TORONTO —
News that Canada is behind other countries in their COVID-19 vaccination rollout schemes – while in a critical point in the pandemic – has experts worried the country won’t meet the September 2021vaccination goal set by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The vast geography of the country, including remote communities where the logistics of flying in healthcare is complicated –as well as tricky storage requirements of the Pfizer vaccine, were initially pointed out as roadblocks to the rollout.
But with the arrival of Moderna’s easier-to-store vaccine, and Health Canada reviewing more vaccine products on the horizon, experts say governments need to shift focus.
“I think there was a lot of attention given to getting vaccines into the freezers, but not enough attention from freezer to arm,” biostatician Ryan Imgrund, who works with Ottawa Public Health, said in an email to CTV News.ca Wednesday.
“They were so worried about the cold storage requirement that they seemingly forgot that the vaccine needs to come out and actually get in to people,” he said.
It was a sentiment echoed by the Dean of health sciences at Queens University and former federal minister of health Dr. Jane Philpott.
“We need to empty those freezers… there’s no point in pacing ourselves on this,” Philpott said on CTV’s News Channel Wednesday. “That’s what really is going to turn this pandemic around, is getting people the vaccine protection they need.”
The federal government released 500,000 doses of both the Pfizer and Modern vaccines back in December, but the actual distribution and rollout of the inoculations is at the discretion of provinces and territories.
Ontario’s stunted rollout
Ontario has been criticised repeatedly for its vaccination initiatives having trouble getting off the ground, as the province surpassed 200,000 total COVID-19 cases Wednesday.
The Ontario Liberal party called for the military to be used to step up Ontario’s vaccination phases Wednesday, after Premier Doug Ford’s government took some significant heat for shuttering vaccination stations during the Christmas holidays.
“I am urging the premier to request immediate assistance from the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) who are well-positioned to provide important logistical leadership and support,” Ontario Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca said in a statement.
Ret. Gen. Rick Hillier, who was tapped by Ford to lead Ontario’s vaccination rollout, admitted that halting vaccinations over the holidays was a mistake, and that the taskforce’s initial scheme of holding back the 35,000 second doses of the Pfizer vaccine also slowed them down.
Hillier rebutted claims that vaccines were languishing in freezers on CTV News Ottawa’s Morning Live show Wednesday – instead claiming that the issue was one of supply chains.
“Yesterday, we vaccinated more than 10,000 people in the province of Ontario, we will do the same and more again today. We are at the point now where we will start running out of vaccines as the people who need the second shot [of the Pfizer vaccine] start coming back,” he said.
Hillier said the vaccine taskforce plans to administer 55,000 doses of 161 long-term care homes in the regions of Toronto, Peel, York and Windsor-Essex by Jan. 21.
There has been no deadline set for the rest of the province.
Ottawa’s Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Vera Etches announced on Twitter Tuesday that they would begin vaccinating people outside of the Ottawa Hospital – which had been the central distribution hub – and directly into long-term care homes.
Ontario’s Minister of Health Christine Elliot said Wednesday that 60,000 vaccines have been administered in Ontario so far.
In a statement emailed to CTV News.ca Wednesday, the Ontario Ministry of Health said that the province’s vaccine rollout is “well underway” and that it remains committed to administering them “as safely and efficiently as possible.”
“We have received 95,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine so far, that are currently being administered at 19 hospitals – soon to be expanded to 28 – continuing until the end of March 2021,” the statement reads.
The Ministry of Health also noted in its statement that Ontario recently received 53,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine which will “be used for vaccinations at long-term care homes and retirement homes.”
“We continue to ask all Ontarians to remain vigilant and continue following public health measures.”
The sense of urgency is a good sign, Philpott says.
“I’m pleased to see that over the last 24-48 hours the pace is definitely picking up across the country,” she said. “Ontario is seeing almost a doubling of the rate of vaccines getting out of freezers and into arms, and we need to continue doing that.”
Philpott says she is hopeful that a “significant number” of vaccines will be arriving this week and next week to pick up the pace.
