Feds: Social distancing will last ‘months,’ rules may get tougher in Canada

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at a news conference where he announced plans to roll out a fiscal package worth three percent of Canada’s economy as it grapples with the fallout from COVID-19.
David Kawai/Bloomberg

---

Source: Telegraph Journal Andrew Waugh | Political Editor (March 22, 2020)

Social distancing rules will be in effect for “months,” and if Canadians flaunt them, governments will take “more and more stringent measures” to limit the spread of COVID-19, Federal Health Minister Patty Hajdu warned Saturday.

“We will be in this situation for a while, and I think Canadians need to understand that this isn’t about two weeks of social distancing, this is about months of social distancing,” she said, later adding a warning about people “playing [fast and loose] with the rules.”

“It does actually put our civil liberties at jeopardy,” Hajdu said.

“It makes governments have to look at more and more stringent measures to actually contain people in their own homes. So actually, our freedoms around the measures that we’re taking right now depend on people taking them seriously. Because politicians and governments will be pushed to take more and more stringent measures when people violate them and don’t take them more seriously.

“So I would encourage Canadians to think about that, and to think about their obligation to act collectively right now.”

It was a theme also mentioned by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and Premier Blaine Higgs, during separate COVID-19 briefings on Saturday.

“We must continue to follow the recommendations from our public health agencies and limit to a maximum the travel we do,” Trudeau said.

“Perhaps you’ll miss not going to the restaurant with your family and not going to the movie theatres with your friends, but to protect yourself, we must all make adjustments. And we must look after each other as well. That’s crucial, because it’s together that we’ll get through this very tough period.”

Higgs said “we know that the [COVID-19] numbers will continue to rise.”

“We have put measures in place here in New Brunswick to try to slow down the rising number of cases. With our province under a state of emergency, I am imploring people to continue to take this situation seriously.”

Higgs also said some New Brunswickers have been calling 911 to report others who aren’t follow the rules. A special phone line for people to report “concerns” about what other people are doing will be up and running some time on Sunday, he added.

Six more presumptive cases were announced on Saturday afternoon, mostly in the southern part of the province. That brings New Brunswick’s COVID-19 case count to 17: nine confirmed, eight presumptive.

Of the six new cases, four involved people who’d recently been on cruises.

The new cases involve:

• A man in his 40s from southern New Brunswick who was recently on a cruise;

• A woman in her 50s from central New Brunswick who’s been in direct contact with a COVID-19 patient;

• A woman in her 40s from southern New Brunswick who’d been on a cruise;

• A man in his 60s from southern New Brunswick who’d been on a cruise;

• A woman in her 50s from southern New Brunswick who’d been on a cruise, and;

• A woman in her 20s from southern New Brunswick who’s been in close contact to a travel related-presumptive case.

No information about whether they were travelling together, or how they returned to Canada, was provided.

Saint John Mayor Don Darling posted a message on Twitter referencing how five of the six new cases are from southern New Brunswick, but that doesn’t mean they’re necessarily from the Port City. COVID-19 cases are being reported by “zones,” with Saint John part of zone two, which extends from Sussex to Saint John to Stephen.

“I’m still seeing large crowds of people in grocery stores and we MUST do better. Keep your distance please!” Darling wrote.

Dr. Jennifer Russell, the province’s chief medical health officer, has declined to provide location details about COVID-19 cases beyond the zones, citing privacy concerns.

But New Brunswick’s Right to Information and Privacy Act contains a clause about the “mandatory disclosure” of information if there’s “risk of significant harm.”

“The head of a public body shall, without delay, disclose to the public, to an affected group of people or to an applicant, information about a risk of significant harm to the environment or to the health or safety of the public or a group of people, the disclosure of which is clearly in the public interest,” the act reads.

---

COVID-19: Five things experts know today

(source: Telegraph-Journal 03/15/2020)

There’s a lot we don’t yet know about COVID-19, the novel coronavirus that has begun to spread rapidly through Canada after causing illness and death across the globe.

