The Tilbury Times

Year: 2021

  • Fake News: No, vaccines and swabs do not infect people with graphene

    Astrid Stuckelberger’s recent intervention at the French alternative webTV Did not go unnoticed. An eight-minute excerpt in which she multiplies false claims about COVID-19 vaccines and tests – several of which have already been refuted in the past year – has been viewed more than 580,000 times in addition to being shared more than 28,000 times. Many readers have reported this video to the Decryptors.
    A specialist in public health, geriatrics and aging, Astrid Stuckelberger is sometimes mistakenly referred to as a doctor in the media. According to an investigation by Heidi.news , although it does on its website  As a researcher and professor at the University of Geneva, Ms. Stuckelberger has not worked there since the summer of 2016 due to an  ongoing procedure,the details of which remain confidential. She is currently a lecturer at the University of Lausanne, where she teaches a course on elderly care. She has also participated in or led public health projects at the UN, WHO and the European Commission.
    In the past year, Dr. Stuckelberger has become best known for her covid-skeptical positions, her tendency to spread disinformation  about the pandemic and his participation in the conspiracy documentary Hold-Up . She is also a recurring guest in the online broadcasts of the Foundation for the Defense of the Rights and Freedoms of the People, a Quebec group that challenges health measures and describes the current governance of the province as  a dictatorship.

    Vaccines do not contain graphene

    Stuckelberger’s main point in the video is that COVID-19 vaccines make vaccinated people sick and contagious (more on that later, but that’s not true). His point is based on the theory that vaccines contain graphene, and that an unidentified Belgian doctor reported to him  a case of graphene in the blood of a woman who lives with a vaccinated person.
    The unvaccinated woman reportedly experienced SYMPTOMS SIMILAR TO COVID-19, and the vaccinated person who transmitted the disease to her was infected with her graphene vaccine, According to Stuckelberger.  I have another theory: it’s that graphene is transmitted to others,” she says in the video.
    This story could not be validated by the Decryptors,and we were not able to find similar anecdotes on theweb. We contacted Ms Stuckelberger for more details and to know the identity of the Belgian doctor, without getting a response.
    However, this idea that COVID-19 vaccines contain graphene has been refuted by numerous media of verification having scrutinized the ingredient lists of the main vaccines available on the market. It should be noted that these vaccines are tested, analyzed and audited by various health agencies around the world, including Health Canada.

    The graphene vaccinator swab theory

    Stuckelberger goes on to theorize that rods used for COVID-19 testing could also be used to inject graphene.
     PCR is a vaccine,she says.  In animals, rods are used to vaccinate animals, ask veterinarians. 
     Why do we do so much PCR? Hypothesis A: it’s really that PCR is a vaccinator too. Since graphene is at the end of PCRs, PCRs are used to deliver a dose. Hypothesis B is that the real vaccine may be graphene,she continues.
    It should first be noted that the rod itself is not a PCR: the latter is rather the type of test that is done in the laboratory to analyze the sample taken by the rod, which is only a sampling device.
    Dr. Eric Troncy, Director of the Groupe de recherche en pharmacologie animale du Québec at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the Université de Montréal, also confirms that the rods are not used to vaccinate animals.
     Veterinarians do not vaccinate with rods but with needles, if and only if the vaccine is administered by hypodermic injection,he confirms by email, adding that there are several other modes of vaccine administration for animals, including oral or intranasal nebulization.
    That said, it would hypothetically be possible to use these rods to inject a substance into a human, explains Dr. Simon Lévesque, a clinical specialist in medical biology at the CIUSSS de l’Estrie. But Dr. Lévesque assures that the stems that are used for samples are sterile.
     I checked, and for the rods we use in our laboratory – but also in all the laboratories in Quebec and Canada – the components are either polyester, nylon, rayon or even cotton,he says.
    Ms Stuckelberger does not provide any evidence to support her claims about graphene on rods, but  mentions reports from Slovakia which […] have shown that in the PCR there is lithium and hydrogel, as if by chance.
    Verification done: the only Slovak  report  we have been able to find on this subject is in fact a document without author, linked to no known institution , which began circulating on the Russian social network Vkontakte (VK) a few months ago. He argues that the hydrogel and lithium supposedly found on the stems are used to turn  people into controllable biorobots. In other words, this report has no scientific value, as explained by the verification media Vox Ukraine at the end of May .

