CHER MONSIEUR; VA TE FAIRE FOUTRE

Quebec premier warns Ottawa against unilateral action to protect province's caribou

QUEBEC — Ottawa is threatening to act unilaterally to protect caribou in Quebec, a move that Premier François Legault said Tuesday would be interference in an area of provincial jurisdiction.

In an April 8 letter, federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault gave the Quebec government until April 20 to provide him with information about its plan to protect the at-risk woodland caribou and the animals' habitat.

If the province doesn’t agree to rapidly impose measures to prevent the decline of the species, Guilbeault said he would recommend the federal government adopt an order-in-council that would unilaterally create protected habitat for the caribou in Quebec.

“Quebec still has the opportunity to act and to come to the table and negotiate in good faith, but that must be done quickly,” Guilbeault told a news conference Tuesday.

In response, Legault said Guilbeault's ultimatum is another example of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government meddling in areas of provincial jurisdiction.

“This is Quebec’s jurisdiction, so we have an independent commission that is looking into this," Legault told reporters in Quebec City. "We have to have a balance between saving the caribou but also protecting jobs that are important in certain regions of Quebec."

The former president of the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada, Marco Festa Bianchet, said he’s pleased with the federal government’s ultimatum.

"This is really the first time that the federal government has invoked the safety nets of the Species at Risk Act,” said Festa Bianchet, a biology professor at Université de Sherbrooke. He said the threat is necessary because "the provincial government has chosen to let the forest industry destroy caribou habitat for many years."

The provincial government, Festa Bianchet said in an interview Tuesday, has chosen not to act in order to protect jobs in the forestry industry.

Caribou depend on thick, old-growth forests for protection from predators and to provide lichen for food, Festa Bianchet said. Over time, logging has removed much of the old-growth forest and replaced it with younger trees, depriving the caribou of their habitat and food. Logging roads also allow for the caribou's natural predators, such as bears and wolves, to hunt more easily, he added.

The woodland caribou is considered “vulnerable” by the Quebec government. According to provincial data, from 2005 to 2016, the estimated population of the woodland caribou in the province varied between 5,635 and 9,981 animals. The mountain caribou subspecies of the woodland caribou is considered "threatened" by Quebec. Its population is estimated at around 40.

The Quebec committee currently studying caribou protection has faced criticism from environmental groups because it doesn't include any caribou experts. It is headed by Nancy Gélinas, a Université Laval professor who studies forest economics.

The Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador has said the committee is not taking the rights and interests of First Nations into account during consultations.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 12, 2022.

Stéphane Blais, The Canadian Press

Almost 1,000 hectares of Toronto and Ajax land granted protected status

A total of 950 hectares of land in the City of Toronto and Town of Ajax are considered protected areas, it was announced Monday, as part of a push to conserve 25 per cent of Canada's land and water by 2025.


© THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Tijana Martin

People are reflected in water crossing a footbridge in Cedarvale Ravine in Toronto during the May long weekend on Sunday, May 23, 2021.

Isaac Callan - Monday

In a press release, the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) announced the lands would be added to the Canadian Protected and Conserved Areas Database.

"While this is part of an international initiative, we are showing that efforts at the municipal level can make an important contribution to a larger natural system," Toronto Mayor John Tory said in a statement.

Read more:
City announces plans for park in downtown Toronto as part of new development

During the 2019 federal election campaign, the Liberal Party promised to protect a quarter of Canada's land and marine areas. The plan included a pledge to create 10 new national parks and 10 national marine conservation areas.

The Government of Canada's website says protected areas include national, provincial and territorial parks. National wildlife areas and migratory bird sanctuaries are also protected areas. They "safeguard biodiversity ... by reducing stresses from human activities," the website says.

The new protected lands in Ajax and Toronto will be managed by TRCA and the two municipalities.

Read more:
Liberals vow to protect 25% of Canada’s ocean waters and land by 2025

Ten city parks in Toronto totalling around 888 hectares are now designated as protected areas, while 62 hectares of Ajax's Carruthers Creek wetland are also protected.

"Carruthers Creek is a small and sensitive watershed that Ajax Council has been continuously advocating for the protection of for many years," Ajax Mayor Shaun Collier said.

Hollywood, foreign film productions reach record high in Canada in COVID's first year

OTTAWA — When the pandemic first hit, the world shouted "cut." Cameras stopped rolling, film sets went black and stars with seven-figure salaries were sent back to their hotel rooms.

