Premier Doug Ford is facing backlash Monday for comments he made about immigrants in a press conference in Tecumseh, Ontario.
The comments came during an announcement that promised $9.8 million in funding for a new hospital in Windsor-Essex.
Speaking about a worker shortage in the trades, Ford said “we need people, we’re in such desperate need for people from around the world,” adding that the province is short “a couple 100,000 workers” and needs immigrants to fill the gap.
However, he had a warning for new immigrants that took many by surprise.
“I just have one criteria – you come here like every other new Canadian has come here, you work your tail off,” he said. “If you think you’re coming to collect the dole and sit around — not going to happen. Go somewhere else. You want to work, come here.” he said.
Ford added that he will be speaking to the Prime Minister about the labour shortage and said he will “aggressively” work with the federal government to “get more people to call Ontario home.”
When asked whether the province had any data to suggest immigrants are not hard working, a spokesperson for the premier said they did not have any such data and added that all new immigrants are welcome in Ontario.
Ford faces backlash for comments about immigrants
Comments on Twitter lambasted the premier, calling his comments xenophobic, racist and hateful.
Liberal leader Steven Del Duca called for an apology immediately.
“This kind of divisive language is deeply disappointing,” he said. “As a son of immigrants, I know first-hand how people like my parents helped to build Ontario. Doug Ford should apologize for his callous comments.”
NDP Leader Andrea Horwath also said in a tweet that Ford should apologize.
“Today, Doug Ford chose to traffic in demeaning stereotypes about new Ontarians looking to build a better life for their families,” she wrote. “Our diverse, welcoming province deserves better.”
With a file from Cynthia Mulligan and The Canadian Press
Toronto Public Health (TPH) has given an Etobicoke high school the all clear to reopen on Tuesday.
Students and teachers at Silverthorn Collegiate are returning to the classroom a week after their school became the first in Toronto to shut down during the 2021-22 academic year.
Students at the high school near Burnhamthorpe and Mill Road went back to remote learning on Oct. 12, following the Thanksgiving weekend, because of a COVID-19 outbreak at the school.
Returning students and staff will have to complete daily COVID-19 screening. TPH says rapid tests will also be available for everyone returning and are voluntary for anyone who has no symptoms.
If the rapid test is positive than the individuals must get a PCR test and self-isolate until the PCR test is negative. TPH says take-home PCR tests are available at the school.
According to the TPH website, four of the seven confirmed cases at the school have been resolved.
Meanwhile, COVID-19 outbreaks have been declared in three more Toronto schools.
Two or more cases of the virus have been linked to Michael Power St. Joseph High School in Etobicoke, Africentric Alternative School in North York, and John McCrea Public School in Scarborough. All three schools remain open for now.
TPH says they are investigating all three and are working to notify any close contacts.
Greenholme Junior Middle School in Etobicoke remains closed due to a COVID-19 outbreak, according to the TPH website there are 12 active cases at the school among students and staff.
According to the Ontario Ministry of Health, there have been 1,255 confirmed infections among students and staff over the last two weeks. Just over 13 per cent of schools in the province have at least one confirmed case of COVID-19.
One in two parents told the pollster they plan to get their kids vaccinated as soon as they’re eligible.
This number jumps to 63 per cent in households where parents have a university education and dips to 46 per cent for those with a high school diploma or less.
OTTAWA – Pfizer has asked Health Canada to approve the first COVID-19 vaccine for children aged five to 11 years old.
As soon as the regulator gives the green light, providers will be able to start offering the COVID-19 shot to kids, though new child-sized doses might need to be procured.
The doses are about one-third the size given to adults and teens age 12 and up.
The vaccine was developed in partnership with Germany’s BioNTech and is now marketed under the brand name Comirnaty. It was authorized for people at least 16 years old last December, and for kids between 12 and 15 in May.
Pfizer already submitted clinical trial data for its child-sized dose to Health Canada at the beginning of the month and made a formal request for approval to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration last week.
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has also been tested on children as young as six months old. Topline data for children under five years old is expected as soon as the end of the year.