    Vaccines don’t make people sick or contagious

    In the video, Stuckelberger argues that COVID-19 vaccines infect the people who receive them, and that these people then transmit the virus to others. It justifies itself by arguing that this is a known phenomenon with vaccines against poliomyelitis (polio) and the dengue virus.
    There are two types of polio vaccines, and one of the two is given as oral droplets. Since it is a live attenuated virus vaccine, it can indeed make people infectious and contagious. The symptoms experienced are almost never very severe since it is an attenuated virus, but in rare cases (1 in 2.4 million, according to the WHO , people can get vaccine-associated paralytic polio (PPAV) – that is, be paralyzed. Note that the proportion of cases of paralysis among people who contract wild polio is 12,000 times higher, i.e. 1 in 200, according to the WHO .
    The subtypes of the dengue virus are sufficiently different from one another for this phenomenon to exist. At the moment, COVID variants are a few mutations here and there: it’s not comparable. I can’t tell you absolutely that it’s not going to happen, but right now, there’s no big clue that it’s going to happen,”says Benoit Barbeau.

    Other false claims

    Astrid Stuckelberger spreads several other false information that has already been denied in the viral video.
    The researcher says in particular that the WHO has admitted that PCR tests are not effective (this is false, Le Soleil explains why here (new window)). She says the same thing about the CDC, which is also false (the Decryptors article about this can be read about it). here (new window)).
    Stuckelberger also argues that COVID-19 has never been isolated, which would prove that it  does not exist in scientific terms. This is wrong, and the Decryptors have it denial last october (new window).
    Finally, she insists that the current vaccination campaign is  an experimental research  and a therapeutic  trial,saying not  antivax, but today, yes. This argument often comes up among anti-vaccine activists, and Benoit Barbeau believes it is important to qualify this type of statement.
     There have been preclinical and clinical studies, tens of thousands of individuals have been tested, we have done a close follow-up that continues, and at the moment in the field we are at millions of given doses. I think at some point, with the data coming out and a fairly high yield, you have to come to the conclusion that at least for the efficacy and the level of safety, the data is extremely convincing,says the virologist.
     We also often hear about the famous medium- or long-term effects. We have almost no vaccine that we have used recently for which we can boast of having done medium- or long-term analyses. I mean, we won’t wait 20 or 25 years to make sure a vaccine is safe. The chances of something happening are extremely low because the side effects are usually short-term,he adds.
    Recall that Pfizer’s vaccine was fully licensed in the U.S. on August 23 , although he had been granted an emergency authorisation since December.
    It is especially in populations with poor vaccination coverage that PPAV is a major problem, explains Benoit Barbeau, a professor in UQAM’s Department of Biological Sciences and a specialist in virology.  It is an extremely transmissible virus and it is for this reason that we must insist and ensure that the entire population is protected from the virus,he says.
    The problem with Stuckelberger’s reasoning is that messenger RNA vaccines currently on the market (Pfizer and Moderna) do not contain an attenuated or even inactive virus, making infection with the vaccine impossible, barbeau says.  The only possible equivalent is AstraZeneca or COVISHIELD, where an infectious adenovirus is used, but it is non-replicative,this meaning that it has been genetically modified so as not to reproduce and not cause disease he adds. This is also false information that has been denied to several  times .
    When it comes to dengue, the situation is more complicated and has nothing to do with COVID-19 vaccines. There are four different subtypes of the virus with immunity specific to each subtype. This means that one can be infected with one subtype, develop immunity to it, but still be infected with the other subtypes.
    In addition, a second infection may have much more severe symptoms than the first , a phenomenon known by the acronym ADE (antibody-dependent enhancement in English).
    It is for these reasons, among other reasons, that a vaccination campaign against dengue fever was suspended in the Philippines in 2017 , while a dozen children who received the vaccine died.
    he subtypes of the dengue virus are sufficiently different from one another for this phenomenon to exist. At the moment, COVID variants are a few mutations here and there: it’s not comparable. I can’t tell you absolutely that it’s not going to happen, but right now, there’s no big clue that it’s going to happen,”says Benoit Barbeau.

    Other false claims

    Astrid Stuckelberger spreads several other false information that has already been denied in the viral video.
    The researcher says in particular that the WHO has admitted that PCR tests are not effective (this is false, Le Soleil explains why here (new window)). She says the same thing about the CDC, which is also false (the Decryptors article about this can be read about it). here (new window)).
    Stuckelberger also argues that COVID-19 has never been isolated, which would prove that it  does not exist in scientific terms. This is wrong, and the Decryptors have it denial last october (new window).
    Finally, she insists that the current vaccination campaign is  an experimental research  and a therapeutic  trial,saying not  antivax, but today, yes. This argument often comes up among anti-vaccine activists, and Benoit Barbeau believes it is important to qualify this type of statement.
     There have been preclinical and clinical studies, tens of thousands of individuals have been tested, we have done a close follow-up that continues, and at the moment in the field we are at millions of given doses. I think at some point, with the data coming out and a fairly high yield, you have to come to the conclusion that at least for the efficacy and the level of safety, the data is extremely convincing,says the virologist.
     We also often hear about the famous medium- or long-term effects. We have almost no vaccine that we have used recently for which we can boast of having done medium- or long-term analyses. I mean, we won’t wait 20 or 25 years to make sure a vaccine is safe. The chances of something happening are extremely low because the side effects are usually short-term,he adds.
    Recall that Pfizer’s vaccine was fully licensed in the U.S. on August 23 (new window), although he had been granted an emergency authorisation since December.