But a report by the Canadian Media Producers Association on the state of Canada's film industry in the first year of COVID-19 shows it did not take long for shooting to resume.

Hollywood studios, and other filmmakers from abroad, were not greatly deterred by stringent health and safety measures from making movies in Canada, the financial report makes clear.

They made a record volume of productions here between March 2020 and April 2021 worth $5.27 billion.

Canada's homegrown film and TV industry also remained afloat, with some government underpinning, though it saw a dip in production of 12 per cent.

Overall, production in Canada dipped by only five per cent in the first year of the pandemic.

TV pilots were COVID-19's biggest casualties, largely grinding to a halt.

“Canada’s independent producers demonstrated incredible resilience and the ability to adapt to new realities in the face of a global pandemic, all while continuing to create content that reflects the people and places that make up this country,” said Reynolds Mastin, president and CEO of the Canadian Media Producers Association.

When the pandemic first struck, the prognosis for Canada's film industry looked grim. Insurers, spooked by the prospect of the virus on set, suddenly pulled the plug on productions and withdrew their backing.

The big Hollywood studios had the financial might to continue or could self-insure. But smaller independent Canadian studios had to put the covers on their cameras.

It was not until the government stepped into the gap and agreed to underwrite productions that they started rolling again.

Ottawa agreed to foot the bill if filming was interrupted due to a case of COVID-19 on set through a $50 million short-term compensation fund for Canadian audiovisual productions.

In last week's budget, it extended the film compensation fund by $150 million until next year.

The report shows that Canada remained a favourite location for Hollywood and other foreign studios in the first year of the pandemic.

The Hollywood and foreign film industry was the only sector to see an increase in Canadian production, creating thousands of jobs, not just for actors and crew but thousands of associated roles in production and post-production.

But despite the huge injection into the economy, Canadians owned the copyright of only five to 10 per cent of these productions, meaning they would not cash in if the movie became a hit.

Mastin said it is time that Canada's creative talent is properly rewarded for its hard work.

He also wants small independent Canadian production companies to have more bargaining power when selling their TV shows and films to the big streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+.

He contends there is a huge imbalance between the number of Canadian production companies making movies and shows and the places they can sell them.

This means that often Canadian filmmakers have to sell all the rights to their work just to get their productions made.

And if a movie or show turns out to be a hit, and is sold all over the world, the Canadian production company won't get a slice of the profits.

There are over 500 independent Canadian TV producers in Canada but fewer than a dozen major potential buyers, according to a broadcasting and telecommunications legislative review panel report.

"The streaming services are very powerful gatekeepers because they are huge relative to independent producers in Canada," Mastin said.

He wants the government to use an online streaming bill, now going through Parliament, as a vehicle to give small Canadian production companies more bargaining power, and a greater share in the success of the films and TV shows they make.

Bill C-11 would subject streaming companies to the same rules as traditional Canadian broadcasters, such as offering a set amount of Canadian content and investing heavily in Canada's cultural industries, including film, television and music.

Small production companies can take years just developing a script and getting a production off the ground, said Mastin. But often they have to turn over not just the rights but creative control to the big streaming platforms.

Mastin said the online streaming bill offers Canada the opportunity to do what the U.K. has already done, by making it a legal requirement that independent production companies get "a more equitable share" of success and a slice of future profits from the shows they create.

"A producer will spend years developing a show and all that investment in blood, sweat and tears," Mastin said. "What we are saying is that when a show is a success on one of these platforms, they should be sharing in the success because it is their show."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 12, 2022.

Marie Woolf, The Canadian Press

VANCOUVER

Skateboarders fill chamber as CNV passes motion to include consultation in rec review

IN THE FUTURE

Tuesday

City of North Vancouver council affirmed its position to rectify the perceived wrongs of demolishing Lonsdale Skatepark without a replacement, as it unanimously voted Monday night (April 4) to include more consultation in future plans for skate parks around the city.

In an at times colourful meeting, more than 20 people from the North Vancouver skateboard community packed the chamber to share their thoughts ahead of Coun. Tony Valente’s motion to make sure users' input be included in the upcoming North Vancouver Recreation and Culture Commission and Sport Facility Venue Review.

Ten speakers from the community addressed council in the public input period at the start of the meeting, all pressing for the acknowledgement of the importance of the skateboarding community, and that while the interim solution of Mahon Park is greatly appreciated, more needs to be done to include skateboarding in long-term plans for North Vancouver.

