Summary
New training program developed with survivors will help truckers learn to identity and report trafficking they see
Free training program, led by a survivor, helps to dispel myths about victims, while pointing out signs of trafficking
Training program is just part of the government’s $300-million strategy to combat human trafficking
It is one of the fastest growing crimes in Canada, and one of the most heinous. In 2019 there were more than 500 police-reported incidents of human trafficking, most of which originated in Ontario. But police numbers don’t tell the whole story.
“Most victims don’t go to the police,” explains Caroline Pugh-Roberts, a human trafficking survivor and lead with the Salvation Army’s human trafficking division. “They are too scared to,” she adds explaining that traffickers have a firm grip on their victims’ lives.
“Their worlds are so small, they only know their traffickers and johns,” she says of the women she’s helped escape, most of whom are bought, sold and traded domestically. “They may not have ID, they may now be drug addicted. When I left, I only had the clothes on my back, nothing else,” she reflects.
Her job is to help people looking for a way out — and to help victims succeed after escaping a life of trafficking. She frequently travels “tracks” of streets well-known in the sex trade, but also motels and truck stops to try to help trafficking victims.
“A lot of it is done online now,” Pugh-Roberts says because of COVID-19. “But girls are still forced to work the streets, the tracks and truck stops.”
And truck stops are the latest target in the Ontario government’s plan to combat human trafficking. The Ministry of Transportation of Ontario is investing $47,000 into a new training program developed with survivors, and the Women’s Trucking Federation, that will help truckers learn to identity and report trafficking they see on their travels.
“Truckers are really interested in this. I think a lot of people forget. We all have children and grandchildren and nieces and nephews and we want it to stop.”
“Many of the victims of human trafficking are trafficked along our 400-series highways so its important for our truck drivers to know the signs, so that they can identify and know what to do if they suspect somebody needs help,” Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney tells CityNews.
The free training program (knowhumantrafficking.com) is led by a survivor and helps to dispel myths about victims, while also pointing out signs of trafficking activity.
“We’ve been a year working on all of this,” says Shelley Walker from the Women’s Trucking Federation and the driving force behind the program. “We commonly, as truckers, refer to women who knock on our doors as lot lizards — slang for prostitutes — we even put stickers (on our trucks) telling them to stay away. They are not all prostitutes, a lot of them are victims,” she says.
Although Walker has been working and volunteering with survivors for several years, she still learned valuable information through the course.
“Its really hard to gauge the age of somebody right now — like our 12- and 13-year-olds look like they are 20 — and looking for more tell-tale signs.”
The average age of recruitment into sex trafficking is approximately 13-years-old — and they are most often recruited by somebody they know. For Pugh-Roberts, it was her long-term boyfriend who slowly garnered control of her life, eventually forcing her to sell her body for his gain.
“I didn’t even realize I was being trafficked. I thought I was doing it for family. I thought I was doing this for love,” she says. She’s since devoted her life to helping others escape that world.
“Ontario is home to many stakeholder and advocates who, alongside our brave men and women in law enforcement, are on the front lines everyday supporting survivors and bringing traffickers to justice,” Mississuga-Centre MPP Natalia Kusendova says of the program.
“We are committed to working toward an Ontario that is free from this heinous crime.”
The training program is just part of the government’s $300-million strategy to combat human trafficking, which includes new investigative tools for police, more supports for survivors, and trafficking curriculum in schools.
While the ‘Know Human Trafficking’ program is currently a voluntary lesson, Stephen Laskowski, president of the Ontario Trucking Association, says he hopes it becomes required learning for those wishing to acquire or renew their trucking licence.
“This should get in front of as many drivers as possible,” he says, adding “why not make it part of mandatory training?”
Mulroney says the government is considering mandating the course as part of a trucking licence. The course is available for free at knowhumantrafficking.com effective this week.
Summary
In its April budget the federal Liberal government projected the deficit to be $154.7 billion this fiscal year
The poll found a majority of Canadians are in favour of a number of tax measures, regardless of which party the support
Eighty-two percent support a luxury tax on things such as expensive cars, boats and private jets
A majority of Canadians say while they support a number of tax measures proposed by the federal parties during this election campaign, they also expect to pay more in personal taxes when all the votes are tallied.
