South Korea, US mark 70th anniversary of Korean War
Issued on: 25/06/2020

A young girl with her brother on her back walks past a stalled M-26 tank at Haengju, Korea in June 1951 NATIONAL ARCHIVES NATIONAL ARCHIVES/AFP/File

Seoul (AFP)

South Korea and the United States on Thursday reaffirmed their commitment to defending "the hard-fought peace" on the divided peninsula as the allies marked the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War.

Communist North Korea invaded the US-backed South on June 25, 1950, triggering a three-year war that killed millions.

The fighting ended with an armistice that was never replaced by a peace treaty, leaving the peninsula divided by the Demilitarized Zone and the two Koreas still technically at war.


"On this day in 1950, the US-ROK military alliance was born of necessity and forged in blood," US Secretary of Defence Mark Esper and his South Korean counterpart Jeong Kyeong-doo said in a joint statement.

The two paid tribute to the "sacrifice, bravery, and legacy of those who laid down their lives in defence of a free, democratic, and prosperous" South, the statement read.

Seoul's defence ministry puts the war's military fatalities at 520,000 North Koreans, 137,000 Southern troops and 37,000 Americans.

The North has a different history of the conflict, which it knows as the Victorious Fatherland Liberation War, and insists that it was attacked first, before it counter-assaulted.

The official Rodong Sinmun newspaper carried more than 10 stories on the war on Thursday, including an editorial asserting that a US invasion had turned "the entire country into ashes".

"A ceasefire is not peace," it said. "The enemy is aiming for the moment that we forget about June 25 and lower our guard."

The nuclear-armed North, which is subject to multiple international sanctions over its banned weapons programmes, says it needs its arsenal to deter a US invasion.

Negotiations between Pyongyang and Washington have been deadlocked for months, leaving inter-Korean relations in a deep freeze despite a rapid rapprochement in 2018 that brought three summits between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and the South's President Moon Jae-in.

The Rodong Sinmun carried a picture of a war heroes' cemetery on the outskirts of Pyongyang, with the caption reading: "The great achievements of the victory generation will not be forgotten."

- White doves -

At the site of one of the key battlefields in Cheorwon county, near the Demilitarized Zone dividing the peninsula, a handful of surviving South Korean war veterans marked the anniversary.

"It is our misfortune that the South and North had to live for nearly 70 years in confrontation because of the war," a veteran said, before releasing white doves as a symbol of their hopes for a final peace settlement.

Kim on Wednesday suspended plans for military moves aimed at the South, after the North raised tensions last week by demolishing a liaison office on its side of the border that symbolised inter-Korean cooperation.

Recent events showed that inter-Korean relations "can turn into a house of cards at any time", the South's JoongAng Daily said in an editorial Thursday on the anniversary.

The South Korean government has "persistently turned a blind eye" to Pyongyang's provocations, it said, resulting in a "slackening sense of security".

"There is no free ride in keeping peace," the editorial read, adding: "We hope the government and defence ministry deeply reflect on the lesson of 70 years ago."

Seoul's relationship with Washington has been strained in recent years by the Trump administration's demands that it pay more towards the cost of keeping 28,500 US troops on the peninsula to protect the South from its nuclear-armed neighbour.

But the allies "remain firmly committed to defending the hard-fought peace on the Korean Peninsula," the defence ministers' statement added.

© 2020 AFP

North and South mark 70th anniversary of Korean War

Issued on: 25/06/2020 

Seoul (AFP)

North and South Korea on Thursday separately marked the 70th anniversary of the start of the Korean War, a conflict that killed millions of people and has technically yet to end.

Communist North Korea invaded the US-backed South on June 25, 1950, as it sought to reunify by force the peninsula Moscow and Washington had divided at the end of the Second World War.

The fighting ended with an armistice that was never replaced by a peace treaty, leaving the peninsula and millions of families split by the Demilitarized Zone.


In the South, the remains of nearly 150 soldiers repatriated from Hawaii after being excavated in the North were to be formally received at a government ceremony on Thursday evening, themed "Salute to the Heroes".

It was scheduled to include video messages from the leaders of the 22 foreign nations that made up the UN coalition defending the South, starting with President Donald Trump of the United States, which led the UN alliance.

Earlier, Seoul and Washington's defence ministers reaffirmed their commitment to defending "the hard-fought peace".

"On this day in 1950, the US-ROK military alliance was born of necessity and forged in blood," said US Secretary of Defence Mark Esper and his South Korean counterpart Jeong Kyeong-doo.

Up to three million Koreans died in the conflict, the vast majority of them civilians.

Nearly 37,000 Americans were among the more than 40,000 UN soldiers killed, and Western estimates say China, which backed the North, saw 400,000 fatalities, while Chinese sources put it at about 180,000.

The North has a different history of the period, which it knows as the Victorious Fatherland Liberation War, and insists that it was assaulted first, before it counter-attacked.

In Pyongyang, citizens and soldiers attended a war heroes' cemetery on the outskirts of Pyongyang to lay flowers before the graves and bow.

"Cede not an inch of ground!" read an inscription on a statue of a machine-gunner.

The official Rodong Sinmun newspaper carried more than 10 stories on the war, including an editorial asserting that a US invasion had turned "the entire country into ashes" but that it had forced the "aggressors" to sign a "surrender document".

"A ceasefire is not peace," it said. "The enemy is aiming for the moment that we forget about June 25 and lower our guard."

The nuclear-armed North, which is subject to multiple international sanctions over its banned weapons programmes, says it needs its arsenal to deter a US invasion.

Negotiations between Pyongyang and Washington have been deadlocked for months, leaving inter-Korean relations in a deep freeze despite a rapid rapprochement in 2018 that brought three summits between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and the South's President Moon Jae-in.

- White doves -

At the site of one of the key battlefields in Cheorwon county near the Demilitarized Zone a handful of surviving South Korean war veterans marked the anniversary.

"It is our misfortune that the South and North had to live for nearly 70 years in confrontation because of the war," a veteran said, before releasing white doves as a symbol of their hopes for a final peace settlement.

