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Coronavirus: What's happening in Canada and around the world on May 1 – CBC.ca

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The latest:

Nova Scotia announced Friday it’s immediately easing some of its COVID-19 restrictions, one day after Alberta and Newfoundland released frameworks for how they would reopen their economies. As more political leaders follow suit, many businesses, health practitioners and even cities are working to figure out how they will operate as restrictions are lifted.

Manitoba’s largest city is scrambling to try and get amenities, such as playgrounds and golf courses, ready to reopen on Monday, after a provincial plan set out a timeline for lifting restrictions.

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“There is much more to reopening than simply reversing measures that we’ve put into place,” Mayor Brian Bowman said, as he asked Winnipeggers to be patient with the reopening process. 

Officials in Quebec announced they will be launching a more “aggressive” testing strategy as they prepare to loosen their own restrictions. Dr. Horacio Arruda, Quebec’s director of public health, said the province is planning to conduct 14,000 tests a day, up from roughly 6,000. Increased testing and contact tracing are considered by experts to be an essential part of any plan to reopen the economy.

Workers unload medical supplies arriving from China at Mirabel Airport in Mirabel, Que. on Friday. (Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press)

Ontario on Friday announced it will allow a limited number of businesses to reopen, as long as they meet “strict public health measures.” Lawn care and landscaping services, garden centres and nurseries with curbside pickup, community gardens, automatic and self-serve car washes, auto dealers and some construction projects will be allowed to open on Monday, with specific rules around how they can operate.

“Today’s news show us if we stay the course, if we stay vigilant and take the measured approach, we can keep moving in the right direction,” Premier Doug Ford said at a news briefing. 

And while provinces eye ways to jump-start their economies, people across the country are struggling to receive EI payments after losing their jobs due to the pandemic. Many Canadians have gone weeks without benefits because of problems with their EI applications, and find they’re unable to make it through jammed phone lines to get help.

The C.D. Howe Institute’s Business Cycle Council, which monitors recessions and recoveries in Canada, declared on Friday that the country is officially in a recession caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic is still less than two months old in Canada, but it said Friday the slowdown is already so swift and deep that it’s safe to declare a recession. 

People wearing face masks are seen in downtown Ottawa on Friday. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)

As of 7:30 p.m. ET on Friday, Canada had 55,061 confirmed and presumptive coronavirus cases, with the majority concentrated in Ontario and Quebec. Provinces and territories list 22,762 of the cases as resolved or recovered. A CBC News tally of COVID-19-related deaths based on provincial data, regional health information and CBC’s reporting lists 3,507 deaths in Canada and two known coronavirus-related deaths of Canadians abroad.

Public health officials have cautioned that the recorded numbers are likely too low, noting that they fail to capture information on people who have not been tested or who are still under investigation as possible coronavirus cases. Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s chief public health officer, has urged people to behave as though there is coronavirus in their community, even if there haven’t been any recorded cases. 

The novel coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. There is no proven treatment or vaccine for the virus, which first emerged in China in late 2019. 

What’s happening in the provinces and territories

Police in British Columbia have made hundreds of home visits to make sure residents who recently returned home from abroad are following self-isolation orders. The visits were to roughly 500 people who had not responded to phone calls and text messages from authorities making sure recent travellers were quarantining as promised. Read more about what’s happening in B.C.

A golfer is seen at the reopened McCleery Golf Club in Vancouver on Friday. (Ben Nelms/CBC)

Alberta is reporting an outbreak at an Amazon warehouse north of Calgary. Dr. Deena Hinshaw, the province’s chief medical health officer, says there are five cases at the site in Balzac. The company reported its first confirmed case among the more than 1,000 full-time workers on April 12.

Also Friday, Hinshaw announced the province is launching a voluntary mobile app to expand contact tracing. The app, once downloaded, uses Bluetooth to identify any other nearby phones that have the same app. Anyone with the app who later develops COVID-19 will be asked to upload the data to Alberta Health Services, which will use it to reach out to those who came in contact with the person. Read more about what’s happening in Alberta.

Saskatchewan on Friday reported 26 new cases — the largest single-day increase in more than a month, and the second largest increase in the province since the pandemic began, behind the 30 new cases reported on March 28. Of the 26 new cases, 19 are in La Loche and the surrounding area, including Clearwater River Dene Nation. 