“We would like to say that the proposed solution does not go far enough to address the needs and size of our diverse community. Mahon Park is out of the way and there's a considerable amount of work to be done before it is usable,” Evan Tancredi, Skaters of the North Shore founder and sponsored skateboarder, said. “It's small in size and has somewhat of an awkward layout. … That said, we do support the development of this location, as well as a more suitable midterm replacement for Lonsdale, and a broader community strategy for skateboarding in North Vancouver.”

In discussions on the motion, Valente said that while the temporary facility at Mahon Park begins to address the needs of the community as the new Harry Jerome Community Recreation Centre skate park is built, “This motion is intended to support skate park users in thinking about the future of safe spaces for skateboarding on the North Shore.”

Valente noted the City of Vancouver’s shift in strategy from “controlling to supporting” skateboard culture.

“I think we need to do more to plan for its future. I think this is a community that is fully aligned with our council strategic plan as a city for people, as a vibrant city. This is an all-ages, genders, and ethnicities activity, it does not discriminate,” he said.

Mayor Linda Buchanan reiterated her thanks to the community for making their voices known by writing in and showing up at the meeting on Monday night.

“The feedback that we receive, the comments that we get, that the input helps us move forward, and do better as we work to provide much needed recreation investment for a variety of different sports across the North Shore,” she said.

Buchanan said she fully understands how beloved the Lonsdale Skatepark was, and recognizes that she and two other councillors fought hard to have the facility retained when the city was looking at developing HJCRC.

“That centre, as you know, is very large, sitting right now at $210 million. And there was a significant amount of balancing that needed to happen for a variety of different uses. In the end, the decision was that because of the aquatics component of the new centre, the skate park had to go,” she explained.

“I again apologize for that misstep, in terms of [not] convening the [skateboard community] again and just making sure that people understood what was happening moving forward. That probably doesn't satisfy a lot of people, but let me tell you that staff’s recommendation to move to Mahon, and I know for some they won't see it as a win, but that park will be ready to go June 1. It'll have some features, and then we'll add features as it moves along,” she said.

Charlie Carey, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, North Shore News

'Ain't nobody in it': Video shows driverless car being pulled over by police in California


A video posted online this month shows police in San Francisco, California pulling over an autonomous vehicle … as a passer-by shouts that there is no one behind the wheel.

© Provided by National PostA vehicle was pulled over around 10 p.m. on April 1

 because its headlights were not on, but police soon realized there was no driver.

Courtney Greenberg - AP

An officer from the San Francisco Police Department is seen exiting a police car that is pulled over on the side of the street behind what appears to be a regular car. However, as the officer approaches the vehicle, the video shows the white and orange Chevy Bolt, with Cruise branding.

Cruise is a self-driving car service with two vehicles in its current fleet.

The vehicle was pulled over around 10 p.m. on April 1 because its headlights were not on, Cruise told Insider .

“Ain’t nobody in it,” a man can be heard saying on the video.

After looking through the Chevy Bolt’s windows, the officer goes back to his own vehicle. The Bolt then drives away and pulls over farther up the street.

“Are you serious? How does that happen?” a woman says.

The police car again follows the Bolt and parks behind it. Officers can be seen looking through its windows and walking around the car.

“Our AV (autonomous vehicle) yielded to the police vehicle, then pulled over to the nearest safe location for the traffic stop, as intended. An officer contacted Cruise personnel and no citation was issued,” said the company in a Twitter post .

In another tweet , Cruise said they “work closely with SFPD on how to interact with our vehicles,” and that they have a phone number for them to call in such situations.

Police contacted the company and a maintenance team was sent to take the car.

Apple accelerates work on fully autonomous car that requires no human interaction

Uber disabled self-driving Volvo's standard collision-avoidance system before car struck, killed woman

In Canada, Ontario is the only province that allows partly autonomous vehicles with the launch of the 10-year Automated Vehicle Pilot Program in 2016.

The program allows “the testing of automated vehicles (AVs) on Ontario’s roads under strict conditions, including a requirement to have a driver for safety reasons.”

While Canada is taking a cautious approach, some American companies have moved forward by testing driverless cars in certain cities. However, it hasn’t been without serious incidents.

In 2018, a self-driving Uber car fatally hit a 49-year-old pedestrian in Arizona. The safety driver who was in the car at the time was charged with homicide, Reuters reported.

In 2019, a Tesla that was in “Autopilot” mode crashed into another car, killing its two passengers in California. The man behind the wheel in the Tesla was charged with vehicular manslaughter, the Associate Press reported .