Kim on Wednesday suspended plans for military moves aimed at the South, after the North raised tensions last week by demolishing a liaison office on its side of the border that symbolised inter-Korean cooperation.

Seoul's relationship with Washington has also been strained by the Trump administration's demands that it pay more towards the cost of keeping 28,500 US troops on the peninsula to protect the South from its neighbour.

Recent events showed that inter-Korean relations "can turn into a house of cards at any time", the South's JoongAng Daily said in an editorial.

© 2020 AFP

What “MAS*H” Taught Us | The New Yorker

https://www.newyorker.com › culture › culture-desk › what-mash-taught-us

Jul 24, 2018 - Howard Fishman writes about the fiftieth anniversary of the book “MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors,” which inspired film and television ...

'M*A*S*H' Oral History: Untold Stories From One of TV's Most ...

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com › features › mash-oral-history-untold-...

Feb 22, 2018 - To accurately portray the subject matter, Reynolds, Gelbart and Metcalfe interviewed Korean War surgeons who had served in MASH units.

17 Things You Might Not Know About M*A*S*H | Mental Floss

https://www.mentalfloss.com › article › 17-painless-facts-about-mash

Sep 13, 2015 - Uploaded by AAK150

KLINGER WAS ONLY SUPPOSED TO BE IN ONE EPISODE. The cast of MASH. Twentieth Century Fox Home ...

M*A*S*H (TV series) - The Monster M*A*S*H Wiki - Fandom

https://mash.fandom.com › wiki

But MASH means "mobile" as the staff of the 4077th are constantly reminded. So just as the characters remained true to their medical mission in spite of the shifting ...

Developed for TV by‎: ‎Larry Gelbart with ‎Gene ...

Seasons/Episodes‎: ‎11 Seasons, ‎256 episodes

Followed by/Related show(s)‎: ‎Trapper John, M...

Ended‎: ‎February 28, 1983

Why the Real-Life Hawkeye Pierce Hated 'M*A*S*H' - HISTORY

https://www.history.com › news › why-the-real-life-hawkeye-pierce-hated-...

Aug 28, 2017 - The MASH concept was simple: The hospitals were located close enough to the front lines to serve wounded soldiers, but far enough away that ...

1970 THE MOVIE TRAILER
SUICIDE IS PAINLESS MASH THEME

Canadians remember the Korean conflict — the war that refuses to end

Murray Brewster 

© Ahn Young-joon/The Associated Press A South Korean army soldier passes by a TV showing a file image of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, June 24, 2020. It took an awfully long time — almost three decades — to convince the federal government to carve the dates of the Korean War into the side of Canada's national war memorial.

Tucked away on the side of the soaring granite monument in downtown Ottawa, next to Canada's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the inscription is easy to miss. For author and historian Ted Barris, it's a sad illustration of where the bloody, three-year-long war and its eventual stalemate sit in the country's collective memory.

"I think it was the mid-1990s before local cenotaphs across the country chipped the names of those who served in Korea into their [local] stone monuments. And up until that point, for many Canadians, they were invisible," said Barris, author of Deadlock in Korea, a seminal account of soldiers on the front lines of what was known at the time (somewhat derisively) as a United Nations "police action".

But the war was never invisible to Bill Black; he can see it still. When the war broke out — 70 years ago today — the former able seaman was a 16-year-old high school student, the child of a Second World War soldier who'd served overseas for years.
Initially, Black joined the army militia (now the reserves) — the Queen's Own Rifles of Toronto — with a phoney identification card. His father convinced him to switch to the navy.

He shipped out as a marine engineer aboard the Tribal Class destroyer HMCS Cayuga in 1952 as the war entered its bloody, decisive phase. When he looks at the state of the Korean peninsula today — with no peace treaty and no prospects of one, and a brutal, nuclear-armed dictatorship periodically threatening its neighbour to the south with destruction — he is dismayed.

"It's just madness," he said.

More than 26,000 Canadians served in the war, on land, at sea and in the air. The Korean conflict took the lives of 516 Canadians, making it the country's third most deadly conflict.

The war and its painful legacy of division and international tension is also clear in the mind of Tina Park, a noted national security analyst and commentator who grew up in South Korea.

June 25, 1950 — the day 75,000 North Korean troops under communist dictator Kim Il-sung, grandfather of current leader Kim Jong-un, swept across the border — has a solemn place on the South Korean calendar.

From kindergarten onwards, Park said, South Korean schoolchildren learn to honour and thank veterans.

"When I was growing up, it affected me personally," she said. "I would dream of reunification one day."
Is the dream of reunification dead?

The dream of a reunited Korea is just as elusive today as it was on July 27, 1953, when the warring nations agreed to an armistice that put a stop to the fighting but did not restore the peace.

The intervening years have only seen the trenches grow deeper and the barbed wire thicker between the two sides.

North Korea's belligerent, reclusive regime — now armed with nuclear weapons and long-range missiles — marked the anniversary of the start of the war this week with a new round of threats against the United States.

Park said the atmosphere of anxiety and foreboding on the peninsula is not likely to lift soon. She said she fears the dream of reunification — of bringing together families separated for generations by a war that refuses to conclude — is about to suffer a lingering death.

The decades since the armistice have only deepened the profound differences between the two Koreas, economically, politically and socially. Park said many millennials in the affluent south are indifferent to the notion of reunification. Some are even openly hostile to the idea of embracing their poverty-stricken, insular northern cousins.
The last gasp of the Cold War

To them, she said, reunification isn't worth the expense and upheaval it would entail. But the fate of reunification is also largely out of their hands, she added.

A lasting peace would require the endorsement and support of the United States, China and Russia, the chief antagonists in the proxy conflicts of the post-Second World War period. Barris said Korea was the first hot conflict of the Cold War, the generation-long geopolitical standoff that has been largely over now for more than a quarter century — making it especially ironic that the Korean conflict itself was never resolved.

"This was, then and now, a great standoff in every respect, politically, militarily, between East and West," said Barris, who has interviewed hundreds of Korean War veterans about their experiences.

For many Canadians, then and now, the Korean War remains a distant, murky event. Even when Canadians were still fighting and dying on the peninsula, few people back home had a clear idea of what was going on.