    Nicholas De Rosa- RCI

  • North Halton Sees increase of relay, and reprogramming thefts

    North Halton Sees increase of relay, and reprogramming thefts

    By: Shazia Nazir, Local Journalism Initiative
    North Halton has seen an increase of car thefts using relay and reprogramming technology.  Since January, Halton Regional Police Service (HRPS) has attributed to 52 thefts throughout the Milton, and Halton Hills area.
    What are Relay Thefts?
    Thieves use a “relay device” to find a signal from a fob inside a house, and can amplify it without entry.  The cars then use the signal to unlock and steal cars, often from the owners’ driveways.
    What is a reprogramming theft?
    Thieves will first physically enter a vehicle, and then they gain access to diagnostic port and are able reprogram a blank key fob.
    Over 55% of these thefts involve Lexus RX350, Toyota SUV, and Honda CR-V models. These makes and models are consistent with the Top 10 reported stolen vehicles in Canada as reported by the Insurance Bureau of Canada. Police  aware of this trend and takes preventative steps to ensure their property remains secure from theft.
    Although recent arrests have been made, Police advise the public to use to the following techniques to prevent/ mitigate thefts:

    • Park your vehicle in a locked and secured garage
    • Install an on-board diagnostic blocker
    • Install a steering wheel lock device
    • Combine the above measures with an aftermarket GPS tracking device
    • Place vehicle key fob inside a radio frequency shielding bag when not in use
    • Lock your vehicle at all times
    • Equip your vehicle with an alarm
    • Install home security cameras that capture the exterior of your residence, including the driveway
    • Take steps to conceal the Vehicle Identification Number (V.I.N.)


    HRPS reminds residents to call 911 if they see a crime in progress, suspicious persons or vehicles in their neighbourhood.  Submit tips and information to Crime Stoppers by phone at: 1-800-222-8477, or through their website

  • Many provinces see rise in per-student spending on public schools

    By: Shazia Nazir
    A new study released last month by the Fraser Institute released earlier this months shows education spending on public schools across Canada has increased in 7 of 10 provinces when compared to the previous five year period available.
    “Contrary to the popular narrative that education spending has been cut, spending increases in public schools exceeds what was required to account for enrolment changes and inflation,” said Paige MacPherson, associate director of education policy at the Fraser Institute and co-author of Education Spending in Public Schools in Canada, Fall 2021.
    Spending increased on a per-student basis in seven of ten provinces with  Nova Scotia seeing the largest increase at 9.2%.  Quebec at 7.3%, Prince Edward Island at 5.1% and Ontario at 2.8% made up the top four. Saskatchewan, Newfoundland and Labrador, Alberta recorded decreases.
    New Brunswick recorded an increase of $15,486, and British Columba had the lowest at $12,513.  The average per-student funding was $14,070.
    In terms of per-student spending in public schools as of 2018-19, New Brunswick had the highest level at $15,486 while British Columbia had the lowest at $12,513. The national average was $14,070.“Before parents and taxpayers can begin to assess value for money in education, it’s crucial that they understand how much is being spent and exactly where these dollars are going,” said MacPherson.
    The study also looks at compensation (salaries, wages, fringe benefits, and pensions) contributed the most to national spending growth. “Compensation increases – including teachers’ salaries, pensions, benefits, and other costs – are driving the spending growth in Canadian public schools,” MacPherson said.
     

  • Federal leaders spar over vaccines, health care and guns in first French-language debate

    The main party leaders appeared on stage for the first time Thursday in a French-language debate that was at times raucous as the four men fiercely competed for votes in a province that could very well decide who is Canada’s next prime minister.
    The two-hour debate, hosted by TVA, a major broadcaster in Quebec, was a chance for Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau to regain some of the momentum he had earlier this summer when polls showed he had a massive lead in the country’s second largest province.
    CBC’s Poll Tracker still has Trudeau and the Liberals ahead of others in Quebec but the margin has narrowed.
    The first half of the debate was dominated by talk of the COVID-19 pandemic as Trudeau asked voters to return his party to government after its stewardship of the country during this 19-month long health crisis.
    Trudeau presented himself as a vaccine champion, the man who secured enough doses to get everyone eligible for a shot fully vaccinated by July, and the leader who will keep people safe in the fourth wave of this pandemic by pushing mandatory vaccines for federal public servants and the travelling public.
    Trudeau said Conservative Party Leader Erin O’Toole can’t be trusted because he won’t even force his candidates to get a shot while out on the campaign trail.
    O’Toole, who is opposed to vaccine mandates, said Trudeau was intent on dividing the country during a health crisis. O’Toole said he’s not against vaccines — O’Toole and his wife had their shots and filmed the process to encourage supporters to get theirs — but he said, We shouldn’t force Canadians. It’s a decision for individual Canadians on a health matter.
    O’Toole has proposed deploying rapid tests instead of demanding shots for everyone who takes a train or plane. We must find reasonable accommodations for people. We have to work together without a lot of division, O’Toole said.