The World Health Organization (WHO) clinical trial registry lists nearly 400 different studies, asking important questions to find out as much as possible about something the world has never seen before.

Why does this disease spread so quickly? Why do children appear unlikely to get the virus? Are people who live through the virus immune to catching it again? How can we immunize against it?

For those answers among others, we wait. But for now, here are five things experts know, today, about COVID-19.

1. Some ways the virus is transmitted

The WHO is still conducting more research on this, but current research indicates that people catch COVID-19 from close person to person contact, via droplets from coughing or sneezing and touching surfaces holding these droplets and then touching the eyes, nose or mouth.

This is why the WHO suggests keeping at least three feet between you and someone who is ill.

Two papers featured in the journal Gastroenterology this week studied gastrointestinal symptoms and raised the potential fecal-oral transmission or potential GI tract infection with the virus. The WHO acknowledges the possible risk identified, but notes on their website they are still assessing the new research.

2. The possible symptoms

There is a range of symptoms, and it’s impossible to predict who will experience what from that list. But so far, the WHO reports the most common symptoms include dry cough, fever, and tiredness. Only those with fever, cough and difficulty breathing should seek medical attention.

Aside from these symptoms, an early study of 138 patients hospitalized in Wuhan — where the virus began its course — in The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) suggests patients can less commonly experience other symptoms, such as anorexia, muscle pain or myalgia, mucus expulsion from the throat or lungs, pain in the throat, diarrhea, nausea, dizziness, headache, vomiting, and abdominal pain.

3. The likely period before a case exhibits symptoms

Current estimates from the WHO for the period for symptoms is 2-14 days.

Some outliers to that range exist, with the longest reported incubation period of 27 days in Hubei province, according to the Hubei provincial government. Other studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine and the JAMA included cases with 24 and 19-day periods, respectively.

4. The number of deaths, and limitations of mortality rate calculations

The National Health Commission (NHC) of China gave mortality rate figures at a press conference in early February, but some experts caution against doing this calculation now.

A publication in the journal Swiss Medical Weekly notes that — especially during influenza season — many mild cases may go undiagnosed, meaning the rate may be skewed upwards with a higher focus on severe cases.

The authors add that death may not occur early into symptoms, and so a rate calculated early may leave out severe future outcomes.

Though we don’t know a global mortality rate, as of Saturday afternoon we do know 5,393 deaths have resulted.

5. Risk factors in catching the virus

Not all people seem to be equally at risk of catching this virus.

The WHO advises that, while research on risk factors is ongoing, they advise that elderly people and those with pre-existing medical conditions (such as high blood pressure, heart disease, lung disease, cancer or diabetes) appear to develop serious illness more often than others.

The Report of the WHO-China Joint Mission on COVID-19, while noting the limits to its early information gathering, shows a “relatively low attack rate” in those aged 18 years old and under, at 2.4 percent of cases at the time of publication.

The report notes spread in health care settings and prisons do not currently appear to be a major driver of spread, but says these special settings “warrant further study.”

CCLA at Supreme Court in Trinity Western Case – Hearing This Week

November 29, 2017

TORONTO, Ont. – This week- on November 30^th and December 1^st – the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (“CCLA”) will appear before the Supreme Court of Canada in Trinity Western University, et al. v. Law Society of Upper Canada.

The case concerns a private evangelical Christian university which requires all students and faculty to sign a Community Covenant based on evangelical Christian notions of Biblical teaching and morality. The Covenant prohibits, among other things, sexual intimacy outside of “marriage between one man and one woman.” Trinity Western University (TWU) would deny admission to any student who refused to sign the Covenant. The Law Society of Upper Canada (and the Law Society of British Columbia) denied accreditation to TWU’s prospective law school because of the discriminatory nature of its Covenant.

CCLA is an intervenor in the case, and will argue before the Supreme Court that accreditation of a law school confers upon the host university a significant public benefit – financial and reputational. As such, any law society must take into account the fact that the Covenant discriminates, and must make its decision about accreditation in light of human rights, Charter rights and Charter values. These include liberty, privacy, and equality, all of which would be violated if accreditation is granted.

