Regional Council votes in support of one transit system for all Niagara
At its Nov. 25 meeting, Niagara Regional Council made an historic move to improve and modernize public transit, voting in favour of combining all of Niagara’s existing services into one single, integrated transit commission serving all of Niagara.
The Moving Transit Forward proposal would bring together independently operating local transit systems in Fort Erie, St. Catharines, Welland, and Niagara Falls, as well as Niagara Region Transit and NRT OnDemand, in order to offer consistent operating hours and fares, new digital payment technology, and better connections for riders across Niagara.
Regional Council’s vote is a critical first stage in the triple majority process needed to transfer responsibility for public transit to the Region. Starting the week of Dec. 6, all of Niagara’s 12 local municipalities will also vote on the proposal. To move forward, a majority of those councils, representing a majority of Niagara’s electors, must vote in favour of the plan.
The GNCC has supported this effort from the beginning in recognition of transit’s importance to economic growth and poverty reduction, and led an advocacy campaign to communicate its importance to Regional Council. We sincerely thank all our members who sent messages to Council in response.
W.H.O. Says New Variant in South Africa Is ‘of Concern’
The World Health Organization said a newly identified coronavirus variant in southern Africa was “of concern” on Friday, as countries around the world moved to restrict travelers arriving from that region to keep it from crossing their borders.
So far, only a few dozen cases of the new variant have been identified in South Africa, Botswana, Belgium, Hong Kong and Israel. There is no proof yet that the variant is more contagious or lethal, or could diminish the protective power of vaccines, but uncertainty on those questions was one factor in the speed of countries’ move toward restrictions.
On Friday evening, the World Health Organization gave the new version of the virus the name Omicron and called it a “variant of concern,” its most serious category. “This variant has a large number of mutations, some of which are concerning,” the W.H.O. said in its official description. “Preliminary evidence suggests an increased risk of reinfection with this variant.”
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Over 40% of businesses expect rising input costs to pose a problem: Statistics Canada
The Canadian Survey of Business Conditions for Q4 2021 revealed that the rising cost of inputs, including labour, capital, energy and raw materials, was the most commonly expected obstacle over the next three months, with over two-fifths (42.5%) of businesses expecting it to be an obstacle, up from 38.5% of businesses that expected this to be an obstacle in the third quarter. The rising cost of inputs was expected to be an obstacle for the majority of businesses in manufacturing (70.6%); agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting (68.4%); accommodation and food services (66.2%); and wholesale trade (62.5%).
Over one-quarter (27.2%) of businesses expect difficulty acquiring inputs, products or supplies domestically. Of these businesses, over half (51.8%) expect these challenges to continue for six months or more, while over one-third (34.2%) are uncertain how long these challenges will persist. Over two-fifths of businesses in construction (45.9%), manufacturing (45.4%), agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting (43.2%) and retail trade (40.6%) expect difficulty acquiring inputs, products or supplies domestically over the next three months.
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Government of Canada proposes federal paid sick leave legislation
Today, the Honourable Seamus O’Regan Jr., Minister of Labour, and the Honourable David Lametti, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, introduced legislation that would amend the Canada Labour Code to provide ten days of paid sick leave per year to workers in the federally regulated private sector. The legislation would also amend the Criminal Code to enhance protections for health care workers.
The NDP had made ten paid days’ sick leave an election promise, and will likely give this legislation the support it needs to pass.
This legislation, if passed, would only impact federally regulated workers. Review federally regulated industries and workplaces to see if this legislation would apply to your business.
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30 years of emission reduction commitments from federal governments resulted in 20% increase in emissions
A report from Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development Jerry V. DeMarco, tabled in the House of Commons, documents that 3 decades of federal government commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Canada have yielded an increase of more than 20% in emissions since 1990. The report, which is not an audit, documents Canada’s actions to address climate change and sets out lessons learned.
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Canada closing borders to travelers from seven southern African nations over COVID-19 fears
Canada is closing its borders to foreign travelers who have recently been to seven southern African nations to help stop the spread of a newly identified variant of COVID-19, Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos told reporters on Friday.
The European Union, the United States and Britain are among those tightening border controls as researchers probe whether the mutation is vaccine resistant.
Duclos told reporters that Canada was acting quickly to protect the health of its citizens. The seven nations are: South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.
Foreign citizens will be banned from Canada if they have been to the seven nations in the last 14 days.
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Benefits outweigh risks of pediatric COVID-19 vaccine, contrary to posts misusing VAERS data
The Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System can detect possible safety issues in vaccines. Anyone can submit an unverified report, regardless of whether a vaccine is known to have caused the problem. Yet viral messages continue to misuse the VAERS data, and flawed calculations, to claim the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for children is unsafe and will cause many more deaths than it will prevent.
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Niagara Angels Celebrate 11 Years; Angel Group Set to Lead in Niagara’s Economic Recovery
Niagara Angel Network, a group commonly compared to CBC’s Dragon’s Den or ABC’s Shark Tank, recently gathered to mark the group’s expansion into Lincoln and to celebrate its 11-year anniversary as the Niagara region’s only angel investor organization. Over the past eleven years, the non-profit corporation of accredited investors was recognized for investing $15.4 million in 44 companies.
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Stock markets roiled anew by fears about emerging coronavirus variant
CBC News
Global stock markets and oil prices tumbled Friday after South Africa identified a new, potentially fast-spreading coronavirus variant and the European Union proposed suspending air travel from the region.
The 27-member EU proposed a mass travel suspension to member governments after South Africa said the so-called Nu variant was spreading in its most populous province.
Britain promptly banned flights from South Africa and five nearby countries. Austria imposed a 10-day lockdown while Italy restricted activity by unvaccinated people. Americans were advised by their government to avoid Germany and Denmark. Belgium and Israel have already reported a handful of people who have tested positive to the new variant, and the slew of data points has added up to a flurry of uncertainty.
Alberta doctor calls for interprovincial travel restrictions to prevent spread of new COVID-19 variant
CTV News
Premier Jason Kenney says he is supporting the federal government’s decision to ban all foreign nationals from entering Canada from several southern African countries but a prominent emergency room doctor says Alberta should take additional steps.
In a tweet, the premier says he agrees with the new restrictions and that Canada must not repeat the “mistake of its open border policy at the start of the pandemic.”
Dr. Joe Vipond, a Calgary emergency room doctor, says that more needs to be done at a provincial level as the variant has already spread outside of South Africa. He’s encouraging the provincial government to put its own travel restrictions in place.
Niagara COVID-19 statistics tracker
Niagara COVID vaccination tracker
Free rapid COVID-19 testing kits are now available to businesses. Visit gncc.ca/workplace-self-screening-kits to learn more and reserve kits for your organization.
Information on government grants, resources, and programs, policies, forms, and posters for download and use, are available here. The GNCC is here to support you. Contact us with any questions you have.
Through the Daily Updates, the GNCC aims to deliver important business news in a timely manner. We disseminate all news and information we feel will be important to businesses. Inclusion in the Daily Update is not an endorsement by the GNCC.
