Ottawa Observations: Thursday-Friday, January 13 & 14, 2022

Our compilation of some of the stories of note from the day, reviewing the political developments from the Federal scene for Thursday-Friday,  January 13-14, 2022

Canada / China tensions                 

Emails show rejection of Wuhan lab leak theory pure politics from outset 

Canadian flights among those banned as Hong Kong reaffirms COVID-zero strategy

The Global Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Canada urged to reverse on-arrival mandatory COVID-19 testing policy for travellers

Hospitalizations expected to surge in Canada, PHAC modelling says, while COVID-19 cases appear to be peaking

Despite rise in hospitalizations of kids with COVID-19, Omicron variant appears less severe

Mobile hospitals that cost Ottawa $300 million sit in storage while Omicron strains Canada's health system

Ontario's top doctor clarifies child vaccine remarks 

Vaccine mandate for cross-border truckers to take effect; Ottawa calls reversal 'error'

Canada's health care system is making clear that it still cares about the unvaccinated

Ottawa is funding COVID-19 tests for hundreds of thousands of travellers. Is it worth it?

Federal government now says all truckers crossing border must be fully vaccinated

Federal modelling suggests 'vedyintense' Omicron surge within weeks

Antivirals could be a pandemic game-changer- and they could be in Canada soon  

This is what a 16-hour hospital shift is like for me while Omicron rages

System can't handle COVID-19 case spikes, nurses' union head warns as province updates surge plan

Omicron transmission is declining in BC, modelling suggests - but hospitalizations have yet to peak

Ontario reports 3,814 hospitalizations of people with COVID-19 and 527 in ICU

Latest wave of COVID-19 cases may have peaked in parts of BC, says health officer

Canada's new COVID-19 cases could peak at 170,000 a day, new modelling suggests

Quebec doctors anxious, tired as number of COVID-19 patients continue to rise

Most COVID deaths still among older Ontarians

Wastewater could be signalling a potential Omicron plateau: scientists

Signs Omicron is hitting a peak, but hospitalizations, deaths still likely to rise

Even for the unvaccinated, Omicron proving less severe, South African study finds

Is it time to end vaccine passports? Experts divided over whether they are still useful

Virus contamination drops 90 per cent just minutes after droplets exhaled, report finds

Hospitalization rates still soaring, risk growing for unvaccinated  

6 more deaths, another BC hospitalization record under new reporting method

Why doctors warn against letting your guard down against Omicron

As Omicron spreads, twice as many BC health-care staff sick last week as in 2021

Canada in for 'intense' weeks of Omicron infections, hospitalization surges: data

'Difficult to say' whether Omicron will lead to end of COVID-19 pandemic: PHAC

Millions of COVID-19 vaccines shared by rich countries went to waste. Why?

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe tests positive for COVID-19

646 in hospital; community transmission may have peaked; paediatric cases on the rise

Omicron's peak may be past, says Province

Vancouver's Hospitals already near crisis with COVID surges ahead

Globe and Mail

Warning to Ukraine to 'be afraid and expect the worst' signals talks between Russia, NATO have failed

In a dangerous world, Canada is unprepared on every front. It needs to come to its own defence 

Ontario cabinet minister Rod Phillips to resign, not run in next election

Toronto school board says high-school students will not be affected by lower grades in January

Calm down. Quebec's tax on the unvaccinated may be a stretch, but it's hardly the assault on liberty critics claim

Canadian Egyptian Mohamed el-Attar returns to Canada after nearly 15 years imprisoned in Egypt on spying charge

CBSA employees awaiting clarification as trucker vaccine mandate looms, union says

Canada joins Mexico in dispute with US over USMCA

Senate to return February 8 after week delay, House of Commons to resume January 31

Ethics committee calls Duclos and Tam to testify on cellphone data collection

The Conservatives hand Beijing a win by abandoning their Chia committee

Putin's endgame is to control Europe's energy

The synthetic drug era is here. Canada should take notice before it's too late

CBC                                             

Canada could lead a coalition to force change at Facebook, says whistleblower Frances Haugan