A 'totally invisible' war

One soldier told Barris how, upon his arrival back home in northern Ontario after fighting in Korea, his pals approached him and asked where he had been.

"They had no idea," said Barris. "It was totally invisible to small town Canada, what young men who had stepped up for the Korean War had experienced."

Black recalled the day his ship arrived back home to silence — no cheering crowds, no parades, just the spouses and children of the married sailors. He couldn't help but contrast it with the pandemonium that greeted the arrival of his father's troop train in Toronto following the Second World War.

His most enduring memory of the war was a visit to an orphanage ashore, when Canadian sailors brought the children toys and treats.

"They were all in tatters," he said.

Black said the collective amnesia of Canadians he saw upon his return home has been compensated for, in many respects, by the respect the Korean people continue to show the men and women who fought for them.

"The people of South Korea have provided and instilled in us a sense of pride."

'Manufactured crisis': North Korea ups the ante over sanctions

The two Koreas remain trapped in cycle of engagement and isolation, 70 years after war that has technically never ended.

by Kate Mayberry 25 Jun 2020

In February 2018, Kim Yo Jong was the friendly face of North Korea, smiling and waving as she joined the crowds in South Korea at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.

The two Koreas had entered the stadium together at the opening ceremony and fielded a joint women's ice hockey team. Kim was not only the first member of the North's ruling family to visit the South, but also shook President Moon Jae-in's hand. Relations were set to improve.

This month, however, it was Kim, the younger sister of the country's leader Kim Jong Un, who was repeatedly cited in bellicose warnings directed at South Korea, apparently over the leaflets floated across the border or along the river by defector groups, but really about the North's increasing frustration about Seoul's inability to deliver on cooperation promises or convince the United States to ease crippling economic sanctions.

The events were a "manufactured crisis", said Ramon Pacheco Pardo, a reader in international relations at King's College London and an expert on the two Korean Peninsula.

On Wednesday, the eve of the 70th anniversary of the start of the Korean War, state media reported that Kim Jong Un had instead decided to suspend the military actions his sister had threatened.


INSIDE STORY: What's behind the recent tension on the Korean Peninsula? (24:56)

"North Korea feels that it hasn't received the concessions it was looking for from South Korea and the United States at the summits over the past few years," Pacheco Pardo told Al Jazeera. "The heightening of tensions is to signal displeasure at what has happened and that something different is needed."

State media reported, Kim's step back reflected an analysis of "prevailing conditions".
Uneasy truce

North and South have been stuck in an uneasy truce since 1953 when an armistice brought an end to the fighting in which millions of civilians had died and militaries on all sides had suffered heavy casualties. A peace treaty has never been formalised, and in recent decades, Pyongyang has lurched between engagement, isolation and the kind of headline-grabbing act exemplified by its decision to blow up the joint liaison office in Kaesong.

That move - a week after Pyongyang said it had severed all communication links with Seoul - effectively signalled the end of the Panmunjon Declaration and the latest round of engagement which had begun in 2018 under Moon.

It was "an attempt to make a clean break with the Moon administration," noted a commentary in 38 North, a website devoted to the analysis of North Korea from the Stimson Center in Washington, DC.

The heightened rhetoric followed a series of missile tests last year after the second summit between Kim and US President Donald Trump broke down over sanctions relief, and a later attempt to revive denuclearisation talks foundered. Kim had set a yearend deadline for the US to shift its stance. 

North Korea grabbed world attention when it blew up the joint liaison office it set up with South Korea in the border town of Kaesong last week [KCNA via Reuters]

In targeting Seoul, and dismissing Moon's offer of envoys, Pyongyang might have been hoping that the president, who has made inter-Korean cooperation a cornerstone of his administration, would lean on the US to ease some of the sanctions imposed as a result of the North's nuclear testing.

Instead, the South responded more forcefully than usual, saying that by criticising Moon, Kim had "fundamentally damaged the trust between the two leaders". The unification minister resigned.
Seoul priorities

Jay Song, an academic at the Asia Institute at the University of Melbourne, says the internal politics in the South also requires scrutiny, and notes that the Unification Ministry cannot do anything without a green light from the National Security Council in the presidential Blue House.

"The National Security Council are internationalists [and] prioritise the Republic of Korea-US alliance over the Unification Ministry's ethno-nationalist mandate on improving inter-Korean relations," said Song, who is the Korea Foundation senior lecturer in Korean Studies. "The choice for South Korea is not an easy one, especially when the North wants to be a nuclear state."

South Korea has struggled with how to deal with its northern neighbour since the end of Japanese colonisation led to the partition of the Korean Peninsula between the Soviet Union-backed North and the US-backed South.

Pyongyang, which has long dismissed Seoul as a "puppet" of the US, sent its troops across the 38th parallel on June 25, 1950, in a move that led to UN intervention, the mobilisation of US and Commonwealth forces, and brought in Chinese troops fighting in support of the North Koreans.

China was worried then, as it is now, about maintaining a buffer state, while the US continues to station some 28,500 troops in the South. The Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) between the two countries remains one of the world's most heavily-fortified frontiers, despite calming measures that were part of the 2018 agreement.

United Nations forces hold their ears while firing mortars at Communist positions on the Naktong River front in South Korea, in August 1950. The Korean War began on June 25, 1950 when North Korean troops crossed the 38th parallel into the South [File: AP Photo/Max Desfor]

Under the deal, the two sides agreed to remove soldiers from some border areas, withdraw loudspeakers used to broadcast propaganda messages from North to South - moves Pyongyang this month said it would reverse - and curb the activities of defectors and activists floating balloons of propaganda leaflets from South to North.

Amid the escalation, South Korea again promised legal action to put an end to the leafleting, but the sanctions make it difficult for Moon to deliver on the economic initiatives envisaged in 2018 without the backing of the US.

Even before Kim's move to step back from provocations, analysts noted that while the posturing was helping Kim Yo Jong burnish her credentials for leadership in a patriarchal and militarised regime, the decision to map out its planned steps suggested some flexibility - an opportunity for her brother to "refrain from directly engaging in hostilities in order not to exhaust the chance that he could still meet with President Moon and President Trump to make a deal in the future", said Lami Kim, a professor of Asian Studies at the US Army War College.