Residents raise stink over proposed industrial feedlot near popular Alberta lake

By Dan Grummett Global News
Posted April 10, 2022

People who live near Pigeon Lake in central Alberta are concerned about a cattle operation expansion they say is being rushed through the approval process. Dan Grummett reports residents want more time to fight the plan, which they say has the potential to devastate local water ways.


A proposed industrial-sized livestock operation southwest of Edmonton is being met with pushback from residents concerned the project could jeopardize their property values and the local ecosystem.

Last month, some were notified of an application by livestock producer G & S Cattle Ltd., to construct a new confined feeding operation (CFO) that would hold up to 4,000 cattle just a few kilometres west of Pigeon Lake.

On April 6, community members rented a hall to gather and share concerns over the proposal, ranging from odour nuisances to potential for ground and surface water contamination.

“It’s very emotional for everybody. That’s probably why we got such a big turnout,” said Ed Buczny, who organized the gathering.

Concerned citizens rented Yeoford Community Hall, west of Pigeon Lake, to discuss concerns related to an application for a feedlot expansion in the area. Dan Grummett

The project would be located adjacent to an existing commercial feedlot of 1,500 cattle operated by the same applicant

There was a belief amongst those in attendance that the current feedlot was the source of water pollutants in the area, though Global News could not independently verify these claims.

“The biggest concern, probably for everybody in there, is the lake,” Buczny said. “For myself, it’s groundwater (and) it’s what my place is gonna be worth if they put it in — and the smell.”
Testing shows troubling contaminant levels: watershed association

The Pigeon Lake Watershed Association (PLWA) has been conducting testing in the area for years. The group said contaminants from manure produced by cattle seep into the soil and run off in creeks and streams which ultimately end up in Pigeon Lake.

PLWA executive director Catherine Peirce said recent sampling suggests phosphorus levels are 10 times higher than they were in 2013, the last time a major government study on Pigeon Lake was conducted.

Peirce worries if the new CFO is approved and built, the land will not be able to filter the extra nutrients.

“If we add more nutrients in the watershed, we will end up with algal blooms and that will affect the economy,” she said.

A map outlines the boundaries of a proposed CFO in Wetaskiwin County. It was contained in a 19-page statement of complaint submitted to the Natural Resources Conservation Board, which will decide whether to approve the project. Pigeon Lake Watershed Association

Pinpointing source of contamination can be ‘tricky,’ says expert

Pigeon Lake, a popular summer beach destination for Albertans, has been the subject of many blue-green algae public health warnings over the last decade. In July 2021, Alberta Health Services issued a warning for Pigeon Lake about “fecal bacteria” at a local beach.

The biggest concern is phosphorus, according to the Alberta Lake Management Society, which can be both external and internal.

READ MORE: Fecal bacteria leads to advisories at multiple Alberta lakes, including Wabamun and Pigeon

Trying to answer the source of external phosphorus can be tricky, executive director Bradley Peter said. He noted that the data that exists right now isn’t specific enough to pinpoint one source for the problem.

“The reality is we need to be thinking of cumulative impacts when we allow or don’t allow development to occur with any lake watershed,” Peter said.

“I think, at the end of the day, we know these developments are not going to improve water quality, so I can certainly understand the frustration of residents.”
County supports application, understands resident concerns

The County of Wetaskiwin has no jurisdiction over CFOs but is certainly hearing about resident frustration.

“We’ve been receiving numerous emails,” Reeve Josh Bishop said. “They’re from many stakeholders, residents, and other (village and municipal) councils among the lake.”

The county is in favour of the application being approved. Bishop said having a CFO in the area will improve provincial oversight and scrutiny. For example, the application must include a proposal for a catch basin where surface water from the cattle pens can drain.

“Being a CFO, (the applicant) will be required to adhere to all the restrictions put in place. Right now, they wouldn’t have too many of those,” Bishop said.

G & S Cattle owner Greg Thelan declined an interview request but provided a statement to Global News.

“We are currently applying for an expansion on our ranch. There seems to be a lot of concern but not a lot of questions, only statements,” the statement reads in part.

“…Our goal is to stay environmentally sustainable. The concerns of water contamination, and depleting water supply, and manure application are all more than covered by the (Natural Resource Conservation Board) NRCB.”

The NRCB is a regulatory body that operates at arm’s length from the provincial government and reports to the Ministry of Environment.

In 2021, the group received 161 applications for CFOs in Alberta. The NRCB said 107 were approved, 44 were withdrawn, three were denied and two were approved following a board review.

