The Tilbury Times

Year: 2021

  • ‘Total betrayal.’ Gun control activists react to Trudeau’s gun buyback scheme

    By: Levon Sevunts
    Gun control activists in Canada reacted with “anger and dismay” on Tuesday to the Trudeau government’s proposed legislation to toughen the country’s gun laws, accusing the Liberals of backtracking on their promise to remove all newly blacklisted firearms from circulation.
    In May of 2020, the Liberals announced a ban on the use, sale and importation of more than 1,500 makes and models of what the government refers to as military-grade “assault-style weapons.”
    Bill C-21, presented Tuesday morning, introduces a buy-back program for blacklisted firearms, allows municipalities to ban handguns and increases criminal penalties for gun smuggling and trafficking.
    “We will move forward with a buy-back program in the coming months and complete the prohibition to ensure these weapons cannot be legally used, transported, bequeathed, transferred, or sold,” Trudeau told a news conference in Ottawa.
    “Getting these weapons off our streets and out of the hands of criminals means less violence.”

    ‘They lied to us’

    However, families of victims of the 1989 Montreal Polytechnique massacre decried Trudeau’s decision to opt for a voluntary buyback scheme instead of a mandatory program similar to the one adopted by New Zealand following the 2019 Christchurch massacre, the country’s deadliest terrorist attack.
    “This is a total betrayal. My family and I have fought for three decades to ban these weapons,” said Suzanne Laplante Edward, whose daughter Anne-Marie was one of 14 young women shot and killed at Polytechnique on Dec. 6, 1989.
    “We thought we had won in the fall of 2019 when the Liberals announced with much pomp and circumstance that they would ban and buyback all of these killing machines. They lied. They lied to us. They lied to Canadians.”
    Nathalie Provost, who survived the massacre and is part of the PolyRemembers gun control group, said without a mandatory buyback program, tens of thousands of fully functional assault weapons will remain in circulation for decades to come.
    “It doesn’t matter that gun owners won’t be ‘allowed’ to use them,” Provost said. “The point is they can. And it only takes one to cause a massacre.”
    Trudeau said Canadian officials studied gun buyback schemes operated by other countries, including New Zealand.
    “We saw what works, and what doesn’t, all while taking into account the realities here at home,” Trudeau said. “And from this, we’ve charted a plan of action.”

    Red flag law not nimble enough, say critics

    Trudeau said the new legislation also involves the creation of so-called “red flag” and “yellow flag” laws aimed at combating intimate partner and gender-based violence, and self-harm involving firearms.
    These laws would allow concerned friends or relatives to apply to the courts for the immediate removal of an individual’s firearms, or to ask a Chief Firearms Officer (CFO) to suspend and review an individual’s licence to own firearms, Trudeau said.
    The Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians (CAEP) said it was “disappointed” by the bill, arguing the proposed legislation doesn’t go far enough with respect to the “red fag laws.”
    “Every day, Canada’s emergency physicians encounter people with suicidal ideation, untreated psychosis, substance abuse, potential perpetrators of intimate partner violence and those with impulsive aggressive behaviours,” the association said in a statement. “In any of these clinical circumstances, access to firearms dramatically escalates the potential for serious injury and death.”
    Reporting through the CFO has historically been shown to take far too much time, leaving individuals, families, and communities at risk, the statement added.
    “For 25 years CAEP has asked for a mandatory reporting of individuals at risk law that would allow the police to temporarily remove firearms from those patients for whom we have concerns for both their safety and the safety of others,” the statement said.
    “We have asked that any such law be nimble and responsive to allow immediate temporary relocation of firearms until the patient’s mental health or social crisis has been assessed, treated and resolved.”
    Bill 21 fails to meet that required expectation, the statement added.
    “Instead, we have witnessed the adoption of the American style Extreme Risk Protection Order which requires either the police or individuals to petition the courts for the temporary removal of firearms from an individual at risk,” the statement said.
    The Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights said that it will comment on the bill “shortly.”