The vaccine is administered as a two-dose series, at least three weeks apart. A third dose may be administered at least four weeks after the second dose to individuals who are determined to have certain kinds of immunocompromise.
A single booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine may be administered to individuals 65 years of age and older, 18 through 64 years of age at high risk of severe COVID-19 and to those18 through 64 years of age whose “frequent institutional or occupational exposure to the virus” puts them at high risk of serious COVID-19 complications.
The news comes in midst of a recent survey from the Angus Reid Institute that suggests half of the parents with kids under the age of 11 are ready to vaccinate their little ones against COVID-19.
One in two parents told the pollster they plan to get their kids vaccinated as soon as they’re eligible.
This number jumps to 63 per cent in households where parents have a university education and dips a little to 46 per cent for those with a high school diploma or less.
All Ontarians vaccinated against COVID-19, regardless of when their birthday is, can download their enhanced COVID-19 vaccine certificates as of Monday morning.
The provincial government has said the documents, which include a scannable QR code, will allow for faster entry into settings that require proof of vaccination.
The documents are available to anyone as of 6 a.m. on Oct. 18. Residents whose birthdays fall between January and April were able to download the enhanced vaccination certificate through the province’s COVID-19 website on Friday, and further cohorts got access over the weekend.
The enhanced system officially takes effect on Friday but businesses can now start using the new app to verify the QR codes.
All individuals will need to access their certificate is their green health card. Identification will still need to be shown with the QR code for verification. The certificate will be available to print off for residents who do not own a smartphone.
Individuals can also call the Provincial Vaccine Contact Centre at 1-833-943-3900 to have their enhanced vaccine certificate emailed or mailed to them.
Under Ontario’s vaccine certificate program, only those who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 — or have a valid medical exemption from a doctor — can access certain settings like theatres, gyms, nightclubs and indoor dining.
The Ford government say they working on a way to embed a medical exemption in the app for individuals who have received on for the COVID-19 vaccine.
Ontario’s app will be able to read QR codes from other provinces’ who have scannable vaccine certificates – such as Quebec and British Columbia.
Christian Aid Ministries says a Canadian is among 17 missionaries allegedly kidnapped in Haiti
Haitian police have pointed the finger at a notorious gang known for its brazen kidnappings and killings
The organization said they were on a trip to visit an orphanage
A notorious Haitian gang known for brazen kidnappings and killings was accused by police Sunday of abducting 17 missionaries from a U.S.-based organization. Five children were believed to be among those kidnapped, including a Canadian.
The 400 Mawozo gang kidnapped the group in Ganthier, a community that lies east of the capital of Port-au-Prince, Haitian police inspector Frantz Champagne told The Associated Press. The gang was blamed for kidnapping five priests and two nuns earlier this year in Haiti.
The gang, whose name roughly translates to 400 “inexperienced men,” controls the Croix-des-Bouquets area that includes Ganthier, where they carry out kidnappings and carjackings and extort business owners, according to authorities.
Ohio-based Christian Aid Ministries said the kidnapped group consisted of 16 U.S. citizens and one Canadian, for a total of five children, seven women and five men. The organization said they were on a trip to visit an orphanage.
Global Affairs Canada said Sunday it was aware of media reports that a Canadian citizen had been kidnapped in Haiti.
“Canadian government officials in Haiti are working with local authorities,” Global Affairs said in an emailed statement.
“The Government of Canada’s first priority is always the safety and security of its citizens. Due to the provisions of the Privacy Act, no further information can be disclosed.”
Ohio-based Christian Aid Ministries said the kidnapped group consisted of 16 U.S. citizens and one Canadian, for a total of five children, seven women and five men. The organization said they were on a trip to visit an orphanage.
“Join us in praying for those who are being held hostage, the kidnappers and the families, friends and churches of those affected,” Christian Aid Ministries said in a statement. “As an organization, we commit this situation to God and trust Him to see us through.”
Haiti is once again struggling with a spike in gang-related kidnappings that had diminished in recent months, after President Jovenel Moise was fatally shot at his private residence on July 7 and a 7.2-magnitude earthquake killed more than 2,200 people in August.
