Niagara Regional Council approves staff vaccination policy, calls on Province and Feds to produce proof-of-vaccine certificate
At yesterday evening’s meeting, Niagara Regional Council voted to direct the creation of a COVID-19 vaccination policy for staff, while also calling on the Provincial and Federal governments to create a proof-of-vaccination certificate program.
The staff vaccination policy will require all Regional staff to provide proof that they have received both doses of an approved COVID-19 vaccine. Staff who cannot provide proof of full vaccination will be required to be tested regularly and provide those results.
Council also voted to ensure the relevant parts of the staff policy will apply to members of council if they wish to attend in-person council meetings, conduct business at Regional facilities or attend official events in their capacity as a Councillor.
Later in the meeting, Regional Council passed a motion calling on the Provincial and Federal government to create a universal proof-of-vaccination certificate program to help residents easily prove their vaccination status.
Click here for more information.
Learn more about COVID-19 vaccines here.
Canadian economy continued to contract in May
Real gross domestic product contracted 0.3% in May, following a 0.5% decline in April. Total economic activity was about 2% below the level in February 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the next three months, over one-quarter of businesses expected their profitability to decrease, 14.8% expected their sales to decrease, over one-fifth expected to increase the prices they charge and nearly four-fifths expected their number of employees to remain the same.
Click here for more information.
Brock amends fall term, classes on Sep 7-10 to be held online
Brock has decided that courses beginning between Tuesday, Sept. 7 and Friday, Sept. 10 will start online for those days only. On-campus instruction will resume on Monday, Sept. 13 for all courses except those already designated for online delivery in the Fall Term.
Courses that begin prior to Sept. 7, such as some in the Faculty of Education, are not affected and will proceed as planned between Sept. 7 and 10.
Click here for more information.
Heat warning in effect for Niagara this weekend
After a brief reprieve from the humidity today and tonight, hot and humid conditions return again on Saturday and last through Sunday. Weekend daytime maximum temperatures are 29 to 31 degrees Celsius, with humidex values of 37 to 42. Saturday nighttime minimum temperatures are 20 to 23 degrees Celsius.
The Election Section
Niagara federal vote projections
| Niagara Centre | Niagara Falls | Niagara West | St. Catharines | Canada (338canada) | Canada (CBC) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bloc Quebecois | 7% (32 seats) | 6.8% (31 seats) | ||||
| Conservative Party | 30% | 38% | 46% | 32% | 31.4% (126 seats) | 31% (119 seats) |
| Green Party | 3% | 3.7% | 3.9% | 3.5% | 3.4% (2 seats) | 3.5% (1 seat) |
| Liberal Party | 35% | 31% | 29% | 36% | 31.9% (148 seats) | 31.5% (155 seats) |
| New Democratic Party | 24% | 21% | 14% | 23% | 19.3% (31 seats) | 19.1% (32 seats) |
| People's Party | 7.6% | 6% | 6.5% | 5.8% | 6% (0 seats) | 7% (0 seats) |
| Christian Heritage | - | - | 1.1% | - | - | - |
Data are provided by 338canada.com using an aggregate of polls. Projections are updated daily. Click here for more information and margins of error.
Download the Canadian Chamber’s policy tracker, which summarizes party commitments made to date.
GNCC Niagara Prosperity Plan: Getting everyone over the COVID finish line
Many small enterprises and businesses in the hardest-hit sectors, including tourism, travel and hospitality, will not recover until public health restrictions are lifted and economic activity returns to normal. Until that time comes, these fellow Canadians require ongoing support.
The GNCC is asking all parties to return to pre-pandemic deficit-to-GDP ratio levels by the end of the business cycle. We must ensure GDP growth exceeds pre-pandemic levels by a substantial margin and public spending is focused on generating economic growth. While we hope that the pandemic is a once-in-a-lifetime crisis, the additional debt incurred should be paid down before the end of the business cycle.
Click here to read more about the GNCC’s Niagara Prosperity Plan.
Polls now indicate Liberal minority likely
CBC News
The Liberals are still heavily favoured to win the most seats but their chances of winning a majority government have fallen sharply since the beginning of the campaign and they are now poised to win fewer seats than in 2019. The Conservatives’ chances of winning the most seats have improved to one-in-four. The NDP could nearly double the size of its caucus compared to 2019, while the Bloc looks likely to retain most of its seats.
Click here for more information.
Cross country healthcare checkup
Enterprise Canada
The privatization of healthcare, a staple of federal elections going back generations, resurfaced in Week 2 of the campaign. The issue was raised by Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland who tweeted an edited video of an interview with Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole during his leadership race last year.