“We’ve very concerned with the increase in cases,” said Dr. Saqib Shahab, Saskatchewan’s chief medical health officer. “The current outbreak in the north is due to further community transmission; people who have been exposed in the community.” Read more about what’s happening in Saskatchewan.

New rules kick in for Manitoba care homes today, limiting health-care workers to just one care home. The province reported four new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, bringing the total to 279. Read more about what’s happening in Manitoba.

WATCH | Indigenous teen hoop dancer moves into Ottawa retirement residence to help during COVID-19:

‘I consider them almost, like, as a second family,’ said Makhena Katerie Rankin Guérin. ‘That bond, it’s so valuable to me.’ 7:26

Ontario reported eight COVID-19 outbreaks at long-term care homes on Friday, bringing the provincial total to 198. In response to the spread of COVID-19 in long-term care and retirement homes, a provincial health-care advocacy group is organizing a day of action Friday to call for improved access to testing and personal protective equipment at the facilities.

Also on Friday, the province announced it would allow some businesses to reopen on May 4 “under strict guidelines. Read more about what’s happening in Ontario. 

A cyclist wearing a face mask rides past cherry blossoms fenced off to curb gatherings at a park in Toronto on Friday. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press)

Quebec’s director of public health says the province is launching a more “aggressive” testing strategy in the community, as it begins to loosen pandemic restrictions. Dr. Horacio Arruda said the province is planning to conduct 14,000 tests a day, up from roughly 6,000 tests a day that it’s currently doing. 

Arruda also announced 163 more COVID-19-related deaths. While this is the highest number reported on a single day, he said it includes previously unreported deaths for the month of April. Read more about what’s happening in Quebec, including concerns parents and teachers in the province have over a plan to reopen schools in under two weeks.

A person is given hand sanitizer before being tested at a COVID-19 testing clinic in Montreal on Friday. (Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press)

New Brunswick has now gone 13 days straight without a new case of COVID-19. “That is very good news, but we are still actively searching for cases of COVID-19,” said Dr. Jennifer Russell, the chief medical officer of health, during Friday’s news briefing. On Thursday, Russell cautioned there will be new cases in New Brunswick, but health officials are now more prepared for the next wave. Read more about what’s happening in N.B.

The Nova Scotia government announced Friday it is immediately easing some public health restrictionsRules around physical distancing and social gatherings remain in place. People must keep two metres apart and not gather in groups of more than five.  ​​​​​​ 

Nova Scotia reported 12 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, bringing its total to 959 confirmed cases. The province has recorded 29 deaths related to COVID-19. Read more about what’s happening in N.S.

A paramedic and an ambulance is seen at Northwood Manor, one of the largest nursing homes in Atlantic Canada, in Halifax on Friday. (Andrew Vaughan/The Canadian Press)

Prince Edward Island had no new cases of COVID-19 again on Friday. Since Thursday, 75 new negative test results have returned, Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Heather Morrison said. Read more about what’s happening on P.E.I., including how the premier is asking the federal government to change its COVID-19 benefits program in order to motivate people to get back to work. 

WATCH | COVID-19: Is airborne transmission possible?

An infectious disease specialist answers your questions about the COVID-19 pandemic including whether airborne transmission is possible. 2:18

Newfoundland and Labrador reported one new case on Friday. It’s the first in five days. On Thursday, the province introduced a reopening plan, which sets May 11 as a target date for the lifting of some restrictions, including around non-urgent medical care and low-risk outdoor activity. That plan allowed households to form a “bubble,” allowing them to spend time with one other household. On Friday, the province’s chief medical officer of health warned that allowance could be rescinded if the number of new cases spikes. Read more about what’s happening in N.L.

In Canada’s North,  all of the territory’s 11 confirmed cases of COVID-19 have recovered. Yukon Justice Minister Tracy-Anne McPhee also announced Friday that someone has been charged under Yukon’s Civil Emergency Measures Act for allegedly failing to self-isolate as required. Read more about what’s happening across the North.

WATCH | Some good news from across the country on Friday:

With much of the world struggling through the COVID-19 pandemic, there are still some good-news stories to report. Here’s a brief roundup. 3:13

What’s happening in the U.S.

From The Associated Press, updated at 9:15 p.m. ET

More than a dozen states let restaurants, stores or other businesses reopen Friday in the biggest one-day push yet to get their economies up and running again, acting at their own speed and with their own quirks and restrictions to make sure the coronavirus doesn’t come storming back.