Nearly a year ago, Haitian police issued a wanted poster for the gang’s alleged leader, Wilson Joseph, on charges including murder, attempted murder, kidnapping, auto theft and the hijacking of trucks carrying goods. He goes by the nickname “Lanmo Sanjou,” which means “death doesn’t know which day it’s coming.”
Joseph, who could not be immediately reached for comment, has posted videos detailing the alleged crimes the gang has committed in recent years.
Once, when the gang opened fire on a small bus carrying several passengers and killed an infant, Wilson said it was not their fault because the bus driver refused to stop. In a more recent video, he appears holding a bottle of alcohol surrounded by heavily armed men. Another video from June shows people inside a church fleeing as gunfire erupted outside on a Saturday morning. The gang was accused of raiding the area and setting cars on fire.
A senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the United States is in touch with Haitian authorities to try to resolve the case.
Christian Aid Ministries came under public scrutiny in 2019, when one of the group’s former workers based in Haiti was convicted of felony sexual abuse against minors in Ohio. Jeriah Mast, 40, is serving a nine-year sentence in an Ohio prison. During the hearing, the judge said Mast told him that he also molested at least 30 boys in Haiti in the span of about 15 years, according to The Daily Record newspaper in Ohio.
Amid the spike in kidnappings, gangs have demanded ransoms ranging from a couple of hundred dollars to more than $1 million, according to authorities.
Last month, a deacon was killed in front of a church in the capital of Port-au-Prince and his wife kidnapped, one of dozens of people who have been abducted in recent months.
At least 328 kidnappings were reported to Haiti’s National Police in the first eight months of 2021, compared with a total of 234 for all of 2020, according to a report issued last month by the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti known as BINUH.
Gangs have been accused of kidnapping schoolchildren, doctors, police officers, busloads of passengers and others as they grow more powerful. In April, a man who claimed to be the gang leader of the 400 Mawozo told a radio station that they were the ones responsible for kidnapping five priests, two nuns and three relatives of one of the priests that month. They were later released.
The spike in kidnappings and gang-related violence has forced Haitians to take detours around certain gang-controlled areas while others simply opt to stay home, which in turn means less money for people like Charles Pierre, a moto taxi driver in Port-au-Prince who has several children to feed.
“People are not going out in the streets,” he said. “We cannot find people to transport.”
A protest is scheduled for Monday to decry the nation’s lack of security.
“Political turmoil, the surge in gang violence, deteriorating socioeconomic conditions _ including food insecurity and malnutrition _ all contribute to the worsening of the humanitarian situation,” BINUH said in its report. “An overstretched and under-resourced police force alone cannot address the security ills of Haiti.”
On Friday, the U.N. Security Council voted unanimously to extend the U.N. political mission in Haiti.
The kidnapping of the missionaries comes just days after high-level U.S. officials visited Haiti and promised more resources for Haiti’s National Police, including another $15 million to help reduce gang violence, which this year has displaced thousands of Haitians who now live in temporary shelters in increasingly unhygienic conditions.
Among those who met with Haiti’s police chief was Uzra Zeya, U.S. under secretary of state for civilian security, democracy, and human rights.
“Dismantling violent gangs is vital to Haitian stability and citizen security,” she recently tweeted.
Toronto police have released security camera photos of a man wanted in a series of break and enters over the past 14 months in the west end.
Investigators say the individual is allegedly responsible for up to 10 incidents in the Lakeshore Boulevard West and Parklawn Road area between August 6, 2020 and October 15, 2021.
The suspect is alleged to have broken into a commercial building by smashing window. Once inside, he caused extensive damage to the building and personal property by turning on the water and flooding a unit.
The individual is also allegedly responsible for entering various high-rise condo buildings in the area, causing extensive damage and pulling false fire alarms.
The suspect is described as being five-foot-eight, between 150 and 160 pounds, clean shaven with dark hair. He has been seen running through the neighbourhood with no shirt on on a number of occasions.
Anyone with information on who this may be is asked to contact investigators.
