The Tilbury Times

Year: 2021

  • Conservation Halton Cautions Residents Near Waterways

    Conservation Halton Cautions Residents Near Waterways

    By: Laura Steiner
    Conservation Halton is asking residents to be careful near waterways.  The weather in February has been cooler, leading to lots of snow throughout the month.
    The temperatures have been trending above 0 Celcius, which, will begin to melt the snowpack that has built up during the month.
    “While Conservation Halton has always encouraged everyone to get outside and has been pleased to see the amount of community interest in exploring the outdoors during the ongoing pandemic, it is important that residents are aware of the dangers that exist around water, especially as we approach spring,” Manager of Flood Forecasting and Operations, Conservation Halton Glenn Farmer said.  The melting snow combined rainfall and frozen ground conditions can lead to faster flowing water in creeks, and rivers.
    Conservation Halton offers the following the tips:
    • Keep family and pets away from the edges of all bodies of water.
    • Avoid all recreational activities in or around water, especially near ice jams or ice-covered watercourses and waterbodies—including municipally managed stormwater ponds.
    • Do not attempt to walk on ice-covered waterbodies or drive through flooded roads or fast-moving water.
    • If you live close to the water, move objects such as chairs or benches away from the water’s edge to avoid losing them during potential spring high water.
    • Avoid walking close to and across riverbanks and ice-covered water to prevent falling through.
    For more information contact Conservation Halton at: 905-336-1158.

  • Canadian band The Tragically Hip garners humanitarian award

    By: Lynn Desjardins
    he Canadian rock band The Tragically Hip has helped raise millions of dollars for social and environmental causes and is set to be recognized for it. The band will receive the 2021 Humanitarian Award Presented by Music Canada, a non-profit trade organization that promotes the interests of its members as well as the artists. This will happen at the 50th annual JUNO Awards, a ceremony which acknowledges Canadian musical artists and bands and is equivalent to the Grammy Awards given in the U.S.
    The Tragically Hip originated in Kingston, Ontario in 1984 gaining mass popularity with more than 10 million albums sold worldwide. The band has won 15 JUNO awards and has been inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. Vocalist Gord Downie was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer in 2015, but went on to tour with the band to showcase their thirteenth album, Man Machine Poem. The final concert was a highly emotional event and was broadcast by the public broadcaster, CBC on television, radio and internet streaming. Downie died on October 17, 2017 and in July 2018 the band decided to retire its name.
    From early on, the band had engaged in fundraising and social awareness efforts. Members played host to many benefit concerts over the years and raised money for causes like Camp Trillium for children with cancer, the Canadian Cancer Society, the Sunnybrook Foundation which supports research, education and equipment initiatives at the health centre of the same name, the Special Olympics and more. Recently, the band donated over $50,000 to the music industry charity, Unison Benevolent Fund.
    The JUNO awards will be broadcast on May 16, 2021 on  CBC TV, CBC Gem, CBC Radio One, CBC Music and streaming globally on CBCmusic.ca/junos.

  • PHAC Cooperating with HRPS over Screening Officer Arrest

    By: Laura Steiner
    The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) is aware of the situation in Halton Region involving one of its Quarantine Screening Officers.
    The officer, identified  by Halton Regional Police Service (HRPS) as 27 year old Hemant of Hamilton stands charged with one count each of sexual assault and extortion.  “The Public Health Agency of Canada is aware of the situation, and is very disturbed by the alleged events,” Health Canada Spokesman Eric Morrissette said in statement.  PHAC is cooperating fully with police on this issue.
    The Quarantine Act  gives the Public Health Agency of Canada the authority to screen incoming travelers to Canada for COVID19, and ensure compliance with the 14-day quarantine period.  The agency awarded four different companies initial contracts to do in-person compliance checks in January.  January 29, the checks began in Montreal and Toronto.  National roll-out began earlier this month.  PHAC reaches 6,500 travellers per day.
    The screening officers are licensed.  They have to go through a series of online self-study courses relating to the Quarantine Act, Screening Officer designation and Privacy Basics and Privacy Impact Assessment, and pass an exam.  Additional training on Compliance and Enforcement as well as the ArriveCAN app. Officers are also required to sign a non-disclosure agreement, agreeing to only use the information for compliance and verification purposes.  There have been approximately 30,000 compliance visits so far, according to the agency’s numbers.
    Officers are unable to issue tickets, demand payment or conduct arrests.  Hemant is scheduled to appear in court March 23, 2021. Police are concerned there could be other victims.  Those with information are encouraged to come forward either anonymously to Crime Stoppers or by calling: 1-800-222-8477.