People frustrated by process

Only residents considered to be “directly impacted” were notified of the application on March 10. According to provincial legislation, the NRCB is only required to notify residents who live within 1.5 kilometres of the proposed project boundaries. The deadline for those residents to submit statements of complaint was April 7.

“Three weeks to respond to something of this magnitude is not enough,” said Gloria Booth, who has lived in the county for 14 years.

“This is just not morally or ethically correct.”

Buczny thinks the notification range is too limited.

“It’s not just the people within 1.5 kilometres. It’s all the people around the lake,” he said. “Businesses, cottage owners — everything. They should all be part of this process.”

An NRCB spokesperson said affected parties can request a review of the decision, even after approval.

There’s no timeline for a decision, but the NRCB said officers “strive to process applications within 65 workings days” from application completion.

Niagara Has A 104-Year-Old Shipwreck & It Has Moved Closer To The Edge Of The Falls

Canada Edition (EN) -

Narcity  Yesterday 

If you're planning to travel to Niagara Falls anytime soon, you might be able to spot a century-old ship in the water.

On April 5, Niagara Parks said in a press release that the Iron Scow, a 104-year-old shipwreck lodged in the rapids, has moved closer to the Canadian Horseshoe Falls after being impacted by icy conditions in the Niagara River.

"Weather conditions over the weekend resulted in large pieces breaking free from the remaining wreck as it shifted further downriver towards the Horseshoe Falls," they noted.

The shipwreck has been stuck in the same place in the upper rapids of the falls since 1918. On Halloween night in 2019, it shifted closer to the falls, attracting tons of media attention, Niagara Park said.

At the time, the scow moved 50 metres toward the falls, and some wondered whether or not it would fall over the edge. According to the release, the possibility of this happening wasn't considered a public safety concern, and still isn't today.

"Despite considerable deterioration over the years, the scow, which was the site of a heroic rescue of the two stranded men aboard, has miraculously clung to its perch in the upper Niagara River since breaking loose from its towing tug on August 6, 1918," they said in the release.



Those who can't head down to Niagara Falls themselves can catch a glimpse of the shipwreck in the water in a video on Niagara Parks' Twitter account.

"The Iron Scow, the century-old shipwreck, moved closer to the Horseshoe Falls last weekend due to the weather. It last moved in 2019. The potential of it washing over the falls is not considered to be a public safety concern," they tweeted.

Jim Hill, senior manager of Heritage at Niagara Parks, expressed in the video that water and ice from Lake Erie had been pushed down the river into the Scow last week.

"Weather does have an effect here, but the Scow has lived through decades of being pounded by the river and storms and ice. So it's maybe just reaching the end of its life out there."

Exhausted and dreading new government rules, more Quebec doctors are eyeing retirement

Miriam Lafontaine - 
cbc.ca

Dr. Perle Feldman has been a general practitioner in Montreal's Parc-Extension neighbourhood for 40 years but faced with the government's latest plans to get physicians to take on more patients, she is ready to retire from her practice and focus instead on training medical students.

"The plans of the government to micromanage us even more than they are already micromanaging has taken a lot out of all of us," said Feldman, now 68. "We've been working like dogs throughout most of the pandemic."

Many others are feeling the same.

Last year, 275 doctors either retired or notified the province's health board, the Régie de l'assurance maladie du Québec (RAMQ), of their intention to retire within the next two years.

That number is up sharply from 2017, when 145 announced their intention to leave.

At least 1,000 family doctors are urgently needed in the province, said Dr. Marc-André Amyot, the president of the general practitioners' association, the Fédération des médecins omnipraticiens du Québec (FMOQ).

"In the next five to 10 years we will have a significant wave of retirements," he said.

Age is part of it. Amyot points out that roughly 25 per cent of family doctors in Quebec are over 60.

The region facing the highest number of potential retirements is Montreal, where 44 doctors announced they planned to leave. Over 30 family doctors have retired or will soon in both Quebec City and the Montérégie region as well.

The average age of retirement was 68 in Montreal, and 65 in Quebec City and the Montérégie region.

It's a blow to the 945,000 Quebecers who are still on the waiting list for a family doctor, according to official estimates. The actual number may be closer to 1.5 million.


© Rowan Kennedy/CBCDr. Michel Minh Tri Tran is a family doctor in Ahuntsic.

Last year the Legault government proposed setting a quota of 1,000 patients for each family physician with penalties suggested for those unable to meet demands, something they have since backtracked on.