Dr. Mariam Hanna noticed an uptick in requests for allergy assessments in her Burlington, Ont., clinic after the province began implementing COVID-19 vaccine certificates last month.
Whether people have held off on getting vaccinated because of a past reaction, or are seeking an exemption to inoculation mandates, Hanna said a previous allergic response doesn’t mean you can’t get your shots.
Allergists across the country have safely inoculated most patients who come into their clinics, regardless of allergy history, she said.
“Be it as an excuse or a misunderstanding or some miscommunication there, we are certainly getting a lot of referrals because of (vaccine rules),” said Hanna, an assistant clinical professor at McMaster University.
“Most of the time, it isn’t reason for exemption.”
Hanna said many of the patients she assesses are concerned about previous reactions to non-COVID-19 vaccines. But because the mRNA jabs from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna are different from typical inoculations, those past reactions usually don’t come up again.
Other patients are concerned about receiving a second mRNA dose if they had an adverse reaction to the first. But she said many patients mistake common non-life threatening reactions _ including rash or swelling at the injection site _ for an allergy.
“It’s only the very, very few patients that have had a systemic reaction, typically within 15 to 20 minutes of receiving the first dose, that we want to be careful about,” Hanna said. “Most of the side effects that we expect with a vaccine, those are not contraindications for exemption.
“And sometimes you need an allergist to help clarify it.”
Allergists assess patients in their specialized clinics, taking a full history to determine the severity of the previous allergy experience – and whether it was an allergic reaction at all.
The assessment can sometime include skin tests, where an ingredient of the vaccine is smeared on a small patch of skin, but Hanna said every patient’s appointment will be different.
Dr. Samira Jeimy, a clinical immunology and allergy expert with Western University, said even those who experienced what they perceived to be strong allergic reactions could be mistaken.
Some non-allergic reactions can include anxiety-related events that mimic allergic responses, she said, including hyperventilation, fainting and even symptoms that look and feel like anaphylaxis – a severe, potentially life-threatening reaction where blood pressure drops and airways narrow making it hard to breathe.
“Things that mimic anaphylaxis are far more common than actual anaphylaxis,” Jeimy said. “One example is vocal cord dysfunction, where somebody could actually have their vocal cords slammed shut (when) nervous.”
The Canadian Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology says the risk of systemic allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis, is extremely rare. Studies suggest the estimated annual rate of anaphylaxis in Canada is approximately 0.4 to 1.8 cases per one million doses of vaccines administered.
According to Health Canada’s review on adverse vaccine reactions, 307 cases of anaphylaxis have been reported in the country – out of more than 56 million COVID-19 doses administered.
Jeimy said her London, Ont., clinic has been able to vaccinate “about 99 per cent” of people coming in with allergy concerns. That includes those who have had real, severe reactions to a first COVID-19 vaccine dose.
Allergists work around this by giving someone with a confirmed allergy small amounts of the dose, separated by 15- to 30-minute observation periods, until dosing is done.
Jeimy said it can take hours to complete a graded administration for extreme cases.
“If I think the patient is at a moderate risk of reaction, I’ll divide the vaccine up into three or four doses,” she said. “If the patient is at a higher risk, I’ll make the dosing even longer.”
Canada’s National Advisory Committee on Immunization says COVID-19 vaccines shouldn’t be offered “routinely” to those who had severe allergic reaction following the first dose. If a risk assessment deems the benefit of vaccination outweighs allergy risks, NACI says a different vaccine than the one that caused the initial reaction – either AstraZeneca’s viral vector jab or the mRNA products – may be used to complete the two-dose series.
Jeimy said that her clinic carries doses of AstraZeneca for emergency situations but she hasn’t had to use them. Instead, most people can safely complete a two-dose mRNA series.
Jeimy said allergists aren’t certain which component of the mRNA vaccines cause severe allergic reactions in a small number of people. But PEG, or polyethylene glycol, is “currently thought to be the culprit.” She added PEG allergies on skin tests don’t necessarily “correlate to vaccine tolerance,” however.