"The wording of the announcement, certainly in Korean, makes clear that this is a temporary decision," KCL's Pacheco Pardo observed. "So the announcement leaves the door open for further de-escalation, but also for re-escalation."
Trump disappointment


After the heady days of the Singapore and Hanoi Summits, Trump now seems to have lost interest in North Korea, focused instead on shoring up his own position in a bruising battle for re-election in November amid the world's worst coronavirus outbreak and public anger over police brutality and systemic racism.

Even during the Singapore summit, if former national security adviser John Bolton is to be believed, Trump's focus was merely on the optics, wanting to know how many journalists were expected to attend the final news conference.

"That's what he was focused on," Bolton said in an interview with ABC News on Sunday. "That he had this enormous photo opportunity - first time an American president has met with the leader of North Korea."

Kim and Trump leave their historic summit in Singapore, after signing documents that acknowledged the progress of the talks and pledged to keep the momentum going. Trump's former national security adviser John Bolton says the president was preoccupied with the optics of the event [File: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters]"Like many other countries around the world, North Korea has probably realised that this president is not going to deliver," said Pacheco Pardo. "But they don't want to completely break with the US."

China remains North Korea's biggest ally and satellite images shared by the Stimson Center suggest trade may have resumed at the border, after months of closure as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

"The outbreak of COVID-19 suspended tourism and trade with China, taking the country's economy close to a breaking point," said the US Army War College's Kim. "It is still too early to give up on diplomacy, not because KJU is a trustworthy leader, but because the dire economic situation in North Korea make economic inducements highly appealing."

In Pyongyang, the regime feels it has made sufficient concessions - taking steps to destroy its nuclear facility in Yongbyon and returning the remains of soldiers who were killed during the war - to deserve some concessions.

Some 147 sets of remains arrived back in Seoul from Hawaii on Wednesday, some of which were discovered as a result of the 2018 initiative, but if the South had hoped the two-year-old detente was a sign that the cycle of provocation and engagement had been consigned to the past, the events of the past few weeks have shown there is still a long way to go.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA NEWS

#BIOARCHITECTURE
Oz tech titans to build world's tallest 'hybrid timber' tower in Sydney

Issued on: 25/06/2020

The Atlassian building is designed by New York architects SHoP and Australian firm BVN Handout ATLASSIAN/AFP

Sydney (AFP)

Global software giant Atlassian will build the world's tallest "hybrid timber" building for its new headquarters in Sydney, the company said Thursday.

The 40-storey structure, coming in at 180 metres (590 ft), will be constructed with timber mass -- layers of softwoods pressed together -- and will feature a glass and steel facade, topped by outdoor gardens.

The Atlassian building, designed by New York architects SHoP and Australian firm BVN, will operate on 100 percent renewable energy and incorporate solar panels and self-shading windows in its facade.

It will use Mass Timber Construction, a technique that fuses softwoods, which Atlassian described as a key technology to lower the building's carbon footprint.

Construction is due to start next year and be completed in 2025.

Highly ecological, hybrid timber constructions have seen a burst of popularity. The Netherlands is due to begin work next year on a 140m (459 ft) hybrid timber tower in Rotterdam.

Atlassian, founded in 2001 by Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar, says the tower will house 4,000 staff and form the hub of a new tech precinct in the central Sydney business district.

"The space that we are building will be highly sustainable and highly flexible -- it will be purpose-built for the future of work, for tomorrow's world, not today's," Farquhar said in a statement.

He noted the post-COVID reality of more people likely working from home, but said companies still needed offices to thrive.

"Now we can design this space especially for these new ways of working," he said.

Cannon-Brookes and Farquhar, both 40, met at the University of New South Wales in Sydney in 1998 and launched Atlassian three years later.

The company, now one of the world's biggest collaborative software firms, has made the pair among Australia's richest people, each worth around $12 billion according to Forbes.

The Atlassian HQ project is not their first foray into the Sydney property market.

The duo live in side-by-side estates on Sydney harbour which both broke records as the most expensive homes in the city when purchased in 2017 and 2018 for around $50 million and $70 million.

© 2020 AFP

COVID-19: Ford tells Trudeau 'put your money where your mouth is' on LTC aid; Provinces 'failed' seniors, PM says
Author of the article:Bruce Deachman
Publishing date:Jun 25, 2020 •

A new study shows Canada's proportion of long-term care deaths is double the rate of other nations BRIAN THOMPSON / Postmedia
What you need to know, at a glance

Premier Doug Ford tells Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to “put your money where your mouth is” on help for the province’s LTC institutions

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says that “provinces have failed” in their handling of the novel coronavirus pandemic in long-term care facilities

PM hints that, although the facilities are provincial jurisdiction, the federal government might step in

“The federal government is committed to doing more, whether it be through regulations that could be applied countrywide or other measures.”

A report by the Canadian Institute for Health Information said the proportion of COVID-19 deaths in Canada’s long-term care facilities has been about twice that of other developed nations

Canada will provide grants of between $1,000 and $5,000 to student volunteers this summer

Additionally, the government will also spend $40 million to create new internships through Mitacs, a national not-for-profit that acts as a bridge between universities and businesses to deliver research and training programs

Ontario reported 189 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 Thursday, for a total of 34,205 cases. There were also 10 new deaths for a total of 2,641

Ottawa reports just four new cases and no deaths in most recent report

Fairmont Château Laurier announced Thursday that the historic hotel will again host guests and visitors starting July 1

The prime minister was critical of a decision by Quebec to end daily release of COVID-19 updates. Quebec says that, after Thursday it will only publish COVID-19 statistics once a week

Quebec reported 142 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, with seven new deaths

Ontario Premier Doug Ford told Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to “put your money where you mouth is,” after the PM said that provinces have failed seniors in their responses to the COVID-19 crisis.

The PM was referring to a report indicating that the Canada’s proportion of COVID-19-related deaths coming from long-term care facilities was almost twice as high as other developed nations.

“Help us out, we can’t do this alone,” Ford continued, before conceding that the prime minister has been supportive of Ontario during the crisis.