People in Louisiana could eat at restaurants again but had to sit outside at tables three metres apart with no waiter service. Maine residents could attend church services as long as they stayed in their cars. And a Nebraska mall reopened with Plexiglas barriers and hand-sanitizing stations but few shoppers.

Meanwhile, the first drug shown to help fight COVID-19 won emergency approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. In a major study, remdesivir shortened patients’ recovery time from 15 days to 11 on average and may have also reduced deaths.

Shoppers wearing face masks enter a department store in Omaha, Neb., on Friday. (Nati Harnik/The Associated Press)

President Donald Trump said Friday that he’s hoping the total number of COVID-19 deaths in the United States will be below 100,000, which he acknowledged is a “horrible number.” Trump’s predictions of the expected U.S. death toll have changed over time, with his earlier 60,000 projection now being eclipsed. But he said at a White House event that “maybe millions of lives” have been saved by shutting down the economy.

More than 64,000 people have died in the U.S. so far.

With the crisis stabilizing in Europe and in many places in the U.S., countries and states are gradually easing their restrictions amid warnings from health experts that a second wave of infections could hit unless testing for the virus is expanded dramatically.

People wearing face masks are seen at a salon in Edmond, Okla., on Friday. (Sue Ogrocki/The Associated Press)

In much of Colorado, people could get their hair cut and shop at stores again, though stay-at-home orders remained in place in Denver and surrounding counties.

Wyoming let barbershops, nail salons, gyms and daycare centres reopen. In Maine, golf courses, hairdressers and dentists opened.

Hotels near South Carolina beaches opened and state parks unlocked their gates for the first time in more than a month. But in Myrtle Beach, the state’s most popular tourist destination, hotel elevators will be restricted to one person or one family — a potential inconvenience at the area’s 15- and 20-storey resorts.

Workers wearing face masks are seen at a reopned restaurant in Houston on Friday. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP)

Texas’s reopening got underway with sparse crowds at shopping malls and restaurants allowing customers to dine in, though only at 25 per cent capacity in most places. A video posted on social media showed a city park ranger in Austin getting shoved into the water Thursday while asking people in a crowd to keep six feet apart from each other. Police charged a 25-year-old man with attempted assault.

Around the country, protesters have demanded governors reboot the battered economy. More than 100 people chanted and carried signs in front of Chicago’s Thompson Center, where Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker has an office, to call for an end to the statewide lockdown.

Pritzker has said he will not lift his order until it’s safe, and several counterprotesters expressed support for his position. Nurse anesthetist Benjamin Salazar held up a sign that read, “Stay home. We are getting tired of seeing people die.”

Protesters rally against Illinois stay-at-home order outside in downtown Chicago on Friday. (Nam Y. Huh/The Associated Press)

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham invoked the state’s Riot Control Act as she sealed off all roads to nonessential traffic in the city of Gallup, population 70,000, to help control a surging coronavirus outbreak in the former trading post on the outskirts of the Navajo reservation.

In the hardest-hit corner of the U.S., New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said schools and colleges will remain closed through the rest of the academic year.

In Washington state, where the nation’s first COVID-19 case was confirmed in January, Gov. Jay Inslee said Friday that he is extending the state’s coronavirus stay-at-home order through at least May 31 and that he will ease the restrictions in four stages. Washington also had the first deadly cluster of cases in the U.S., at a Seattle-area nursing home.

What’s happening around the world

From The Associated Press and Reuters, updated at 3:45 p.m. ET

Countries must lift lockdowns gradually, while still being “on the look-out” for COVID-19 and ready to restore restrictions if the virus jumps back, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday.

Vulnerable people in institutions, including those in long-term care facilities, prisons and migrant dormitories, must be protected, said Dr. Mike Ryan, WHO’s top emergencies expert.

Even if the virus is coming under control, communities must know to still follow physical distancing and hygiene measures, and testing of suspect cases must continue, he said.

WATCH | WHO review finds COVID-19 remains a public health emergency:

‘We know too little about the transmission of the virus,’ said Dr. Didier Houssin, expert adviser to the WHO, as he identified key issues that need to be addressed.. 2:12

As in much of the rest of Europe, Italy’s May Day traditions, which pay tribute to the role of workers in society, have been upended by lockdown rules forbidding gatherings during the coronavirus pandemic.