  • Concern after elderly St. Catharines man narrowly misses out on COVID-19 vaccination

    By: Jordan Snobelen, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
    Source: Niagara this Week
    The daughter of an 82-year-old St. Catharines resident and veteran of the Royal Canadian Navy has some lingering concerns after her father, Johnson Mont, narrowly missed out on receiving a COVID-19 vaccination this past January.
    As a resident of The Royal Henley Retirement Community in St. Catharines since 2017, Mont could have met eligibility to receive the potentially life-saving vaccine during a scheduled clinic at the residence on Jan. 27.
    But after undergoing vascular bypass surgery last year, Mont ended up at Hotel Dieu Shaver Health and Rehabilitation Centre on Dec. 22, 2020.
    On Christmas night, a COVID-19 outbreak was declared on the second floor of Hotel Dieu Shaver, in unit two west, where Mont was staying as an in-patient. He is still at the rehabilitation centre, which is no longer in outbreak.
    “He (is) the most vulnerable of the vulnerable and he was surrounded by COVID-19,” said daughter Cheryl Mont.
    “He’s very frail and in very poor health and I did not think his odds of surviving were very good,” she said.
    Despite living in Toronto without a car, Mont was determined to get her father transported to The Royal Henley, only to be informed on Jan. 26 that he wouldn’t be accommodated with Shaver in an outbreak.
    “(The Royal Henley) did not consider or inquire as to his interest in the vaccine, and they did not include him on their list,” Mont said, alleging poor communication placed her father in limbo.
    In an emailed response, Lee Mooney, Henley’s executive director, declined to discuss Mont’s situation “out of concern for confidentiality,” but said it was their understanding that “residents who are not living with us at the time of the vaccination clinic will have an opportunity to be vaccinated upon their return, at the location where they currently reside, or at a ‘round up’ clinic held specifically for seniors who missed receiving their vaccine.”
    Cheryl began reaching out to politicians on Jan. 26, including St. Catharines NDP MPP, Jennie Stevens, who said her office has advocated on behalf of other residents facing similar issues.
    “If family members of people that are in these long-term situations don’t reach out to our office and we don’t amplify their voices, then really nobody will know, and it’s sad,” Stevens said.
    Niagara Region Public Health (NRPH) spokesperson, Courtney Westerhof, said in an email that “vaccine supply has not been plentiful” and the province dictates how vaccines are to be used.
    Westerhof said public health has been diligent in ensuring their limited supply only reaches priority groups set out by the province, and is in the process of administering the second doses of vaccine in long-term-care and high-risk retirement homes. As of Feb. 22, NRPH had administered 9,251 doses.
    Only a day after Mont brought attention to her father’s situation, the elder Mont received a first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at Shaver, and received a second dose on Feb. 17.
    With signed consent from Johnson Mont to disclose his personal health information, Hotel Dieu Shaver spokesperson, Dean Lorenz, said Shaver’s clinical team had been inquiring about vaccines for certain patients in their care who were not included in the long-term-care and retirement homes vaccination program.
    According to Shaver’s chief nursing officer, Jennifer Hansen, nursing manager, Jody Gowling, reached out to public health to see what could be done about Mont’s predicament.
    Hansen said with the assistance of public health, seven patients, including Mont, ended up being vaccinated. “It was a very responsive team effort,” she said.
    For Mont, the whole situation causes her to wonder if there are others missing out, who would otherwise be eligible if not for circumstances like her father’s.
    “It leaves me worried that there are other vulnerable seniors who are not getting the vaccine that they have been allocated because there is nobody to advocate for them.”

  • Wellington County councillors weigh-in on UGDSB review of police presence in schools