Canada joins Mexico's official complaint arguing US violating trade pact over auto parts provision

A tax on the unvaxxed would be legally and ethically questionable - even if it worked

RCMP's contract policing is headed for a federal review

RCMP union says it's representing unvaccinated Mounties fighting the federal mandate 

Canada will need more electricity  to hit net zero IEA report

Canada's ambassador to the US discusses auto parts dispute

Ottawa must work with Indigenous communities to mitigate climate disasters, experts say

The tragedy of the (House of) Commons

Quebec teachers demand N95 masks, better ventilation as province prepares for return to school

Toronto/Vancouver Star

BC tourism operators, hotels, lodges can apply for COVID-19 grants

Section of Highway 1 in BC opens after November's record rainstorms 

BC says gender on ID cards can now be changed without doctor's confirmation

Delays push cost to rebuild fire-damaged Lytton to $102M: insurance bureau

Military launches formal proceedings against more than 900 unvaccinated troops 

Tine to review how the RCMP can best serve communities, union head says

If nuclear power is the key to Canada's green future, Ottawa needs to say so - now

Promising a tax on the unvaccinated is easy. Collecting it is another matter

Information is dour, as governments move to limit the release of pandemic data thy consider overly perssimsitic 

Toronto Sun

Departure of Rod Phillips a surprising blow to Ford government

Fix health care with Surgery, not bandages

Senior Toronto cop accused of impaired driving following crash

Time to stop vilifying the unvaccinated

Ontario Liberals take slight lead over Ford, voters in flux before election

Trudeau blinks, then back-pedals on unvaccinated truckers

Time to cure what ails Canada's health-care systems

Opposition and teachers' unions want to ignore docs on school opening 

Toronto lab tracked down critics getting hacked in Poland

The unvaccinated are not criminals 

National Post

High profile Ontario cabinet minister Rod Phillips to resign seat

More than 900 unvaccinated Canadian troops could be forced to hang up their uniforms

Ontario seeks to challenge court ruling striking down new teachers' mandatory math test

How COVID-19 made Canada comfortable with marginalizing 3.7 million people 

Trudeau Liberals no longer care about Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms 

Macleans                           

Our current health-care disaster could have been averted

Want to get in on Canadian real estate? Welcome to the down-payment hustle

In a Quebec first, Legault takes a hit

Quebec isn't the only one targeting the unvaxed. But is it moral?

Global 

'Concerns' about memberships prompt review ahead of BC Liberal Leadership vote

Port of Vancouver to 'slightly' delay ban on trucks more than 10 years old

'Nobody cares': No ambulance, no food, communities stranded along BC Highway 1

Tśilhqot'in government 'outraged' by Alaskan commercial harvest of salmon bound for BC

'Fake nurse' accused of fraud in Ottawa and Vancouver pleads guilty to Ontario charges

BC says gender on ID cards can now be changed without doctor's confirmation

Judge refuses to grant injunction to clear Vancouver's CRAB Park encampent 

Peace Arch Hospital maternity ward to shutter indefinitely due to pediatrician shortage 

Halifax woman tests positive on Cuba vacation, calls quarantine a 'messed up exeperience'

Miscellaneous            

We desperately need to reenvision aging in Canada

Latest Vancouver scam involves telling seniors that a loved one has been arrested

Fining the unvaccinated misses the mark on what makes us Canadian

Attorney General David Eby clearly doesn't want to be known as the worst housing minister in BC history

Three things the Federal government should do for Canada's kids

Why I'm hoping COPE will nominate me to seek reelection to Vancouver city Council

Wesgroup Properties applies to build energy centre on Vancouver's River District 

Let's fix this Vancouver housing crisis with open hearts and open minds

Still No penalties for Coastal GasLink environmental violations 

Let's admit it, we all want to party

What's the Future of Masks?

Greetings from your Poet Laureate