, the situation is calm," the police spokesman added.

Organizers of the protests against coronavirus curbs had initially hoped to mobilize more than 200,000 people.

Local authorities had imposed restrictions such as respecting social distancing to avoid further infections. They also banned the use of Germany's imperial Reichsflagge, a symbol used by neo-Nazis and other far-right groups as an alternative to the forbidden swastika flag.

The marches have attracted a mixed crowd of civil rights activists and people who oppose vaccinations, as well as neo-Nazis and members of far-right groups including the opposition party Alternative for Germany (AfD).

During mass marches against coronavirus curbs in Berlin in late August, protesters stormed the steps of the Reichstag parliament building, some of them holding far-right Reichsflagge. The images went around the world and were condemned by leading German politicians.

Germany so far has managed the COVID-19 pandemic relatively well by keeping infections and deaths low compared to other European countries during the first wave in spring.

But infection numbers are rising again and authorities are mulling further restrictions which could limit public life and slow down the economic recovery after Germany suffered its worst recession on record in the first half of the year.

© Reuters/ARND WIEGMANN Man displays a poster during a protest against the government's restrictions in Konstanz

(Reporting by Michael Nienaber; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)

US silence on Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict reflects international disengagement

NOT A SQUEEK OUT OF THE CHICKEN HAWK REPUBLICANS

Michael Safi and Julian Borger 

THE GUARDIAN TODAY

© Photograph: Antonio Bat/EPA ‘Our view is that this has been a longstanding conflict between these two countries in this particular piece of real estate,’ Mike Pompeo said this week.

Headlines last week that the presidents of Russia and France were jointly calling for a ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh were “heartbreaking” to Carey Cavanaugh, a former US ambassador charged with helping to resolve the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

 

Partly it was because they meant the century-old dispute had flared up again, killing more than 400 people so far, including more than a dozen civilians. But it was also because the US – which, along with France and Russia, forms the OSCE Minsk Group, a troika that has worked to end the conflict since 1993 – was missing from the statement.

Related: Why are Armenia and Azerbaijan fighting and what are the implications?

“The US wasn’t coordinated into that discussion,” said Cavanaugh, the former US representative to the Minsk Group.

He is among observers of the Caucasus who see in this week’s events the latest example of US diplomatic disengagement from theatres around the world, amid wider fears of a hollowing out of the US state department under Donald Trump.

“The Americans have withdrawn from this issue,” said Thomas de Waal, a senior fellow specialising in the Caucasus with Carnegie Europe. “If Trump has heard of Azerbaijan, it’s because it’s a place he wanted to build a Trump tower in.”

The Trump administration has been largely silent about the conflict. Secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, only commented on it when asked about it in an interview this week, and he was non-committal.

“Our view is that this has been a longstanding conflict between these two countries in this particular piece of real estate,” Pompeo told Fox News. “We’re discouraging internationalization of this. We think outsiders ought to stay out. We’re urging a ceasefire. We want them both to back up. We’ve spoken to the leadership in each of the two countries, asking them to do just that.”

Under the Trump administration, the US has taken a back seat on many major international issues, compared to previous administrations, particularly when it affects the Russian sphere of influence. Trump has consistently avoided statements that would irritate Vladimir Putin. US allies, like the UK and Lithuania, have recently tried to persuade the state department to be more aggressive in its response to the suppression of protests in Belarus and the poisoning of Russian opposition leader, Alexei Navalny.

America’s lack of interest in Nagorno-Karabakh was first flagged in August 2017 when the US appointed its new representative to the Minsk Group, Andrew Schofer, but did not grant him ambassador status – putting him at a lower rank than his French and Russian counterparts.

In a finely balanced, complex regional dispute, that decision risked delegitimising diplomatic efforts, said Cavanaugh. “Maintaining that equality was important, because it gives Armenia and Azerbaijan a sense of balance in the process. You don’t have to worry that Russia is being unduly influential [in the Group], or the United States either.”

US embassies in Azerbaijan and Armenia both issued travel advisories to their citizens, warning of possible heightened violence in Nagorno-Karabakh. Their fears – borne out 48 hours later – were not echoed by Washington. “The US state department wasn’t issuing a statement saying we’re worried about the conflict,” de Waal says, describing it as “missing in action”.

It was not until Thursday – five days since the war erupted – that a full Minsk Group statement was issued condemning the fighting.

It compared starkly with US diplomatic activity the last time the two countries clashed in a four-day war in 2016. “In that case we saw the secretary of state calling both leaders,” says Olesya Vartanyan, from the International Crisis Group.

“Secretary [John] Kerry took part in the first summit of the Azerbaijan and Armenian presidents along with his counterparts from France and Russia. And his presence definitely played a role, because they were able to agree on some measures to pacify the situation and prevent new escalations,” she says.