  • Ontario to Expand Small Business PPE Grant

    By: Laura Steiner
    The Ontario government is expanding its Main Street Relief Grant for Small businesses.  The announcement was made today by Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade Vic Fedeli.
    “This funding will help even more main street businesses stay safe, keep people employed, and continue contributing to our communities,” Fedeli said.  The program allows businesses with 2-19 employees to apply for up to $1000 in financial aid. It’s a one time grant specifically for costs associated with Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
    The number of businesses have expanded to include the following:

    • retail trade;
    • accommodation and food services;
    • repair and maintenance;
    • personal and laundry services;
    • gyms and yoga studios; and
    • arts, entertainment, and recreation.

    “Expanding eligible sectors for the PPE grant that have been significantly affected by COVID-19 is another way we can support our small business community,” said Associate Minister of Small Business and Red Tape Reduction Prabmeet Sarkaria,
    “We thank the Ontario government for acting on our recommendations to increase access to the PPE grant by adding sectors and increasing the employee threshold, said Spokesperson for the Canadian Federation of Independent Business Julie Kwiecinski. Eligible businesses can visit the province’s website to apply
     

  • Canada celebrates 56 years of the Maple Leaf Flag

    By: Vincenzo Morello
    Canada celebrated National Flag Day February 15. It had been 56 years since Canada first raised its iconic red and white Maple Leaf flag, on Feb. 15, 1965.
    “Every day, the Maple Leaf flies in our communities, at Canadian diplomatic missions around the world, and on Parliament Hill,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.
    “It represents the ideals of peace, justice, diversity, and equality that are central to our Canadian identity.”

    “As it was for previous generations, it is our duty to protect, promote, and practice these values everyday, so they can continue to bring us together and guide those who will come after,” he added.
    The Maple Leaf flag was not always Canada’s flag.
    Since the Dominion of Canada was created 1867, Canada has had many flags.
    Attempts were made to consider a national flag in 1925 and 1946, but the ideas were shelved.
    According to information from the Canadian government, it was not until 1960, when Lester B. Pearson, the Leader of the Opposition party at the time, said that he was determined to solve the country’s flag problem.
    In 1964 Pearson submitted a flag design to Parliament, but it was not accepted.
    Instead a parliamentary committee was created and given a six-week deadline to submit a recommendation for a national flag.
    After thousands of flag designs were submitted by Canadians, the flag committee shortlisted three designs and later voted in favour of the single-leaf design.
    After being approved by Canada’s House of Commons and the Senate, the Maple Leaf flag was inaugurated in a ceremony on Parliament Hill on Feb. 15, 1965.
    “In this difficult time, we can take pride and comfort in being Canadian. We are all united under one flag and we will get through this pandemic together, as Canadians,” Steven Guilbeault, Canada’s minister of heritage, said in a statement.
    “Our flag is the deepest symbol of what it means to be Canadian: the flag is us and we are the flag!”