    By: Keegan Kozolanka, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, GuelphToday.com
    County of Wellington councillors had some thoughts on the possibility of losing the School Resource Officer (SRO) program in light of a soon-to-be completed review by the Upper Grand District School Board (UGDSB).
    The UGDSB has been undergoing a review of its police presence through a task force since last year, after receiving questions and concern from the community over treatment of BIPOC students.
    During Thursday’s county council meeting, Coun. David Anderson said while giving a report on the Police Services Board meeting that Robin Ross, board trustee and task force member, mentioned to him the Wellington County OPP had been very forthcoming with information relating to this program compared to other police departments.
    Anderson thanked Wellington County OPP detachment commander Insp. Paul Richardson for giving this information and his support for the program.
    “It’s amazing what these officers are doing for our kids and keeping in touch,” Anderson said. “They’re really helping a lot of kids who need help in our school system.”
    Minto mayor George Bridge asked how far along this review is because he’s concerned about not having police officers in school.
    Richardson said this question was timely as he was recently sharing data with UGDSB members to help with their recommendations expected soon.
    “We certainly value our relationship with the students and the schools and we want to be part of the lives of youth in this community,” Richardson said. “We’re hoping those recommendations support that.”
    Mapleton mayor Gregg Davidson, also formerly a Halton Region police officer, said in his experience SROs are a necessity.
    “I remember when this program started…when I was policing and it certainly made a difference,” Davidson said.
    “It made a difference in the crime in the schools and the lives of the students themselves.”
    Coun. Doug Breen said as a high school football coach in Guelph, he has seen this program benefit students going down a bad path but acknowledged there is room for improvement.
    “I absolutely understand concerns with the program and I’m sure if we dig deep enough we’d find some horror stories,” he said.
    “I hope there are things we can do to keep making it better but to knee-jerk throw it out for political reasons I think is a very bad idea.”
    Coun. Diane Ballantyne, a teacher at Centre Wellington District High School, countered some comments made at the meeting.
    She said other people’s experiences with police are not the same as those on council.
    “Questions about the SRO program are not just about ‘politics,’” Ballantyne said.
    “They are about the lived experiences of racialized communities which, again, is not reflected around this particular horseshoe or is our lived experience. I trust the board is gathering input and insight from a variety of diverse voices and they will come to the conclusion that is going to best serve the students in the UGDSB.”
    The task force is expected to bring forward a recommendation to the UGDSB by the end of March.

  • Auditor general faults Ottawa for water crisis in Indigenous communities

    By: Levon Sevunts
    Canada’s auditor general says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government has failed to honour its 2015 pledge to eliminate long-term drinking water advisories in First Nations communities and provide them with access to safe drinking water.
    The Liberals had committed during the 2015 election to eliminating all long-term drinking water advisories on public water systems on First Nations reserves by March 31, 2021.
    But in a report released on Thursday, Auditor General Karen Hogan found that as of November 2020, 60 long-term drinking water advisories were still in effect in 41 First Nations communities. Of the 60, almost half (28) had been in place for more than a decade, the report said.
    “I am very concerned and honestly disheartened that this longstanding issue is still not resolved,” Hogan told a press conference in Ottawa today.
    “Access to safe drinking water is a basic human necessity. I don’t believe anyone would say that this is in any way an acceptable situation in Canada in 2021.”
    The report found that Indigenous Services Canada had not amended the operations and maintenance funding formula for First Nations water systems since it was first developed 30 years ago and a salary gap contributed to problems in retaining qualified water system operators.
    “Until the formula is updated, it will be unclear whether recent funding increases will be sufficient to allow First Nations to operate and maintain their water infrastructure,” Hogan wrote.
    Furthermore, no regulatory regime was in place to help ensure access to safe drinking water in First Nations communities, she wrote.
    Hogan recommended the department work with First Nations to proactively identify and address deficiencies in water systems to prevent recurring problems.
    “Implementing sustainable solutions requires continued partnership between the department and First Nation,” she wrote.
    “Until these solutions are implemented, First Nations communities will continue to experience challenges in accessing safe drinking water — a basic human necessity.”

    ‘A large system of patchwork policies’

    Speaking to reporters ahead of the release of the report on Wednesday, Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller said the federal government remains committed to meeting its pledge and “will not stop until long-term water advisories are lifted regardless of the challenges faced in getting there.”
    There were 105 water advisories on First Nations reserves when the Liberals came to power in the fall of 2015, Miller said.
    “Once we began the work, it became clear that transforming water infrastructure on reserves also meant confronting a large system of patchwork policies and historic underfunding,” Miller said.
    Some isolated First Nations communities lacked four-season roads to transport construction supplies, Miller said.
    “Each community has its own set of challenges and from the beginning we worked directly with community leaders to identify and formulate the best path forward in each case,” Miller said.
    With files from CBC News

  • Federal Conservatives call for suspension of hotel quarantine policy following reports of sexual assault

