In this edition:
Niagara COVID cases rising, but Niagara Health is prepared
Brock to maintain vaccine and mask mandates beyond Winter Term
Government of Canada invests over $2.5 million to support Windsor businesses impacted by illegal blockade
Ontario acts to clear Landlord-Tenant Board backlog
‘Extreme’ supply chain snafus hit lumber industry, forcing output curbs as prices hover near record
Carbon price rising to $50 a tonne today, adds 2.2 cents to litre of gas
Niagara COVID cases rising, but Niagara Health is prepared
Cases of COVID-19 are rising again in Ontario, including at Niagara Health, driven by the BA.2 sub-variant of Omicron.
Niagara Health anticipated this increase in cases in the hospital as public health measures lifted and people started spending more time together. The system is well prepared to manage hospital activity.
There are new COVID-19 treatments available for outpatients that are highly effective at preventing hospitalizations. Niagara Health will continue to take a cautious and measured approach as they resume services that were paused. There are no changes to this planning or to infection prevention and control (IPAC) measures.
Brock to maintain vaccine and mask mandates beyond Winter Term
Given current evidence of increasing COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations, Brock University will maintain its COVID-19 vaccination policy and will continue to require the use of masks while indoors on campus beyond the Winter Term.
These requirements will be re-evaluated regularly in the coming months and a separate announcement regarding the Fall 2022 Term will be made over the summer.
The decision to continue the vaccination and masking mandates was made in consultation with Dr. Mustafa Hirji, Acting Medical Officer of Health and Commissioner, Public Health, who fully supports the University’s ongoing efforts to keep its community as safe and healthy as possible.
Government of Canada invests over $2.5 million to support Windsor businesses impacted by illegal blockade
Today, on behalf of the Honourable Helena Jaczek, Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario), Irek Kusmierczyk, Member of Parliament for Windsor−Tecumseh, announced over $2.5 million in Government of Canada support to impacted businesses along and near the Huron Church Road corridor that faced hardships as a result of the illegal blockade.
With this FedDev Ontario funding, the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Centre, a division of Invest WindsorEssex, will provide small businesses with non-repayable contributions of up to $10,000 for costs not covered by other federal programs. This initiative will also be in collaboration with the City of Windsor, Windsor-Essex Regional Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Windsor Essex Pelee Island.
Ontario acts to clear Landlord-Tenant Board backlog
The Ontario government is investing more than $19 million over three years to help reduce the longstanding backlogs and accelerate decisions at the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) and Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB).
Investments at the OLT will support faster case resolution by:
- Significantly increasing the number of full-time adjudicators and case processing staff
- Creating flexibility to address caseload trends by appointing more part-time adjudicators
- More than doubling the capacity for the use of expert land use planning mediators to help settle disputes earlier and narrow issues for faster adjudication
- Improving IT platforms to improve access to services online
Investments at the Landlord and Tenant Board will raise staffing to unprecedented new levels, allowing the Board to more quickly resolve existing backlogs.
‘Extreme’ supply chain snafus hit lumber industry, forcing output curbs as prices hover near record
Canfor Corp., one of North America’s biggest lumber producers, said this week that it will shift to a four-day workweek at most of its 11 mills in British Columbia and Alberta starting April 4; not because of inadequate demand, but because it’s run out of room to pile the boards that customers are ordering at a startling rate.
“We are experiencing extreme supply chain challenges,” Don Kayne, chief executive of Vancouver-based Canfor, said in a press release on March 31. “It has become imperative to reduce operating schedules to address our unsustainable inventory levels.”
The main issue appears to be a shortage of rail cars in Western Canada, where Canadian National Railway Co. and Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. are struggling to keep up with the post-pandemic surge in demand for virtually every commodity that Canada exports in bulk. That means companies have been piling up inventory, as they wait for the railways to clear their backlogs. Things got so bad for Canfor that it ran out of space; the company said the new production schedule will reduce output by at least 100 million board feet at a time when lumber prices are sitting near an all-time high.
Carbon price rising to $50 a tonne today, adds 2.2 cents to litre of gas
The national price on pollution will go up another $10 per tonne of greenhouse gas emissions as scheduled today in most provinces.
Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault is withstanding political pressure to delay or cancel the increase as fuel prices surge due mainly to the Russian invasion in Ukraine.
Guilbeault says the government is not going to stall or move backward on its climate action plan, of which the carbon price is seen as a “cornerstone” policy.
Today’s increase brings the total price to $50 per tonne, adding another 2.2 cents to the cost of a litre of gasoline, or 11 cents total.
The federal levy applies directly in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario but British Columbia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island are also raising their provincial carbon levies to stay in line.
Reading Recommendations
You may soon be offered a fourth COVID-19 shot. What’s known about second boosters?
CTV News
More Canadians may soon be offered a fourth dose of the COVID-19 vaccine — a move most experts agree could be vital to containing the potential damage of another case surge.
Canada’s advisory panel on vaccines is expected to update its guidance in coming days as concern mounts that the country could be on the brink of a sixth wave.
U.S. regulators approved additional boosters this week for Americans aged 50 and older if it’s been at least four months since their last dose, as well as certain younger people with severely weakened immune systems.
Here’s what scientists say about what could be ahead for Canada’s next stage in the COVID-19 fight.
How Teams Are Retaining Employees Right Now
Harvard Business Review
More than 25 million people quit their jobs in the second half of 2021. The so-called “Great Resignation” is in full force. And quitting begets more quitting — so much so that The New York Times coined a new term for it: quitagion.
Why are so many people quitting their jobs? According to a recent McKinsey report, employers believe that it is a problem with compensation or work-life balance. But the employees who are quitting tell a different story. Their main reasons for quitting are 1) not feeling valued and 2) not feeling a sense of belonging. And yet during the pandemic, the most productive companies actually broke this trend and improved employee job satisfaction by 48%. What do these successful organizations have in common? They practice five principles that help their teams connect and thrive.
Update on Ukraine
How Canada can help Ukraine by leading on the world stage
Policy Options
In 2015, freshly elected Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a bold performative move by putting forward a cabinet with gender parity. When asked why, he simply said, “because it’s 2015,” implying that it was high time for politics to reflect gender equality — a central value in a just society.
Today, Canada needs to make another bold performative move by emphasizing on the world stage that Ukraine needs to win the war that Russia has launched against it. When asked why, the prime minister should stress that it is high time for world politics to reflect a value that should be self-evident in the 21st century — imperialist conquest is immoral; it crushes the very foundations of the international rules-based order; and it should be consigned to history. Russia should not be allowed to achieve its revisionist goals in this war — incorporating Ukraine, in whole or in part, into Russia and denying Ukrainians’ national consciousness and self-determination rights.
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.