  • COVID isolation kits created for vulnerable seniors, disabled

    By: Rocco Frangione, Local Journalism Initiative, Source: The North Bay Nugget
    Vulnerable seniors and people with disabilities in East Parry Sound are getting a pandemic isolation kit thanks to East Parry Sound Community Support Services.
    Program co-ordinator Leslie Price says the kits are to help people in rural communities who may be isolated and often don’t see many people.
    Suddenly they’ve run out of something, but can’t leave their home to replace what they need.
    That’s where the kits, which contain more than 20 essential and beneficial items, come in.
    “The kits have non-perishable food items like a can of soup, a granola bar and protein bar. There’s a bottle of Ensure supplement, as well as a couple of bottles of water, a fruit cup and container of juice,” Price says.
    In addition, each package contains a first-aid kit, flash light, emergency whistle, toilet paper, Kleenex and hand soap.
    Blankets, mitts, heavy socks and toques were added because we’re still in the middle of winter, Price adds.
    Each kit also has activity-related items such as a deck of playing cards, a note pad, a word search book and suggestions for home exercises.
    The money for the kits came from the province through the Parry Sound District Social Services Administration Board.
    “They didn’t say how we had to use it specifically, and we came up with the idea for the pandemic isolation kits,” Price says.
    In all, the money allowed East Parry Sound CSS to buy items for 200 kits. Price says it was able to identify vulnerable residents from among clients who use the agency’s Meals on Wheels program and transportation service. More were identified by contacting municipalities in East Parry Sound, as well as churches, food banks and fire departments.
    “These are all small communities and the people we reached out to know who (the vulnerable) people are,” Price says.
    The kits are now being distributed by the various municipalities.
    To maintain confidentiality, Price says CSS doesn’t need to know who the recipients are. But for statistical purposes, it wants to know the number of kits each community hands out, the number of recipients who are older and younger than 65 and the number of residents with disabilities.
    One of the goals is to distribute the kits as evenly as possible throughout the East Parry Sound region.
    When CSS began contacting the municipalities and told them about the isolation kits, Price says many told her it was a great idea.
    Price says CSS wants to hear back from kit recipients to hear what they liked best in the package, what items weren’t necessary, what things they liked best and if overall the kits were helpful.
    To that end, each kit contains a letter from CSS asking for feedback and how to contact the organization.
    Meanwhile, Price says CSS is now preparing a second set of kits.
    In this instance, the organization has received permission from the North East Local Health Integration Network to spend surplus money originally earmarked for a regular seniors’ luncheon on anything COVID-related.
    The luncheons took a hit when the latest round of lockdowns arrived in December, but it meant CSS now has unspent money.
    Price says there’s enough money to create an additional 300 kits.
    She says the contents will contain some of the same items that were in the first 200 kits, but new goods include a digital thermometer.
    The methodology to distribute the kits will be the same, with CSS again asking municipalities to help it identify vulnerable people who can use the packages.
    One stipulation is the next wave of recipients can’t be anyone who’s received a kit in the first round.
    One group of vulnerable people CSS would like to see get some of the next kits are people with Alzheimer’s, Price says. To achieve this, CSS has partnered with the Alzheimer Society of Sudbury-Manitoulin North Bay and Districts.
    Price says the society recently created activity kits for adults that include things such as word searches and puzzles and gave them to CSS for its older adults.
    Price says the partnership with the society will see it create more activity kits, with CSS absorbing part of the cost.
    Price believes the 300 kits should be ready for distribution by the end of March.
     

  • Erin Man’s battle against wastewater plant leads to planned protest

    By: Keegan Kozolanka, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, GuelphToday.com
    The fight against Erin’s upcoming wastewater plant is gaining steam as area residents plan a car rally in protest.
    On Saturday a car rally will start in the morning at the Erin Legion on Dundas Street and head to the proposed wastewater plant site at 10th Line and Wellington Road 52.
    It will then loop back into town and then start all over until noon. Organizers estimate one loop will take about 15 minutes.
    Ken Cowling, an organizer of the rally, said this is the better option than an outdoor rally because of COVID rules.
    “Everybody can sit in the comfort of their cars with a coffee in their cup holder and they’re just going to drive-by,” Cowling said in a phone interview.
    He mentioned there will be OPP presence as he called them to ensure the rally is in accordance with the law and proceeds in a safe way.
    A press release from the rally encourages those joining in to decorate their cars with signs, plungers and toilet paper.
    Cowling, a 71-year old who has lived in Erin for over 40 years, isn’t new to fighting the Erin wastewater plant.
    He has been occasionally marching near where the treated sewage will be dumped into the West Credit River with a sandwich board sign that reads “Say No To This Sh-t Show” along with writing letters to local newspapers.
    He’s gone as far as bringing an old toilet to the site to really drive his message home.
    The dumping site is a known brook trout spawning area which has raised concern from fishing organizations and residents but has been approved by applicable authorities.
    “We’ve been sold down the river by the Credit Valley Conservation Authority, by the Ministry of the Environment…they’ve all signed off and they’ve all approved this is to put this sewage plant in,” Cowling said.
    “I just can’t believe that these people, who claim they’re conservationists, are allowing this. It’s a total abomination.”
    The $118 million wastewater plant is intended to get existing residents off a septic system and also accommodate for the projected growth in population and housing anticipated over the next decades.
    Cowling said he thinks this will fundamentally change the small town feel. He said developers should be putting in their own wastewater systems in new developments.
    “Why should we disrupt the whole town?” Cowling said. “Heaven forbid, you might have to allocate some space for wastewater and not put in the cookie-cutter homes because that’s what’s going in here. They’re going to turn us into Milton.”
    He’s also concerned with what it might ultimately cost residents to hook-up to the system.
    The Town of Erin wastewater webpage states that the exact cost to each household will be determined after grants are received but previous estimates put it around $10,000 to $20,000 each.
    Cowling isn’t convinced it will be this low because he said older houses will be more complicated to hook-up.
    Cowling has been out delivering signs for people’s lawns and he’s spent around $2,300 on them.
    He said they will be collecting donations to pay for these signs and any additional raised beyond the cost will be donated to the Hillsburgh Special Friends Club.
    They are also collecting for the food bank at the same time.
    “Why not kill two birds with one stone? Come throw in a can of beans, a box of Kraft Dinner, throw in $20 into our donation box,” Cowling said, encouraging supporters.
    Cowling said his passion comes from his desire to maintain the scenic areas in Erin he’s known all his life and to pass it on to the next generations.
    “I just want to pass this legacy on to my kids and my grandkids, that’s my mission,” he said.
    “My mission is to have my grandkids sit at the same streams I have for the past 70 years.”