A Yahoo/Maru Public Opinion poll finds 82 per cent of Canadians believe increased spending and the size of the deficit will be to catalyst for the additional hit to their finances, no matter which party forms the government on September 20.
In its April budget the federal Liberal government projected the deficit to be $154.7 billion this fiscal year, after a record-smashing $354.7 billion last year, driven by the COVID-19 pandemic.
NDP leader Jagmeet Singh has already promised that he would tackle the country’s multi-billion-dollar deficit through the party’s long-standing promise to tax extremely wealthy Canadians and corporations.
The poll also finds a majority of Canadians are in favour of a number of tax measures, regardless of which party the support. Eighty-two percent support a luxury tax on things such as expensive cars, boats and private jets while 81 per cent are in favour of a wealth tax on those with higher incomes.
In the last federal budget, the Liberals proposed a luxury tax on new cars and personal aircraft priced over $100,000, and boats, for personal use, priced over $250,000.
Another 78 per cent say they would like to see an increase in corporate tax rates for businesses in the financial sector, such as banks and insurance companies.
However, when it comes a capital gains tax on principal residences, only three in 10 Canadians are in favour.
The poll was conducted on August 30 and involved 1,512 randomly selected Canadians who are Maru Voice Canada online panelists. It has a margin of error of +/- 2.5 per cent, 19 times out of 20.
Files from The Canadian Press were used in this report
A new poll suggests eight out of 10 Canadians backed the notion of a COVID-19 vaccine passport in the days leading up to this week’s rollout of a certificate system in Quebec and news that Ontario would soon follow suit.
The poll also suggests Canadians were largely split on whether the reopening of in-person learning at elementary and secondary schools changed any concerns they had about the Delta variant.
The latest Leger poll found 56 per cent of Canadian respondents said they “strongly support” provincial vaccine passports for indoor places including bars, restaurants, gyms, concert halls and festivals when asked last week, while another 25 per cent said they “somewhat support” the measure.
Seven per cent were somewhat opposed and 13 per cent were strongly opposed.
The poll was conducted Aug. 27 to 29, before Ontario announced a vaccine certificate system Wednesday that will take effect Sept. 22. Quebec, British Columbia and Manitoba recently announced similar measures.
The online poll collected responses from 1,544 Canadians over the age of 18.
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The polling industry’s professional body, the Canadian Research Insights Council, says online surveys cannot be assigned a margin of error because they do not randomly sample the population.
Respondents from Atlantic Canada and British Columbia were most in favour of a vaccine passport at 85 and 84 per cent total support, respectively. Those from Manitoba and Saskatchewan were most opposed, with 26 per cent saying they either strongly or somewhat opposed the measure, while 20 per cent of Alberta participants strongly opposed.
Support was highest among respondents aged 55 and older at 86 per cent, and lowest among those 35 to 54 years old at 75 per cent.
The poll, which also surveyed 1,004 Americans, found 59 per cent support for a vaccine passport among U.S. participants, and 41 per cent opposition.
Meanwhile, 44 per cent of Canadian respondents said plans to reopen schools made them more worried about catching the Delta variant, while seven per cent felt less worried. Another 47 per cent said reopening schools did not change their feelings on catching the COVID-19 variant.
Sixty per cent of respondents said classes should shift to virtual platforms if there was a significant increase in COVID-19 infections within their communities, and 40 per cent said in-person classes should continue as planned.
Half of Canadians surveyed said masks should be worn at all times on high school premises, and 12 per cent said they should only be worn by students who don’t have proof of vaccination.
The poll also asked respondents to rate their satisfaction with government measures put in place to quell the spread of COVID-19. While 56 per cent of Canadians said they were satisfied with federal measures here, 49 per cent ofAmerican respondents said they were satisfied with the measures implemented by the U.S. president.
Fifty-five per cent of Canadians askedwere satisfied with their province’s COVID-19 measures, compared to 52 per cent of U.S. respondents who said they were pleased with measures introduced by their state.
More than three-quarters of Canadian respondents — 78 per cent — said governments shouldn’t lift all COVID-19 restrictions “right now,” compared to 16 per cent who favoured removing all pandemic measures at the time of the survey.
Thirty-eight per cent of those asked said they believed the worst of the COVID-19 crisis had passed for Canada, while 26 per cent said the worst was yet to come. Another 17 per cent agreed with the statement, “We are in the worst period of the crisis now,” while 20 per cent said they did not know or preferred not to answer.
