Eight months into a global pandemic, evidence is mounting that children and youth are facing increased stress and mental health problems.
Calls to Kids Help Phone lines across Canada have doubled, and domestic violence hotlines across the country are reporting a surge in calls. Crisis Centre BC is reporting a 25-per-cent increase in calls since the pandemic began in March.
Sipekne’katik First Nation Chief Mike Sack says the number of people arrested and charged for violent acts against Mi’kmaw lobster harvesters is “disheartening.”
“I couldn’t believe it when I was told that they actually said that they have bigger cases to worry about and for me a burning van is not bigger than assaulting one of our Mi’kmaq woman,” said Sack.
“That just speaks volumes”
Yesterday was Martinstag in Germany.
I suppose if you think about it, it's St. Martin's Day here in Canada, too.
The occasion is said to be quite popular with children, with lots of colourful lanterns, costumes and sweets. Sort of like Halloween, only with more conventionally religious overtones.
It turns out the Germans don't celebrate Remembrance Day! Who knew?
Ontario Premier Doug Ford says the advice his government ignored when drafting its COVID-19 framework was “one doctor’s opinion,” even though the province’s public health agency says it stands behind it.
“I appreciate the doc voicing her opinion, I really do,” the premier told reporters Thursday from a Hamilton, Ont. shipyard where he was making a jobs announcement.
The news this week from pharma giant Pfizer that it has an effective COVID-19 vaccine has many sports and music fans hopeful their live events will be making a comeback soon.
But those events may come back with a new requirement: Proof that you have been vaccinated, or tested negative, for COVID-19.
IN LATE MARCH, when New York City went into lockdown, I had to make a choice: either I shelter in place with my roommate (who is at higher risk of illness from the virus) and my two cats in our shared Brooklyn apartment, or I relocate to my partner’s one-bedroom space, some fifteen minutes’ walk east, not to return for the indefinite duration of the pandemic. Neither option was ideal. Our apartment had a slightly more centralized location, marginally more space, a dishwasher, and on-site laundry; it also had all of my stuff and the aforementioned cats (to whom my partner is severely, and frustratingly, allergic). On the other hand, my partner’s apartment had, well, my partner. Intimate companionship. The promise of emotional support amid an unprecedented episode of collective crisis. The assurance of human touch amid mounting paranoia over contact and spread. In the simplest possible terms: I could choose home, or I could choose hugs.
Seth Maclean, who died on July 12 from a fatal drug overdose and was buried without his family knowing in a graveyard the following month, was assigned the number 536.
Like Maclean, hundreds of people in Ontario—many of whom are homeless and struggle with addiction or mental health issues—die without having their next of kin notified every year.
Postmedia isn’t very good at making money. Nearly every year, Postmedia announces massive losses, more layoffs and more local newsrooms closing under their supervision. What’s shocking is that Postmedia gets to act like this is business as usual while the federal government is subsidizing them through the $600 million media bailout.
Postmedia columnists love to shriek about Canada’s deficit, which is set to hit $343 billion this year. Oddly enough, they’re noticeably less vocal about their organization’s active contribution to the deficit. According to a report in the Tyee, Postmedia expected between $8 and $10 million in subsidies from the government last year.
After finishing high school in Ontario in the 1950s, I was awarded a scholarship from Amherst College in Massachusetts. After completing my undergraduate degree, I received funding to study at the University of Chicago -- even though I was Canadian!
The postwar boom and ensuing Cold War sparked the space race and a push for science and education in the United States. The Soviet Union launched the first satellite, Sputnik, then sent a dog and later people into orbit. To catch up and overtake the "enemy" in everything from science to engineering and medicine, the U.S. poured money into education -- funding students, universities and government laboratories.