CCLA will argue that accreditation of the proposed TWU law school will lead to a myriad of rights violations, unresolvable privacy and disciplinary issues for the Law Society if TWU law school graduates were to face academic penalties or complaints based on any same sex relationship students or alumni may have had during their studies.

“[T]he inquiry into one’s private sex life and the ongoing “monitoring” of one’s personal life is unwarranted, discriminatory and completely divorced from the requirements of a law school education, and individuals’ reasonable expectation of privacy.”

---

UPDATE (Feb 05, 2020)

The case concerned a private evangelical Christian university which requires all students and faculty to sign a Community Covenant based on evangelical Christian notions of Biblical teaching and morality. The Covenant prohibited, among other things, sexual intimacy outside of “marriage between one man and one woman”.

Trinity Western University (TWU) would deny admission to any student who refused to sign the Covenant – so where exactly did that leave queer students and teachers?

The Law Society of Upper Canada (and the Law Society of British Columbia) denied accreditation to TWU’s prospective law school because of the discriminatory nature of its Covenant.

We were in Court and argued that TWU would have a lot to gain from having an accredited law school, and that any law society should note the discriminatory nature of the Covenant.

An academic institution seeking a significant public benefit is not entitled to violate the equality, privacy, liberty and other fundamental rights of its students and faculty. TWU having established a law school would lead to various human rights violations, and unresolvable privacy and disciplinary issues if students or faculty were to face penalties based on any queer relationship they may have had while attending TWU.

The Supreme Court agreed with us that the Covenant was discriminatory against LGBTQ+ students, faculty and others.

Free daycare for low-income families

11 January 2018

SAINT JOHN (GNB) – The provincial government has announced that families with an annual gross income under $37,500 will have access to free child care.

“Ensuring that all New Brunswick families are moving forward together is a priority for your government,” said Premier Brian Gallant. “Access to free child care for lower-income families will ensure parents are given every opportunity to enter the workforce or pursue their studies, while having the peace of mind that their children are being cared for in high-quality Early Learning Centres across the province.”

The free daycare program is for parents who are either working or attending school, with children aged five and under attending a designated New Brunswick Early Learning Centre.

“Investing in early childhood education is a key component of your government’s multi-year economic growth plan,” said Gallant. “Free child care for families that need the most support will help these families with the cost of child care, will help the children with their education, and will provide a boost to New Brunswick’s workforce so our economy can continue to grow.”

The program is available to eligible families regardless of the centre’s location or the fee charged by its operator. The first designated anglophone and francophone centres will be located in Saint John and the Greater Edmundston area beginning in March. They will be implemented provincewide by March 1, 2019.

“Your government is focused on a holistic approach to supporting New Brunswick families,” said Gallant. “Before this investment, if a single mother of a young child wished to further her studies at university, she would just not be able to afford both tuition and child care. Now, your government has offered her the opportunity to access both free tuition and free child care while she studies. Cases like these will result in healthier families and a stronger workforce here in New Brunswick.”‎

Parents will be notified by their daycares once they are designated and can begin the process.

“This announcement has the ability to dramatically reduce generational poverty in New Brunswick,” said Donna Gates, executive director of Living SJ. “Giving parents options to help break the cycle of poverty is key, and the opportunity to access free child care will make a big difference to many families.”

“Today’s announcement will not only change the lives of many New Brunswick families, but will also support economic growth in our province by allowing parents to return to the workforce or enroll in post-secondary education to increase their employment potential,” said Saint John Region Chamber of Commerce chair Claire Ryan. “Having more people working, and strengthening the workforce will help our province reach its economic potential.”

This daycare program is another way the government is helping working parents and parents attending university or college with child care costs.

Existing programs to help students continue their education include the Free Tuition Program and Tuition Relief for the Middle Class. These offer non-repayable provincial bursaries to make post-secondary education more accessible.