“But I’m a little shocked by his comment, to be frank with you. We’re supposed to be all in this together, let’s be all in this together.”

For went on to criticize the federal government’s health transfer payments to the provinces.

“Some provinces are getting as low as 18 per cent. We’re getting about 20 or 22 per cent. That’s not a partnership.

“I’m not knocking (Trudeau),” Ford added. “I might say a few things that are off-kilter, too, some days … but we need his help.”

The premier was also critical of the report outlining Canada’s response to the COVID-19 crisis in long-term care facilities, saying he feels that comparing the numbers of COVID-19-related deaths in Canada to those of other developed countries is “unfair.”

The report, issued by the Canadian Institute for Health Information, says that 81 per cent of COVID-19-related deaths in Canada occurred in long-term care facilities, almost double the proportion of 16 other developed countries.

“They’re comparing us to Spain,” Ford said. “They’re comparing 6,900 (deaths) in Canada to Spain, that has 18,000 deaths in long-term care?

“I just don’t think that’s fair.”

The province also announced on Thursday the 43 recipients of more than $13 million earmarked to support youth-led community projects intended to improve the well-being of children, youth, and families facing economic and social barriers.

The funding will come through the province’s Youth Opportunities Fund.

Ottawa-area recipients include:

L’Association des couturiers immigrants francophones d’Ottawa, which will receive $255,000 over three years to offer entrepreneurship training for low-income immigrant parents and newcomers in Vanier;

The Ethio-Eritrean Canadian Women Integration Network, which, through the Nepean, Rideau and Osgoode Community Resource Centre, will also receive $255,000 over three years, to support Ethiopian and Eritrean immigrant families, specifically mothers and women, to provide services and systems navigation to facilitate integration into the Canadian community, and;

The Bridge Co-Net Inc., which will receive $254,600 over three years to provide family and parenting services, as well as mentoring Black/Afro-diasporic newcomer parents, guardians and/or caregivers living in Ottawa.

Meanwhile, the Kingston health officials have declared a COVID-19 outbreak at Binh’s Nail and Spa salon. Clients and workers who were at the spa between June 12-24 are required to self-isolate and to get tested for the virus.

Ontario reported 189 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 Thursday, for a total of 34,205 cases.

There were also 10 new deaths for a total of 2,641.

A total of 27,511 people were tested for the virus and the province said 86.3 per cent of all cases have been resolved.

Outbreaks continued at 52 long-term care type facilities, a drop of 10 from the previous day.

No new cases were reported in three rural health units in Eastern Ontario.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Thursday that “provinces have failed” in their handling of the novel coronavirus pandemic in long-term care facilities, and that the government may have to intervene.

Responding to a report that highlights Canada’s high proportion of COVID-19-related deaths in long-term care facilities, Trudeau said he was “deeply concerned” and that “the job isn’t adequately being done.”

The provinces, he added, “have not taken adequate care of seniors.”

The federal government, Trudeau noted, has offered the provinces $14 billion to help.

“We hope the provinces will accept this funding and make the necessary changes.”
Trudeau hinted that, although the facilities fall under the provinces’ jurisdictions, the federal government might bring legislation forward to regulate long-term care facilities.

“We need to do better for seniors, and the federal government is committed to doing more, whether it be through regulations that could be applied countrywide or other measures. We will work with provinces to improve the situation.

“The federal government is happy to be there to help. We want to respect provincial jurisdictions, but I think we know that things need to change. Do we need national standards, or do the provinces just need to increase their standards significantly? These are conversations we can have with the premiers.”

When asked if his government might increase health-care transfer payments to the provinces, Trudeau said “I’m not going to negotiate in public.”

The proportion of COVID-19 deaths that have occurred in Canada’s long-term care facilities has been about twice that of other developed nations.

According to a report by the Canadian Institute for Health Information, which looked at data up to May 25, residents of long-term care facilities made up 81 per cent of Canada’s reported COVID-19 deaths, compared to an average of 42 per cent among 17 countries studied.

The study looked at data from Canada and other nations in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. It notes that Canada’s total of 5,324 reported COVID-19 deaths in LTC facilities then was close to the average, but that numbers varied wildly, from just 28 deaths in Australia to 30,000 in the U.S., and more than 10,000 each in Italy, France, Spain and the United Kingdom.

Researchers cautioned that differences in how countries do testing and reporting, and how some define long-term care, were among the limitations that prevent some comparisons. Still, CIHI’s director of health systems analysis and emerging issues, Tracy Johnson, says the data offers valuable insight into problems many families, caregivers and residents have been trying to illustrate since the pandemic began.

Canada will provide grants to college and university students, as well as recent graduates, who choose to volunteer in their communities.

Part of a $9 billion package originally announced in April, the Canada Student Service Grant program will provide between $1,000 and $5,000 to student volunteers. The exact amount will depend on how many hours each works between June 18 and Sept. 15.

Additionally, the government will also spend $40 million to create new internships through Mitacs, a national not-for-profit that acts as a bridge between universities and businesses to deliver research and training programs.

“This is a good-news story,” said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in making the announcement on Thursday, “not just for the students who will be able to use their knowledge, but also for the business owners, and the future of our country.

“We need to make sure that our youth have the necessary tools to work to innovate to succeed.”

Trudeau also announced that the summer jobs program will add 10,000 job placements for students who are between 15 and 30 years old, and 20,000 additional positions for students through the Student Work Placement Program.

The prime minister said that emergency spending to help Canadians fight the pandemic was necessary to jumpstart an economic recovery. He was responding to questions about ratings agency Fitch’s downgrading of Canada’s rating from “AAA” to “AA+”.

As of Thursday, Canada had 102,242 confirmed cases of COVID-19, of which 64 per cent have recovered. There have been 8,484 deaths.

Local

Ottawa Public Health reports there have been four new cases of COVID-19 as of Wednesday, with no new deaths. The totals now stand at 2,069 cases and 262 deaths.

About 85 per cent of the cases have been resolved, with 57 cases remaining “active.” Only one patient is in hospital and that person is in ICU.

There are seven outbreaks in effect in institutions.