    Trudeau grilled on election call

    Trudeau’s three opponents piled on Trudeau for calling the election with COVID-19 cases on the rise. Trudeau’s main challenger in Quebec, Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet, said it was irresponsible to plunge the country into a campaign when Parliament was working well to pass COVID-19 aid and other bills.
    Trudeau hit back saying it was hypocritical for Blanchet to criticize an election call when he and Bloc MPs voted four times against key government bills which, had they been defeated in the Commons, would have prompted an election earlier this year when COVID-19 case counts were worse.
    Blanchet scolded Trudeau for flouting public health guidelines on the campaign trail by posing for selfies and hugging some supporters. Trudeau said it must be frustrating for Blanchet to see Canadians show affection for another leader.
    O’Toole said Canadians shouldn’t be heading to the polls with the country still in the throes of a health crisis, with B.C. beset by wildfires and Afghanistan grappling with a Taliban takeover.
    He said Canadians deserve a change at the top, calling Trudeau an ethics-challenged leader who must be replaced as the country enters the next phase of this health crisis.
    Trudeau said now is the right time to have Canadians weigh in on how we’ll end this pandemic.
    We must give Canadians the choice and Canadians deserve a working Parliament. Canadians must choose how we finish this. They must choose, he said, saying a vote for the Conservatives would be a vote against vaccine mandates and a national child care system. There’s a clear choice.
    Trudeau spent most of the night on the attack against O’Toole, his main opponent in the national race, who has swung from also-ran to front-runner status in the first three weeks of the federal election campaign.

    O’Toole hit over two-tier healthcare

    Trudeau and O’Toole sparred over health care funding with the Liberal leader raising O’Toole’s past support for more for-profit health care in Canada to help address some of the current system’s failings. Trudeau claimed the Conservative leader would bring about two-tier health care, which, he said, would only benefit the rich.
    Trudeau repeatedly pressed O’Toole to say if he’d allow private interests to take over more parts of the system, but the Conservative leader dodged giving a direct answer.
    Two-tier — that’s not what Quebecers or Canadians want, Trudeau said.
    O’Toole said he unequivocally supports a public and universal system and, rather than end the current system, he’ll pump an historic amount without conditions into provincial coffers to help them make improvements. O’Toole said the Liberals have been twisting his words — Twitter branded a video recently posted by Liberal candidate Chrystia Freeland manipulated media — and Canadians deserve better than that.”
    Throughout the debate, Blanchet stuck to the usual separatist script — blasting the federalist parties for ignoring the unique needs of Quebec as he tried to woo voters and add to the 32 seats he won in the last election.
    He said the Liberal plan to send more money to the provinces for health care and long-term care homes with some strings attached infringes on Quebec’s jurisdiction — the Liberals want national standards for these seniors residences after they were hard hit by COVID-19 in the early days of the pandemic.
    We need nurses, not bureaucrats, Blanchet said. Just give the money to provinces so they can get the job done.
    The debate was a test for the two non-native French speakers: O’Toole and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh. O’Toole’s spoken French has improved since he contested the Conservative leadership race last year and Singh is more fluent than he was in the 2019 campaign. But at times, both struggled to fully understand what the TVA moderator, Pierre Bruneau, was asking.
    O’Toole spent all of Thursday in debate prep with his French-speaking staff, eschewing all campaign events in advance of the debate. Singh rented a food truck and handed poutine out to voters in Montreal while Trudeau ordered smoked meat sandwiches on Montreal’s St-Laurent Boulevard.
    Singh, who, as leader in the 2019 election, saw his party’s once sizeable Quebec contingent reduced to just one seat, made a direct appeal to the province’s progressive voters. While the NDP’s policy book mirrors some of what the Liberals have also pitched, Singh said he’d actually implement the policies he is promising, while Trudeau has long promised but failed to deliver.

