Ottawa Observations: Wednesday, January 5, 2021

Our compilation of some of the stories of note from the day, reviewing the political developments from the Federal scene for  Wednesday, January 5, 2022

Canada / China tensions                 

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The Global Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Provinces ignore calls to fast track booster shots for teachers

Ottawa to sen 140 million COVID-19 rapid tests to provinces, territories as Omicron cases rise across the country

Justin Trudeau's pandemic pep talks are wearing a little thin now

Ontario hospitals urge pregnant people to get vaccine, cite infant COVID admissions

Ontario hospital closing health centre in Niagara due to staff shortage 

We have the tools to beat Omicron. Use them

When do we admit Canada's health care system just isn't working?

Calls grow for inmate releases as COVID-19 caseloads climb in jails and prisons 

Trudeau says Canadians are 'angry' and 'frustrated' with the unvaccinated

Ottawa says 140 million more rapid tests heading to the provinces, territories this month 

Alberta students will return to in-school learning January 10, education minister says

BC reports 19 more people in hospital with COVID-19, 3 fewer in the ICU and no additional deaths

Winnipeg police chief declares state of emergency due to COVID-19 staff shortage 

Canada is flying blin with Omicron as COVID-19 testing drops off a cliff 

BC reports nearly 30,000 active cases of COVID-19 as Omicron variant spreads

More than half of Canada's promised vaccine donations still to come 

Justin Trudeau foresees a grim winter as Omicron batters Canada 

Some overloaded Quebec health-care facilities forced to cancel staff vacations

Top doctor says Nunavut's COVID-19 outbreak 'testing the limits' of capacity

Canada's constantly collapsing health-care system is no match for the pandemic 

'It's a crisis': Canadian hospitals closing, cancelling surgeries amid COVID-related staff shortages

New IHU variant found in France, WHO downplays virulence 

COVID-19 restrictions in Ontario don't make sense and won't work

Doug Ford's pandemic Groundhog Day where nobody learns and anybody escapes 

Omicron and living with COVID: Why the new variant might change the timeline

Amid Omicron surge, 10-day quarantine still 'ideal' but not always possible: Tam

Ontario hospitals seeing 'disturbing trend' of infant COVID-19 admissions

COVID-19: Hospitalizations mount as BC confirms 3,798 new cases. no deaths

Globe and Mail

Canada's next wave of immigration set to add more fuel to overheated housing market

Air Transit says it will deny boarding to passengers from maskless Sunwing party flight

Chaos is coming to the US. What will Canada become?

Iain Rankin, former Nova Scotia premier, resigns as provincial Liberal leader

A historic Canadian insurrection has uncanny parallels with the Capital riot 

CBC                                             

Iran snubs another deadline in PS752 crash as families call for action

Flight attendants say SunWing party flight shows what industry is dealing with amid Omicron

Bill 21 'authorizes interference by the state in religion,' says federal antisemitism envoy Irwin Cotler

How BC's schools are planning possible switch to online learning as threat to staff shortages looms

Extreme winter weather cuts power and blocks access to remote Vancouver Island communities

'Tremendous damage' done to B C resource roads by flood event, could take years to fix

Residential School Day Scholars can now apply for compensation under settlement

Toronto/Vancouver Star

Homeowners grant threshold leaps to $1.9 million in BC as property values increase 

Real Estate Board says Metro Vancouver home sales hit record in 2021

Southern BC braces for heavy show as northern region endures bone-chilling cold

Finally, Canada is doing right by Indigenous children

Bring back hazard pay for supermarket workers facing extra risks from Omicron: NDP MP

Conservatives ask privacy czar to probe pandemic-related use of mobile location data

Ontario student athletes shut out from indoor play face more disruptions

Did Doug Ford bungle the pandemic response? Here comes your chance to judge him

Toronto Sun

Billion dollar class action wins go-ahead against alleged nationwide bread price-fixing

Trudeau has failed victims of Flight PS752

A former military leader breaks down what Ontario must do now

Delayed diagnoses, cancelled surgeries the legacy of COVID?

Hospital crisis long time in the making, nurses' association says

Wynne's epiphany on costs of green energy comes too late

Former CBC Staffer Tara Henley said what many Canadians think

Ontario needs renewed political accountability

Properly funding health care needs to be feds' top priority

Olympic athletes face tough choices

National Post

Commanding Officers shouldn't be able to order evidence be destroyed after trials, military sex assault panel told

Justin Trudeau's blind hatred of anti-vaxxers 

Prime Minister encourages the unvaccinated 'to do the right thing'

Calgary tenured professor critical of Black Lives Matter has been fired

Oh, look, the schools are closed again

Macleans                           

The cruel, ridiculous reality of 'virtual learning' 

Kathleen Wynne on her political downfall and the private advice she gave Doug Ford

Global 

Vancouver, Fraser Valley under rare winter storm; hazardous conditions expected 

'Degrading': 95 year old waits six hours for ambulance on Vancouver apartment floor

Vancouver fine dining institution Bishop's closes for good, citing rent hike

BC schools bracing to close 'at moment's notice' due to Omicron 

Metro Vancouver gas prices could set new all-time record Friday, analyst forecasts

'Enormous difference': Concern about impact of Vancouver's new single-use fee on homeless

Rising costs, supply chain issues battering BC construction industry, survey finds

BC properties valued up to $1.975M now eligible for homeowner grant

Trudeau cals Sunwing flight party a 'slap in the face' amid Omicron surge 

Winnipeg police chief declares state of emergency for force due to COVID-19

Miscellaneous            

TransLink issues travel alert for expected heavy snow

Greater Vancouver, Fraser Valley home sales set new best annual records in 2021

The thrill is gone: Bishop's restaurant closes in Kitsilano after a whopping rent increase 

Please advise: Is 'Soylent Green's' Dystopia here?

My Doctor Dumped me. Here's why that's so common

Kenney's Coal Dreams Live On. And He see's BC as an example

The Quest for a life undefined by Consumerism