“Since this president [Trump], the interest in this conflict has mainly disappeared, and what we’ve seen is much less shuttle diplomacy going on. The guys who used to represent the US before would go the region and speak to the leaders and sometimes civil society to learn their views, see what could be done, and they were coming up with different proposals. Not all of it worked, but it helped.

“Because when these two sides (Armenia and Azerbaijan) are left on their own, what we’ve seen in the past and recently is there is a bigger possibility for tensions, new clashes and escalations.”

A spokesman for the US state department said in a statement that Washington’s position on the conflict had not changed and that both sides needed to cease hostilities immediately and work with the Minsk Group members to return to substantive negotiations.

Hearing over controversial Coastal GasLink pipeline resumes at B.C. 

VANCOUVER — Arguments over the extension of the environmental assessment certificate for a natural gas pipeline in B.C. resumed in court on Friday with lawyers for Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs telling a judge an evaluation is needed on the potential risk of violence to Indigenous women and girls.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

Lawyers for the Office of the Wet'suwet'en are seeking an order in B.C. Supreme Court quashing the decision to extend the certificate for Coastal GasLink's 670-kilometre pipeline project, which has been the source of national protests.

They argued in part that B.C.'s Environmental Assessment Office did not meaningfully address the findings of the 2019 report from the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls when it approved the extension.

They also pointed to more than 50 instances of Coastal Gaslink's failure to adhere to existing conditions throughout last year, arguing it's not clear whether the company's track record of non-compliance was considered by the director when making the decision.

They said on Thursday the regulatory agency has the power to attach new conditions when it extends a certificate under B.C.'s Environmental Assessment Act.

Counsel for the Environmental Assessment Office disputed their interpretation of the legislation on Friday, telling the court that its executive director already has the power to amend the conditions of a certificate outside the scope of an extension application. Karrie Wolfe also argued that quashing the extension of Coastal GasLink's certificate could leave the pipeline that's under construction in northern B.C. in a "vacuum," since the original certificate expired last October. If the decision is quashed, she said there would be no certificate to attach conditions to.

Caily DiPuma, counsel for the Office of the Wet'suwet'en, suggested an alternative remedy could be an interim injunction pausing construction until the regulator reconsiders its decision.

"The risk of violence and harm to Indigenous women and girls persists today and every day the project construction continues without a proper assessment of that harm and mitigation as necessary," she told the court on Friday.

The opposing lawyers also squared off over the scope and the meaning of records from the decision to extend the pipeline certificate.

Wolfe asserted the records show the Environmental Assessment Office and its director were handling issues of non-compliance as well as concerns over work camps for resource extraction projects in relation to gender-based harm.

DiPuma conceded the documents are part of the "universe of records" related to the decision, but said "we can't know whether they were considered by the executive director in making the decision."

On Thursday, DiPuma said the decision to grant the extension was unreasonable, arguing that the assessment office failed to assess potential gender-based harms or offer any mitigation measures.

Wolfe replied on Friday that even if the office had a duty to provide its reasons for a given decision, they do not have to be exhaustive or address every single comment or concern.

Lawyers for Coastal GasLink appeared briefly on Friday, but court was adjourned before they could fully present their positions. The hearing resumes Oct. 16.

The Office of the Wet'suwet'en is a non-profit society governed by several hereditary chiefs whose opposition to the pipeline sparked countrywide protests in February. Five elected Wet'suwet'en band councils have signed agreements with the company approving construction.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 2, 2020.

— This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Facebook and Canadian Press News Fellowship

Brenna Owen, The Canadian PressSupreme Court

Suncor Energy says it will cut 10 to 15 per cent of its workforce over next 18 months

KENNEY'S BOONDOGGLE HE GAVE THEM BILLIONS

TO SAVE JOBS HOW'S THAT GOING

CALGARY — Oilsands and retail fuel giant Suncor Energy Inc. says it will eliminate as many as 1,930 jobs over the next 18 months as a result of cost-cutting to deal with low oil prices and market volatility.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

CEO Mark Little told employees on a conference call Friday morning the company will aim to reduce total staff by 10 to 15 per cent over the next 18 months, starting with a five per cent cut over the next six months, spokeswoman Sneh Seetal said.

The Calgary-based company had 12,889 staff at the end of 2019. Five per cent would equate to 644 positions and 15 per cent would equal 1,933.

"A few years ago we began to fundamentally change how we work, taking advantage of improved data technology, business processes, all with a view to improve our overall cost structure, accelerate free cash flow and strengthen our competitive position," said Seetal, referring to what was dubbed the "Suncor 4.0" program.

