Tag: Ontario

Ottawa-Gatineau community update | 2024‑02‑15

Ottawa Bylaw says police warned officers not to ticket ‘Freedom Convoy’ demonstrators due to ‘risk of escalation’

Published February 21, 2024

Published by: CTV News
Published on: February 21, 2024
By Ted Raymond

The City of Ottawa’s general manager of emergency and protective services says there is no double standard when it comes to how Ottawa Bylaw issues tickets to protesters who violate things like noise bylaws.

His comments come after the city announced this week that bylaw tickets were not issued to protesters in Ottawa for the “Freedom Convoy” anniversary rally on Saturday, despite the fact that a group of protesters set off fireworks in a parking lot on Queen Street, in violation of the city’s fireworks bylaw.

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Photo of Parliament Hill, the Supreme Court, and the Ottawa River in Ottawa. There is snow on the ground and part of the river is covered with snow and ice. It’s a sunny day, with a blue sky.

Ottawa-Gatineau community update | 2024‑02‑15

Published February 15, 2024

📈 The COVID-19 wastewater viral signal for Ottawa is very high. The signal has decreased substantially since a peak around January 12, 2024. Levels are still about 1,050% higher than the value during a low point on July 12, 2023. The signal has increased during the first week of February 2024.

⚠️ The percent positivity is high (9.39% in Ottawa; 12.0% in the Outaouais).

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Ford government facing lawsuit over expansion of Pickering care home where dozens died during COVID

Published February 13, 2024

Published by: Toronto Star
Published on: February 13, 2024
By Maria Iqbal

A health advocacy coalition and the daughter of a deceased long-term-care resident have launched a court challenge against the Ministry of Long-term Care’s approval of the expansion of a Pickering home where the Canadian military reported disturbing conditions during the pandemic.

The challenge announced Tuesday calls for a judicial review of the ministry’s decision to approve an 87-bed expansion of Orchard Villa long-term-care home and a new 30-year licence for its parent company, Southbridge Care Homes.

The home would also redevelop 131 of its 233 existing long-term care beds.

Orchard Villa was one of five homes that the military entered in April 2020, when it reported inadequate staff training and resident care within the facility. According to the recent court filing, 206 of Orchard Villa’s 233 residents had COVID by spring 2020. During the first wave, 71 residents died at the home.

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Waterloo Region

Group of University of Waterloo students demanding improved response to COVID-19-related issues

Published February 9, 2024

Published by: CityNews
Published on: February 9, 2024
By Josh Piercey

A group of students at the University of Waterloo (UW) have penned an open letter to administration demanding the institution meet certain standards of care due to its ‘silence and inaction about the ongoing health crisis.’

Their group, called the Covid Action, Response and Equity (CARE) Coalition UW, is made up of about 10 students attending the university.

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Convoy organizers claim Ottawa police board should pay damages in proposed class-action lawsuit

Published February 8, 2024

Published by: Ottawa Citizen
Published on: February 8, 2024
By Aedan Helmer

Convoy protest organizers defending a proposed class-action lawsuit now argue the Ottawa Police Services Board should be on the hook for any potential damages to be paid out, claiming protesters were following police directions when they parked hundreds of trucks in downtown Ottawa during the 2022 demonstration.

“None of the defendants … had originally expected to park any vehicles on the streets of downtown Ottawa as part of the protest,” according to a new third-party claim filed by the lawyer for the defendants, which include organizers Tamara Lich, Chris Barber and Pat King.

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COVID-19 cases continue downward trend

Published February 8, 2024

Published by: Ottawa Citizen
Published on: February 8, 2024

COVID-19 infections showed another drop in the last seven days, with Ottawa Public Health reporting 144 new cases as of Tuesday.

That compares with 177 new cases reported last week and 264 new cases the week before.

The health agency reported five new deaths from COVID-19, compared with four a week earlier.

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Judge tosses motion to dismiss proposed class-action lawsuit against convoy participants

Published February 6, 2024

Published by: Ottawa Citizen
Published on: February 6, 2024
By Aedan Helmer

Downtown Ottawa residents and business owners who launched a proposed class-action lawsuit against organizers of the 2022 convoy protest moved one step closer to having their day in court as a judge tossed a defence motion to dismiss the lawsuit.

“There is sufficient basis to conclude that the plaintiffs have a meritorious case,” Superior Court Justice Calum MacLeod said in his ruling, released Monday.

“There is evidence that certain plaintiffs were subjected to what they contend to have been extreme amounts of noise, horn honking, incessant diesel fumes and other pollution, blockage of the streets and intimidation.

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Ottawa: Don’t trash the COVID-19 dashboard

Lawsuit against convoy organizers moves forward

Published February 6, 2024

Published by: CBC News
Published on: February 6, 2024
By David Fraser

There is evidence that certain plaintiffs were subjected to what they contend to have been extreme amounts of noise, horn honking, incessant diesel fumes and other pollution, blockage of the streets and intimidation. There is evidence that plaintiffs had difficulty accessing their properties and that business was disrupted, reservations cancelled, and revenue negatively impacted.