Summary
The French debate on TVA comes at the mid-point of the campaign and could prove crucial to the outcome on Sept. 20
The Green party’s Annamie Paul and the Peoples’ party’s Maxime Bernier were not invited to participate
The debate covered three main subjects: the pandemic, social issues and economic recovery
Four party leaders went head to head in the first televised debate of the federal election campaign Thursday night, kicking off the discussion with a vigorous back-and-forth about the COVID-19 pandemic and health care.
The French-language debate on TVA, one of Quebec’s most-watched networks, comes at the midpoint of the campaign and could prove crucial to the outcome on Sept. 20.
The TVA debate involved a series of face-to-face encounters between two leaders at a time, allowing for sharper and longer exchanges.
The Liberals’ Justin Trudeau, the Conservatives’ Erin O’Toole, the Bloc Quebecois’ Yves-Francois Blanchet and the NDP’s Jagmeet Singh took part, with the three opposition leaders accusing Trudeau of unleashing an election unnecessarily amid rising COVID-19 cases and a crisis in Afghanistan.
“Why did you trigger an election in the middle of a fourth wave?” O’Toole asked Trudeau on TVA’s “Face-to-Face” debate shortly after 8 p.m.
“If you were in a majority government, would we be in an election right now?” added Blanchet, saying a larger Liberal presence in Parliament was Trudeau’s main motivation after six years at the helm.
“We’re in the middle of making decisions right now. Not in three months, not in a year,” Trudeau replied.
His minority government was elected in 2019 before the pandemic struck and upended federal priorities, he said, and that he needs a mandate from voters.
“We must give Canadians the choice.”
Singh, pivoting away from vaccines, hammered on the point that Trudeau had failed to sufficiently tax wealthy Canadians and corporations for reinvestment in the country.
The debate covered three main subjects: the pandemic, social policy and “the Canada of tomorrow.”
The Green party’s Annamie Paul and the Peoples’ party’s Maxime Bernier were not invited to participate.
O’Toole, who appeared calm in his first-ever federal election debate,took pains to show he supported the popular Premier Francois Legault on matters ranging from his pandemic leadership to a controversial multibillion-dollar tunnel project between Quebec City and Levis.
The Tory leader also got into a back-and-forth with Trudeau on health care.
O’Toole reiterated that his plan to boost federal health transfers to Quebec with $60 billion in funding over 10 years comes with no strings attached, while he said Trudeau’s approach to long-term care amounts to “paternalism.”
“Can you reassure Quebecers that you won’t want a greater role for the private sector in health?” retorted an amped-up Trudeau, claiming O’Toole’s professed respect for provincial jurisdiction permits a “two-tiered health system.”
Blanchet attacked Trudeau for encroaching on provincial turf by aiming to impose national standards for long-term care homes: “We don’t want more civil servants. We want more nurses.”
At times, Blanchet played the role of moderator, questioning leaders on their commitment to defending the French language in Quebec and francophone culture while warning against “Quebec bashing” over its ban on religious symbols worn by certain public officials.
He stressed the importance of “the common language, the official language” in immigration, commerce and the Constitution.
He also asked his three opponents if all their candidates are vaccinated.
Trudeau admitted to only one exception in his ranks, for medical reasons. Singh has confirmed that New Democrat nominees are vaccinated, as are the Bloc candidates. O’Toole dodged the question, repeating that Conservatives use rapid tests.
O’Toole said he also hopes to use them for federal workers, for whom Trudeau says vaccination will be mandatory.
“It is very important to have the daily screening tests for unvaccinated people ? We must find a reasonable accommodation,” O’Toole told host Pierre Bruneau who asked him if officials who refuse inoculation should be dismissed.
O’Toole was also pressed repeatedly to specify the fate of the $6-billion child-care deal Trudeau announced alongside Legault before the election was called.
O’Toole has pledged to nix agreements with the provinces and replace them with a refundable tax credit of up to $6,000.
The leaders pulled up at the event on buses or vans in the two hours leading up to it after snaking their way through a small crowd of demonstrators outside the TVA building in downtown Montreal.
A heavy police presence presided over the streets surrounding the television studio where the debate took place Thursday evening.