    By: John Paul Tasker
    Some Conservative MPs are asking the federal government to suspend the mandatory hotel quarantine policy in the wake of two reports of sexual violence.
    Montreal police have arrested a Windsor, Ont. man alleged to have assaulted a woman at a quarantine hotel in Dorval, Que.
    The woman in question told La Presse that a fellow traveller forced his way into her hotel room, grabbed her and then started to undress while grabbing his genitals. She said security guards were slow to respond to her calls for help.
    Robert Shakory was arrested by Montreal police and now faces charges of sexual assault, breaking and entering and criminal harassment, the newspaper reported.
    Meanwhile, a Hamilton, Ont. man hired and trained by Canada’s federal public health agency to work as a security guard has been accused of sexually assaulting a woman during a quarantine check this month.
    Halton Region Police say the man, whose full name is Hemant, went to an Oakville, Ont. home on Feb. 18 to carry out a quarantine compliance check, demanded money for a bogus fine and then sexually assaulted a woman after she refused to pay.
    Hemant was arrested Tuesday and has been charged with extortion and sexual assault; the police have warned that “there may be other victims.” He has been suspended from the security firm, which has not been identified by police.
    “We are deeply angered to hear reports of sexual violence are happening during federally mandated quarantines by those supposed to be protecting public health,” said the statement by a group of Conservative MPs that includes health critic Michelle Rempel Garner and Shannon Stubbs, the Conservative public safety critic.
    The MPs said travellers have a right to expect safe conditions at federally run quarantine sites and the alleged sexual violations are “unconscionable.”
    “The Liberal government must take action now. We call for the Liberals to suspend the hotel quarantine requirement until they have put measures in place to ensure the safety of Canadians and institute a system for verifying at-home quarantine that doesn’t involve security agents who have not been properly vetted,” the MPs said.
    All air travellers returning from non-essential international trips must stay in an approved hotel, at their own expense, for up to 72 hours while they await the results of a polymerase chain reaction test (commonly known as a PCR test) taken upon arrival.
    While that program took effect on Feb. 22, some travellers were forced into quarantine facilities before that date because they did not have adequate isolation plans.

  • Canada’s chief of defence staff steps down in face of misconduct allegations

    By: Terry Haig
    The new chief of Canada’s defence staff, Admiral Art McDonald, has stepped down voluntarily as he faces an investigation into unspecified misconduct allegations.
    Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan made the announcement in a statement released late Wednesday night.
    He assumed command on Jan. 14, succeeding Jonathan Vance, who announced last July that he would be retiring.
    Vance is currently under investigation by the military’s National Investigation Service after allegations — first reported by Global News — that he had an inappropriate relationship with a female subordinate. 
    At his swearing in, McDonald apologized to members of the military had faced discrimination and harassment while serving.
    “I apologize to you, my teammates, our teammates, who have experienced racism, discriminatory behaviour and or hateful conduct. I’m deeply sorry,” McDonald said.
    Earlier this month, he issued another apology when a public backlash erupted after he outlined the need for more diversity by tweeting a photo of himself and seven other white male senior officers around a conference table with one with one woman on a screen in the background.
    “It’s true: the leadership of the CAF is, and historically has been, predominantly male and white. That needs to change,” McDonald tweeted.
    “We need to reflect Canada’s diversity at all levels. We must work to eliminate systemic racism and dismantle the barriers to career advancement that exist. We are there in mindset but know there is still a lot of work to do, and we are committed to doing it.”
    With files from CBC News (Ashley Burke, Kristen Everson, Murray Brewster), The Canadian Press
     