"We always anticipated this transformation would result in a smaller workforce over time and one example ... is the implementation of the autonomous haul trucks (driverless trucks employed at Suncor's oilsands mines).

"That said, the unprecedented drop in oil prices, the continued impact of the global pandemic and economic slowdown, as well as continued market volatility, have accelerated those plans."

The cuts are to be made across the entire organization, Seetal said, and will also affect Suncor's ranks of contracted workers, although she was unable to provide those numbers.

Employees will be offered voluntary severance, early retirement and may potentially be redeployed if their jobs are eliminated, she said.

"What's happening in Alberta today is nothing less than an economic emergency," said Alberta Premier Jason Kenney at a news conference on Friday.

"The government of Canada would be moving heaven and earth if we saw layoffs of this scale in the central Canadian manufacturing industry."

He called on Ottawa to "hit the pause button" on implementing a clean fuel standard opposed by many in the oil sector, as well as delaying ratifying the UN declaration on the rights of Indigenous people because of its potential creation of uncertainty for oilpatch investors.

“It is unfortunate to hear of additional job losses in the industry. The reality of the current situation is grim and taking a toll on the industry and on Canadians," said Tim McMillan, CEO of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers.

CAPP, which estimates more than 28,000 direct and 107,000 indirect jobs have been lost in the sector so far this year, says the federal government should implement a plan for national economic recovery that includes taking advantage of an expected recovery in global oil and gas demand.

The news comes a few days after Royal Dutch Shell announced it would eliminate between 7,000 and 9,000 jobs worldwide by the end of 2022, a move expected to potentially result in hundreds of job losses among its 3,500 workers in Canada.

In June, BP, which has a smaller workforce in Canada, said it was cutting around 10,000 jobs from its global workforce to cope with the impact of the pandemic.

Suncor put projects on hold and cut its 2020 capital budget by $1.5 billion to a range between $3.9 billion and $4.5 billion in March to deal with lower oil prices.

At the time, a spokeswoman said the cutbacks would result in fewer jobs for contract workers and could "potentially" hit employees as well.

Suncor's operations include oilsands development and upgrading, offshore oil and gas production, petroleum refining and retail fuel sales under the Petro-Canada banner.

Suncor shares rose on the Toronto Stock Exchange by as much as 2.6 per cent to $15.91 on Friday but remained at about one-third of their 52-week high of $45.12.

With a file from Bob Weber in Edmonton.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 2, 2020.

Companies in this story: (TSX:SU)

Dan Healing, The Canadian Press

'This truly is a jobs crisis,' says Kenney as Suncor announces it will eliminate up to 15 per cent of staff

The cuts will take place across the organization and the country, through a combination of voluntary buyouts, early retirements and layoffs

Author of the article: Amanda Stephenson, Chris Varcoe • Calgary Herald
Publishing date:Oct 02, 2020 •

Suncor Energy Centre building in downtown Calgary on Friday, Oct. 2, 2020. 

PHOTO BY AZIN GHAFFARI/POSTMEDIA

Suncor Energy has announced plans to eliminate up to 15 per cent of its workforce, a move that could affect up to 2,000 jobs and which prompted Premier Jason Kenney to plead with the federal government as well as energy companies themselves to do all they can to staunch the economic bleeding in Alberta.

Calgary-based Suncor — which is one of the country’s largest oil and gas producers, with approximately 13,000 employees — confirmed Friday it will reduce its workforce by five per cent in the next six months, and by between 10 and 15 per cent over the course of the next year and a half.

Spokeswoman Sneh Seetal said employees were informed of the restructuring Friday morning via a conference call with company CEO Mark Little.

“These are never easy decisions,” Seetal said. “We shared that information with employees this morning and made the commitment to treat people with dignity and respect through this time.”

Seetal said the company has been transforming itself in recent years to rely more on data and technology to improve its efficiency, such as using autonomous trucks at its oilsands operations, and had anticipated these changes would lead to a smaller workforce.

“The unprecedented drop in oil prices, the continued impact of the global pandemic and economic slowdown, as well as continued market volatility, have accelerated those plans,” she said. “These would be permanent structural workforce reductions. We’re looking at how we can operate more efficiently.”

The job losses will take place across the organization and the country and will be accomplished through a combination of voluntary buyouts, early retirements and layoffs.

“We are going to take a wide look at things. We will be looking at voluntary severances, early retirements,” Seetal said. “I couldn’t in all honestly give you a specific number, because we don’t know that yet. In the case of where there may be some retirements, we would first look to see if there’s any internal candidates we could redeploy to that role.”

Kenney said Suncor’s announcement underscores Alberta is in nothing less than a state of “economic emergency.

“The government of Canada would be moving heaven and earth if we saw layoffs of this scale in the central Canadian manufacturing industry,” the premier told reporters on Friday. “This truly is a jobs crisis and an economic emergency and it deserves to be responded to here in Alberta the same way it would be in Ontario or Quebec.”