Over the past six years, the Trudeau government has allowed private companies to participate in the public system without penalizing provinces under the Canada Health Act.
Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole reiterated this week that he is proud of and supports the Canadian public health system. He pointed to his election platform commitment to provide an unconditional $60 billion in healthcare funding to the provinces over the next 10 years.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh argued there is no difference between the Conservatives and Liberals on the question of healthcare privatization.
Click here for more information.
Singh seen as most likeable leader in election as Trudeau’s popularity craters: poll
Global News
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has emerged as the most likable of the federal party leaders as Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau’s popularity sinks amid the election campaign, a new poll suggests.
The Ipsos poll conducted exclusively for Global News found Singh was the only party leader who was viewed more positively than negatively, with 45 per cent approval versus 39 per cent disapproval among those surveyed.
Trudeau, by contrast, had the highest unfavourability rating of any leader at 53 per cent, while 41 per cent said they viewed him favourably.
Click here for more information.
Reading Recommendations
Canada’s ruling Liberals promise C$1 bln to help provinces with vaccine passports
Reuters
Canada’s ruling Liberals on Friday said that if re-elected they would provide C$1 billion ($792 million) to help the 10 provinces create special passports for people to prove they had been inoculated against COVID-19.
Polls show the Liberals, led by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, are narrowly ahead of their Conservative rivals. The election is on Sept 20.
Learn more about COVID-19 vaccines here.
Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine approved for 12- to 17-year-olds in Canada
CBC News
Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada said Friday that Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine is now approved for use in adolescents.
“After a thorough and independent scientific review of the evidence, Health Canada has determined that the vaccine is safe and effective at preventing #Covid19 in youth aged 12 to 17,” the agencies said in a social media post.
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was approved for Canadians in early May for those aged 12 to 15. That vaccine was approved for those 16 and older in December 2020, the same month Moderna’s shots got the go-ahead for Canadians over 18.
Learn more about COVID-19 vaccines here.
What will our eco-friendly homes of the future look like?
The Guardian
To reach net zero, we are going to have to change how we heat our houses. The way they are built will probably have to change, too. Perhaps the ubiquitous squat brick suburban house will become a thing of the past. Hopefully so will our Victorian pipe system and, for those of us who rent, our ancient boilers which make a disturbing noise.
We spoke to experts at the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT) to find out what the eco-friendly house of the future could look like.
Niagara COVID-19 statistics tracker
These data show the status of the COVID-19 pandemic in Niagara. The Province of Ontario is now using a provincewide approach to reopening, and these data no longer have any influence on Niagara’s restrictions. Lower numbers are better in all metrics.
| December 18 | December 25 | January 1 | January 8 | January 15 | January 22 | January 29 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reproductive number | 1.4 | 1.8 | 1.4 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 0.9 |
| New cases per 100,000 | 101.2 | 267.3 | 469.8 | 575.8 | 507.1 | 295.5 | 250.6 |
| New cases per day (not including outbreaks) | 60.7 | 178.7 | 311.7 | 376.9 | 325.4 | 182.7 | 145.7 |
| Percent of hospital beds occupied | 97% | 95.2% | 98.2% | 103.2% | 104.5% | 103.6% | 106% |
| Percent of intensive care beds occupied | 78.8% | 77.3% | 87.9% | 87.9% | 90.9% | 89.4% | 93.9% |
| Percentage of positive tests | 6.1% | 15.6% | 28.1% | 28.6% | 26.6% | 21.2% | 16.2% |
Last updated: August 21, 2021
Click here for definitions of terms used in this table.
There are currently 4 patients admitted to Niagara Health with COVID-19. There are currently 3 patients with COVID-19 in a Niagara Health Intensive Care Unit.
Data are drawn from Niagara Region Public Health and Niagara Health.
Niagara COVID vaccination tracker
Niagara’s most up-to-date vaccination numbers are presented below, along with comparison data from Ontario, Canada, and G7 countries.
| Percentage of population with one dose | Percentage of population fully vaccinated | |
|---|---|---|
| Niagara | 82.7% | 78.2% |
| Ontario | 84.6% | 79.1% |
| Canada | 84.7% | 78.6% |
| United States | 75% | 64% |
| United Kingdom | 78% | 72% |
| Germany | 76% | 74% |
| France | 80% | 77% |
| Italy | 83% | 76% |
| Japan | 80% | 79% |
| World | 63% | 53% |
Total doses administered in Niagara: 657,050
New daily doses administered to Niagara residents: 1,002
Last updated: August 27, 2021
Data are drawn from Niagara Region, the Government of Ontario, and Oxford University’s Our World in Data project.
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.