    Medical assistance in dying

    Another contentious health issue — medical assistance in dying — was another of the TVA-picked topics up for debate.
    In response to a 2019 Quebec court ruling, the Liberal government passed legislation this year to extend eligibility to people whose natural deaths are not reasonably foreseeable. The Conservative platform calls for a rethink of the MAID regime, calling the current law vague  and says that it devalues human life because there are no safeguards.
    In the face of Trudeau’s attacks, O’Toole said: We will maintain a ban on assault weapons.
    However, the Conservative platform is clear that a government led by O’Toole would start by repealing C-71 and the May 2020 order in council and conducting a review of the Firearms Act. The May 2020 order (new window) is the “assault-style” firearms ban that outlawed some 1,500 makes and models of military-grade weapons in Canada.
    That prompted Trudeau to say O’Toole was saying one thing to Quebecers and something else to other Canadians.
    Another topic of debate Thursday was climate change. In the last election, the Conservative’s lacklustre climate plan turned off some moderate voters who wanted to see Canada take aggressive action to address environmental concerns at a time when UN scientists are warning that urgent action is needed now.

    Climate change

    Quebecers are among the Canadians most likely to tell pollsters that climate change is the issue they care most about. To gain vote share with Quebecers and other climate-minded voters, O’Toole has beefed up the party’s green platform. The party’s playbook calls for carbon pricing to encourage Canadians to use cleaner energy sources — but he took heat from Trudeau for his plan to rollback the country’s climate reduction targets.
    If elected, O’Toole has said he will push the reset button on Canada’s climate change plan, returning to the previous national target of reducing emissions by 30 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030. Earlier this year, the Liberal government dumped that goal and committed to deeper cuts, promising to bring emissions down by 40 to 45 per cent by the end of the decade.
    He’s going to take us back to the Harper targets. Quebecers want leadership on climate and you’re proposing to take us back and that’s completely unacceptable, Trudeau said.
    But Trudeau faced criticism for his own actions on climate. Singh said Trudeau says the right things, he has nice words but emissions have only gone up over the last six years of Liberal government.
    The NDP leader added that Canada has the worst results on emissions of all the G7 countries, and accused Trudeau of not delivering on his environmental promises.
    According to the latest report from Environment and Climate Change Canada, the country’s emissions have ticked up on Trudeau’s watch.
    In 2019, the first year of the federal carbon pricing regimen, commonly called the carbon tax, Canada produced 730 megatonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, an increase of one megatonne — or 0.2 per cent — over 2018.
    The 730 megatonnes of emissions recorded in 2019 is slightly higher than the 723 megatonnes Canada churned out in 2015, the year Trudeau first took office.
    Blanchet said Trudeau can’t claim to be a climate champion when he bought a major crude oil pipeline like Trans Mountain, the now government-owned line that carries oil from Alberta to B.C. for export. The Crown corporation that owns the line is in the process of building a large expansion to nearly triple its capacity.
    Trudeau said we still need oil in Quebec and across the countryand we’ll certainly invest all the profits in the green transition. The pipeline will help us get a better price for our oil – and that will help us with the transition, he said.
    You can’t tell someone I’m going to mend your broken leg by breaking the other one, Blanchet said in response.
    John Paul Tasker  · CBC News

  • From mu to C.1.2, here are the latest coronavirus variants scientists are watching closely

    Scientists have warned the coronavirus will keep evolving as it spreads around the world, and there are now multiple new variants being watched closely by global research teams.
    One of those, B.1.621, also known as mu, has been dubbed the latest variant of interest  by the World Health Organization (WHO). Another, C.1.2, is the subject of headline-making new research  exploring how it behaves. Other variants are likely waiting in the wings, yet to be detected.
    So why do these new variants matter, what are they capable of, and how much should Canadians care?
    Right now, the highly-contagious delta variant — deemed a variant of concern by the WHO back in May — is dominating Canada’s COVID-19 cases, making up more than 90 per cent of reported recent infections according to federal data (new window).
    But that doesn’t mean other emerging variants don’t warrant close observation.
    Looking at this virus, it’s obvious that we will have new variants, said Alyson Kelvin, a virologist at the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO) at the University of Saskatchewan.
    What we need to do is to be ready for identifying cases … as well as other variants that are inevitably going to start emerging around the world.
    Here’s what Canadians need to know:

    What is the B.1.621 — or mu — variant?

    B.1.621 is the latest variant of interest, according to the WHO, and was given the designation — and a catchier Greek alphabet-based name, mu — on August 30.
    The mu variant has a constellation of mutations that indicate potential properties of immune escape, reads the WHO’s latest weekly epidemiological update.That means those with some level of immunity to earlier strains, either by previous infection or vaccination, might be susceptible to infection from mu — but that’s only according to preliminary data and needs to be confirmed by further studies, the update continued.
    The variant was first detected in Colombia back in January, and since then, the country has experienced hundreds of cases and the variant has also been reported in 39 other countries around the world.
    Here in Canada, it’s barely making a splash: Mu cases have been reported for weeks , but so far, the variant hasn’t made up more than three per cent of cases in any given week and recently totaled just 0.3 per cent — though federal data since mid-July is still accumulating and could change.