At the peak of her career, Feldman says she had roughly 1,500 patients, whom she cared for from "womb to tomb."
'Doing everything and being expected to do more'

Dr. Michel Minh Tri Tran says young doctors are already dealing with a heavy workload.

Trin, who works in Ahuntsic, already serves roughly 1,000 patients as a family doctor. He points out doctors are required to work additional hours in hospital ERs or CLSC clinics.

"We're just doing everything and being expected to do more," said Minh Tri Tran.

"If we try to rush it all it starts to feel like we are being pressured to deliver fast-food medicine."

Minh Tri Tran says he wants to see the province do more to get foreign doctors trained and accredited to respond to the shortages.

The province has announced its intention to step up alternatives for care, by giving nurse practitioners, paramedics and pharmacists more power to treat patients instead.

The province has also promised to provide a phone service where a nurse can direct patients without a doctor to the medical services they need.

Health Minister Christian Dubé has said he hopes most without a family doctor will be able to access the service by the end of the summer. It was initially supposed to be in place across the province by March 31.


© Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press

While announcing health-care reforms in late March, Health Minister Christian Dubé said he hoped most without a family doctor will be able to access the service by the end of the summer.

The phone line has already been made available in the Lower Saint-Lawrence region through a pilot program.

The phone service is a move in the right direction to reduce doctors' workload, but more needs to be done to attract medical graduates into family medicine, Amyot said.

Last year, 75 residency positions in family medicine were left vacant in Quebec because fewer graduates are choosing family practice. Over the years that has amounted to 400 fewer family practitioners in the province, he said.

"Imagine what we could do if we had 400 more family doctors in 2022?" Amyot said.

Quebec's Health Ministry said it is difficult to put an exact number on how many family doctors are "missing" in Quebec, considering not all work full time throughout their career.

"Admissions to medical schools are on the rise and actions have also been underway to better promote family medicine," a spokesperson for the ministry said.

Former Alberta justice minister apologizes for 'misunderstanding' from letter disrupting wrongful dismissal trial

The justice presiding over a wrongful dismissal lawsuit brought by Alberta’s former chief medical examiner wrestled with the trial’s future Monday, after a letter from the province’s former justice minister threw a wrench in proceedings.


© Provided by Edmonton Journal

Dr. Anny Sauvageau, former chief medical examiner, at a 2014 roundtable debate on Alberta's child death review system for kids in provincial care. Sauvageau later sued the province after her contract was not renewed, alleging the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner had been exposed to political interference.

Madeline Smith - Monday

EDMON JOURNAL

Dr. Anny Sauvageau’s testimony abruptly stopped Friday when her lawyer Allan Garber said he’d received a letter from a lawyer for Jonathan Denis, referencing an Edmonton Journal/Sun article detailing her testimony in court, and threatening to sue her for defamation.

Part of the letter from lawyer Kyle Shewchuk reads, “We have been watching Dr. Sauvageau’s current trial and are aware that … Dr. Sauvageau’s defamation of Mr. Denis has continued unabated.”

Related

Former Alberta justice minister accused of interfering in ex-medical examiner's wrongful dismissal trial

'Please the minister': Former Alberta medical examiner tells court about tense, tearful meeting

The letter also points to a 2016 report by the Alberta public interest commissioner, which Shewchuk said deemed Sauvageau’s complaints of political interference to be “without merit.”

This week, Garber said he had serious questions about why the letter was sent, considering statements in judicial proceedings are shielded from defamation suits.

“The most chilling thing, m’lady, is that I was told in this letter to advise my client to, quote, ‘govern herself accordingly,’ ” Garber told Justice Doreen Sulyma.

“That statement, m’lady is, to be quite honest and frank, disturbing. Was I to tell her to be careful about what she said in this trial?”

Garber added another witness he intends to call now no longer wants to testify because of the episode.

Sauvageau, who served as Alberta’s chief medical examiner from 2011 to 2014, is suing the provincial government for $7.5 million, claiming the province declined to renew her contract because she fought political interference in her office. Last week, Sauvageau testified that an assistant deputy minister in the ministry of justice told her that her office was not independent of government and that Sauvageau’s job was to make the minister “look good.”

Denis was justice minister under the former Progressive Conservative government. He was previously named as a defendant in the lawsuit, but the action against him was discontinued, and the Alberta government is currently the only defendant.

Sauvageau’s allegations have not been proven in court.

Lawyer Brendan Miller represented Denis in court Monday. He submitted that the letter’s intent was not to target Sauvageau’s testimony. Instead, he said there were concerns that she was making statements to the media outside court.

