Uriel Heilman spoke for a lot of people in Israel last week – somewhere in the range of 100,000 people, to be accurate. The director of business development at 70 Faces Media, parent company of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (one of The CJN’s long-standing partners), along with his wife and four children, were sent into quarantine in Israel after returning from a trip to northern Italy, where the spread of the coronavirus has been particularly rampant. Like so many in the Jewish state – and amid heightening travel restrictions, that number is expected to grow, unless or until Israel closes its borders entirely – they were stuck trying to make the best of a tough situation.
Midway through the 14-day quarantine, Heilman wrote, “Our living room was littered with board games, Legos and the remains of half-finished art projects. We were starting to run low on some essentials, and I realized with dismay one day at lunchtime that I somehow had forgotten to change out of my pyjamas.”
The family was trying to stay positive, with a lot of help from friends and family, and a bit of humour along the way. But the effects of quarantine are very real: “As we count down the days, trying to keep our nervousness at bay every time someone coughs or has a headache,” Heilman admitted, “we’re reading the news about the virus’ spread with growing alarm. Already, friends and family on distant continents have been subject to quarantine, too.”
Here in Canada, we can be thankful that it hasn’t come to that, at least not yet. But the coronavirus has nonetheless altered Jewish life. At synagogue this past Saturday, there were fewer handshakes, more elbow bumps. On the walk there, I stopped to chat with a friend; we tapped shoes as we headed our separate ways. March of the Living and Birthright Israel trips have been postponed – and, who knows, Passover might be next. You’ve probably found yourself imagining what you’d do if you were in Heilman’s spot, perhaps even preparing for it.
What went unmentioned by Heilman are the after-effects of Israel’s March 2 election. That is understandable, even commendable, because health comes first. The omission also speaks to the importance of not playing politics with a possible pandemic, a message that Israeli President Reuven Rivlin underscored over the weekend. “I know about politics,” he said, “and this is far, far from politics.”
Nonetheless, the world of Israeli politics remains in a lockdown of its own, post-election, after voting left the country divided once again. With most of the major players vowing before Israel’s third election in less than a year that there would not be a fourth consecutive ballot, coalition manoeuvrings have quickly intensified. Two potential scenarios could see either a unity government composed of Likud and Blue and White – the two parties that won the most seats – or a Blue and White coalition with Avigdor Liberman’s secularist Yisrael Beytenu party and the Labor-Gesher-Meretz left-wing trifecta, with help from the Joint List of mostly Arab parties.
Rivlin is expected to announce on March 17 whether Blue and White Leader Benny Gantz will get the first crack at forming government, or if Benjamin Netanyahu, the still-prime minister whose Likud party won the most seats on March 2, receives the honour. The same day, Netanyahu’s criminal trial on breach of trust, bribery and fraud charges is set to begin. And in the interim, Bibi’s opponents may move forward with legislation that would bar any member of the Knesset under indictment – a.k.a. Netanyahu – from forming government. In other words, hold on tight. It’s going to be a bumpy ride.
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the NDP is caving to political pressure from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre when it comes to their stance on the consumer carbon price.
Trudeau says he believes Jagmeet Singh and the NDP care about the environment, but it’s “increasingly obvious” that they have “no idea” what to do about climate change.
On Thursday, Singh said the NDP is working on a plan that wouldn’t put the burden of fighting climate change on the backs of workers, but wouldn’t say if that plan would include a consumer carbon price.
Singh’s noncommittal position comes as the NDP tries to frame itself as a credible alternative to the Conservatives in the next federal election.
Poilievre responded to that by releasing a video, pointing out that the NDP has voted time and again in favour of the Liberals’ carbon price.
British Columbia Premier David Eby also changed his tune on Thursday, promising that a re-elected NDP government would scrap the long-standing carbon tax and shift the burden to “big polluters,” if the federal government dropped its requirements.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Simon Jolin-Barrette, minister responsible for consumer protection, has tabled a bill to force merchants to calculate tips based on the price before tax.
That means on a restaurant bill of $100, suggested tips would be calculated based on $100, not on $114.98 after provincial and federal sales taxes are added.
The bill would also increase the rebate offered to consumers when the price of an item at the cash register is higher than the shelf price, to $15 from $10.
And it would force grocery stores offering a discounted price for several items to clearly list the unit price as well.
Businesses would also have to indicate whether taxes will be added to the price of food products.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