So far approximate 4,100 first-dose appointments have been made for Jan. 4 to 10, with 2,000 more available.
The province is hoping to vaccinate around 40,000 people by the end of January.
Quebec, which had its long-term care homes decimated by COVID-19, took the extra step of putting vaccine distribution centres inside of the homes in an effort to vaccinate residents.
British Columbia also put vaccination distribution directly into long-term care homes, with 24,139 people vaccinated as of Sunday.
B.C expects approximately 792,000 doses of the Pfizer and Modern vaccines to be distributed through the end of March.
The province released their updated vaccination plan Monday – which targets populations like seniors living in the community who are at least 80 years old and Indigenous seniors who are at least 65.
The province received approximately 46,000 doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, and said their continued rollout will depend on the available supply.
Nova Scotia is opening COVID-19 immunization clinics to help achieve its goal of vaccinating at least 75 per cent of the population by the end of September.
The province received a combined 9,550 doses of Pfizer and Moderns vaccines and has been targeting healthcare workers in their Phase 1 rollout which runs from January to April 2021.
How can we fix it?
“A key to maximizing efficiency in these complex logistical operations is minimizing downtime or non-productive time,” said Director of the Centre for Healthcare Engineering at the University of Toronto Professor Timothy Chan, in an email to CTV News.ca Wednesday.
“Retail figured out long ago that inventory sitting on shelves costs them money. The same concept applies here, except now we’re talking lives.”
Chan also criticized the petering out of vaccinations around the holidays.
“COVID doesn’t take a holiday so neither should we,” he said.
Imgrund says Ontario’s initial vaccines should have gone to long-term care facilities immediately, and noted the government’s apparent lack of preparation.
“Vaccination schedules should be made weeks before the vaccine touches ground. You can always cancel appointments. But scheduling in new ones is always difficult,” he said.
Philpott also touched on the logistics.
“Everybody has a responsibility here,” she said. “We need to ramp up the mechanisms to make sure they are delivered as quickly as possible to the people who need them.”
Chan says that fixing the problem relies on accurately identifying the “key limiting factors” or “bottlenecks.”
“Is it a lack of healthcare workers to deliver the vaccines? Is it a lack of space at the vaccination sites? Is it a lack of coordination and leadership? Right now, the only limiting factor should be our vaccine supply,” he said.
“Start a massive scheduling operation to just get people to these sites (or doses delivered to LTC homes) and start administering the vaccine around the clock if we need to,” he said.
For Ontario’s situation, Imgrund said that the province “eventually needs to get to 40,000 vaccinations per day” in order to vaccinate the entire population.
“Phase 1 is the most important phase when it comes to saving lies and reducing hospitalization…It is easier to ramp down in the future than ramp up,” he said.
TORONTO – TD Bank Group, which is mired in a money laundering scandal in the U.S., says chief executive Bharat Masrani will retire next year.
Masrani, who will retire officially on April 10, 2025, says the bank’s, “anti-money laundering challenges,” took place on his watch and he takes full responsibility.
The bank named Raymond Chun, TD’s group head, Canadian personal banking, as his successor.
As part of a transition plan, Chun will become chief operating officer on Nov. 1 before taking over the top job when Masrani steps down at the bank’s annual meeting next year.
TD also announced that Riaz Ahmed, group head, wholesale banking and president and CEO of TD Securities, will retire at the end of January 2025.
TD has taken billions in charges related to ongoing U.S. investigations into the failure of its anti-money laundering program.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
“Communication is one of the most important skills you require for a successful life.” — Catherine Pulsifer, author.
I’m one hundred percent in agreement with Pulsifer, which is why my evaluation of candidates begins with their writing skills. If a candidate’s writing skills and verbal communication skills, which I’ll assess when interviewing, aren’t well above average, I’ll pass on them regardless of their skills and experience.
Why?
Because business is fundamentally about getting other people to do things—getting employees to be productive, getting customers to buy your products or services, and getting vendors to agree to a counteroffer price. In business, as in life in general, you can’t make anything happen without effective communication; this is especially true when job searching when your writing is often an employer’s first impression of you.
