Victoria Viewpoints: Thursday, April 2, 2020

Our compilation of some of the stories of note from the day, reviewing the political developments from the Provincial scene for  Thursday, April 2, 2020


Coronavirus response in BC
                   

BC firefighters ordered to attend immediately life-threatening calls only
Provincial health ministries rushing to source unused ventilators to prepare for COVID-19 spike
Premiers pull together over shortage of COVID-19 medical supplies
BC reports 6 new deaths, case confirmed at Okanagan jail
City of Vancouver temporarily lays off 1,500 workers due to COVID-19 crisis
121K BC hospitality workers off the job, 28% of restaurants risk going under: survey
Hospital staff set up Vancouver Convention Centre in case COVID-19 worsens
Agriculture worker conditions in Okanagan a 'ticking time bomb' for COVID-19: advocate group
Recent EI beneficiaries to move to federal coronavirus emergency benefit - and many will get a raise
Opposition politicians strive for relevance in the world of coronavirus politics
Quebecers flouting coronavirus rules can expect heft fines, premier warns
Ontarions required to identify themselves if charged with breaching emergency order
Fifteen cases of COVID-19 in Indigenous communities to date, Canadian minister reports
'There's never been such a demand': Central Okanagan Food Bank's urgent appeal for help                BC Gives $200 Monthly boost to people on income, disability assistance                       
Canada Faces Med Gear Shortage. Today's Ten Top Web Links
How BC's medical resources stack up
China and the Pandemic: Talking with Historian Timothy Brook
Six new deaths, enforcement guidelines, non-essential travel within province discouraged, and more
Vancouver Courier ceases producing print edition ... for time being
Vancouver Courier temporarily ceasing publication
Six more BC deaths since Wednesday
Musqueam set up checkpoints to prevent spread of COVID-19
Let refugees in during pandemic: rights groups
Questioning WHO and China virus data feeds conspiracy theories: Health Minister Hajdu
Alternate non COVID medical care site at Vancouver Convention Centre to be operational by April 8
BC city halls are shrinking but some have bigger reserves to fall on
BC''s provincial health officer says to plan for virtual, Easter, Ramadan, Passover
6 more COVID-19 patients die in BC, for a total of 31, case confirmed at Okanagan jail
'Absolutely safe' for nurses to wear same mask for hours while seeing COVID-19 patients, top doctor says
Kept apart from elderly family in care home, a BC family waits anxiously
Coastal communities call for travel restrictions as visitors  trickle in
Union pushes for outbreak protocol as 1 inmate tests positive for COVID-19 in Okanagan jail
New study from UBC researcher outlines pathway toward blocking COVID-19 virus
271 hospital beds to be set up at Vancouver Convention Centre for non-COVID patients
BC Health officials say plan for virtual religious celebrations as Easter, Passover and Ramadan approach
$300 monthly aid announced for British Columbians on income, disability assistance during COVID-19
Next 'critical' two weeks will reveal whether BC's distancing measures are working: experts
Protect your loved ones, don't travel even within BC, officials say
Vancouver lays off 1,500 city workers
Vancouver Convention Centre will be a hospital by Wednesday
BC schools work to put students on even footing while learning at home
BC government announces $300 supplement in support of people on income and disability assistance
It's absurd to ignore foreign trained doctor's offers to help with the COVID crisis
Dix talks tougher than Trudeau about safe ways to bring Canadians home
First COVID-19 deaths reported on Vancouver Island as BC cases pass 1,100
Camosun team ramping up thousands of face shields for health care workers
Task force to lead BC through pitfalls, recovery, of COVID-19 pandemic
Langford is breaking ranks with virus test
An ode to Bonnie Henry, on guitar and standup bass
Health care workers gain access to virtual health care options
Vancouver Island seniors die in hospital due to COVID-19
Sooke mom faces 'pandemic police' for bringing kids to the grocery store
BC's Senior home staff measures show results in COVID-19 battle
BC adding $300 to monthly income and disability assistance payments


Globe and Mail 

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CBC

Disability advocate denounces TransLInk change in front-facing wheelchair spots
1500 city workers laid off in Vancouver, 2,000 in Surrey, 500 in Delta

Vancouver Sun


Vancouver Province

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Victoria Times Colonist

Greater Victoria real estate 'in uncharted territory'



Victoria News




Global BC

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Georgia Straight

Focus on the lessons that matter for kids



Vancouver Courier

BC launches economic recovery task force
Stop Downtown Eastside 'over policing' during pandemic, VPD urged


The Tyee

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Miscellaneous

Ottawa Observations: Thursday, April 2, 2020

Our compilation of some of the stories of note from the day, reviewing the political developments from the Federal scene for  Thursday, April 2, 2020 


Canadians held in China / China tensions

British tabs hype China's 'reckoning' and rejection of Huawei


The Global Coronavirus (COVID-19)