The heart and soul of Italy’s May Day commemoration have been rallies led by union leaders, followed by an evening of rock and pop music in Rome, drawing crowds sometimes topping 100,000 in the square outside St. John in Lateran Basilica. 

This year, musical artists will take turns performing solo in venues without anyone in the audience. Their music will be broadcast on TV and by state radio, with the evening’s theme being, “Working in safety to build a future.”

Deaths from COVID-19 in Italy climbed by 269 on Friday, down from 285 the day before, the Civil Protection Agency said, while the daily tally of new infections stood at 1,965 compared to 1,872 on Thursday.

WATCH | Italian cities test physical distancing measures as restrictions soon to ease:

Picturesque Florence and Ostia prepare to slowly transition to a somewhat new normal beginning May 4. 1:02

In Germany, hundreds gathered in a square in Berlin on Friday to mark May Day. They did so in defiance of a ban on public gatherings of more than 20, exposing deep frustrations with physical distancing rules in place in Germany since mid-March to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

Germany has been slowly easing its way out of a six-week lockdown. Small shops reopened this week, and playgrounds, museums and churches will follow starting on Monday.

Most Germans support the lockdown enforced by the country’s 16 states and backed by Chancellor Angela Merkel, despite its heavy toll on the economy, which is expected to contract by a record of more than six per cent this year.

Demonstrators practice social distancing at a Labour Day rally in Duisberg, Germany, on Friday. (Caroline Seidel/dpa via AP)

Britain has hit its target of carrying out 100,000 COVID-19 tests a day, Health Minister Matt Hancock said on Friday, stressing the program is crucial to helping ease a national lockdown.

He set the target of 100,000 tests by the end of April after being criticized for moving too slowly compared to other countries such as Germany. Hancock also announced the British death toll had risen by 739 to 27,510 deaths — just below that of Italy, which was one of the first and worst-hit European countries.

A medical worker takes a swap at a coronavirus drive-thru testing centre in the parking lot of the closed Chessington World of Adventures Resort theme park in London on May 1. (Warren Little/Getty Images)

French President Emmanuel Macron warned on Friday that the end of the national lockdown on May 11 would only be a first step as France looks to pull out of the crisis created by the COVID-19 outbreak. The number of people who have died from the disease in France rose by 218 to 24,594 on Friday, while hospitalisations and people in intensive care continued to decline, France’s public health chief said.

Spain’s government expects that the eurozone’s fourth-largest economy will shrink by 9.2 per cent this year and that unemployment will reach 19 per cent of the working-age population. Deputy Prime Minister Nadia Calvino announced the grim forecast on Friday when she explained Spain’s economic stability plan that it has presented to the European Union.

An elderly person wearing a face mask is seen sitting in a wheelchair in Barcelona on Friday. (Nacho Doce/Reuters)

Russia registered almost 8,000 new coronavirus cases on Friday in yet another record daily spike, bringing the total to 114,431. The number of cases is likely to be much higher as not everyone gets tested, and tests in Russia were reported to be only 70 to 80 per cent accurate.

In at least five Russian regions, health officials registered a surge of pneumonia cases. In Moscow, which accounts for half of all virus cases, all respiratory infections are likely to be caused by the coronavirus, according to the public health agency Rospotrebnadzor.

Police officers are seen wearing face masks while on patrol in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Friday. (Dmitri Lovetsky/The Associated Press)

Japan will formally decide as early as Monday whether to extend its state of emergency, which was originally set to end on May 6. 

In China, Beijing’s parks and museums, including the ancient Forbidden City, reopened to the public after being closed for months by the coronavirus pandemic.

WATCH | May Day celebrations prompt surge at China’s tourist hot spots as COVID-19 restrictions lessen

Outside Beijing’s Forbidden City, one man expressed the joy of the moment:  “I hope that by coming here to visit, I can start a beautiful day in 2020.”   0:53

India said on Friday it would extend its nationwide lockdown for another two weeks after May 4, but would allow “considerable relaxations” in lower-risk districts marked as green and orange zones under the government’s plan to fight the novel coronavirus. 

The country registered another daily high in coronavirus cases, with nearly 2,000 recorded in the past 24 hours. India’s Health Ministry said Friday the 1,993 new cases and 73 more deaths bring the country’s totals to 35,043 cases and 1,147 deaths.