  • Canada’s Saikaly remembers Sadpara as “Living Legend”

    By: Laura Steiner
    Elia Saikaly is hailing Pakistani mountaineer Ali Sadpara as a “living legend.”  The filmmaker based in Canada made the comments on Twitter.  Saikaly was there making a documentary about the achievements of local climbers to promote adventure tourism.
    Sadpara, along with three other climbers disappeared February 5, 2021 along the ‘bottleneck’, described as a “steep and narrow gully” near the 28,251 ft high K2.  A Saikaly tweeted the last scene he filmed with them was the group talking about how excited they were to make it to the K2 summit, according to Geo News
    The search for Sadpara, John Snorri, and Juan Pablo Mohr is ongoing.  It was revealed Monday, that possible locations for the trio had been identified. Aperture radar technology had identified the climbers’ sleeping bags and tents.  There has been no communication from the climbers.
    “Please give these families time, space,  and compassion. Share your stories so they will be remembered,” a press release said.

  • Black Owned 905 poised for growth

    By: Sean Vanderklis, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Niagara Falls Review
    What started as a desire to promote black-owned businesses in the Niagara region is set to evolve if Natasha Bell gets her way.
    “The goal for Black Owned 905 was always to highlight black excellence,” said Bell. “I wanted to create a platform that showcased Black success.
    Black Owned 905 was able to accomplish that in an eight-month period. The Instagram account, which was created and founded by Bell last June, has garnered more than 5,300 followers and has registered close to 70 Black-owned businesses in Niagara.
    Black Owned 905 is also a website-based marketing company that highlights and features local Black-owned business.
    “After the protests and demonstrations started, society started to view our hardships only and not our successes.”
    The protests and demonstrations to which Bell refers began appear in cities worldwide after the death of American Black man George Floyd in an incident involving police last May.
    Floyd died May 25. Since dismissed from the Minneapolis, Minn., police force, Derek Chauvin faces second-degree murder charges. His trial is scheduled for March.
    Bell said after the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, people from all backgrounds looked for ways to show support for the local Black community.
    “We’ve highlighted and featured close 40 Black-owned businesses,” said Bell. “ I still have around 25 to30 in the queue. I am waiting for the pandemic to end before I begin featuring more business.
    “I want to grow. I want to evolve.”
    Bell’s goal is to expand from a promotional social media account to an organization that could provide guidance and assistance to aspiring entrepreneurs.
    “I want to create a hub that is designed to support the Black community. I want to be able to provide business plan support, taxation support, and business registration support for our community.”
    Part of the success of Black Owned 905 can be attributed to accolades of Bell herself.
    In celebration of Black History Month, Bell was recognized by Children’s Breakfast Clubs, a southern Ontario-based not-for-profit organization dedicated to providing healthy meals and educational, cultural and recreational activities to children.