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Toronto

Homeless people in Toronto more likely to get COVID again compared to housed population: study

Published February 2, 2024

Published by: CBC News / The Canadian Press
Published on: February 2, 2024
By Nicole Ireland

People who are homeless have high rates of COVID-19 reinfection, putting the health of an already vulnerable population at further risk, a study published Friday in the BMC Infectious Diseases journal says.

Homeless people in Toronto who had COVID-19 were more than twice as likely to get it again as people who had housing, said lead author Lucie Richard, a senior research associate at the MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions at St. Michael’s Hospital.

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Photo of Ottawa City Hall, accompanied by some graphs and the text: Don’t trash the COVID-19 dashboard!

take action

Ottawa: Don’t trash the COVID-19 dashboard

Published February 1, 2024

📣 Let Ottawa Public Health, Ottawa’s mayor, and city councillors know you want continued access to the city’s COVID-19 dashboard.

✉️ Send letters to let them know you want continued access to updated data in the COVID-19 dashboard, and elsewhere on the City of Ottawa’s website. You can use your own email software to send the letters.

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Will Ottawa Public Health stop updating its COVID-19 dashboard?

Published January 30, 2024

Published by: CTV News
Published on: January 30, 2024
By Toula Mazloum

Ottawa Public Health is clarifying the confusion that has been circulating on social media around its plans to phase out its COVID-19 dashboard.

While the current COVID-19 dashboard will be discontinued in February, the health unit pledges to continue to give updates about COVID-19 and respiratory illnesses circulating in the capital.

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High COVID levels persist as other illnesses dip

Published January 25, 2024

Published by: CBC News
Published on: January 25, 2024
By Andrew Foote

Flu numbers dropped again over the last week, according to the latest data from Ottawa Public Health (OPH), and RSV trends did the same. Flu levels remain high and RSV’s are more moderate.

The COVID-19 picture remains generally high and stable.

Meanwhile, both the number of respiratory-related and overall emergency room visits in the city have dropped for three straight weeks.

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Federal government’s decision to invoke Emergencies Act against convoy protests was unreasonable, court rules

Published January 23, 2024

Published by: CBC News
Published on: January 23, 2024
By Catharine Tunney

A federal judge says the Liberal government’s use of the Emergencies Act in early 2022 to clear convoy protesters was unreasonable.

“I conclude that there was no national emergency justifying the invocation of the Emergencies Act and the decision to do so was therefore unreasonable and ultra vires,” Federal Court Justice Richard Mosley wrote in a Tuesday decision. “Ultra vires” is a Latin term used by courts to refer to actions beyond the scope of the law.

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland told reporters at a cabinet retreat in Montreal that the government plans to appeal the decision.

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Toronto

Toronto may be past its flu peak, but COVID-19 remains high, public health agency says

Published January 16, 2024

Published by: CBC News
Published on: January 16, 2024
By Lane Harrison

Toronto likely reached its influenza season peak in December, but according to Toronto Public Health’s latest respiratory illness update, COVID-19 infections are expected to remain high for now.

The percentage of positive influenza tests dropped to 6.6 per cent the week of Dec. 31 to Jan. 6, down from 15.6 per cent the week prior, Toronto Public Health (TPH) told the city’s Board of Health Monday. When it comes to COVID-19, positivity dropped only slightly to 17.6 per cent for the week of Dec. 31 to Jan. 6 from 18.6 per cent the week before.

But getting over the influenza peak doesn’t mean there aren’t still high levels of the illness in the city.

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Arguments begin in proposed class action against 304 long-term care homes

Published January 15, 2024

Published by: The Trillium
Published on: January 15, 2024
By Jack Hauen

Lawyers representing long-term care residents who suffered or died during the COVID-19 pandemic argued a class-action suit against hundreds of homes is the best way for those patients — and their loved ones — to get justice.

On Monday, plaintiff lawyers laid out their case before a Superior Court judge who will decide whether or not the proposed class action can go ahead. The suit, which is actually eight proceedings combined, names 304 independent and municipal homes, capturing almost half of the long-term care facilities in Ontario.

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Ford government under fire over ER wait times

Published January 11, 2024

Published by: CityNews
Published on: January 11, 2024
By Richard Southern, Mike Visser

Calls are growing for the Ontario government to recall the legislature and deal with rising emergency room wait times.

“We’re extremely busy,” said Dr. Kashif Pirzada, an emergency room physician at one Greater Toronto Area hospital. “I walk in, there’s usually 10, 15 ambulances outside waiting to bring patients in.”

The situation is so bad that some hospitals like Markham Stouffville and Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay are advising patients to consider alternatives to the emergency room if their condition isn’t urgent.

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