The government is due to decide the future of its 40-day lockdown on Sunday. It allowed migrant workers and other stranded people to resume their journeys on Wednesday, as well as some shops to reopen and manufacturing and farming to resume.

A volunteer at Jhandewalan temple in New Delhi packs free food packets Friday to be distributed by the Sewa Bharti organization during a government-imposed nationwide lockdown as a preventive measure against COVID-19. (Prakash Singh/AFP/Getty Images)

A holiday atmosphere enlivened South Africa’s streets as the May Day public holiday is also when the country has begun easing its strict lockdown. For the first time in five weeks, people were permitted to walk outside for exercise between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m., and thousands, with mandated face masks and keeping distance, were out walking through the streets.

Some South Africans will be able to return to work in small batches and many businesses will resume limited operations. Many factories can resume operations in phases, starting with only a third of employees allowed to return, and they must abide by distancing and other guidelines.

Public transport, including trains and buses, will begin operating with a restricted number of passengers. Even with the easing, South Africa’s lockdown remains strict, with no sales of liquor and cigarettes permitted.

A South African Police Service officer commands a man to wear a face mask in Hillbrow, Johannesburg, on Friday, during a joint patrol by the South African National Defence Force, the South African Police Service and the Johannesburg Metro Police Department. (Michele Spatari/AFP/Getty Images)

Zimbabwe‘s President Emmerson Mnangagwa extended a nationwide lockdown to fight the new coronavirus by two more weeks and announced a $720 million US stimulus package for distressed companies, most which will be allowed to reopen on Monday.

Brazil reported a record 7,218 cases in the last 24 hours and 435 additional fatalities. Peruvian authorities, meanwhile, closed a busy food market in Lima after mass rapid testing confirmed more than 160 positive cases.

WATCH | May Day 2020 brings protests, arrests and little physical distancing:

A roundup of events from some cities around the globe. 1:30

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Child care in Canada: Trudeau unveils new help for providers – CTV News

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The federal government is launching a new loan program to help child-care providers in Canada expand their spaces, and will be extending further student loan forgiveness and training options for early childhood educators, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Thursday.

The prime minister unveiled a trio of child-care-centric commitments that will be included in the upcoming federal budget, with the aim of opening up more $10-a-day child-care spaces across the country, as the Liberals continue to work towards creating 250,000 new spaces by March 2026.

Specifically, the Liberals are vowing to offer $1 billion in low-cost loans and $60 million in non-repayable grants to public and not-for-profit child-care providers, so they can build or renovate their care centres. 

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This funding will be administered through the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMCH), which Trudeau called “a common sense approach that will help child care be developed alongside housing.”

An additional $48 million is being earmarked for the next four years to extend student loan forgiveness — similar to the program offered to rural doctors and nurses — to early childhood educators, in an effort to incentivize more teachers to work in smaller communities. 

The federal government is also promising $10 million over the next two years to train more early childhood educators.

The prime minister, speaking in Surrey, B.C., alongside the minister currently leading the file, Jenna Sudds, touted the bilateral child-care agreements in effect across the country for seeing thousands of children placed in affordable spaces.

However, in recent months Canadian parents and care providers have sounded alarms about increasingly long daycare waitlists. And, operators in some provinces have threatened to withdraw from the lower-cost program because they’re struggling to make ends meet. 

Trudeau said while the government has funded 100,000 spaces so far and is aware of the challenges in rolling out this new national program, not enough families have access and not all provinces are moving as fast as they should. 

“I want to take a moment to talk to young moms, many of you millennials. You’ve grown up with so many pressures in this economy, the 2008 recession, COVID, climate change … and we want to make sure that everyone — especially moms raising kids — has the best chance to succeed and thrive,” Trudeau said.

“As Canada grows, as families grow, we want to make sure more kids can access high-quality child care… That’s what fairness for every generation is all about.”

The prime minister also got political, accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of opposing the program, despite the Official Opposition voting in support of a recently passed Liberal piece of legislation meant to enshrine in law a commitment to the Canada-wide early learning and child-care system, and the long-term funding needed to maintain it. 

Reacting to the news, NDP MP and critic for children, families, and social development Leah Gazan said the announcement was a “direct result of advocacy” by her party, care workers, unions, and women’s organizations.