Fairmont Château Laurier announced Thursday that the historic hotel will again host guests and visitors starting July 1.

“The hotel is an important member of the community, we are thrilled to welcome our guests and colleagues back to a healthy, COVID-19 free environment,” general manager Rick Corcoran said in a news release. “We are partnering with top experts to implement new standards of safety and enhanced operational protocols and procedures which are among the most stringent in the hospitality industry.”

The new standards for Fairmont Château Laurier and the rest of the Accor Hotels chain were vetted by a team of health and safety experts.

“Welcoming, safeguarding and taking care of others is at the very heart of what we do and who we are,” Corcoran said in a press release emphasizing new measures are in place to protect against COVID-19.

The hotel, which opened in June of 1912, closed March 21.

Meanwhile, the Ottawa Police Service has begun a staggered reopening of its buildings to the public Monday but says it’s still encouraging people to file reports or apply for a criminal records check online.

Quebec

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was critical Thursday of Quebec’s decision to discontinue the practice of releasing daily totals of confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths.

“Every province makes its own decisions about how transparent it needs to be and how much it will provide data and information to its citizens,” he said.

“In Quebec, there are still very much a significant number of cases every single day; a significant number of deaths, unfortunately, every single day, and I certainly hope that Premier (François) Legault would continue to be transparent and open with Quebecers and, indeed, with all Canadians.”

Quebec says that, after Thursday it will only publish COVID-19 statistics once a week for the foreseeable future. Weekly reports will be issued every Thursday, starting July 2, the ministry said.

Health officials made the decision because of “the evolving epidemiological situation, which is stabilizing,” a spokesperson for the ministry told Postmedia via email. “The ministry will continue to monitor the situation closely and adjust the data dissemination strategy as necessary.”

The province reported 142 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, with seven new deaths. It was the first time in five days that the number of new cases was higher than 100.

Quebec now has 55,079 cases with 5,448 deaths. A total of 487 people are hospitalized.

The Outaouais reported three new cases, but no new deaths.

-With files by The Canadian Press and Postmedia

Standardized training for personal care workers could help fix long-term care crisis, says advocate

I have some fear that PSWs will be made the scapegoat in all of this,’ Laura Bulmer says

CBC Radio · Posted: May 29, 2020

A front-line worker adjusts her PPE as she walks past another worker unloading air filters and cleaning equipment at Orchard Villa care home in Pickering, Ont. on April 27, 2020. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press)A key part of fixing the crisis in Canadian long-term care homes is regulating personal support workers (PSWs) as a profession, says advocate Laura Bulmer.

Over the last 15 years, Bulmer — a registered nurse and a professor at George Brown College in Toronto — has been calling for an organization that formally oversees the work and training of personal support workers.

On Tuesday, members of the Canadian military deployed to work in long-term care homes during the pandemic described disturbing details of neglect and mistreatment in five Ontario centres.

Bulmer told Day 6 host Brent Bambury that nursing homes' response to the pandemic would have been different if care workers had standardized training and incentives to stay in their profession.

Here's part of their conversation:

When you heard the details of what Canadian Forces members witnessed in long-term care homes this week, what was your reaction?

Well, certainly not surprised, yet shocked at the amount of allegations for such a short time. I'm certainly glad to see a formalized report that will hopefully get some attention. I have some fear that PSWs will be made the scapegoat in all of this.

On a positive note, [I'm] a little relieved that finally we're … hopefully heading in a direction where actions are going to be taken to protect our vulnerable seniors.

Let's talk now about planning and implementing some change. I certainly hope to be a part of that.

Laura Bulmer is a registered nurse and a professor at George Brown College. (Submitted by Laura Bulmer)

The details of what we learned this week are very disturbing. How do you feel about sending your students into a crisis as grave as this?

Well, here's the thing. It's certainly a questionable area. Would we want to send students to a situation where they're already in crisis mode and not working at optimum level? That's not a great way to learn, but that's not something new for us.

The things that came out in the report are not ... new in this sector. Our goal is to hopefully be able to look at alternative ways of delivering education for PSWs in particular.

Military alleges horrific conditions, abuse in pandemic-hit Ontario nursing homes
Liberal MPs call for national standards for long-term care homes

Given the things that have been described, are you worried about their mental health?

Absolutely. Having been a clinical instructor for many years myself, it certainly took a toll on me as well. I had to take a break from teaching in the clinical environment because I was bringing a lot of those concerns home and couldn't get over it.

It is a difficult situation, especially when you're teaching students in an environment like, "This is how things are supposed to be," and then when you bring them to a location where now it's the exact opposite. So a lot of the past, with my clinical placements, have been working with students on how to cope with it and using them as examples, these situations, of what not to do and to try to advocate.

Is that the reason you think that something like a third of PSWs leave the profession every year? Because of the stress?

Oh, without a doubt. You know, there is compassion fatigue. I was talking with a colleague of mine saying, "Can you imagine?" We hear all the reports of people that have died in long-term care. For PSWs, each one of those residents is like a family member. So to have that … many family members die and then still have to go back to work? I can't imagine what it is like right now being in that situation.

And certainly before COVID came to us, it was challenging with having not enough staff on hand. The ratio of residents to PSWs is nowhere near where it should be, and there's many reasons for burnout.

ANALYSISWhy it took an outside-the-box use of the military to rip the lid off Canada's long-term care crisis
Long-term care worker among 2 new COVID-19 cases in Campbellton region linked to doctor

You've been advocating for regulation of PSWs and standardization in the profession for a long time. What is the main difference you think regulation would have made to this crisis in long-term care homes now?

One of the things I think that is really important is having established educational standards. Right now, [you] can become [a PSW] from many different avenues, whether it be through a high school, a private college or community college. So just that fact alone means you're going to have a different level of a PSW.

I know that in community colleges, the first thing that we do is teach infection control. So proper PPE [is the] very first thing off the bat. I'm not saying that other facilities don't do that. Having standards ... would definitely regulate what all graduates would have to have.

Members of the Canadian Armed Forces are shown at Residence Yvon-Brunet, a long-term care home in Montreal, on May 16, 2020. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press)You said that you're worried that PSWs might become scapegoats after this latest report. Do you think that they will be blamed, the frontline workers, for the breakdown in care?