Think of all the writing you engage in during a job search (resumes, cover letters, emails, texts) and all your other writing (LinkedIn profile, as well as posts and comments, blogs, articles, tweets, etc.) employers will read when they Google you to determine if you’re interview-worthy.
With so much of our communication today taking place via writing (email, text, collaboration platforms such as Microsoft Teams, Slack, ClickUp, WhatsApp and Rocket.Chat), the importance of proficient writing skills can’t be overstated.
When assessing a candidate’s writing skills, you probably think I’m looking for grammar and spelling errors. Although error-free writing is important—it shows professionalism and attention to detail—it’s not the primary reason I look at a candidate’s writing skills.
The way someone writes reveals how they think.
Clear writing = Clear thinking
Structured paragraphs = Structured mind
Impactful sentences = Impactful ideas
Effective writing isn’t about using sophisticated vocabulary. Hemingway demonstrated that deceptively simple, stripped-down prose can captivate readers. Effective writing takes intricate thoughts and presents them in a way that makes the reader think, “Damn! Why didn’t I see it that way?” A good writer is a dead giveaway for a good thinker. More than ever, the business world needs “good thinkers.”
Therefore, when I come across a candidate who’s a good writer, hence a good thinker, I know they’re likely to be able to write:
Emails that don’t get deleted immediately and are responded to
Simple, concise, and unambiguous instructions
Pitches that are likely to get read
Social media content that stops thumbs
Human-sounding website copy
Persuasively, while attuned to the reader’s possible sensitivities
Now, let’s talk about the elephant in the room: AI, which job seekers are using en masse. Earlier this year, I wrote that AI’s ability to hyper-increase an employee’s productivity—AI is still in its infancy; we’ve seen nothing yet—in certain professions, such as writing, sales and marketing, computer programming, office and admin, and customer service, makes it a “fewer employees needed” tool, which understandably greatly appeals to employers. In my opinion, the recent layoffs aren’t related to the economy; they’re due to employers adopting AI. Additionally, companies are trying to balance investing in AI with cost-cutting measures. CEOs who’ve previously said, “Our people are everything,” have arguably created today’s job market by obsessively focusing on AI to gain competitive advantages and reduce their largest expense, their payroll.
It wouldn’t be a stretch to assume that most AI usage involves generating written content, content that’s obvious to me, and likely to you as well, to have been written by AI. However, here’s the twist: I don’t particularly care.
Why?
Because the fundamental skill I’m looking for is the ability to organize thoughts and communicate effectively. What I care about is whether the candidate can take AI-generated content and transform it into something uniquely valuable. If they can, they’re demonstrating the skills of being a good thinker and communicator. It’s like being a great DJ; anyone can push play, but it takes skill to read a room and mix music that gets people pumped.
Using AI requires prompting effectively, which requires good writing skills to write clear and precise instructions that guide the AI to produce desired outcomes. Prompting AI effectively requires understanding structure, flow and impact. You need to know how to shape raw information, such as milestones throughout your career when you achieved quantitative results, into a compelling narrative.
So, what’s the best way to gain and enhance your writing skills? As with any skill, you’ve got to work at it.
Two rules guide my writing:
Use strong verbs and nouns instead of relying on adverbs, such as “She dashed to the store.” instead of “She ran quickly to the store.” or “He whispered to the child.” instead of “He spoke softly to the child.”
Avoid using long words when a shorter one will do, such as “use” instead of “utilize” or “ask” instead of “inquire.” As attention spans get shorter, I aim for clarity, simplicity and, most importantly, brevity in my writing.
Don’t just string words together; learn to organize your thoughts, think critically, and communicate clearly. Solid writing skills will significantly set you apart from your competition, giving you an advantage in your job search and career.
Nick Kossovan, a well-seasoned veteran of the corporate landscape, offers “unsweetened” job search advice. You can send Nick your questions to artoffindingwork@gmail.com.
MONTREAL – Politics, public opinion and salary hikes south of the border helped push Air Canada toward a deal that secures major pay gains for pilots, experts say.