Kenney said he is once again calling on the federal government to “do no more harm” to Alberta’s oil and gas sector, adding Ottawa should press the pause button on its proposed Clean Fuel Standard, which Kenney said will make Alberta energy companies uncompetitive on the global market. He also once again slammed changes to the environmental review process put in place by Bill C-69, saying the result has been investor uncertainty at the worst possible time.

However, Kenney also pleaded with oil and gas companies themselves to do all they can to avoid layoffs.

“I don’t think any of us should be surprised if there are additional layoffs from other companies that are hemorrhaging cash right now,” he said. “I would implore them to do everything they can to keep their workforce intact. To recognize that they’ve made big profits in the past for their shareholders based on the hard work of those employees.”

Suncor Energy cut its capital budget earlier this year by $1.9 billion, and reduced its prized quarterly dividend in May by 55 per cent. It also scaled back some operations at its Fort Hills oilsands mine.

Suncor posted a first-quarter net loss of $3.52 billion, including a $1.8-billion non-cash asset impairment charge, and then a $614-million net loss in the second quarter.

Alberta’s NDP Opposition pointed out that according to Suncor’s second-quarter report, the company’s net earnings in the prior year quarter included a one-time deferred income tax recovery of $1.1 billion as a result of the UCP government’s corporate tax cut. The UCP has lowered Alberta’s corporate tax rate to eight per cent from 12 per cent in an effort to attract business investment and create private-sector jobs.

According to Suncor’s second-quarter report, “net earnings in the prior year quarter included a one-time deferred income tax recovery of $1.116 billion associated with a staged reduction to the Alberta corporate income tax rate of 1% each year from 2019 to 2022.”

“Jason Kenney made a bad deal. Suncor received over a billion dollars from the UCP’s $4.7 billion corporate handout and they’re not hiring, they’re firing,” said NDP Leader Rachel Notley in a statement.

Oil and gas producers have slashed billions of dollars from their capital budgets since the start of the COVID-19 crisis and the global oil price crash.

Royal Dutch Shell said Wednesday it would lay off up to 9,000 people worldwide as it deals with the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic and begins restructuring to hit its goal of net-zero emissions by 2050.

British energy giant BP announced in June it would cut around 10,000 jobs, also as part of its net-zero emissions plan.

Earlier this week, Calgary-based TC Energy confirmed it is also restructuring its Canada Gas Operations and Projects team, though the company declined to specify how many jobs would be affected.

In general, the oil and gas industry has been faced with lower prices and the inability to attract outside capital into the sector, said Jackie Forrest, senior director with ARC Energy Research Institute.

She noted Canadian industry cash flow levels are expected to fall to $13 billion this year from $53 billion in 2019.

“The lack of external capital and prices at this level I think will motivate more cost-cutting from the industry,” she said. “The pressure at these prices is pretty severe.”

In a statement, Mary Moran, president and CEO of Calgary Economic Development, said her organization is working to find new and emerging opportunities to spur growth and job creation in the city, in the face of continued energy sector struggles.

“Unfortunately, I am worried we may see more cuts with increased consolidation with low oil prices and constraints on supply,” Moran said. “It will continue to have an impact on our workforce and downtown office space vacancy rates and it’s only been made worse with COVID-19.

With the decline in oil prices, Suncor’s share price has dropped by 64 per cent this year, closing Thursday at $15.50 in Toronto — and off from $28.57 seen in early June.

On Friday, credit ratings agency Moody’s downgraded the province of Alberta’s long-term debt rating from Aa2 to Aa3. The ratings agency said in a release the downgrade reflects a forecast of “multiple years of material deficits and an elevated debt burden, as well as a structurally weaker credit profile as a result of the continued twin negative economic and fiscal shocks on the province from weak oil prices and the coronavirus pandemic.”

'Back into the fire again': Foothills nurses return to work amid COVID-19 outbreaks
Author of the article:Jason Herring
Publishing date:Oct 03, 2020 •

Foothills Medical Centre. Friday, Oct. 2, 2020. PHOTO BY BRENDAN MILLER/POSTMEDIA

Some registered nurses are returning to work at Foothills Medical Centre as COVID-19 outbreaks continue to grow at the Calgary hospital.

To date, the Foothills outbreaks have impacted seven units, infected 72 people and led to the deaths of six patients.

The return to work is inspiring mixed feelings among nurses, the union representing the nurses said Saturday.

“We’re all going through a very tough time and the distress that each and every one of us feels, it comes in many different ways,” said Wayne Stopa, vice-president of the United Nurses of Alberta (UNA) Local #115.