I certainly hope not. It kind of makes me a little worried that, you know, they are part of the frontline "let's thank all of our heroes." And then, you know, a lot of the things that were detailed in the military report were specific to regulated or non-regulated staff. Residents wandering in a unit, that's not unusual. Certainly, if you don't have enough staff in an environment where the training is different, people take shortcuts.

We've been living through this crisis for a couple of months, but you have been making this case for 15 years. Do you think what's happening now might finally be the catalyst for change?

Oh, my gosh, I certainly hope so. I really do.

OPSWA, which is the Ontario Personal Support Worker Association, they have been actually changing their infrastructure to house and to be the regulatory body for self-regulation. So I'm hoping with the attention that it's getting now, I know that regulation is certainly a strategy towards positive change.

Written and produced by Yamri Taddese.

To hear more, download our podcast or click

Provinces 'failed to support seniors,' Trudeau says following release of troubling new pandemic study

New study shows percentage of Canada's pandemic deaths in long-term care higher than OECD average

Catharine Tunney · CBC News · Posted: Jun 25, 2020

Members of the Canadian Armed Forces prepare to enter Woodbridge Vista Care Community, a long-term care home, in Vaughan, Ont. A new study finds the proportion of Canadian COVID-19 deaths that have occurred in long-term care facilities is about twice the average of rates from other developed countries. (CBC)

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau today floated the idea of bringing in national standards and reopening the Canada Health Act to address some of the vulnerabilities the pandemic has exposed in long-term care homes — while accusing provincial governments of having "failed to support seniors."

His comments came after the Canadian Institute for Health Information released a new report that found the percentage of Canada's COVID-19 deaths taking place in long-term care facilities is about double the average of other countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

As of May 25, long-term care residents made up 81 per cent of all reported COVID-19 deaths in Canada; the average percentage of COVID-19 deaths taking place in LTC facilities in 16 other OECD countries was 42 per cent.

The figures cited by the report are percentages of individual countries' total COVID-19 death counts as of May 25 — so countries with much higher death tolls also saw more deaths inside their long-term care facilities than did Canada.

Spain, for example, saw a lower percentage of its pandemic deaths in long-term care than Canada did — but because Spain's total death toll up to May 25 was much higher (26,834 to Canada's 6,566), its number of pandemic deaths in long-term care was much higher as well (17,730 to Canada's 5,324).

Watch: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on the pandemic's impact on long-term care


Trudeau says the pandemic revealed serious problems in Canadian long term care homes
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke with reporters after the OECD published a report showing that Canadian LTC homes had double the fatality rate of other countries surveyed. 

"I think one of the things that is very clear is our current system of supporting seniors across this country has not worked," said Trudeau during a news conference outside of his home at Rideau Cottage in Ottawa this morning.

"It is a provincial responsibility. So it is them that ... have failed to support our seniors ... What this recent report has shown, and quite frankly what this pandemic has shown from the very beginning, is that the job isn't being adequately done in long-term care centres across the country."

Canada's proportion of COVID-19 deaths in long-term care double the average of other countries, study shows

Demands grow for national, universal long-term care in response to pandemic

Long-term care homes fall under provincial jurisdiction, but the prime minister said the federal government is willing to work with the provinces to address the problems in long-term care. More than 8,400 Canadians had died of COVID-19 as of June 24.

"We will continue to work with the premiers on ensuring that our long-term care centres are properly supported, whether that's by bringing in national standards, whether that's by extra funding, whether that's by looking at the Canada Health Act," Trudeau said, referring to the federal legislation that sets criteria for health transfers.

"There are a range of things that we can do."

The issue likely will be raised this evening during the weekly call between the prime minister and the premiers.

The new CIHI study highlights the discrepancies between provinces and territories, showing long-term care deaths represented more than 70 per cent of all COVID-19 deaths in Quebec, Ontario and Alberta and 97 per cent of all deaths in Nova Scotia.

At the time the study was conducted, no deaths in long-term care facilities had been reported in Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island and the territories. Two long-term care residents have since died in New Brunswick.

Ottawa's offer comes as calls multiply for a national response to chronic problems in long-term care homes.

Study finds Canada's proportion of LONG TERM CARE deaths double the average of other nations

© Provided by The Canadian Press

TORONTO — A new study finds the proportion of Canadian COVID-19 deaths that have occurred in long-term care facilities is about twice the average of rates from other developed nations.

The analysis released Thursday by the Canadian Institute for Health Information provides a damning snapshot of senior care as of May 25, when LTC residents made up 81 per cent of all reported COVID-19 deaths in the country compared to an average of 42 per cent among all countries studied.

The data compares Canada's record to that of 16 other countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The proportion of LTC deaths ranged from less than 10 per cent in Slovenia and Hungary to 31 per cent in the United States to 66 per cent in Spain.

At 5,324, the reported number of LTC deaths in Canada was near the average but data varied widely among countries: from 28 in Australia to 30,000 in the U.S., with more than 10,000 in France, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom.

Researchers point to limitations that prevent some comparisons — countries vary in COVID-19 testing and reporting practices, and in their definition of long-term care.

In addition, COVID-19 cases are often under-reported and in the case of Italy, data was available from only 52 per cent of the nursing homes operating in the country.

Nevertheless, Tracy Johnson, CIHI's director of health systems analysis and emerging issues, says the data offers valuable insight into a tragedy many families, caregivers and residents have been trying to illustrate since the pandemic began.

Johnson notes countries that implemented additional LTC precautions at the same time as standard stay-at-home orders had fewer LTC infections and deaths.

That includes Australia, Austria and Slovenia, which ordered broad LTC testing and training, isolation wards to manage clusters, surge staffing, specialized teams and personal protective equipment.

Johnson says the findings suggest such measures could be key to mitigating the impact of a possible second wave.

But for now, she notes several of Canada's hardest-hit facilities are still grappling with the devastating fallout of existing infections.

"Even if all of these (measures are instituted) there will be other folks who will die because some people are infected right now, still, and the outbreaks are still ongoing," she says.