WHO's early coronavirus response raises awkward questions about Beijing relationship
Why is Sweden staying open amid the coronavirus pandemic?
India to end three-week coronavirus lockdown in phases, Modi says
Care homes across Canada desperate for staff amid COVID-19 outbreak turn to librarians, museum workers
Health Minister says Canada has no evidence that China is under-reporting virus impact
BC firefighters ordered to attend immediately life-threatening calls only
Provincial health ministries rushing to source unused ventilators to prepare for COVID-19 spike
If you can get your relatives out of seniors' homes, try do so as fast as you can
If COVID-19 is a test of our humanity, abandoning the sick at sea is a failure
Ottawa continues to keep Canadians in the dark about potential impact of coronavirus
Military ready to respond to outbreak of COVID-19 in isolated Indigenous and northern communities
In Canada's fight against the coronavirus, the U.S. border remains a problem
Bring on the projections  - and the caveats: COVID 19 models are a complicated truth
Trudeau vows better gathering and release of pandemic data
Premiers pull together over shortage of COVID-19 medical supplies
Calls mount for Ottawa to release projections on COVID-19 spread
GST rebate targeting low income Canadians impacted by COVID-19 will arrive a month early
COVID-19 cases in First Nations spur leaders to call for field hospitals
Canadians want to know how bad this could get. Is anyone ready to tell us?
Ottawa nurse says pandemic panic has left her homeless
Tax collectors, auditors to help field 'historic' numbers of benefit-seeking callers
Canada and the U.S. are implementing the non-essential ban in very different ways
Reservists will be ready to fight COVID-19 in about a week, defence source says
Idled industrial plants seen as an untapped source of protective equipment for health workers
ER doctor speaks from the frontline of COVID-19 and about what we can do to help
The system is bending. The race to protect our health-care workers must be won now
One GTA health region has already exhausted its supply of ventilators. Experts say this should be a 'red alert'
Seventy six percent of Canadians are voluntarily self-isolating to fight COVID-19, poll finds
New bylaw orders Torontonians to keep at least two metres apart in parks, public squares
Doug Ford joins premiers calling on Ottawa to do more in the fight against COVID-19
Ottawa is ready to give away piles of COVID-19 money. Can it deliver to Canadians quickly enough?
Family doctors warn lack of face masks could force end to in-person visits
Worries grow that discrimination against Chinese Canadians is getting worse as pandemic continues
Ottawa still scrambling to bring Canadians home as countries lock down, foreign minister says
Trudeau government indifferent to China's lies on COVID-19
COVID-19 trims Ontario's jail-house ranks by 24%

Time to get tough on those ignoring physical distancing amid COVID crisis
New Toronto bylaw requires people in parks to remain two metres apart
Nightmare ending for Canadians trapped on COVID-19 stricken cruise ship
For returning Canadians, there's no place like home
Businesses, Canadians step up to help truckers
We can handle the truth on COVID-19
Countries with the best numbers are the ones donning masks
Canada's public data on COVID-19 is (mostly) a mess. Here's how to find the useful info
Some critically ill COVID-19 patients choosing to die at home rather than be treated with ventilator in ICU
With one quarter of Canada's confirmed COVID-19 cases, Montreal turns to coercion to stop the spread
Ontario's official COVID-19 numbers aren't telling us what we really need to know 
Shocking and 'indefensible': Feds should release national COVID-19 modelling information
Despite what you may have heard, you should wear a mask for COVID-19
Global COVID-19 cases surpass one million
Quebec leads in optimism even as its coronavirus case numbers soar: new poll
BC reports 6 new deaths, case confirmed at Okanagan jail
City of Vancouver temporarily lays off 1,500 workers due to COVID-19 crisis
121K BC hospitality workers off the job, 28% of restaurants risk going under: survey
Hospital staff set up Vancouver Convention Centre in case COVID-19 worsens
Agriculture worker conditions in Okanagan a 'ticking time bomb' for COVID-19: advocate group
Recent EI beneficiaries to move to federal coronavirus emergency benefit - and many will get a raise
Opposition politicians strive for relevance in the world of coronavirus politics
Quebecers flouting coronavirus rules can expect heft fines, premier warns
Ontarions required to identify themselves if charged with breaching emergency order
Fifteen cases of COVID-19 in Indigenous communities to date, Canadian minister reports
'There's never been such a demand': Central Okanagan Food Bank's urgent appeal for help                  BC Gives $200 Monthly boost to people on income, disability assistance                      
Canada Faces Med Gear Shortage. Today's Ten Top Web Links
How BC's medical resources stack up
China and the Pandemic: Talking with Historian Timothy Brook
Six new deaths, enforcement guidelines, non-essential travel within province discouraged, and more
Vancouver Courier ceases producing print edition ... for time being
Vancouver Courier temporarily ceasing publication
Six more BC deaths since Wednesday
Musqueam set up checkpoints to prevent spread of COVID-19
Let refugees in during pandemic: rights groups
Questioning WHO and China virus data feeds conspiracy theories: Health Minister Hajdu
Alternate non COVID medical care site at Vancouver Convention Centre to be operational by April 8
BC city halls are shrinking but some have bigger reserves to fall on



Globe and Mail

Internal audit of Scheer's expenses find he spent money on private school, clothes, a minivan





CBC

Canada and US in 'close contact' amid oil price rout,  Freeland says
Canada pulls military trainers out of Iraq as pandemic spreads
Ottawa underestimated cost of compensating First Nations children under tribunal order: budget officer
Like everything else in the pandemic plan, Morneau's economic package is chasing a moving target


Toronto Star

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Toronto Sun

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National Post

Canadians had better brace themselves for an alarming new post-COVID economic world
Another COVID-19 casualty: After 60 years, the Canadian Jewish News will cease operations
Canada's air passenger bill of rights fails its first bit test with COVID-19


Maclean's

Inside the parliamentary all-nighter that approved billions in emergency spending
Why legal pot was taking a hit in Canada, weeks before COVID-19 sent markets plunging

Global





Miscellaneous