PEG is a common ingredient in cosmetics, skin-care products and some medications, including Tylenol and cough syrup, Jeimy said. So people with PEG allergies likely know they have it long before getting an mRNA vaccine.
NACI says a COVID-19 vaccine “should not be routinely offered to individuals who are allergic to any component” of the jab.
Jeimy urges people to ask a doctor for clarification before swearing off COVID-19 shots.
“I don’t think it’s helpful to preemptively avoid things because of a fear of a reaction,” she said. “You have a far greater risk of COVID-19 infection.”
Premier Doug Ford is set to reveal details this morning about Ontario’s vaccine certificate QR code and app. It comes as the app has become available for download Friday.
Details were posted on the Ontario website this morning that the app will making the “enhanced vaccine certificate” available to residents by birth month over a period of three days.
Starting Friday, anyone born between January and April is able to download the app. On Saturday, those born from May to August will be able to access the app and finally, those born in September to December can access it on Sunday.
The app also already available for download for businesses and organizations to scan people’s QR codes.
As of Monday morning at 8 a.m., it will available for everyone to download. All you will need to access your vaccine certificate in the app is your green photo health card.
The Ontario government is also expected announce the loosening of some COVID-19 restrictions.
A source has told CityNews capacity limits at restaurants and gyms are expected to be lifted. Mask mandates and other public health measures will remain in effect.
CityNews has learned that a prototype of the app, which will be used by businesses to verify a
Under Ontario’s vaccine certificate program, only those who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 — or have a valid medical exemption from a doctor — can access certain settings, such as theatres, nightclubs and restaurant dining rooms.
As it stands, residents must show their vaccine receipt and photo ID to enter those facilities, but the province plans to replace that system with the black-and-white barcodes and an app-based scanner.
It’s being billed as a side-by-side collaboration to deliver an app in near record time to Ontario businesses.
Two highly skilled digital departments, one public, the other from the private sector, coming together with a shared goal — to build an app for Ontario companies to scan and verify vaccine QR codes, and do it fast.
CityNews spoke exclusively with Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainments (MLSE) Chief Technology and Digital Officer Humza Teherany about the conglomerate’s involvement. They told us they helped with everything from building the app to testing, and everything in between.
“It’s been a true collaboration,” Teherany says. “It just was a logical partnership opportunity for us to tag team with the Ontario Digital Service (ODS), lend a hand really, because they were already working on this, but we have a ton of experience launching mobile products to millions of people.”
Ryerson University Public Health Professor Thomas Tenkate points out that it makes sense that a large corporation like MLSE would want to lend its expertise to the province for this high-stakes project.
“You have to say, well, if the assistance is about running a trial of the app in a pressure cooker situation, it’s really good for the progression of the app. The question is are there other aspects to what that assistance is?”
CityNews has learned that a prototype of the app, which will be used by businesses to verify a citizen’s unique QR code, was already in the works before MLSE came on board. However, when MLSE reached out to the ODS team, the two came to an agreement on a partnership and pooled their resources to build the app. The digital teams worked together, to write and test code. MLSE app engineers worked with ODS engineers and the province to deliver the app just weeks after Ontario’s Associate Minister of Digital Government made the announcement that an application for business was on the way.
“The government has to work on assuring people of what data will actually be collected and what will be housed with the vendor and what it’s tracking,” said professor Tenkate.
Associate Minister Kaleed Rasheed was not made available by his office for this story, nor was a member of the province’s digital services department, however the Ontario government has been clear that the app doesn’t collect and cannot share personal information. No organization, including MLSE, will have access to any user data.
Teherany notes that “the app is completely offline, the actual QR code is stored on a (personal) device, there’s no online retrieval of it” by any business.
Some in the restaurant industry who spoke with CityNews expressed concern that MLSE may have received preferential treatment for their services, with the government now allowing a capacity crowd at Scotiabank arena and other venues while bars and restaurants are still limited.
Speaking on background, government staff told CityNews that’s not the case at all, stating that MLSE simply offered their assistance free of cost to help the province as a whole.
The Ford Government will officially announce their partnership with MLSE as well as the details of the app and QR code rollout on Friday.