“Having to go back into the fire again after being told you couldn’t take care of your patients is a little hard to do, but that’s what we do. … There’s gonna be some moral distress from health-care workers and I’m sure from many Albertans, so I hope we all get through it.”

Since the start of the novel coronavirus outbreaks at Foothills, at least 300 health-care workers have been ordered to isolate due to connections to positive cases or hospital units with reported outbreaks. That list includes registered nurses as well as staff like physicians and licensed practical nurses.

Stopa said some staff began isolating on Sept. 17, and those who have now been isolating for at least 14 days are “starting to trickle back” into the workforce.

The returns are expected to relieve some concerns around staffing, but Stopa added worries about a depleted and burned-out workforce persist.



“It’s going to help fill up some of the holes that are there,” Stopa said. “It’s not going to completely fix it because, as we’ve said, even before the outbreaks and before COVID started, we were short-staffed anyway. Anything that takes away from staffing is from the bare minimum.”

Another issue plaguing Foothills staff has been sick pay, with some forced to use banked sick days while isolating. Other casual workers took a financial hit from missing shifts while isolating.

A federal bill that includes expansions to sick leave benefits received royal assent Friday, but Stopa said it was too early to know whether Alberta nurses would be able to take advantage of the new benefits. He said the UNA was still looking to Alberta Health Services to do right by their employees.

“We’re going to be looking at all our members being supported in the same way, whether they’re casuals or regular employees,” Stopa said.

AHS has said employees directed to self-isolate will receive compensation, if eligible under their collective bargaining agreements or employment contracts.

Foothills did not provide an update on the status of its outbreaks Saturday.

On Friday, AHS announced a sixth patient at the hospital had died of COVID-19 in connection with the outbreaks.

As well, new infections were announced in two patients, two health-care workers and two visitors. In total, 36 patients, 31 staff and five visitors have now tested positive for the coronavirus.

A seventh unit, general medicine Unit 62, was also added to the list of units with at least one confirmed case.

AHS has not said how the outbreak is thought to have started.

“Multiple teams are working daily to determine where the infection may have started, how it was transmitted and who needs to be contacted and tested to limit exposure,” AHS said in a statement Friday.

The next update on case counts at Foothills is expected Monday afternoon.

'Our path forward must rely on science': Herd immunity not the right approach for Alberta, Hinshaw explains

Hinshaw expressed three concerns: the serious impact this would have on older or at-risk Albertans, the fact that death is not the only severe outcome and the lack of knowledge about immunity to the novel coronavirus

Author of the article:Stephanie Babych
Publishing date:Sep 29, 2020 • Last Updated 5 days ago • 

Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta's chief medical officer of health. PHOTO BY CHRIS SCHWARZ/GOVERNMENT OF ALBERTA

Herd immunity is not the right approach in Alberta, the province’s top doctor said on Monday, while explaining there are too many risks, unknowns and potential burdens on the healthcare system to consider it as a solution.

Herd immunity occurs when there are enough individuals with immunity within a population that infections are prevented from spreading widely. Dr. Deena Hinshaw, the province’s chief medical officer of health, said during a press conference that serology studies in Canada have shown the country is at one per cent or less immunity and herd immunity wouldn’t be reached until that number was between 50 to 60 per cent.

“What I have heard sometimes suggested for COVID-19, is that because younger people are generally at lower risk of experiencing severe outcomes, we should protect older Albertans but otherwise let the virus spread as quickly and freely as possible so that we can build up a collective immunity to it. This suggestion, however, does not take into account the drawbacks of this approach,” said Hinshaw.

The three concerns Hinshaw expressed are the serious impact this would have on older or at-risk Albertans, the fact that death is not the only severe outcome and the lack of knowledge about immunity to the novel coronavirus.

In Alberta, the risk of death for a person with COVID-19 is about 18 per cent for those over 70 years old, less than half a per cent for those between 40 and 69, and “vanishingly small” for those under the age of 40.

Yet, because COVID-19 is able to spread rapidly and people are all interconnected, adopting the herd immunity approach would have a “serious and deadly impact on many people in the population,” Hinshaw said.

Even if there were perfect restrictions at long-term care facilities and the virus was free to spread elsewhere, it couldn’t be fully prevented from entering those centres.

The more community transmission, the greater the risk to the province’s older and at-risk populations, Hinshaw said.

Thirty per cent of those over 80 years old with COVID-19 in long-term care have died in Alberta. This drops to 18 per cent if that senior is living in the community.

One in every 67 people between the ages of 20 and 39 who is diagnosed with COVID-19 has required hospital care. This rises to one in every 18 people between the ages of 40 to 69, and one in every four for those over the age of 70.

“Death is not the only severe outcome,” said Hinshaw.