In an affidavit, Sauvageau denies speaking directly to media. She also said the letter has made her feel “bullied and intimidated,” and fearful to continue with the trial. She still hasn’t finished giving testimony, and it will be followed by cross-examination.

Miller acknowledged the letter had “bad timing” for the trial, but argued it was being misinterpreted.

“It has always been Mr. Denis’s intent simply to protect himself from things said outside this court. It was never intended to try to limit testimony before this court,” he said.

But Sulyma expressed concern about what she called “troubling language” in the letter, and questioned why, if the issue was perceived contact with the media, that isn’t specified.

Adding that the letter’s timing is “disastrous, almost,” she said she wants to assure both parties in the lawsuit that the trial can continue fairly, short of a mistrial.

The trial is now scheduled to continue Wednesday morning, but first, Sulyma will make a decision on whether to cite Denis for contempt of court.

Miller said Denis “wishes to apologize to the court for the situation and assumes full responsibility for the misunderstanding arising from the letter.”

Shewchuk, who sent the letter on Denis’s behalf, also apologized, saying it has been a “learning experience” as a new lawyer.

— With files from Jonny Wakefield

 

Children play an important role in COVID transmission, according to new research

Elizabeth Payne - Yesterday 
Ottawa Citizen

© Provided by Ottawa Citizen

 A pupil has his temperature checked at school.

Children are a significant source of COVID-19 spread in households, according to a new study by Ottawa researchers, which counters an earlier perception that kids play a limited role in the transmission of the virus.

Researchers from the CHEO Research Institute, the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and the University of Ottawa, found that, while children transmitted COVID-19 at a lower rate than adults, they still contributed to significant spread within the Ottawa households being studied, infecting 37 per cent of household members if they were the first infected. Overall, about 50 per cent of household members were infected by the first individual to have the virus. Children were also as likely as adults to become infected.

The study was conducted on households with COVID-19 infections between September 2020 and March 2021. Its authors hypothesized that children would act as “an even greater source of spread within households with the emergence of more infectious variants,” such as the BA.2 subvariant of Omicron, which now dominates in Ottawa.

The research findings come as the province appears to be reconsidering whether masks should be mandatory in Ontario schools, according to comments made by Health Minister Christine Elliott on Tuesday.

Calls for the province to do so are growing as the sixth wave of the pandemic surges to heights not seen before in the pandemic.

COVID-19 in Ottawa’s wastewater — considered one of the best ways to determine the amount of infection in the community — is now at historic levels, three times as high as at the peak of the Omicron wave in January, according to Tyson Graber, co-lead investigator of the COVID-19 wastewater project in Ottawa and associate scientist at the CHEO Research Institute. According to wastewater data, the wave hasn’t peaked, he said.

On Tuesday, trustees at the Ottawa Carleton District School Board and two other Ontario boards were to debate bringing mandatory masking back to their schools. Most pandemic regulations were dropped by the provincial government last month.

Earlier in the day, Elliott said in response to a question that Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore is “reviewing data to determine whether masking should be reintroduced in public settings, in schools and so on.” Her comments seemed to contradict what Moore himself said on Monday during his first appearance in weeks — that he strongly recommended wearing masks in indoor spaces but did not support re-imposing mask mandates at this time.

Still, Elliott called the school board votes premature, saying: “I would ask people to wait until we have heard from Dr. Moore on this subject.”

The study published in the journal CMAJ Open adds to the growing understanding of how the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 spreads, particularly when children are involved.

Dr. Maala Bhatt, a lead author of the study, said it is important for people to understand how the virus can transmit in closed indoor settings, including schools, and to protect themselves.

“I know many want to ‘live with COVID’ and abandon the layers of protection that were previously mandated, but it’s important to be aware of the high transmissibility of this virus in closed, indoor settings, such as schools,” she said.


© HandoutDr. Maala Bhatt.

Bhatt, an emergency physician at CHEO, is director of emergency medicine research at the hospital and an investigator with the CHEO Research Institute.

Ontario’s COVID-19 Science Advisory Table has also noted that children play a bigger role in the spread of SARS-CoV-2 than originally suspected.

Children were initially underrepresented in case counts because they are less likely than adults to display symptoms. Since the beginning of the Omicron wave in December, though, hospitals have seen more sick children with COVID-19 than at any time during the pandemic. The majority of COVID-19 hospitalizations at CHEO have happened since Dec. 1, 2021.

