Vital updates:
- Ontario is investing $9 million through the new Reconnect Festival and Event Program to support municipalities and event organizers during COVID-19. This funding will be used to maintain public safety requirements and allow people to reconnect with their communities through online, drive-through and other innovative experiences. Organizers will be developing creative programs such as virtual Remembrance Day events, reverse holiday parades with drive-by static floats, drive-in music concerts and movies, holiday tree lightings and New Year’s Eve displays that light-up iconic buildings. Funding may be used for eligible expenses such as programming and production, promotion, mobile applications and website development, and implementation of health and safety measures. Applications open today and will remain open until December 1st. Find out if your organization is eligible for funding and apply here.
- Statistics Canada has launched the Canadian Centre for Energy Information (CCEI) website, which will provide a modernized, independent, energy information system by giving Canadians access to timely data on the use of energy. As the CCEI expands its content over time, the website will:
- Serve as a single point of access for all energy-related information and data, such as production, consumption, international trade and much more;
- Compile, reconcile and integrate energy data from various Canadian sources;
- Make data from multiple providers available free of charge;
- Harmonize energy definitions, measurements and standards;
- Improve the completeness, coherence and timeliness of Canada’s energy information;
- Provide new data products, visualization tools and expert analyses; and
- Support analysis, modelling and forecasting in the academic and research community.
- The Parliamentary Budget Office has reported that the carbon tax will have to be increased if Canada is to meet targets that the country had agreed to under the Paris climate accord. The tax will rise to $50 per tonne of emissions by 2022, but the budget officer has reported that, if applied to all industries, that figure must increase to $117 per tonne by 2030. If large industrial emitters are capped at $50 per tonne, then the levy on households, small businesses, and other sectors of the economy would increase to $289 per tonne in 2030.
Reading recommendations:
- Canada’s SMEs cautiously optimistic they’ll survive the pandemic: BDC study, Catherine McIntyre, The Logic
- The economics of vending machines, Zachary Crockett, The Hustle
If you are showing symptoms, contact your health care provider, call the Public Health Info-Line at 905-688-8248, or chat to Public Health online. For testing, call 905-378-4647 ext. 42819 (4-CV19) for information on test centres in Niagara and to book an appointment.
Remember that a COVID-19 test is only a snapshot of your health on the specific date and time the swab was taken. No testing is perfect and a negative result doesn’t mean you haven’t been exposed to COVID-19. You can still develop symptoms days after your test was taken.
It is important that everyone practice physical distancing to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Maintain a 2-metre distance from other people. When maintaining distance is impossible, wear a mask or face covering. Wash hands frequently and thoroughly. Avoid touching the face. If you have recently traveled outside the country, you are legally required to self-isolate for 14 days.
Previous updates can be accessed here.
Stay safe and be vigilant. The GNCC is here to support you. Contact us with any questions you have.