    What is the C.1.2 variant?

    The variant C.1.2 isn’t deemed a variant of interest or concern yet by the WHO, but researchers are pushing the organization to watch it closely.
    A team of scientists from South Africa detected the new variant, which was first observed in May and has since spread to seven other countries in Africa, Europe, Asia and Oceania, according to a preprint study (new window) that hasn’t yet been peer-reviewed.
    It’s still not clear where this came from, noted Dr. Zain Chagla, an infectious diseases specialist with McMaster University in Hamilton. It was first identified in South Africa but people need to know that South Africa has actually quite good sequencing networks and so it may not be the origin.
    Richard Lessells, an infectious disease specialist and one of the authors of the research on C.1.2, told Reuters the variant may have even more immune-evasion properties than delta (new window), based on its pattern of mutations, and that the findings had been flagged to the WHO.
    However, it’s not known yet if the variant is actually more contagious, or more capable of evading the immunity provided by either vaccines or a prior coronavirus infection.These things need time to see, Chagla said. Delta is incredibly fit, and incredibly virulent and replaces [other strains] aggressively. We still haven’t seen suggestions of this yet [with C.1.2].

    How worried should Canadians be right now?

    Given that delta makes up the lion’s share of Canada’s COVID-19 cases and there’s still much we don’t know about mu or C.1.2 — concerns over emerging variants need to be put into context.
    Chagla said it’s important to keep studying and monitoring the C.1.2 variant, but there’s no need for panic yet.
    There has been an increased spread of C.1.2, and it’s a rising percentage of sequenced cases in various countries outside of South Africa, Chagla said, but nothing on the scale of delta and it remains to be seen if we’ll experience more global spread.
    It’s still not clear whether or not that just means there’s a lot of local spread amongst particular groups that just seems to be over-represented — or if it’s a legitimate growth pattern, he added.
    We still don’t know, if you put things in the same pool, whether or not delta is going to be much more virulent.
    Chagla says that much like other variants that have emerged over the course of the pandemic — including variants of concern like alpha, beta, lambda and, now, mu — they could either be overtaken by delta or burn themselves out over time.
    Right now, it seems that there aren’t a large number of cases for [C.1.2], Kelvin said. But now that we have this identified, then surveillance centres around the world can start to determine, are they seeing numbers of these cases as well?
    To figure out how often variant cases are appearing here, the Public Health Agency of Canada works with the provinces, territories, and the Canadian COVID-19 Genomics Network to sequence a percentage of all positive COVID-19 test results.
    Sequencing reveals the genetic code of the virus, showing which variant was involved in a specific case of COVID-19, and those results are reported each week .

    Why do new variants matter in the global fight against COVID-19?

    New variants have emerged throughout the pandemic in populations with low vaccine coverage that have been hit hard by unchecked COVID-19 transmission — including India, South America and Africa — and experts say this trend is likely to continue until more of the world is vaccinated.
    This is an incredibly big reminder — even if this is a false alarm — of what global vaccine equity means, said Chagla.
    Many of us starting to see the delta wave in Sub-Saharan Africa were very, very worried about what could come of that. Chagla says the region has low vaccination levels, poor quality healthcare systems and a large population of immunocompromised individuals, with rates of HIV in some countries as high as 15 to 20 per cent of the adult population.
    That was kind of a mixing pot of bad scenarios to lead to the development of a variant … so I don’t think we can be surprised to see that something seems to have shown up, he said.
    And we kind of just watch it happen in that sense, and we continue to watch it happen.
    It’s also clear these variants don’t stay put.
    Even if they emerge in one area of the world, cases later appear elsewhere — meaning other countries, including Canada, are eventually impacted yet again by this ever-evolving virus.
    Lauren Pelley , Adam Miller  · CBC News

  • Ontario Moving on an Enhanced Vaccine Certificate

    By: Laura Steiner
    Ontario is introducing an enhanced vaccine certification beginning September 22, 2021.  The announcement was made earlier today by Premier Doug Ford, and Health Minister Christine Elliott.
    “Based on the latest evidence and best advice, COVID-19 vaccine certificates give us the best chance to slow the spread of the virus while helping us to avoid further lockdowns,” Ford said.  A full vaccine is considered having two full doses of a Health-Canada approved COVID-19 vaccine plus a wait of 14 days after the second.
    Certificates will be required to access the following facilities:

    • Restaurants and bars; excluding outdoor patios, delivery services, and takeout
    • Nightclubs; excluding outdoor areas
    • Fitness & sports facilities such as: gyms, fitness and recreational facilities.  Exception: youth recreational sport
    • Sporting events
    • Casinos, bingo halls and gaming establishments
    • Concerts, music festivals, theatres and cinemas
    • Strip clubs, bathhouses and sex clubs
    • Racing venues (horse racing)