She also pointed the finger at the Conservatives, accusing them of trying to stall the program and push for a “for-profit private system that parents can’t afford.” 

Liberal pre-budget strategy

Similar to how Wednesday’s rollout of renter-fairness-focused pre-budget news went, cabinet ministers are making echo announcements of the new child-care affordability measures across the country Thursday afternoon. 

This is all part of a new communications strategy the Liberals are employing in the lead up to the release of the April 16 federal budget.

Practically every day between now and when Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland releases the massive economic document, the Liberals are expected to tease out bits and pieces of the budget.

In an effort to stretch out their ability to market the measures within it, Trudeau as well as members of his cabinet will unveil new initiatives over the next two weeks, to the point that the vast majority of the budget will be public prior to budget day.

Traditionally, governments have held budget news — save for some pre-tabling leaks — for the day the document is tabled in the House of Commons post-daylong reporter and stakeholder lockup.

Kicking off this strategy on Wednesday, Trudeau issued a video across social media platforms indicating the overall theme for the 2024 budget will be “generational fairness,” a message meant to speak to millennials and Generation Z.

“When I first decided to run for office, one of my biggest motivations was working to create a Canada that young people saw themselves… As prime minister, I’ve never lost sight of that,” Trudeau said in the clip.

“You as a young Canadian are the heartbeat of our economy. You power our growth and you deserve an economy that gives you a fair shot at success. But, this moment we’re all living in is throwing big challenges your way… So we’re going to roll up our sleeves and work like hell. And we’re going to tell you about what we’re doing to fix it, over the next two weeks.”

While Trudeau’s 2015 election victory was credited in part to a historic surge in young people turning up at the polls, Poilievre has been chipping away at that Liberal voting bloc of those aged 43 and under, seeking to appeal to their current struggles to get ahead with his “powerful paycheques” and housing affordability arguments.

In November 2023, Trudeau tapped Max Valiquette, a marketing guru with self-described expertise in understanding younger generations, as his new executive director of communications.

“We’re witnessing a different communication strategy from the government. They’re implementing something they’ve not tried before. We’re not going to have a budget day on April 16. We’re going to have budget days between now and April 16,” said political commentator Scott Reid in an interview on CTV News Channel.

“Frankly, this government knows that it needs to break through, it knows that it needs to connect with Canadians… Is it going to turn around the polls overnight? No. Might they get a little bit more of a hearing than they otherwise would have been? Probably.” 

With files from CTV News’ Vassy Kapelos and Annie Bergeron-Oliver

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Ontario releases 2023 Sunshine List, top earner made $1.9M – CBC.ca

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Five employees at Ontario Power Generation are in the top 10 earners on the province’s so-called sunshine list for 2023, with the province’s highest salary nearing $2 million.

The annual sunshine list documents public sector employees with salaries over $100,000. In this year’s edition, there are 300,570 names, more than 30,000 higher than last year.

Kenneth Hartwick, CEO of the electricity Crown corporation, is in the top spot again with a salary of $1.93 million.

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Two other executives at the organization — chief strategy officer Dominique Miniere and chief projects officer Michael Martelli — made nearly $1.2 million and nearly $1 million, respectively.

You can find a list of the top 100 earners below.

The presidents and CEOs of the Hospital for Sick Children and the University Health Network are also in the top 10, earning around $850,000 each. So is Phil Verster, who is president and CEO of the provincial transit agency, Metrolinx, with a $838,097 salary.

Caroline Mulroney, president of the Treasury Board, highlighted other high growth areas in a release.

“The largest year-over-year increases were in the hospitals, municipalities and services, and post-secondary sectors, which together represented approximately 80 per cent of the growth of the list,” she said.

The list shows 17 professors or associate professors at the University of Toronto had earnings of $500,000 or more.

A statement from a University of Toronto spokesperson said the school competes with top universities and private-sector employers around the world for faculty members.

“This occasionally results in salaries above the usual range for a small number of faculty members.”

An Ontario Power Generation building.
Five employees at Ontario Power Generation are among the top 10 spots of the annual sunshine list for 2023. (Cole Burston/The Canadian Press)

Premier Doug Ford earned $208,974 last year. His chief of staff, Patrick Sackville, earned $324,675.