  • Milton Postal Code ranks 18 among GTA areas for COVID19 Positivity

    By: Laura Steiner
    One Milton postal code ranks among the top areas for COVID19 positivity. L9T  moves from 32 on the list up to 18th with a positivity rate of 8.6% .  The figures are taken from IC/ES dashboard for the week of January 31- February 6, 2021.
    L9T sees 8.5% rate among residents for COVID19.   The postal code represents homes in the majority of Milton.  It’s home to both Allendale Long Term Care (LTC)  with 29 cases and four deaths.  It’s been in outbreak since January 10, 2021 and Maplehurst Detention Centre  in outbreak since January 18 2021 with 282 cases, and 0 deaths.
    Halton recorded a rate of 4.1% over the same period.  The region is set to reopen under the red designation on Ontario’s reopening framework Tuesday February 16 at 12:01 a.m.
     

  • Indigenous leaders say it’s time for a First Nation Governor General

    By: Jacob Cardinal, Local Journalism Initiative, Reporter, Alberta Native News
    In the wake of former Governor General Julie Payette’s resignation, many First Nations are calling for her replacement to be a First Nations person.
    Payette’s resignation comes after an investigation into allegations of a “toxic workplace” at Rideau Hall. The Governor General position is currently being filled by the chief justice of Canada on an “interim basis,” said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
    The Confederacy of Treaty Six sent a letter to the Queen expressing their concern over the vacant position. “The Chief Justice of Canada can sit in for a short period, but a concern arises when legislation is enacted that might affect us – what happens if the legislation ends up before the judge? It would be better to have a Governor General in place as soon as possible,” the letter reads.
    “We wanted to remind our treaty partner – the Crown – of our concern that at this time in the state of Canada having no representative of herself,” said Grand Chief Vernon Watchmaker.
    The letter also states that the Confederacy wants some input into the selection and mandate of the next Governor General.
    “We want to engage in a process whereby our concerns are heard as the last three Governor Generals have not met with the Treaty Chiefs to hear our concerns,” said Grand Chief Watchmaker.  “When our ancestors entered into the Peace and Friendship Treaty No.6 with the Crown, it was to ensure that the Queen’s subjects would be able to live in our territories.”
    The letter ends by saying, “It was out of this concern that we wrote directly to her Majesty as she is the head of state of Canada. As a Treaty partner, we have the right and obligation to address our concerns directly to her.”
    Former commissioner of the MMIWG national inquiry, Michele Audette, believes that an Indigenous person in the position would be able to tell the real history of Canada and its Indigenous people. “To educate and promote and remind (people about) what Canada did and still does today,” said Audette to APTN, “whenever that person would travel or meet people on behalf of Canada.”
    Audette also believes that the position could be filled by a First Nation, Metis, or an Inuit person.
    Meanwhile, a regional chief for the Assembly of First Nations representing Saskatchewan, Chief Bobby Cameron, supports the appointment of an Indigenous person in the Governor General position, but only if it is filled by a First Nations person. “We are the only distinct group that have inherent and treaty rights,” said Chief Cameron.
    After Payette resigned, Manitoba Grand Chief Arlen Dumas released a statement arguing that the appointment of a First Nation person “would send a strong message to the Treaty Nations that this government is sincere about its rhetoric on reconciliation and that there is no relation more important to the Prime Minister than the one with Indigenous peoples.”
    In a poll conducted for Global News by Ipsos, it showed that over half of the Canadians interviewed believe that Canada’s ties to the Crown should end once the Queen dies.
    Because the treaties were signed with the Crown, it is unclear what Canada ending ties with the monarchy would mean for First Nations people.
     

  • Snowfall Warning: February 15 2021

    Snowfall Warning: February 15 2021

    By: Laura Steiner
    Environment Canada has put Milton under a snowfall warning.  There is a system moving n carrying with it 15-25 cm divided into two stages.
    The first stage will begin overnight tonight, or early Monday morning.  5cm of snow are expected by the afternoon, with potential for more near Lake Erie.  The snow is expected to taper during the afternoon.
    The second round moves in Monday evening into Tuesday morning with a potential 10-20 cm.  Environment Canada advises residents to prepare for changing travel conditions.  Visibility may be at times reduced by heavy snow, and roads may be hard to navigate.