“It is encouraging that increasing access to post-secondary education is a key concern for the provincial government,” said University of New Brunswick president Eddy Campbell. “Any program that will help remove barriers to education and help families is crucial. We know that a well-educated population is the best way to set up our province and our students for economic success.”

Today’s announcement is part of a larger framework of child care investments and early learning initiatives related to:

Quality

• Daycares in New Brunswick will be able to apply for a One-Time Quality Improvement Grant to increase the quality of both indoor and outdoor learning environments, including equipment and materials, for children aged five and under. The one-time grants will total $4.7 million over the next two years.

• $7.5 million in annual Quality Grants will be provided to help the facilities deliver high-quality child care services and meet the criteria of becoming a designated New Brunswick Early Learning Centre. The funding equates to a daily funding enhancement of $2.50 per space per day for children aged two to five years old. All early learning centre operators will be required to develop a plan for continuous quality improvement.

• New Brunswick Early Learning Centres will offer services to preschool children aged five and under through a voluntary application process. Daycares are not required to be part of this program. Those that choose to do so will work in collaboration with the government with the aim of offering equitable and affordable access to high-quality early learning and child care services by removing barriers linked to family income, children’s abilities and needs, language and minority settings.

• The government is investing $28 million, in addition to the multi-year bilateral funding, to support wage increases for early childhood educators. The funding will be rolled out over four years beginning in 2019-20 and raise wages from $16 an hour to $19 an hour for trained early childhood educators by 2022-23.

Accessibility

• A new child care registry will serve as a one-stop shop for families to register their children for available child care spaces and have access to apply for subsidies online. Families will also be able to determine immediately whether spaces are available in a facility or if there is a wait list.

• An Infant Operator Grant will be available to offset operational costs of infant care. It will provide $10 per occupied infant space per day.

• Transforming as many child care facilities as possible, with an aim of designating more than 300 as New Brunswick Early Learning Centres by 2020 to offer more affordable, accessible, inclusive and high-quality early learning and child care services.

• Early Learning Centres will also receive support to help increase the number of infant spaces across the province by 200 by the year 2020.

• Since October 2014 the provincial government has created nearly 3,000 new spaces and plans to expand the total number of spaces in New Brunswick to 30,000 by 2020.

Affordability

• In addition to today’s announcement, the government is committed to investing in access to affordability for even more New Brunswickers.

• Additional financial support measures for preschool-aged children five and under will be unveiled in the near future.

Today’s announcement is part of a federal-provincial, three-year early learning and child care agreement that commits $71 million in investments to improve early learning and child care for preschool-aged children in the province. More details on the government’s plan to invest and transform the child care and early learning system are available in its Early Learning and Child Care Action Plan, Everyone at their best… from the start: Early Learning and Child Care Action Plan.

---

 

Premier’s Progress Report Unveiled

Premier Brian Gallant

FREDERICTON (GNB) – Premier Brian Gallant today highlighted the progress the provincial government has made on the priorities of New Brunswickers.

“Over the last year, as your government, we have continued to invest in our multi-year economic growth plan,” said Gallant. “Instead of an austerity agenda, we are investing to create opportunities so our youth can work here in New Brunswick and so people who have left our province can come back and work here.”

Over the last three years, New Brunswick experienced the best economic growth in a decade. The province hit a 10-year high in 2015 and the trend continued into 2016 when real GDP growth reached 1.24 per cent.

Other economic indicators include:

Since 2014, the government has cut the province’s deficit by 67 per cent, and plans to eliminate the deficit by the 2020 budget.

Private capital expenditures have rebounded, exceeding 2013 levels in 2014 and 2016. In 2015, they reached almost $2 billion, a level not seen since 2011.

Average weekly earnings were up by 2.3 per cent in 2016 – compared to 2.8 per cent growth in 2015 – and above the national result of 0.4 per cent. Tied with Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick had the highest growth in average weekly earnings countrywide in 2016.

The unemployment rate has been in the single digits for all of 2017.

