Apr 4 2020 — National Post — The grim forecast of Ontario COVID-19 deaths could drive a sense of resilience Canadians will need to deal with a surreal situation, experts say. “By and large, people want to know,” says Dr. Judy Illes, Canada Research Chair in neuroethics at the University of British Columbia. “Information engenders trust, and trust engenders resilience.” The opposite […]
Apr 3 2020 — John Ivison — National Post — Ontario Premier Doug Ford called the projected spread of COVID-19 in the country’s largest province “stark and sobering”. Ontario is the first jurisdiction in Canada to share the modelling on which public policy decisions are being made, including projected fatalities. No wonder the premier, and health minister, Christine Elliott, looked ashen-faced. The province is expecting […]
Apr 3 2020 — Brian Platt — National Post — The problem is that much of it’s based on public data that’s limited, incomplete and often outdated, meaning it can lead to wrong conclusions. The COVID-19 pandemic in Canada has ushered in a golden age of amateur charts on epidemiological curves. Everywhere you turn, someone’s got another chart. The problem is that much of it’s […]
Apr 2 2020 — John Ivison — National Post — Justin Trudeau’s reluctance to level with Canadians by releasing the government’s death-toll projections has understandably led to nervousness. Are the forecasts so bleak the prime minister is worried we can’t handle the truth? Yet key decision-makers suggest that the main cause for apprehension in Ottawa is not over the immediate health crisis, or even the […]
Apr 2 2020 — National Post — Politicians warned Wednesday Canadians can expect weeks or months of social distancing, but declined to reveal their own models or estimates of just how many people could become infected or die of COVID-19. While federal and provincial leaders stressed the need for Canadians to maintain the fight against COVID-19, they refused to disclose models that […]
Apr 1 2020 — Chris Selley — National Post — When it comes to looking on the bright side of the COVID-19 pandemic — no easy task — many Canadians have clearly taken solace in outperforming the United States. We locked down quicker, and more people seemed to take heed. Our young weren’t caught on video making drunken, infectious asses of themselves on beaches. Our […]
Mar 31 2020 — National Post — Canadians are far from done with dealing with COVID-19, as measures to fight the spread of the virus are expected to continue until at least July, according to a government document obtained by the National Post. “Current GoC [Government Operations Centre] modelling suggests as a best case scenario that current measures continue until at least […]
Mar 31 2020 — John Ivison — National Post — As the body count at the Pinecrest Nursing Home in Bobcaygeon, Ont., rose to 13, it was fitting that the chief medical officer said her greatest concerns are about vulnerable populations who reside in “enclosed settings”. Long term care homes are already being referred to as “war zones”. Yet much less prominence has been given […]
Mar 31 2020 — National Post — When Finance Minister Bill Morneau sought sweeping legislative powers last week to raise taxes at his will, opposition members called the move a “power grab.” But several Ottawa insiders say he had a specific calculation in mind: using those powers as a whip against Canada’s Big Six banks if necessary. The National Post spoke to […]
Mar 31 2020 — Richard Warnica — National Post — Last week, Dr. Laurie Mazurik, one of Toronto’s most experienced emergency physicians, sent a note to her colleagues and residents from a friend working at a hospital in Italy. Mazurik was trying to give her colleagues, especially the younger ones, a sense of what was coming here. “Yesterday I had my night (in the sub-Intensive […]
Mar 30 2020 — Jesse Snyder — National Post — Construction of the Trans Mountain pipeline has continued despite concerns over workers contracting and spreading COVID-19, the Crown corporation building the $12.6-billion project said Monday. Ian Anderson, the chief executive of publicly-owned Trans Mountain Corp., said the company is “continuously assessing this unprecedented situation” around COVID-19, as public-facing businesses across the country shut down in […]
Mar 30 2020 — John Ivison — National Post — How many of the two million Canadians who have been thrown out of work started the month of March worrying about their employment prospects? Probably not many. Carla Qualtrough, the employment minister, said Sunday that 1.6 million people have applied for Employment Insurance in recent weeks – government sources suggest the current number is closer […]
Mar 28 2020 — Tyler Dawson — National Post — A little more than two weeks ago, as the World Health Organization declared a pandemic, and Canadian experts scrambled to understand the scope of the COVID-19 outbreak, the Granite Club in Edmonton was preparing to host dozens of doctors and medical professionals for the most Canadian of events: a curling bonspiel. The annual tournament, held […]
Mar 23 2020 — John Ivison — National Post — Bill Clinton secured his reputation as the “Comeback Kid” with his response to the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. The widely-ridiculed president with a woman problem channelled the nation’s grief, handling the tragedy with empathy and compassion. “It was the moment he was born to be president for,” said George Stephanopoulos, Clinton’s communications director – […]
Mar 23 2020 — Justin Ling — National Post — In parts of the country, Canadians have been leaning out their windows, staring out at groups of people drinking, partying and carrying on; throwing social distancing entirely to the wind. Images of the revellers, blindly unaware or indifferent to the risk they are posing amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, have been shared widely on social media. […]