Several dozen protesters, most carrying flags of the Unifor and CUPE unions, alongside others from environmental groups including Greenpeace and Extinction Rebellion, faced police. Officers in caps and flak jackets stood guard behind metre-high steel fences, far outnumbering the megaphone-wielding demonstrators who chanted and held up placards in French reading, “Let’s shut down the fossil fuel industry” and “Climate – time for action.”
At one point, protesters lay on the ground after setting off red smoke canisters to symbolize wildfires and a sense of climate emergency.
The TVA debate was seen as pivotal in the 2019 campaign.
Then-Conservative leader Andrew Scheer’s evasiveness on the issues of abortion and medical assistance in dying was widely seen as halting early Conservative momentum, ultimately enabling Trudeau’s Liberals to eke out a minority win.
The performance of Blanchet, a newcomer to federal politics at the time, was also credited with giving new life to the Bloc Quebecois, which helped rob Trudeau of a second majority mandate.
The TVA debate is in addition to two official debates organized by the Leaders’ Debates Commission. The official debates are scheduled to take place next week – in French on Sept. 8 and in English on Sept. 9.
Paul will participate in those debates, but Bernier, who didn’t meet the independent commission’s criteria for participation, will not.
Summary
The French debate on TVA comes at the mid-point of the campaign and could prove crucial to the outcome on Sept. 20
The Green party’s Annamie Paul and the Peoples’ party’s Maxime Bernier were not invited to participate
Tonight’s two-hour debate begins at 8 p.m. ET
Four leaders will face off tonight in the first televised debate of the federal election campaign.
The French debate on TVA, one of Quebec’s most-watched networks, comes at the mid-point of the campaign and could prove crucial to the outcome on Sept. 20.
Only four leaders — the Liberals’ Justin Trudeau, the Conservatives’ Erin O’Toole, the Bloc Québécois’ Yves-Francois Blanchet and the NDP’s Jagmeet Singh — will take part.
The Green party’s Annamie Paul and the Peoples’ party’s Maxime Bernier were not invited to participate.
The TVA debate was seen as pivotal in the 2019 campaign.
Then-Conservative leader Andrew Scheer’s evasiveness on the issues of abortion and medical assistance in dying was widely seen as halting early Conservative momentum, ultimately enabling Trudeau’s Liberals to eke out a minority win.
The performance of Blanchet, a newcomer to federal politics at the time, was also credited with giving new life to the Bloc Québécois, which helped rob Trudeau of a second majority mandate.
The TVA debate is in addition to two official debates organized by the Leaders’ Debates Commission. The official debates are scheduled to take place next week — in French on Sept. 8 and in English on Sept. 9.
Paul will participate in those debates, but Bernier, who didn’t meet the independent commission’s criteria for participation, will not.
The TVA debate involves a series of face-to-face encounters between two leaders at a time, allowing for sharper and longer exchanges.
Tonight’s two-hour debate begins at 8 p.m. ET.
Saying it’s something he “didn’t want to do” Premier Doug Ford unveiled a COVID-19 vaccine “certificate” plan on Wednesday that will mandate Ontarians show proof of being fully vaccinated before they can access a slew of non-essential businesses and services.
The first step of the plan goes into effect on September 22. That’s when Ontarians will be required to show a piece of photo ID and their printed or downloaded vaccine receipt that be accessed on the Ontario.ca portal before gaining entrance to certain public settings and facilities. (full list below)
A month later, on October 22nd, the second phase of the plan goes into effect. That’s when Ontarians will have to show government-issued certificates that will “include a unique QR code” that can be scanned on phones. The document can also be printed out on paper.
The province says it is also launching a new app that businesses and facilities can use to scan and validate the QR codes. While retail is not included, the app will be made available to any business that wants to implement their own proof of vaccination program.
Medical exemptions will show up on the QR code.
“Let me be clear, this is a temporary tool that we won’t use for a day longer than we have to,” Ford promised.
Individuals or businesses that don’t follow the rules could face a series of fines under the Reopening Ontario Act — up to $730 for individuals and $1000 and up for businesses.
Ford said enforcement would be led by bylaw officers and would be “reasonable.”
Proof of vaccination will not be required for services deemed essential, and you won’t need it to vote in the upcoming federal election. Barbers and salons are also not included.