Matthew Anderson, CEO of Ontario Health, a provincial agency the Ford government created in 2019, earned $821,000. Meanwhile the public servant leading the Ministry of Health, deputy minister Catherine Zahn, earned $477,360, and Health Minister Sylvia Jones, $165,851.

There are more than 25,000 registered nurses on the list, including seven who earned more than $300,000 last year.

Chief Justice Sharon Nicklas, who was appointed to the top post in the province’s judiciary last May, earned $388,960.

The police chiefs of Thunder Bay, Daniel Taddeo, ($376,428) and Hamilton, Francis Bergen, ($374,492) were paid more last year than OPP Commissioner Thomas Carrique ($373,472). Taddeo retired in April 2023. 

Toronto police Chief Myron Demkiw, who took over the post in late 2022, earned $353,411. 

Organizations that receive provincial government funding are also required to disclose salaries for the sunshine list, so it includes top earners at some registered charities.

The chief executive of the True Patriot Love Foundation, Nicholas Booth, earned $421,149. The foundation funds support programs for veterans and military families. 

The president and CEO of the Canadian Red Cross Society, Conrad Sauve, earned $412,970, while the YMCA of Greater Toronto’s chief executive, Medhat Mahdy, earned $394,057.

Salaries of other key Ontario public figures include:

  • $826,539 for Ontario Pension Board CEO Mark Fuller.
  • $709,581 for Ontario Lottery and Gaming Association president & CEO Alfred Hannay.
  • $601,376 for Registered Nurses Association of Ontario CEO Doris Grinspun.
  • $596,392 for Dean of Ivey Business School, Western University, Sharon Hodgson.
  • $563,291 for LCBO president & CEO George Soleas.
  • $546,053 for Dean of the Faculty of Health Science, Queen’s University, Jane Philpott.
  • $533,112 for Royal Ontario Museum president & CEO Joshua Basseches.
  • $486,192 for University of Toronto president Meric Gertler.
  • $464,148 for Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore.
  • $455,091 for Chief Coroner Dr. Dirk Huyer.
  • $404,003 Art Gallery of Ontario director and CEO Stephan Jost.
  • $395,974 for former auditor general Bonnie Lysyk.

Adjusting sunshine list threshold

The sunshine list has been around for almost 30 years, always set at six figures and up. 

At Queen’s Park on Thursday, some members of provincial Parliament faced questions on whether the $100,000 starting point should be adjusted.

Green Party of Ontario Leader Mike Schreiner said it should be pegged to the rate of inflation, but others disagreed.

“I think that people think that $100,000 is still a lot of money, especially in an affordability crisis,” said NDP MPP Catherine Fife, who’s also the finance critic.

Government House Leader Paul Calandra said the government has no plans at this time to change the threshold on the sunshine list.

“I think it’s an important document that serves the people well in highlighting the salaries of our public employees.”

The Public Sector Salary Disclosure Act, enacted by former Progressive Conservative premier Mike Harris in 1996, compels organizations that receive public funding from the province to report the names, positions and pay of people who make more than $100,000.

The interactive chart below shows the top 100 earners on the list, based on both salary and benefits.

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1 dead, 2 critically injured after car crash in Montreal

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Montreal

Three people are in hospital with critical injuries after their vehicle crashed into a tree. Police believe they might be connected to two drive-by shootings that took place early Thursday morning.

2 drive-by shootings also took place overnight

an SPVM car near a taped-off crime scene
Montreal police are investigating a car crash possibly linked to two drive-by shootings. (Mathieu Wagner/Radio-Canada)

Urgences-santé say one person died and two others were critically injured after their vehicle hit a tree in the Rosemont neighbourhood.

Montreal police believe the crash may be linked to two drive-by shootings early Thursday morning.

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The first happened around 5 a.m. on Pie-IX Boulevard. Police say a car was shot at repeatedly and the driver, a 41-year-old man, was injured in the upper body. He was transported to hospital, but his life is not in danger, say police.

Shortly afterward, shots were reported in the Plateau Mont-Royal borough, near the intersection of Saint-Joseph Boulevard and Henri-Julien Avenue. No one was injured.

Police say they are investigating to determine if there is a connection between the collision and the shootings. Montreal police spokesperson Jean-Pierre Brabant says it’s possible those in the vehicle were involved in the shootings.

The province’s independent police watchdog is now involved.

with files from Chloë Ranaldi

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