Some of the measures the provincial government has taken to support job creation include:

Reduced the small business income tax rate to three per cent and introduced legislation to lower it even more.

Increased the minimum wage three times since December 2014 to put more money in New Brunswicker’s pockets.

Increased taxes for the richest one per cent so the government can invest in the economy, health care and education.

Invested more money in infrastructure to create jobs and improve roads and schools.

Increased investment in the Department of Tourism, Heritage and Culture, as well as in infrastructure, reflecting the government’s commitment to developing tourism in New Brunswick.

Implementing and maintaining pay equity as part of an ongoing government commitment to achieving equality for women in the province, giving a better quality of life to women, children and families.

Developed a comprehensive cybersecurity strategy with industry leaders, academia and government to help establish New Brunswick as an epicentre of cybersecurity and create high-value jobs.

Supported the Sisson Mine Project as it will create jobs and generate business opportunities for the province.

“Your government’s multi-year economic growth plan includes major investments in education and post-secondary education,” said Gallant. “These investments help develop a strong workforce, which, in turn, helps strengthen our economy.”

The government is investing more in education than ever before, including:

Creating 10-year education plans so that young people have the strongest education system possible.

Investing more than $292 million to upgrade current schools and build new ones since October 2014.

Entering into a $71 million three-year bilateral early learning and childcare agreement with the federal government.

Created the Free Tuition Program and the Tuition Relief for the Middle Class program, to provide upfront assistance to New Brunswick students and make post-secondary education more accessible and affordable.

Developed the Youth Employment Fund to give youth more opportunity to stay in New Brunswick and the chance to get hands-on work experience.

Launched Unleashing the power of literacy: New Brunswick’s Comprehensive Literacy Strategyto improve literacy rates in the province.

Teaching trades in schools to better prepare young people for future opportunities and investing to upgrade and build trade spaces in schools.

Returned Grade 1 French immersion to 68 schools across the province beginning in September 2017.

“We understand how important health care and senior care are to New Brunswickers,” said Gallant. “We have a multi-year plan to strengthen the quality and accessibility of both health and senior care.”

The government is also contributing to the quality of life in the province by:

Investing $56 million with the federal government in affordable housing to give the most vulnerable a place to live.

Actively recruiting more women into positions of influence in the province.

Introducing Family Day, a statutory holiday beginning in February 2018 to recognize New Brunswick families.

Bringing in two new acts, the Local Governance Act and the Community Planning Act, which replaced the former Municipalities Act and Community Planning Act. This is the first update in 40 years and is intended to provide appropriate, effective powers and responsibilities to local governance.

Amending the Motor Vehicle Act to improve safety for cyclists by creating what is known as “Ellen’s law” in memory of New Brunswick cyclist Ellen Watters, who died in December 2016 as a result of her injuries from a motor vehicle while she was on a training ride near Sussex.

Tabling the Intimate Partner Violence Act to provide victims of intimate partner violence with additional tools to increase their safety while they seek more permanent solutions.

Enhancing animal protection by amending the Society for the Prevention and Cruelty to Animals Act and the Municipalities Act.

Expanded the Integrated Service Delivery model, which features a team of intervention and support professionals collaborating in the community to provide mental health, addiction, social and emotional support, and other services to children and youth.

Signed a 10-year Bilateral Health Agreement with the federal government that will bring an estimated additional investment of $230 million for home care and mental health to New Brunswick.

Created the New Brunswick Seniors’ Home Renovation Tax Credit to help senior’s make their homes safer and more accessible, so that they can stay in them for longer.

Preparing for the legalization of recreational cannabis in a way intended to ensure cannabis is out of the hands of youth and that the proceeds are out of the hands of criminals.

Showing leadership on climate change by creating a made-in-New Brunswick solution that respects the local economy while taking action on the biggest challenge facing mankind.

“We look forward to continuing to work with New Brunswickers in 2018 to invest strategically in our multi-year economic growth plan, to invest more to support our 10-year education plans and to deliver the best health-care system possible,” said Gallant.

---