Ontario to institute vaccine passport system, sources say
Ontario will announce a form of proof-of-vaccine certification — commonly known as a “vaccine passport” — for the province, sources tell CBC News. The plan is expected to be revealed early this week.
Sources with knowledge of the plan spoke on condition of confidentiality because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly.
The implementation of the COVID-19 vaccine passport will be discussed at a cabinet meeting scheduled for Tuesday. Sources say that while some cabinet members are opposed to a vaccine passport, the program will go ahead.
Click here for more information.
Learn more about COVID-19 vaccines here.
Transport Canada suspends all direct flights from Morocco
Based on the latest public health advice from the Public Health Agency of Canada, Transport Canada is issuing a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) restricting all direct commercial and private passenger flights to Canada from Morocco from August 29, 2021, at 00:01 EDT until September 29, 2021, at 00:00 EDT. All direct commercial and private passenger flights to Canada from Morocco are subject to the NOTAM. Cargo-only operations, medical transfers or military flights are not included.
The Election Section
Niagara federal vote projections
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| 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.
Niagara’s Prosperity Matters: Getting everyone over the COVID finish line
The GNCC is asking all parties to return to pre-pandemic deficit-to-GDP ratio levels by the end of the business cycle. 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.
338Canada: The Conservatives surge, the Liberals slide
Maclean’s
It was (another) difficult week for Justin Trudeau’s Liberals in public opinion polls. The trends we observed in the first week of this short campaign continued and even intensified in the second week. With support for the Liberals in a downward spiral in key regions of Canada, several polls now show the Conservatives have taken the lead in voting intentions in the country. In the latest seat projections, Conservatives and Liberals may now stand neck-in-neck, but the all-important “momentum” of this campaign is clearly on the side of Erin O’Toole’s team.
Conservatives on ‘rocket ride’ as seat projection shows close race: Nanos
CTV News
The Conservatives continue to run just ahead of the Liberals in ballot support, and have also all but erased the previous Liberal lead in projected seats, according to nightly tracking conducted by Nanos Research for CTV News and the Globe and Mail.
With just three weeks to go until the Sept. 20 vote, tracking data ending Sunday and released Monday morning shows the Liberals projected to win 111 seats versus 107 for the Conservatives, a sharp change from an Aug. 22 projection that had the Liberals ahead of the Conservatives 128 to 94. A projection from June had the Liberals at 171 seats versus 59 for the Conservatives.
Reading Recommendations
Housing affordability to worsen near-term, even as prices cool off: Reuters poll
Reuters
The sizzling pace of house price rises in most major world housing markets since the pandemic began has likely peaked, but affordability is set to remain stretched or worsen in the next few years, according to Reuters polls of experts.
Canadians’ confidence plunges the most since the darkest days of the pandemic
Financial Post
The Bloomberg Nanos Canadian Confidence Index, a measure of sentiment based on household polling, fell 1.6 points to 62.6 last week. That’s the biggest weekly decline since April 2020. The index is down almost four points since hitting a record high in July. The weakening sentiment among households could undermine what has been a big advantage for Trudeau heading into the Sept. 20 election. For much of this year until now, Canadians have been been feeling good about the economy and their finances.
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 is currently 1 patient 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: 659,684
New daily doses administered to Niagara residents: 685
Last updated: August 30, 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.