    Between September 22 and October 12, 2021 the certificates will consist of the vaccine receipts  given out after appointments, and a valid piece of photo idea.   “Combining the use of a QR code with a trusted, made in Ontario verifier app will help support the province’s health measures,” Minister of Digital Government Kaleed Rasheed said. After  the October 12, the province hopes to have an app complete with a QR code to make it easier for businesses to check on vaccination status.
    The announcement comes on the same day the Ontario Science Table releases new data saying the province is in a fourth wave fueled by the more contagious Delta variant.  If the province continues on its current trajectory we could reach 4,000/day within the next month.  A more positive picture takes into account decreased transmission could see as little as 500 cases/ day.   “We are already seeing a rise in the number of cases of COVID-19 as we head into the fall.  As we enter the last mile push to increase vaccination rates, the introduction of a vaccine certificate is an important first step to give people the tools to limit the further spread of the virus so that we can ensure the safety of all Ontarians while keeping the province open and operational,” Ontario Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore said.
    For more information on the new certificate visit the list of Frequently Asked Questions here

  • Canada says it knows of hundreds of citizens and permanent residents left in Afghanistan

    As the Taliban declared victory this morning, the federal government said roughly 1,250 Canadian citizens, permanent residents and family members remain in Afghanistan.
    Canada was part of a coalition airlifting those seeking refuge out of the country as the Taliban seized control of Kabul. The government said it was able to get 3,700 people out of Afghanistan, but last week couldn’t answer how many citizens were stranded.
    On Tuesday, Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau said the government is now aware of 1,250 Canadian citizens, permanent residents and their families still in Afghanistan.
    The government also announced it has reached an agreement with the U.S. to co-operate on the safe passage of Afghan nationals out of Afghanistan and will accept 5,000 Afghan refugees who were evacuated by the U.S.
    Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino said Canada and its allies have received word from the Taliban that those with proper documentation can leave the country,
    Over the weekend, Canada and its allies received assurances from the Taliban that Afghan citizens with travel authorization from other countries would be allowed to safely leave Afghanistan, he said.
    We have a clear commitment from the Taliban, and we are going to hold them to it.
    Earlier Tuesday morning, the Taliban marched into Kabul’s international airport, hours after the final U.S. troop withdrawal that ended the U.S.’s longest war.
    Afghanistan is finally free, Hekmatullah Wasiq, a top Taliban official, told The Associated Press on the tarmac.
    The military and civilian side [of the airport] are with us and in control. Hopefully, we will be announcing our cabinet. Everything is peaceful. Everything is safe.
    Garneau urged those still in the country to stay put while coalition officials work to figure next steps. He said he’s speaking with his counterpart in Pakistan about processing refugees crossing into that country.
    Last week, as the airlift mission wrapped, the government said visas issued to those Afghans eligible to come to Canada will remain valid even if they haven’t left the country yet.
    Mendicino said his department is working to make sure the language on the documents is updated so people can leave the country.
    The Liberals have faced mounting criticism of their government’s response to the crisis on the campaign trail so far with both Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh suggesting they responded too late.
    CBC News wth files from The Associated Press

  • What school will look like this fall as Canada struggles to bring COVID-19 under control

    It’s the start of a third pandemic-disrupted school year, but what Canadian students will face during this fourth wave of COVID-19 (new window) will look strikingly different depending on where they live.
    While some are disheartened at the easing of safety measures — It feels as if we’re kind of waltzing back to school, said public education advocate Annie Kidder of People for Education — others are more optimistic, given our vaccination rates and experiences drawn from last year.
    We can’t just look at case numbers…. We also have to look at what our hospitalization rates are, ICU rates and death rates — and those numbers have thankfully remained much lower as a proportion to the total cases, said Dr. Jacqueline Wong, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at McMaster Children’s Hospital in Hamilton.
    Here’s a quick comparison of back-to-school plans across the country.

    North

    Yukon schools aim to be at “near normal” operations  with some health and safety measures remaining, including mandatory masking on buses and in indoor school common areas (they can be taken off in class). Physical distancing is still encouraged. Field trips that follow public health guidelines are permitted, with outdoor education and on the land programming encouraged.

    Schools in the Northwest Territories will similarly have mandatory masking on buses and indoor common areas in schools , but they will ease some measures, such as physical distancing in classrooms for Grade 7 and up (but It’s still recommended for K-6). Visitors will be limited in schools. Still on hold: indoor classes for drama, singing, music, band; assemblies, high-contact sports and tournaments. Remote learning is available for students with medical concerns.

    The Nunavut plan includes daily symptom screening and detailed isolation plans in case of exposure. Masking is at the discretion of public health officials depending on COVID-19 in the community, but it is mandatory for essential visitors not fully vaccinated (no non-essential visitors are permitted). No school assemblies or concerts will be held, but enhanced cleaning, disinfection and physical-distancing requirements are in place for limited gatherings, such as sessions with elders. Schools must prepare for a shift to emergency remote instruction, if needed.

