TORONTO – The Public Health Agency of Canada is monitoring a new highly mutated variant of the virus that causes Covid-19, that has been detected in at least four countries, but no cases have been detected in Canada so far. It is “BA.2.86”, a “variant under monitoring” due to the “large number of mutations identified”: cases have been recorded in the United States, Denmark, the United Kingdom and Israel, although as of Friday fewer than ten confirmed cases have been reported worldwide. And none, we said, in Canada. (more…)
TORONTO – David Johnston’s resignation pushes Canada’s political class on their heels and disrupts both the government and the opposition. The decision by the former Governor General of Canada to relinquish the post of independent Special Rapporteur in the controversial story of Chinese interference has created a sort of short circuit in Ottawa. The Prime Minister will be forced to indicate the next steps to untangle this complicated mess.
VAUGHAN – Carpenter’s District Council of Ontario, United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America (the “Carpenters”) is today announcing that the province-wide strike of carpenters in the industrial, commercial and institutional (ICI) sector in the construction industry is now over.
CALGARY – Jason Kenney (in the pic, from his Twitter profile) quit as leader of his party, and premier of Alberta, Wednesday night after receiving a slight majority of support in his United Conservative Party leadership review. “While 51 per cent of the vote passes the constitutional threshold of a majority, it clearly is not adequate support to continue on as leader,” Kenney told at Spruce Meadows in Calgary.
TORONTO – Another 23 deaths in Ontario, today: the number of victims of Covid-19 since the beginning of the pandemic rises to 12,606. And after just one day of respite, hospitalizations are starting to rise again: today there were 1,392 patients in hospitals against 1,332 just 24 hours earlier. Attendance in intensive care units is only slight: 177 today, the previous day they were 182. (more…)