"Some of the control measures though will probably help to at least keep the rates the same as they are."

The contrast in LTC deaths is even more stark between provinces and territories, says the report, which notes LTC deaths represented more than 70 per cent of all COVID-19 deaths in Quebec, Ontario and Alberta and 97 per cent of all deaths in Nova Scotia.

There were none in Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick and the territories at the time of the study. Two LTC residents have since died in New Brunswick.

Dr. Roger Wong, clinical professor of geriatric medicine at the University of British Columbia, says the numbers are "very concerning" and point to long-standing systemic problems that include inadequate staffing and resources and inconsistent standards.

"There needs to be a fundamental reprioritization, focusing attention and resources, time and effort into the sector right away. Because I can tell you that what COVID-19 has shown us in terms of a major lesson is a fragmentation (of) seniors' care," Wong says from Vancouver.

"Which means it makes it more difficult for all of us to support our older Canadians with equal and consistent access to the services that are necessary, based on their care needs at their age."

Wong is part of a federal task force working on national recommendations on how best to help LTC homes battle COVID-19.

He says he recently spoke to a Senate standing committee on the topic, drawing on data from June 1 when reports of LTC deaths totalled 6,007, or 82 per cent of deaths.

Wong encourages more specific training in geriatric and palliative care as well as psychiatry. And he suggests it's time to put provincially-driven long-term care mandates under the Canada Health Act.

"I see the federal government having its role in terms of setting the national standards and benchmarking so that expectations are set (and) no matter which province or territory our older Canadians are living in they can be protected in the same way under that framework," says Wong.

"(For) individual provinces and territories, it is about implementation of those national, federally set benchmarks and standards."

The CIHI analysis compared Canada to countries that had sufficient data for reporting: Australia, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 25, 2020.

Cassandra Szklarski, The Canadian Press

PRIVATIZED HEALTHCARE 
LifeLabs failed to protect the personal health information of millions of Canadians: investigation

Mary NersessianCTVNews.ca Senior Producer

Jackie DunhamCTVNews.ca Writer

Ben CousinsCTVNews.ca WriterPublished Thursday, June 25, 2020 

A LifeLabs location can be seen on Weston Road in Toronto, Ont. in this Google maps image.


TORONTO -- LifeLabs failed to protect the personal health information of millions of Canadians, a joint investigation suggests.

The joint investigation by the information and privacy commissioners of Ontario and B.C. says the failure resulted in a significant privacy breach in December 2019, which affected 15 million Canadians – primarily in those two provinces.

"Our investigation revealed that LifeLabs failed to take necessary precautions to adequately protect the personal health information of millions of Canadians, in violation of Ontario's health privacy law," Brian Beamish, information and privacy commissioner of Ontario said in a statement.

Related Stories
Are LifeLabs hack victims risking their privacy to get free credit monitoring?

LifeLabs hack: Data protection 'a big problem for a lot of companies'

LifeLabs cyberattack helpline clogged from nearly 5,000 customer calls

LifeLabs cyberattack: What to do if you think you're affected

Related Links
Read the full LifeLabs statement

"This breach should serve as a reminder to organizations, big and small, that they have a duty to be vigilant against these types of attacks. I look forward to providing the public, and particularly those who were affected by the breach, with the full details of our investigation."

Michael McEvoy, information and privacy commissioner of British Columbia, added: "LifeLabs' failure to properly protect the personal health information of British Columbians and Canadians is unacceptable. LifeLabs exposed British Columbians, along with millions of other Canadians, to potential identity theft, financial loss, and reputational harm. The orders made are aimed at making sure this doesn't happen again.”

The investigation says LifeLabs failed:
To take the reasonable steps to protect confidential information in its electronic systems, violating Ontario's health privacy law, the Personal Health Information Protection Act (PHIPA), and B.C.'s personal information protection law;
to put in place the adequate information technology security policies;
by collecting more personal information than was necessary.

Publication of the report is being delayed, according to the commissioners, because LifeLabs says the information the company provided is confidential. The commissioners deny those claims and say they plan to publish the report unless LifeLabs takes court action.

While the joint inquiry found that LifeLabs took “reasonable steps” to contain and investigate the breach, the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario ordered the laboratory testing provider to implement a number of additional measures to further address the shortcomings revealed in the investigation.

Their recommendations for LifeLabs include:
To improve specific practices regarding information technology security;
to formally put in place written information practices and policies with respect to information technology security;
to cease collecting specified information and to securely dispose of records of that information, which it has collected;
to improve its process for notifying individuals of the specific personal health information that was exposed in the breach;
to clarify and formalize its status with respect to health information custodians in Ontario with whom it has contracts to provide laboratory services.

Finally, the commissioners recommended that LifeLabs consult with independent third-party experts about whether offering customers a longer period of credit monitoring service would be appropriate given the circumstances of the breach.

In a statement posted online, LifeLabs said it received the report and is “reviewing” the findings.

“From the beginning, LifeLabs has committed to being open and transparent and we will continue to follow these principles as we work together on a path forward,” the statement continued.

“On the day we announced the cyber-attack last year, we made a commitment to our customers that we would learn and work hard to earn back their trust. We cannot change what happened, but we assure you that we have made every effort to provide our customers with service they can rely upon.”

LifeLabs said its made a number of changes in early June to strengthen its information security system, including:
Appointing a chief information security officer, chief privacy officer and chief information officer;
investing $50 million to improve its information security system;
deployed cyber security firms to investigate the deep web for information related to the attack;
established an Information Security Council comprised of cyber security experts;
implemented a stronger cybercrime detection technology across the company.

“What we have learned from last year’s cyber-attack is that we must continually work to protect ourselves against cybercrime by making data protection and privacy central to everything we do,” the statement continues. “We have made a commitment through our partnership with experts, the health care sector, governments and IT companies, to become a global leader in protecting health care data.”

In the aftermath of the 2019 breach, LifeLabs offered its customers one free year of cyber protection services, including dark web monitoring and identity theft insurance.

Privacy commissioners in B.C. and Ontario were first notified of the breach in November 2019. The offices announced their joint investigation in mid-December after it was revealed the breach had affected millions of Canadians.