Ontarians will need to provide proof of being fully vaccinated, starting Sept. 22, to access the following: (not including those with medical exemptions and children under 12)
- Restaurants and bars (excluding outdoor patios, as well as delivery and takeout)
- Nightclubs (including outdoor areas of the establishment)
- Meeting and event spaces, such as banquet halls and conference/convention centres
- Facilities used for sports and fitness activities and personal fitness training, such as gyms, fitness and recreational facilities with the exception of youth recreational sport
- Sporting events
- Casinos, bingo halls and gaming establishments
- Concerts, music festivals, theatres and cinemas
- Strip clubs, bathhouses and sex clubs
- Racing venues (e.g. horse racing)
“At no time will anyone be prevented from accessing necessary medical care, food from grocery store, basic medical supplies or other essentials based on vaccination status. This includes voting in the upcoming federal election,” the government document states.
The province says it will establish processes in the coming weeks for individuals with no email or health card ID.
Premier Doug Ford has faced pressure from opposition leaders and numerous health organizations who have been calling for a provincially administered proof-of-vaccine system.
Ford was initially set to announce the certificate on Tuesday, but the announcement was delayed after he reportedly rejected the initial drafts of the plan.
Ford has long pushed back against the idea, saying as recently as July 15 he was “not going to do it” and that he was not in favour of having a “split society.”
While begrudgingly making the certificate announcement Wednesday, Ford said Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau pushed his hand on the issue.
“A national system is far better than a patch work of certificates across every province and territory in the country. But Justin Trudeau has told us they will not be rolling out a national vaccine passport while the election is ongoing. We can’t wait any longer.”
New modelling from the Ontario COVID-19 science advisory table shows vaccinations will need to increase and contacts need to decrease to 70 per cent of pre-pandemic levels to avoid a “substantial” fourth wave in the province that could see new cases surge to 9,000 a day.
The science table says vaccinations need to accelerate to 85 per cent of the population fully vaccinated in order to have an impact. The province is currently at 76 per cent.
With schools reopening and more workplaces returning to work combined with the Delta variant, the modelling shows we could reach 9,000 COVID-19 cases per day if transmission increases by 25 per cent by the beginning of October.
If transmission decreases by 25 per cent, mostly due to reduced contacts, they predict the province could see around 500 cases per day.
ICU capacity could also spike to 850 admissions by mid-October if transmission increases.
In order to reduce contacts, the science table recommends residents reduce indoor density, maintain social distancing and limit large gatherings.
Indoor masking and working from home should also continue along with implementing policies that increase vaccinations, like a proof-of-vaccination certificate that the province introduced Wednesday.
In a tweet, the table said, “If we open things up more now, and if vaccination rates stay where they are, ICUs could get overwhelmed by October — beyond what we saw in the third wave back in April and early May.”
The modelling also shows COVID-19 vaccines have had a significant impact on reducing severe illness and cases.
The latest round of modelling comes on the same day that the province announced a new vaccine certificate program that would bar unvaccinated people from a variety of businesses and services.
In a statement from the Ministry of Health, a spokesperson said they are confident Ontario is trending between the medium and best cast scenario. They also added while the forecasting projects from the best to worst case scenario, Ontario has never experienced the latter.
“There’s no question the months ahead will require continued vigilance as we confront the fourth wave,” read the statement. “We remain committed to ensuring the health and safety of Ontarians and will continue to make decisions based on the best medical advice available from Dr. Moore and his team.”
NEW YORK — Relentless rain from the remnants of Hurricane Ida sent the New York City area into a state of emergency early Thursday, as the storm carried into New England with threats of more tornadoes.
New York’s FDR Drive, a major artery on the east side of Manhattan, and the Bronx River Parkway were under water by late Wednesday evening. Subway stations and tracks became so flooded that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority suspended all service. Videos posted online showed subway riders standing on seats in cars filled with water.
Other videos showed vehicles submerged up to their windows on major roadways in and around the city and garbage bobbing down the streets.
“We’re enduring an historic weather event tonight with record breaking rain across the city, brutal flooding and dangerous conditions on our roads,” New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said while declaring a state of emergency in New York City late Wednesday.
Gov. Kathy Hochul also declared a state of emergency for New York state.
The National Weather Service office in New York declared its first-ever set of flash flood emergencies in the region Wednesday night, an alert level that is reserved for “exceedingly rare situations when a severe threat to human life and catastrophic damage from a flash flood is happening or will happen soon.”