    British Columbia and Alberta

    British Columbia‘s measures include daily COVID-19 screening, mandatory masks indoors and on buses for all staff and students in Grade 4 and up (encouraged for Grade 3 and under) and some ventilation upgrades. Music classes resume, but with masks for singing. School meal programs, assemblies and extracurricular activities are back, but with no inter-school competitions or tournaments. Regional public health units may also introduce additional measures for individual schools or districts, depending on community transmission.

  • Milton Transit Service Changes effective September 7

    Milton Transit is making some changes to their routes effective September 7, 2021.
    Transit on Demand:

    • Routes: 1A, 1B, and 1C are being placed the Transit-On-Demand service
    • The New-OnDemand area will be known as the 401 Industrial zone
    • 10 Farmstead will also be replaced by Transit On Demand.

    Expanded hours for all routes are: Weekdays: 5:20 a.m.-10:11 p.m., and Saturdays: 7:10 a.m.-7:40 p.m.
    Route Adjustments to align with GO trains:

    2 Main

    • West: First weekday trip departs Milton GO Station at 5:27 a.m.
    • West: Last weekday trip departs Milton GO Station at 9:45 p.m.
    • East: First weekday trip departs Milton GO Station at 5:57 a.m.
    • East: Last weekday trip departs Milton GO Station at 9:45 p.m.

    3 Trudeau

    • First weekday trip departs Milton GO Station at 5:27 a.m.
    • Last weekday trip departs Milton GO Station at 7:30 p.m.

    4 Thompson/Clark

    • First weekday trip departs Milton GO Station at 5:27 a.m.
    • Last weekday trip departs Milton GO Station at 7:30 p.m

    5 Yates

    • First weekday trip departs Milton GO Station at 5:57 a.m.
    • Last weekday trip departs Milton GO Station at 7 p.m.

    6 Scott

    • First weekday trip departs Milton GO Station at 5:27 a.m.
    • Last weekday trip departs Milton GO Station at 8:15 p.m.

    7 Harrison

    • First weekday trip departs Milton GO Station at 5:27 a.m.
    • Last weekday trip departs Milton GO Station at 8:15 p.m.

    8 Willmott

    • First weekday trip departs Milton GO Station at 5:57 a.m.
    • Last weekday trip departs Milton GO Station at 7:30 p.m.

    9 Ontario South

    • First weekday trip departs Milton GO Station at 5:27 a.m.
    • Last weekday trip departs Milton GO Station at 7:30 p.m.

    Changes to the Special School Service:

    • Weekday morning service arriving at St. Francis Xavier at 7:52 a.m., and Milton District at 8:01 a.m.
    • Weekday afternoon service departing from St. Francis Xavier and Milton District at 2:27 p.m.

    51 school special

    • Weekday morning service arriving at St. Francis Xavier at 7:50 a.m., and Milton District at 7:58 a.m.
    • Weekday afternoon service departing from Milton District at 2:27 p.m., and St. Francis Xavier at 2:48 p.m.

    52 school special

    • Weekday afternoon service departing from Craig Keilburger at 2:50 p.m. and St. Francis Xavier at 3:10 p.m.

    Riders can buy transit tickets and passes through “open ticket agents” or through the mobile app.  Exact cash payment is welcome on the bus.
    For more information on the changes listed above, or to buy tickets, visit their website

  • Rights group urges urgent action to protect Afghan migrants

    By: Shazia Nazir, Local Journalism Initiative
    The Migrant Rights Network is urging the Canadian government to take immediate action to support Afghan migrants and refugees.
    The group insists Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s promise to relocate “as many as possible” must come with urgent timelines, full government financial and logistical support, and full rights and protections for those coming to or already in Canada.
    The Migrant Rights Network urges the Canadian government to immediately ensure immediate safe passage by any means to the following groups:

    • Afghans and their families,
    • those who may face reprisals, including women’s and human rights defenders,
    • Those that acted acted in any capacity that aided the Canadian military of government (interpreters, volunteers, employees or advisors

    Documentation and application requirements must be waived in response to the dire situation under the new regime in Afghanistan.
    The network is also calling all deportations of Afghans in Canada, including to “safe third countries.” Other demands include that Permanent Resident status be immediately granted to all Afghans ant their families currently in Canada.  And that all application processes immediately waived.
    The Migrants Rights’  network is also calling for the federal government to take full responsibility for resettlement of Afghan refugees.  Canada formally ended its airlift rescue mission to Kabul Thursday August 26.    According to Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada, approximately 8,000 applications were received under a special program for Afghan interpreters.  Of those approximately 2,700 made it to safety.