The research team, including Dr. Marc-Andre Langlois of uOttawa, the executive director of CoVarr-Net, studied 695 participants from 180 households in Ottawa. It included households with at least one member having had confirmed COVID-19 and at least one child.

Bhatt noted that the research was done during a period of the pandemic when the virus was less transmissible and strong pandemic restrictions were in place.

“Flash forward to where we are today with an extremely transmissible variant of COVID-19 and the majority of pandemic restrictions lifted; it’s safe to say transmission rates will be higher even though we have a high vaccination rate amongst those who are eligible,” she said.

Bhatt said that while hospitals are not overloaded as they were in January, emergency departments are, and positivity rates are on the rise, even among children. She and other researchers are continuing to learn more about the potential long-term health impacts of COVID-19 and how long immunity lasts.

She, like many health leaders, said it is important for people to continue to protect themselves and their families.

“As significant COVID-19 transmission continues within households and throughout the community, it’s important to continue doing what you can to keep yourself and those around you safe — mask while indoors, wash your hands, get vaccinated with all the doses you are eligible for, stay home if you’re sick and limit close contacts.”

Two more Ontario boards to revive debate over masking at schools
Jacquie Miller - 

Ottawa Citizen

© Provided by Ottawa Citizen

Mask mandates in schools were dropped by Ontario as of March 21.

With the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board considering whether to reimpose masking at schools, trustees at two other Ontario boards say they plan to bring the same debate to their boards.

Trustee Alex Johnstone at the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board and Andrea Grebenc at the Halton District School Board have announced they have given notice of motions to be debated by their boards asking for masks to be reintroduced.

The Hamilton-Wentworth board has already defied the province once by temporarily re-imposing masking after the March break.

The province dropped the requirement to wear a mask at most public indoor places, including schools, on March 21.

Ontario Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore said Monday that he strongly recommended wearing masks indoors, but did not support reimposing mask mandates at schools. On Tuesday, Health Minister Christine Elliott suggested masking at schools could be back on the table.

In the meantime, the issue is bumped down to local public health officers or school boards, with questions over whether they are able or willing to impose mask mandates.

Ottawa Medical Officer of Health Dr. Vera Etches said in an interview she would support any school board bringing in its own mask rules. Ottawa Public Health has said it would be difficult for Etches to use her powers under Ontario’s Health Protection and Promotion Act to impose masking at schools if the province didn’t support the idea.

The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board planned a special meeting Tuesday night to debate a motion from trustee Mark Fisher to bring back masks.


Two more Ontario boards to revive debate over masking at schools

The board defeated a motion on March 14 to extend masking for a few weeks after March break.

Fisher said the COVID-19 situation had worsened in Ottawa since then and noted that Public Health Ontario just released a report saying a return of masking in schools would reduce spread of the virus.

When Moore announced on March 9 the end of mask mandates in most public spaces on March 21, he said the Omicron wave was behind us and the province’s cautious reopening plan could continue.

The education ministry announced plans for a return to a more normal routine in schools on March 21, including an end to masking, cohorting and physical distancing.

The province is now in a sixth pandemic wave dominated by the more contagious Omicron sub-variant BA.2. Key public-health indicators are rising, and the wave could last another six to eight weeks, Moore said Monday.

In Ottawa, the viral levels in wastewater, a key indicator of the spread of COVID-19, are at record levels.

On Monday, Moore repeated his message that Ontario residents must learn to live with the virus.

He said he was confident the health system could cope with an increase in hospitalizations and Ontario had the tools to manage the virus, including vaccination and the arrival of anti-viral drugs.

There is also more population immunity due to the large numbers of people in Ontario who have been infected with COVID-19 since December: an estimated 5.3 million to 6 million, Moore said.

When asked about rising numbers of children in hospital, Moore said that must be put in perspective.

“To date, there’s been no significant rise in the risk of children in the intensive care unit. So, of all of Ontario, 2.75 million children, there’s two in the intensive care unit right now. On average, we are having 30 to 60 children admitted to hospital. Some of those are incidental admission to hospital, as well, over a one-week period. So we’ve not seen any significant threat to the health of children.”

Critics point out other consequences of more spread of COVID-19 among children, including transmitting the virus to more vulnerable people, developing long COVID or other complications and missing school.

Treating COVID-19 in children as similar to a respiratory virus is a mistake, University of Toronto professor and epidemiologist Colin Furness says. “It’s a vascular and neurotropic disease that causes microclotting and brain tissue loss, plus debilitating long-term effects for some,” he posted. “Really avoid this; if you did get it, REALLY avoid getting it again.”