New York City put in place a travel ban until 5 a.m. ET Thursday for all non-emergency vehicles.
The National Weather Service recorded 3.15 inches of rain in New York’s Central Park in one hour Wednesday night, far surpassing the 1.94 inches that fell in one hour during Tropical Storm Henri on the night of Aug. 21, which was believed at the time to be the most ever recorded in the park.
Earlier Wednesday, the storm blew through the mid-Atlantic states with at least two tornadoes, heavy winds and drenching rains that collapsed the roof of a U.S. Postal Service building in New Jersey and threatened to overrun a dam in Pennsylvania.
Social media posts showed homes reduced to rubble in a southern New Jersey county just outside Philadelphia, not far from where the National Weather Service confirmed a tornado Wednesday evening. Authorities did not have any immediate information on injuries.
The roof collapsed at the Postal Service building in Kearny, New Jersey, with people inside, police Sgt. Chris Levchak said. Rescue crews were on scene into the night, with no immediate word on the number of people or severity of injuries.
Gov. Phil Murphy declared a state of emergency in all of New Jersey’s 21 counties, urging people to stay off the flooded roads. Meteorologists warned that rivers likely won’t crest for a few more days, raising the possibility of more widespread flooding.
At least one death was reported in the state. Passaic Mayor Hector Lora told news outlets that someone died in the city after being submerged in their car.
Soaking rains prompted the evacuations of thousands of people after water reached dangerous levels at a dam near Johnstown, a Pennsylvania town nicknamed Flood City. An official said later Wednesday that the water levels near the dam were receding.
Utilities reported hundreds of thousands of customers without power in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
In Rockville, Maryland, water had almost reached the ceilings of basement units Wednesday when crews arrived at an apartment complex. A 19-year-old was found dead, another person was missing and about 200 people from 60 apartments near Rock Creek were displaced, Montgomery County Fire Chief Scott Goldstein said Wednesday.
A tornado was believed to have touched down along the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland.
“In many years I have not seen circumstances like this,” Goldstein said.
The National Weather Service had predicted flooding from what remained of Hurricane Ida, saying steep terrain and even city streets were particularly vulnerable to a band of severe weather that extended to Massachusetts, where tornado warnings were issued early Thursday.
Tropical Storm Henri hit the region a little more than a week ago, causing flooding and leaving the region saturated and more vulnerable to this week’s torrents.
Tropical Storm Larry was strengthening and moving quickly westward after forming off the coast of Africa earlier Wednesday. Forecasters predicted it would rapidly intensify in a manner similar to Ida, becoming a major hurricane with top wind speeds of 120 mph (193 kph) by Saturday.
A man is dead after a fire broke out at an apartment building near Bloor and Sherbourne streets.
Fire crews were called to Huntley Street around 1:30 a.m. on Wednesday for a fire in an apartment on the seventh floor.
The man was rushed to hospital where he later died.
A second person was also taken to hospital but is in stable condition.
The fire was knocked down quickly.
The Ontario Fire Marshal’s office has been called in.
Vaccine Hunters Canada, the volunteer-run organization which has helped thousands of Canadians find COVID-19 vaccines, will stop posting on their social media pages on Tuesday and pivot towards self-serve tools.
The team of over 100 volunteers shared hundreds of updates daily on their multiple social media channels including Twitter and Discord for almost six months, helping Canadians find details about clinic locations, times and eligibility.
They amassed hundreds of thousands of followers including over 250,000 on Twitter.
With vaccines more widely available across the country, the website launched by the team will now have automated operations and consolidated services in their free multilingual tools “Find Your Immunization” and “Vaccine DIY.”
As of August 31, over 51 million vaccines have been administered in Canada and over 76 per cent of eligible residents are fully vaccinated.
In one of their final tweets, @VaxHuntersCanada paid tribute to the volunteers who helped run their social media with a video, saying, “Since March, they’ve posted thousands of updates, responded to thousands of questions, and helped save thousands of lives.”
Vaccine Hunters also partnered with the City of Toronto early in their vaccination campaign to help residents find appointments at city-run clinics.
The volunteers have received an immense amount of praise for their role in helping Canadians navigate an oftentimes confusing COVID-19 vaccine rollout, especially in Ontario.