  • I do, but when? Couples debate a wedding with COVID restrictions

    By: Max Martin, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, London Free Press
    This summer may be an I-do redo for many couples forced to scrap their wedding plans last year amid COVID-19 restrictions.
    But for others, it may be a repeat of the wedding bell blues, as the lingering pandemic makes the likelihood of big bashes with hundreds of guests unlikely for many months.
    “The demand is high, but everyone is really hesitant,” said Erin Lister, wedding sales manager at the Elm Hurst Inn in Ingersoll. “Who knows what the restrictions will be? . . . Those are kind of big setbacks for people.”
    In a normal summer, Elm Hurst would host about six weddings a weekend.
    Bookings for this spring are sparse, Lister said, as couples eye the fall or next year for their vows.
    “It just keeps pushing everything forward,” she said, adding some couples are on their second or third postponement.
    While outdoor ceremonies are popular at Elm Hurst, Lister said there’s a growing trend to shift photos, cocktails and receptions to tents as well amid the pandemic.
    At the Hessenland Inn in Zurich, wedding co-ordinator Kelsi Trotter said couples are “split down the middle” between delaying their weddings or moving forward with smaller celebrations, with restrictions.
    “We do have a handful of those couples who are now moving to 2022, just not wanting to deal with any restrictions and still set on that traditional wedding,” she said.
    But others don’t want to delay.
    “Some are saying, ‘We want to start a family, we want to buy a house, and want to get married before that,’ ” Trotter said. “The ones sticking with this year, they’re saying, ‘Our priority is to celebrate our love with those closest to us.’ ”
    Trotter said for weddings scheduled this summer she’s planning options for every potential restriction level the region could be in, from green to orange.
    She’s also noticing more interest from couples outside the region eyeing Southwestern Ontario as a local “destination wedding” option.
    St. Marys native Christina Donati was planning a June wedding with 215 guests in her hometown, but when COVID-19 cases began rising late last year, she chose to postpone the vows until 2022.
    “I was thinking what’s that dream wedding that I’ve always thought of as a kid, which is the big church wedding with all your friends and family there,” she said. “We decided that pushing it back one more year would give us that safety net to know it would be OK.”
    Donati said she sees a silver lining in the situation, with the delay giving her and her fiancé Nick another year to save up for the wedding.
    As for the dress, Donati ordered her gown last summer and it’s already available to be picked up.
    “My only fear is because I have to wait another year, I need to keep my weight the same,” she said, laughing. “But I’ll make sure of it.”
    Wedding planner Wendy Bennewies, owner of Devine Design Weddings in Mitchell, said she doesn’t see the industry returning to its pre-pandemic state soon.
    “It’s going to be another 2020 in 2021 until the fall,” she said.
    Most couples set on weddings of more than 100 are opting to postpone, while those who were already eyeing smaller ceremonies are reducing their guest lists to meet gathering limits, Bennewies said.
    And for some, that need to reduce the guest list is a blessing in disguise — not having to justify a more intimate celebration or leaving out some of the second cousins and great aunts.
    Bennewies said micro-weddings were already on the rise before COVID-19 hit but have been spurred on by the virus crisis and are likely here to stay.
    Those going forward amid COVID-19 safety restrictions are also adapting to distancing, masks and closed-up dance floors. Bennewies said couples are incorporating charades, trivia, skits and even murder mysteries into their wedding receptions as alternative activities.
    The industry will likely boom next year, she said, as the backlog of weddings only gets bigger and bigger — hopefully enough to make up for the lost revenue for planners, venues and bridal shops from cancelled and downsized events.
    “We always said when we started this business, there’s two almost-for-sure things in life: marriage and death,” Bennewies said. “I don’t think (weddings) will ever go away. People will do things differently like they are now.”
     

  • Standing up against bullying

    By: Courtney Bachar, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter,
    Source: The Oshawa Express
    In honour of National Pink Shirt Day, a local author who wrote a book on anti-bullying wants to remind victims they are not alone and that it’s okay to speak out.
    Growing up in Oshawa, Ryan Doyle, now 33, was bullied badly, which he says defined his future in a positive way.
    “Because I successfully overcame bullying, I felt the need to try to  help other victims try to overcome bullying as well,” he says.
    That’s when he decided to write his book, Tears of Loneliness: The Angel Within, which was published in March 2016.
    A partial memoir, Doyle writes of his personal experiences involving  bullying, followed by a self-help section which provides victims of  bullying with effective coping strategies that can help them to overcome bullying.
    “Through my experiences and being able to overcome bullying in my own life, I’m able to help other victims realize they’re not alone and it can help victims realize that there is hope.”
    Doyle says Pink Shirt Day, which is celebrated on Feb. 24, is an  excellent initiative that can help victims, noting he will be wearing  his pink shirt proudly.
    For those who are currently experiencing bullying, Doyle says he  wants them to know they are not alone and that it’s about finding a way, although difficult, to not allow the words and actions of others to bother them in any way.
    “Sometimes what it’s really about is loving and believing in  themselves and realizing that people who are victims are not the  problem, but that it’s the bullies in the world that need to change  their ways. It’s not the victims that are in need of changing,” he says.
    To the bullies, Doyle says it’s time to change.
    “I think they do it because something in their life is making them  unhappy. It’s about realizing that and finding effective coping  strategies for dealing with it as opposed to taking it out on other  victims,” he continues.
    He says bullies need to look into their victim’s eyes and see the suffering that victim is going through.
    “Maybe if they can have some empathy for the victims they’re  victimizing, maybe they can making those changes in their life,” he  adds.
    Looking ahead, Doyle has started working on his second book on  anti-bullying and how former victims can develop an optimistic future for themselves.
    For now, he says he hopes his book will continue to help other victims.
    Doyle’s book, Tears of Loneliness: The Angel Within, can be found on Amazon.