“If we let the virus spread freely, our healthcare system could be overwhelmed with caring for COVID-19 patients which would challenge our ability to provide all other health services.”

She also explained that it is still unknown if being infected with COVID-19 actually translates to long-lasting immunity.

“The cost of the widespread transmission, the deaths and risks to so many Albertans’ health could be for nothing,” she said.

For now, she said people need to limit the rate of transmission, protect others from exposure and wait for a treatment and effective vaccine to be discovered.

“Our path forward must rely on science and we need to find a balance between the harms of COVID-19 and preventing harms of restrictions. We are all in this together, and that’s a good thing because we are stronger together,” Hinshaw said.


I AM INCLUDING THE COMMENTS WHICH READ JUST LIKE CLIMATE DENIAL THESE FOLKS PRACTISE 

COMMENTS

NJ
Nancy Jones 4 DAYS AGO
This is amazing that the Calgary Herald would moderate actual facts about the Polio vaccine in Africa vs. Misinformation from anti-vaxxers claiming Bill Gates is paralyzingly children. Alberta is known for its citizens who are COVID deniers but I thought the journalists were smarter. Good grief.
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ALLAN MACRAE4 DAYS AGOReply to Nancy Jones
More nonsense from Nancy - you can't deny facts merely by having a tantrum - check the references and refute with real facts, if you can - your emotions do not count.
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ALLAN MACRAE4 DAYS AGO
Other news, sent to me by one of my very competent physician friends – Dr. Scott Atlas says on 23June2020 what I published three months earlier on 21March2020:

THE DOCTOR IS IN: SCOTT ATLAS AND THE EFFICACY OF LOCKDOWNS, SOCIAL DISTANCING, AND CLOSINGS

https://www.hoover.org/research/doctor-scott-atlas-and-efficacy-lockdowns-social-distancing-and-closings

Dr. Scott Atlas is the Robert Wesson Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, an accomplished physician, and a scholar of public health. For several weeks, Dr. Atlas has been making the case in print and in other media that we as a society have overreacted in imposing draconian restrictions on movement, gatherings, schools, sports, and other activities. He is not a COVID-19 denier—he believes the virus is a real threat and should be managed as such. But, as Dr. Atlas argues, there are some age groups and activities that are subject to very low risk. The one-size-fits-all approach we are currently using is overly authoritarian, inefficient, and not based in science. Dr. Atlas’s prescription includes more protection for people in nursing homes, two weeks of strict self-isolation for those with mild symptoms, and most importantly, the opening of all K–12 schools. The latter recommendation is vital for restarting and maintaining the economy so that parents are not housebound trying to work and educate their children. Dr. Atlas is also adamant that an economic shutdown, and all of the attendant issues that go along with it, is a terrible solution—THE CURE IS WORSE THAN THE DISEASE.


NJ
Nancy Jones4 DAYS AGOReply to ALLAN MACRAE
Oh lord are we going to have to have the POTUS’ uninformed excuse for a doctor that isn’t an infectious disease specialist or an epidemiologist or a vaccine specialist provide Canadians with his view point on why it was okay that 200 K Americans died of COVID19. Bring on Dr. Fauci or Canadian specialists. Schools in Alberta are open as is everything but night clubs and large venue concerts. Give it a break. We are done with the POTUS propoganda.


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ALLAN MACRAE4 DAYS AGOReply to Nancy Jone
Utter nonsense from Nancy - Watch this video by Ivor Cummins - his Covid-19 conclusions of 8Sep2020 agree with my conclusions of ~21Mar2020, almost 6 months earlier. https://youtu.be/8UvFhIFza

ALLAN MACRAE4 DAYS AGO
I like and respect Dr. Hinshaw, but I do not agree with her. Sweden correctly did not impose the full-Gulag lockdown and had lower death rates than many countries that did lockdown and has now achieved herd immunity. Forget vaccines, all flu's in history have died because herd immunity was reached.

Covid-19 was a relatively mild flu, only significantly dangerous to the very elderly and infirm. The full-Gulag lockdown was an enormous error (or scam?) that squandered trillions of dollars and harmed billions of low-income people. The lockdown trashed the lives of young people to protect those who were typically in the last months of their lives. It also destroyed millions of small businesses worldwide and impoverished their owners. The lockdown also slowed herd immunity such that the Covid-19 virus will apparently survive into the next flu season. The lockdown cure was far worse than the disease – a total FAIL.

The Covid-19 pandemic was over in Canada by end-July2020, when deaths dropped to a very low level – Sweden with no lockdown followed two weeks later. Watch this video by Ivor Cummins - his Covid-19 conclusions of 8Sep2020 agree with my conclusions of ~21Mar2020, almost 6 months earlier. https://youtu.be/8UvFhIFzaac

Repeating what I published six months ago:

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2020/03/21/to-save-our-economy-roll-out-antibody-testing-alongside-the-active-virus-testing/#comment-2943724

21Mar2020

LET’S CONSIDER AN ALTERNATIVE APPROACH:

Isolate people over sixty-five and those with poor immune systems and return to business-as-usual for people under sixty-five.

