Ottawa Observations Saturday-Monday, January 1-3, 2022

Our compilation of some of the stories of note from the day, reviewing the political developments from the Federal scene for  Saturday-Monday, January 1-3, 2022

Canada / China tensions                 

Canada's China conundrum

The Global Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Ontario moves schools online, closes indoor dining and gyms, pauses non0urget surgeries amid COVID-19 surge

Kids growing up in the pandemic have a different view of the world

Newfoundland chief medical officers says 'most people' will get COVID-19, reports 519 cases

BC reports 9,332 new cases of COVID-19 since New Year's Eve

Vaccine mandates are justified as a matter of community self-defence - and justice

The fate of COVID-19 depends on rapid data sharing

Bearskin Lake First Nation in Ontario calls for military help as COVID-19 infects nearly half the population

Up to 300 Canadian military personnel to be deployed to Quebec: Minister

When will the COVID-19 pandemic end? Past diseases, and how they played out, offer some clues

Daycare union criticizes Quebec shortened isolation time for asymptomatic staff, kids

Quebec reports 15,000 new COVID-19 cases, Canadian Army rolls to hasten vaccination

Major Quebec hospital postpones half of surgeries, appointments due to COVID-19 spike

Schools, indoor dining shutters as Ontario reintroduces COVID measures

What's the end point to all of this?

Resolve to not let COVID-19 get the better of us

Now that  everyone's getting COVID, they're less afraid of it

Employees with COVID to self isolate for only 5 days

Trudeau an Ford government's fuelled vaccine hesitancy

Canada's evolving COVID response

A year of better sleep: How to keep COVID from keeping you up at night in 2022

Ontario schools going remote, province pausing non-urgent surgeries 

Ontario will no longer report school, child care COVID-19 numbers: Ministry of Education memos

BC records almost 9,500 cases over New Year's weekend

COVID-19 booster booking ramping up, Okanagan pharmacies report

BC appears to be tackling booster backlog ahead of 'boosted' third dose rollout

Omicron  variant complicates what a COVID-19 anemic will look like

Health experts say provinces neglecting key advice to control COVID-19 spreading in schools

How Citizens should respond to Omicron

Vaccine Opponents: When Bad Logic, serves Ba Faith Agendas 

Globe and Mail

Iran must pay $108 million to some victims' families over downing of Ukrainian jet, Ontario court rules

Federal documents hint at sweeping economic impact from Bank of Canada 'digital loonie'

Hockey federation investigates incident with Russia's junior team at Calgary airport

If the next presidential election reveals US hurtling toward possible violence and autocracy, should Canada try to intervene?

The era of globalization has come to an end. We don't yet know what replaces it

Afghan-Canadian family stranded in Kabul awaits help from Ottawa

Four decisions Justin Trudeau has to stop avoiding

CBC                                             

Ontario court awards $108M to families of Flight PS752 victims

The $30B child-care challenge: building a new program from the ground up

Trudeau says boosting vaccination efforts, coming to terms with 'historical wrongs' among 2022 priorities

A ale of two fighter jets - and what it means for Canada's defence and place in the world

Former Liberal cabinet minister Joe Comuzzi dead at 88

Former Cabinet minister John Efford dies at 77

Years after medical assistance in dying became legal, the debate rages on

Toronto/Vancouver Star

Supreme an Provincial courts in BC postpone in-person trials as COVID cases surge

BC farmers 'white-knuckling' their way through extreme cold after floods, heat dome

BC implements more paid sick day policy on Saturday 

Canada must end the over incarceration of Indigenous people

Remote communities locking down, banning outsiders as COVID-19 spreads

'A force': Politicians remember former NL and federal cabinet minister John Efford

Toronto Sun

Ontarians are locked down again - and that's unacceptable

Former CBC journalist lowers the boom on its 'radical agenda'

Restrictions could be final 'nail in the coffin' for many small businesses: CFIB

Two-week delay to in-person learning leaves some parents fuming

Closing schools at this point is inexcusable 

Why I"m cheering for Trudeau's gun buy back to fail

Drug companies aren't saints

National Post

Ford is inflicting pandemic pain, but offering little gain

Food companies use 70 percent to the world's water, are unprepared for global water crisis: report

The high priests of woke hijack the hijab debate 

Why I quit the CBC

Buck up Alberta. You're way more popular than Quebec

Surrogacy costs not eligible for a federal adoption tax break judge

Quebec government wants to bring an NHL team to the capital, but fans skeptical

Macleans                           

Misinformation from US is the next virus - and it's spreading fast

Global 

Fitness facilities still shuttered in BC, but some boxing gyms set to reopen

Langley auto dealer suffers 'gut wrenching' theft of cars, keys

Rock slide forces closure of BC Ferries parkade at Horseshoe Bay terminal

Sumas Prairie residents file class action lawsuit over damage caused by BC floods

Miscellaneous            

Ex-CBC journalist Tara Henley declares on Substack that she quit her job due to the public broadcasters's shifting politics

BC Supreme Court reduces in person proceedings due to rising COVID-19 case counts

Billionaire Chip Wilson's Vancouver home assessed at $74,147,000 - up 9.5 percent from last year

Median price of Metro Vancouver homes increases 40 percent over 10 years to $800 per square foot

Vancouver extends emergency warming centres yet again after new snow an cold forecasts

New Westminster Mayor and TransLink Mayor's Council Chair Jonathon Coté will not seek reelection

BC's effort to licence Water use falling apart, critics say