Canada ends pre-arrival COVID-19 test requirements for vaccinated travellers and winter continues: Five stories to watch in Ottawa - CTV News Ottawa | Canada News Media
Canada lifts the pre-arrival COVID-19 test requirements for vaccinated travellers and Ottawa’s transit commission meets for the first time in 2022.
CTVNewsOttawa.ca looks at five stories to watch in Ottawa this week.
CANADA LIFTS PRE-ARRIVAL TESTS FOR VACCINATED TRAVELLERS
Fully vaccinated travellers will not need to show proof of a negative COVID-19 test to enter Canada starting Friday.
The federal government is lifting the pre-arrival COVID-19 testing requirements for fully vaccinated travellers at land, air and marine borders as of 12:01 a.m. on April 1.
Passengers may still be subjected to random PCR testing on arrival at Canadian airports. The federal government says travellers selected for mandatory random testing are not required to quarantine while awaiting their test result.
All travellers will still be required to submit their mandatory information in the ArriveCAN app before arrival to Canada.
Currently, all fully vaccinated travellers must show proof of a health professional-administered negative rapid antigen test before a flight or crossing at a land border.
Canada is lifting its PCR test requirement at border crossings for fully vaccinated travellers. Ottawa, Ont. Feb. 16, 2022. (Tyler Fleming / CTV News Ottawa)
ALL EYES ON COVID-19 NUMBERS
All eyes will be on the COVID-19 situation in Ottawa this week, one week after the mandatory mask mandate for indoor settings was lifted.
Last week, Ottawa Public Health warned there was “evidence of an increase in COVID-19 transmission” in Ottawa, with the wastewater viral signal and test positivity rate increasing.
“Given the lifting of public health measures, increased mobility, social gatherings and the return to school following March Break, we can expect to continue to see evidence of increased transmission in the community,” deputy medical officer of health Dr. Brent Moloughney said.
Moloughney says public health will work with Ontario health officials on “potential options” if key indicators “shift in a concerning way.”
Ottawa Public Health is encouraging people to wear masks in indoor public places.
Downtown Ottawa offices have remained virtually empty as many employees work from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Colton Praill/CTV News Ottawa)
TRANSIT COMMISSION MEETS FOR FIRST TIME IN 2022
Ottawa’s transit commission will meet for the first time in 2022 this weekend, giving councillors and transit riders the first update on the state of the $2 billion Confederation Line this year.
The transit commission was scheduled to meet in February, but all committee meetings were cancelled due to the “Freedom Convoy” demonstration.
The first item on the agenda is an update on the Confederation Line and bus service update. Staff will provide the first update on the Confederation Line since mid-November, when LRT service had just resumed following a train derailment in September.
Transit commissioners will also vote on a motion calling on the federal government to cover the cost of any operating deficit while federal workers continue to work from home.
OC Transpo posted a $15 million surplus last year, due to unfilled staffing vacancies and lower O-Train maintenance costs. Federal and provincial funding helped cover fare revenue losses in 2021.
An east-bound OTrain pulls in to Rideau Station on the Confederation Line of the Light Rail Transit system in Ottawa, ON. (Brenda Woods/CTV Ottawa)
NEW OTTAWA POLICE SERVICES BOARD
The Ottawa Police Services Board will hold its first meeting with all seven new members on Monday, after the previous board members resigned or were removed from their positions by council.
On Friday, the Ontario government appointed Salim Fakirani, Peter Henschel and Michael Doucet to the board. They join Coun. Eli El-Chantiry, Jeff Leiper, Cathy Curry and council appointee Suzanne Valiquet on the new board.
Monday’s agenda will include debate on a motion to ask the city’s Auditor General to review the Ottawa Police response to the “Freedom Convoy” demonstration. The motion from chair El-Chantiry asks the city’s auditor general to review several areas, including the operational approaches, planning frameworks, operational readiness and enforcement strategies.
The board will also discuss the reinstatement of background check fees for vulnerable sector volunteers.
The Ottawa Police Services Board meeting will be held in-person at Ottawa City Hall, beginning at 4 p.m.
THE RETURN OF WINTER
The calendar says spring, but Mother Nature is reminding us that winter is not over yet for Ottawa.
Residents woke up to flurries on Sunday morning.
Environment Canada’s forecast calls for a low of -15 C overnight, which could set a record for the coldest March 28 in Ottawa history.
The high on Monday will be -8 C.
Temperatures are expected to remain below normal for most of the second week of spring; however, there will be a high of 13C on Thursday.
Parliament Hill and the Fairmont Chateau Laurier in Ottawa are seen during the winter in this undated photo. (Photo by Erik Mclean of Unsplash)
EVENTS IN OTTAWA THIS WEEK
Monday
Ottawa Police Services Board meeting – 4 p.m.
Tuesday
Ottawa Carleton District School Board meeting – 7 p.m.
Ottawa Catholic School Board meeting – 7 p.m.
Ottawa Senators at Nashville Predators – 8 p.m. (TSN 5 and TSN 1200)
Wednesday
Ottawa transit commission meeting – 9:30 a.m.
Thursday
Ottawa community and protective services committee meeting – 9:30 a.m.
Friday
Ottawa Senators at Detroit Red Wings – 7:30 p.m. (TSN 5 and TSN 1200)
VANCOUVER – Canadian pop icon Nelly Furtado has been named one of three headliners for the opening ceremony of the upcoming Invictus Games.
Furtado, from Victoria, will share the stage with alt-pop star Roxane Bruneau of Delson, Que., and American singer-songwriter Noah Kahan.
They’ll be part of the show that opens the multi-sport event in Vancouver and Whistler, B.C., in February.
The Invictus Games sees wounded, injured, and sick military service members and Veterans compete in 11 disciplines.
The Vancouver Whistler 2025 Games will be the first of seven editions to feature winter adaptive sports, including alpine skiing, Nordic skiing, skeleton and wheelchair curling.
British Columbia’s Lower Mainland will host the Invictus Games from Feb. 8-16.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
PORT ALBERNI, B.C. – A tribal council representing 14 First Nations along the west coast of Vancouver Island is declaring a state of emergency over the opioid crisis, which is killing their members and leaving others with mental health struggles.
Judith Sayers, president of the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council, says not enough is being done and the nations need help from governments and health authorities to devise their own solutions for fight what she calls a “war on trauma” in dealing with the colonial past.
Figures from the First Nations Health Authority show Indigenous people died from drug poisonings at more than six times the rate of other B.C. residents last year.
Sayers says First Nations need funding to support overwhelmed workers in their communities and to build detox and rehabilitation centres.
Chief Councillor Ken Watts of the Tseshaht First Nation says not enough is being done, and British Columbians should ask candidates running in this October’s provincial election, what they plan to do to help.
Sayers says a meeting was held with government and health officials to discuss the concerns and another meeting is being planned with the federal government.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
