After weeks of excuses – from saying that they didn’t want to create a two-tiered system, to saying that a piece of paper easily copied in Microsoft Word was fine as proof – there’s news Friday night that the Government of Ontario might be changing their minds on vaccine certificates. Sources are telling multiple media outlets that so-called vaccine passports are on the cabinet agenda next week, and not a moment too soon. Continue reading “Sources Say a Change is Coming on Vaccine Certificates”
As of Tuesday, a little over two-thirds of all Ontarians (meaning not just Ontarians eligible for a vaccine) have been fully vaccinated, which is not too shabby. Still, about 17 per cent of people in Ontario have yet to receive even one COVID-19 shot, and while there are numerous reasons for that, the Government of Ontario wants to help those people get their shots with a “last mile strategy.” Continue reading “Ontario Government Announces Measures to Go the “Last Mile” on Vaccines”
The Government of Ontario is making some changes in regards to vaccinations, and not just about who can get a vaccine, but who must now get a vaccine. Although still apparently shirking vaccine mandates for the whole province, the government now wants employees in high risk settings to be vaccinated, but it seems that Ontario’s schools do not count as “high-risk” where rapid testing and contact tracing will remain the first line of defense. Continue reading “Ontario Gov Announces Vaccine Mandates for Some, Rapid Tests for Others”
This week is the annual Association of Municipalities of Ontario conference, which typically takes place live and in-person in Ottawa, but for the second year in a row the whole thing is being held virtually. As usual, the Premier of Ontario kicked things off with a speech, and Doug Ford began AMO 2021 on a positive note touting Ontario’s success overcoming COVID-19 thanks to strong provincial/municipal relations. Continue reading “Ford Kicks Off AMO Touting Ontario as COVID Success Story”
The increasing COVID-19 case counts, the threat of the Delta variant, and the difficulty getting the last 25-30 per cent of the province fully vaccinated is prompting people to push the Government of Ontario to implement a certification program for people who have received their vaccines, aka: a so-called “vaccine passport.” One of the latest people adding their support to that idea is none other than Guelph MPP Mike Schreiner. Continue reading “Schreiner Joins Chorus Demanding Vaccine Passports for Ontario”
Chalk up another loss in court for the Premier Doug Ford and the Government of Ontario as the Ontario Court of Appeal has ruled that a lower court was right to overturn the Student Choice Initiative. Although there is some disagreement between the courts about the rationale, the Court of Appeal affirmed that the lower court was right on the basic fact: the Student Choice Initiative is no good. Continue reading “Ford Government Loses Appeal on Student Choice Initiative”
Across Ontario, new COVID-19 cases are as low as they’ve been since the pandemic started, and the vaccine rollout is proceeding at a quick clip with now the majority of Ontario fully vaccinated, but there are some lingering questions. Are we prepared for a potential resurgence of the virus in the fall? It’s a question all opposition parties are asking now that we’re just six weeks away from the start of the school year. Continue reading “Opposition Parties Want to Know About the Pandemic Plan for Fall”
A recent media report about animals in distress due to poor water quality at one of Niagara Falls’ star attractions has put renewed pressure on Marineland. For the last several years, numerous environmental and animal rights advocates and groups have been demanding the park’s closure, and they now have a powerful political voice in their corner, the leader of the Ontario Green Party. Continue reading “Schreiner Joins Chorus Demanding an End to Marineland”
Good news has been sometimes hard to come by in the last 15 months, but there was definitely some good news on Friday as the Government of Ontario announced that stage 3 is beginning early. Although the original intent was to move to the third and final phase of the economic re-opening on July 21, positive developments on both lower case counts and high vaccination rates means an early jump on stage 3. Continue reading “Ontario Moving on to Stage 3 Next Friday”
Some good news in advance of next week’s holiday has arrived in the form of an announcement that phase 2 of the provincial re-opening is starting two days early. Excellent progress on vaccination rates and lower levels of infection have been the key to an early move to phase 2, which will now begin at 12:01 am on Wednesday June 30, but with one glaring exception. Continue reading “Ontario to Enter Phase Two Re-Opening Ahead of Schedule”
Guelph Politico 