This will allow “herd immunity” to develop much sooner and older people will thus be more protected AND THE ECONOMY WON’T CRASH. EDITED

ALLAN MACRAE4 DAYS AGOReply to ALLAN MACRA

(....continued from my above post)

https://rosebyanyothernameblog.wordpress.com/2020/03/21/end-the-american-lockdown/comment-page-1/#comment-12253

22Mar2020

This full-lockdown scenario is especially hurting service sector businesses and their minimum-wage employees - young people are telling me they are "financially under the bus". The young are being destroyed to protect us over-65's. A far better solution is to get them back to work and let us oldies keep our distance, and get "herd immunity" established ASAP - in months not years. Then we will all be safe again.


SD
Sun Drez4 DAYS AGO
Dr. Hinshaw is trying her best. The thing is she has been fooled like everyone else. I ask that people respect this doctors efforts. its up to our Premier to make a stand and tell people the game is over. Go back to normal ways and wash your hands and respect distance.

And look at Enecuum if you want to make money in the upcoming crypto Bullrun.
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RL
Ralph Lauren4 DAYS AGO


Look at her eyes. They tell you only one thing: GUILT, for knowing she's being part of the biggest scam in human history.
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ALLAN MACRAE4 DAYS AGOReply to Ralph Lauren


RL - The full-Gulag lockdown is a huge error and could be a huge scam, but I don't believe Dr. HInshaw is acting in bad faith. I published an opinion (included above) strongly recommending AGAINST the lockdown on 21March2020 and I strongly believe I was correct - the cure was much worse than the disease. Recent data from around the world and especially from Sweden supports my position.

The original justification for the lockdown was to prevent “a tsunami of cases that would overwhelm the medical system”, but that tsunami never happened, and was never even close to happening! One 600-bed hospital in Calgary was typical – it had a maximum of six Covid-19 cases and typically had only 2 or 3, but was effectively shut down for over 8 weeks! Then the goalposts were shifted and the full lockdown was extended, for reasons that still do not make sense to me. The lockdown has not saved lives. All the lockdown accomplished was to extend the life of the Covid-19 virus, delay herd immunity and allow the virus to survive into the next flu season. Attaboys all around!
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Terry Lange4 DAYS AGO


Vaccines will almost surely work on covid... in a year we should be vaccinated.

Trudeau is making deals all over the place for =vaccines and medicines for it.Even PPE and test kits. EDITED
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Gulliver Swift4 DAYS AGOReply to


I don’t think Ashley is making the point that the viruses are the same. She is using an example to show that a vaccine is no sure thing as suggested in the OP. Vaccines need time to be tested for safety and efficacy. This is a “novel” virus and therefore I think Ashley is correct in thinking the vaccine is not necessarily coming to save us.
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NJ
Nancy Jones4 DAYS AGOReply to Gulliver Swift


HIV and COVID19 are completely different kinds of viruses. HIV Reproduces really fast and mutates very quickly. They have been trying to develop a vaccine since the 1980’s. We are very lucky that they have found very good treatments. COVID19 does not mutate quickly and we are using new vaccine technology was developed when they were trying to make a vaccine for SARS 1 and MERS. We have not got really great treatments for COVID 19 so I am quite sure a decent vaccine will be accepted.
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Jon Stone4 DAYS AGO


Given what little is known about the virus it is always amazing to see what people have to say about how our government and health care professionals don't know what they are doing. Who knew the comment section was full of brilliant virologists who, given 9 months of "research", are qualified to critique Dr. Hinshaw.

Go about your "important" work and hopefully you are not among the 90% of recovered Covid survivors who experience side effects instead of avoiding the process entirely.

"Nine in ten recovered COVID-19 patients experience side-effects, study shows" (Reuters)

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-health-coronavirus-southkorea-study/nine-in-ten-recovered-covid-19-patients-experience-side-effects-study-idUKKBN26K1DR?utm_source=reddit.com
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TM
Troy Montana4 DAYS AGOReply to Jon Stone


"Given what little is known about the virus"

So true ...... the fact there are so many vaccines being developed all over the place with this little knowledge, is sort of concerning, to say the least ..... a vaccine gone wrong can wipe us all out ......
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NJ
Nancy Jones4 DAYS AGOReply to Troy Montana