Hammered out over the weekend, the would-be agreement includes a cumulative wage hike of nearly 42 per cent over four years — an enormous bump by historical standards — according to one source who was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. The previous 10-year contract granted increases of just two per cent annually.
The federal government’s stated unwillingness to step in paved the way for a deal, noted John Gradek, after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made it plain the two sides should hash one out themselves.
“Public opinion basically pressed the federal cabinet, including the prime minister, to keep their hands clear of negotiations and looking at imposing a settlement,” said Gradek, who teaches aviation management at McGill University.
After late-night talks at a hotel near Toronto’s Pearson airport, the country’s biggest airline and the union representing 5,200-plus aviators announced early Sunday morning they had reached a tentative agreement, averting a strike that would have grounded flights and affected some 110,000 passengers daily.
The relative precariousness of the Liberal minority government as well as a push to appear more pro-labour underlay the prime minister’s hands-off approach to the negotiations.
Trudeau said Friday the government would not step in to fix the impasse — unlike during a massive railway work stoppage last month and a strike by WestJet mechanics over the Canada Day long weekend that workers claimed road roughshod over their constitutional right to collective bargaining. Trudeau said the government respects the right to strike and would only intervene if it became apparent no negotiated deal was possible.
“They felt that they really didn’t want to try for a third attempt at intervention and basically said, ‘Let’s let the airline decide how they want to deal with this one,'” said Gradek.
“Air Canada ran out of support as the week wore on, and by the time they got to Friday night, Saturday morning, there was nothing left for them to do but to basically try to get a deal set up and accepted by ALPA (Air Line Pilots Association).”
Trudeau’s government was also unlikely to consider back-to-work legislation after the NDP tore up its agreement to support the Liberal minority in Parliament, Gradek said. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, whose party has traditionally toed a more pro-business line, also said last week that Tories “stand with the pilots” and swore off “pre-empting” the negotiations.
Air Canada CEO Michael Rousseau had asked Ottawa on Thursday to impose binding arbitration pre-emptively — “before any travel disruption starts” — if talks failed. Backed by business leaders, he’d hoped for an effective repeat of the Conservatives’ move to head off a strike in 2012 by legislating Air Canada pilots and ground crew to stick to their posts before any work stoppage could start.
The request may have fallen flat, however. Gradek said he believes there was less anxiety over the fallout from an airline strike than from the countrywide railway shutdown.
He also speculated that public frustration over thousands of cancelled flights would have flowed toward Air Canada rather than Ottawa, prompting the carrier to concede to a deal yielding “unheard of” gains for employees.
“It really was a total collapse of the Air Canada bargaining position,” he said.
Pilots are slated to vote in the coming weeks on the four-year contract.
Last year, pilots at Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and American Airlines secured agreements that included four-year pay boosts ranging from 34 per cent to 40 per cent, ramping up pressure on other carriers to raise wages.
After more than a year of bargaining, Air Canada put forward an offer in August centred around a 30 per cent wage hike over four years.
But the final deal, should union members approve it, grants a 26 per cent increase in the first year alone, retroactive to September 2023, according to the source. Three wage bumps of four per cent would follow in 2024 through 2026.
Passengers may wind up shouldering some of that financial load, one expert noted.
“At the end of the day, it’s all us consumers who are paying,” said Barry Prentice, who heads the University of Manitoba’s transport institute.
Higher fares may be mitigated by the persistence of budget carrier Flair Airlines and the rapid expansion of Porter Airlines — a growing Air Canada rival — as well as waning demand for leisure trips. Corporate travel also remains below pre-COVID-19 levels.
Air Canada said Sunday the tentative contract “recognizes the contributions and professionalism of Air Canada’s pilot group, while providing a framework for the future growth of the airline.”
The union issued a statement saying that, if ratified, the agreement will generate about $1.9 billion of additional value for Air Canada pilots over the course of the deal.
Meanwhile, labour tension with cabin crew looms on the horizon. Air Canada is poised to kick off negotiations with the union representing more than 10,000 flight attendants this year before the contract expires on March 31.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