Wow, that is most hyperbole ever. A vaccine gone wrong “can wipe us all out”. In the first place, we have about 170 vaccines in clinical trials. The phase 3 trials on the top contenders have 30,000 participants. The Oxford phase 3 trial had 1 participant with transverse myelitis, a swelling of the spinal column, typically caused a virus but rarely by a vaccine. It shut down the trial for a short time. Should a second incident occur, that vaccine will be shelved. Vaccines have a very high threshold for safety because unlike medication they are given to healthy people. They accept 1 serious incident in 1 million vs. Medication which accepts 1 serious incident in 30,000. To suggest Health Canada (which doesn’t want to okay a rapid COVID test) would okay a dangerous vaccine, is really naive.
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Troy Montana4 DAYS AGO


The numbers presented by Dr. Hinshaw are unrealistic and misleading ..... they are based on number of people who tested positive, however as everyone knows, the number of infections are much higher on top of what is tested ....... so if you multiply the number of infections by 5, to be conservative, and then re-run the numbers, the percentages will get much lower than what Dr. Hinshaw has presented ......
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Gulliver Swift4 DAYS AGOReply to Troy Montana


Correct. However we have moved past that and now we are into the dubious, murky waters of “unknown, longterm health complications” that could flood our health care system!!!

Luckily the experimental vaccine has no side effects or longterm issues so we good. Just another year or so of lockdown to work out the kinks.
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NJ
Nancy Jones4 DAYS AGOReply to Troy Montana


Why do you believe that you know what you are talking about by Dr. Hinshaw does not? If you have a degree in public health that you are not telling us about please share.
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Amicus Humani Generis4 DAYS AGO


Achieving herd immunity is the only effective way out of this SARS-CoV-2 senseless panic. The vaccines will only ease the minds of people nothing else. Somewhat similar to the H1N1 vaccines.
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Jon Stone4 DAYS AGOReply to Amicus Humani Generis


Good luck....

"Nine in ten recovered COVID-19 patients experience side-effects, study shows"

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-health-coronavirus-southkorea-study/nine-in-ten-recovered-covid-19-patients-experience-side-effects-study-idUKKBN26K1DR?utm_source=reddit.com
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Nancy Jones4 DAYS AGOReply to Amicus Humani Generis


People can remain calm and follow public health recommendations.
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Troy Montana4 DAYS AGO


Unfortunately, the science is not there yet ..... the scientific approach Dr. Hinshaw points to, can be summarized in one word: "hide" ..... after millions of years of evolution, that's about how far we made it ......
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NJ
Nancy Jones4 DAYS AGOReply to Troy Montana


You don’t have to “hide” if you follow the public health recommendations. We have a lot of front line people working using those recommendations.
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One-in-four Albertans would not get coronavirus vaccine: Poll
Author of the article: Newsroom Staff
Publishing date: Oct 02, 2020 •

A volunteer receiving a trial COVID-19 vaccine at the Hospital das Clinicas in Sao Paulo state, Brazil, on July 21, 2020. PHOTO BY HANDOUT/SAO PAULO STATE GOVERNMENT/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

Albertans are among the most resistant to the idea of being quickly vaccinated for COVID-19, according to a new poll.

The Angus Reid Institute poll found more than one-in-four Albertans, 28 per cent, say they would not get a vaccine for the novel coronavirus at all.

Fewer than half of Canadians say they’d get a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as possible.

In Alberta, the number of respondents who said they would consider vaccination as soon as possible dropped 13 percentage points from July. Only 28 per cent said they would get one as soon as it became available.

Eight-in-10 Albertans (79 per cent) who responded to the survey said they are concerned about possible side-effects. This was the highest reported concern from citizens of any province.

Residents of Quebec also showed more concern about vaccine side effects, and fewer people said they would be willing to get vaccinated quickly. 

The poll notes Alberta and Quebec have among the highest per capita rates of COVID-19 infection in the country.

DUH OH BOTH HAVE RIGHT WING GOVTS AND THEIR BASE ARE CONSPIRACIST REACTIONAROES 



Nationally, only 39 per cent of Canadians surveyed say they would be vaccinated as soon as one was widely available, while 38 per cent say they would get one but will opt to wait and watch for side effects.

The rest of the respondents were split between taking an anti-vaccination stance (16 per cent) and indecision (seven per cent.)

The pollsters note the number of Canadians who would get inoculated early has dropped seven points since a similar poll mid-summer.

British Columbians and Atlantic Canadians remain the most likely to be willing to inoculate early.

In July, when Angus Reid first surveyed Canadians on this issue, close to half (46 per cent) said they would get a vaccine as soon as they could.

In other findings, a majority (84 per cent) now say they are wearing a mask always or most of the time when around others in public.

This is up nearly 30 points from July.

The poll, which was conducted from Sept. 23 to 25, carries a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

— With files From Tiffany Crawford