adplus-dvertising
Connect with us

News

Northern towns straddling Canada-U.S. border push to become a pandemic bubble – CBC.ca

Published

 on


Stewart, B.C., and the neighbouring community of Hyder, Alaska, have always had close ties despite being divided by an international border for more than a century. COVID-19 travel restrictions enacted this spring, however, have left residents feeling disconnected for the first time, separating them from relatives, services and even schools. 

“It has been my home for 50 years and I never felt isolated until this year,” said Caroline Stewart, a resident of Hyder, a small community on the southern part of the Alaskan panhandle. 

The communities, which are about three kilometres apart, are surrounded by mountains and the rugged wilderness of northwestern B.C. and Alaska. For the dozens of residents who live in Hyder, daily life has a few unique freedoms — there are no local taxes or police department, but also no grocery store or gas station.

300x250x1

The current restrictions mean that Hyderites who frequently travelled to Stewart before the pandemic can no longer do so unless it is essential, and Canadians who visit Hyder have to quarantine for 14 days after returning. 

The towns lie hundreds of kilometres from the nearest city, so residents on both sides of the border are petitioning politicians in Canada and the U.S. to allow the area to form its own COVID-19 bubble, which would permit free movement in the region. 

Raven Simpson, left, who lives in Canada but has another home in Hyder, Alaska, meets her aunt Caroline Stewart to exchange mail and other necessities. (Briar Stewart/CBC News )

The rules have led to protests and gatherings at the border station parking lot, where residents meet to swap stories and bring each other groceries and other necessities. 

On an afternoon during the last week of September, Caroline Stewart, an American, met her Canadian niece who lives across the border to pick up a plastic bag of Tostitos and some feminine hygiene products.

She spoke to CBC News through tears, talking about how she can no longer go to Stewart to take communion at the church, or to spend time with her friends and family who live on the other side of the border.

“We are designed to be in a group,” she said. 

“We run in packs, and our pack has been cut off.”

Hyder resident describes how border restrictions have created  even more isolation for people in the area.  0:53

Grown out of gold rush

 The towns are sparsely populated, with about 400 people living in Stewart and just 63 across the border in Hyder. 

During the gold rush, it was a much more lively and often chaotic setting, as 10,000 settled here searching for fortune. But when the boom dried up, the communities were hollowed out. 

Today there are still mines in the area. Every day dozens of Canadian workers who are deemed essential cross the border, because the only way to reach one Canadian mine is take a road that goes through the U.S.

While workers can travel freely, everyone else faces restrictions.

A simple yellow gate and a faded sign that says “Welcome to Hyder” marks the divide, but there are no American border guards stationed here. Anyone can freely cross to the U.S. side, but there is nowhere to go once you arrive except to watch the grizzly bears who converge on a nearby stream filled with salmon.

 Hyder is mostly landlocked by Canada and residents say a ticket on a float plane out from the community can cost as much as $2,000 US.

Hyder, Alaska, is about three kilometres from Stewart, B.C. (CBC)

Hyderites depend on Stewart for their supplies, which is why under the COVID-19 rules one member from each household is allowed into the community once a week to run errands. They have to check in and out with the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) officers at the station on the Canadian side. 

For 61-year-old Dick Simpson, his outing includes a trip to the grocery store, gas station, the library and a laundromat where he fills up the machine with clothes and inserts loonies and toonies. With little to buy in Hyder, everyone carries Canadian currency. 

Simpson can’t make any social calls, which he says is the hardest part of the pandemic, considering most of his friends live in Stewart. 

He said while he follows the rules, he has heard about a few unauthorized border-crossers, whose actions have been fuelled by what he calls “desire.”

Hyder resident describes the impact COVID travel rules have had  on daily life along the border.  0:58

Unauthorized crossings

Simpson pointed up to a cut line in the trees on the mountain, which marks the dividing line between Canada and the U.S., and remarked that to get to the other side, it’s just about a kilometre hike away. 

“If someone feels that they need to see someone bad enough, they will find a way to get across there,” he said, adding that during prohibition more than one bottle of Canadian whisky ended up in Hyder. 

Simpson first moved up here in the 1970s with his parents, who he described as “survivalists.” He moved away to work in construction in Washington State and Oregon, but returned a decade ago. 

“I can understand both sides of the equation,” Simpson said.

“It would be nice to come and do the things that we used to do over here. On the other hand, I would feel horrible if Hyder introduced COVID into Stewart or if Stewart introduced COVID to Hyder.”

He said the fear of the virus is why some residents are reluctant to support the idea of a unified bubble.

A sign hangs on a house in Stewart, B.C., as part of a push to have these two communities merge into one bubble while COVID-19 travel restrictions remain in place. (Briar Stewart/ CBC News )

Vivian Culver, a Hyder resident, said she thinks it can work if everyone does their part. 

She is an American, and her husband is a Canadian. They own places in Stewart and in Hyder. He works on ships and can’t go to Hyder because he can’t miss two weeks of work to quarantine in Canada upon return.

Culver said she is frightened because she believes she already suffered through COVID-19 back in early March.

“I don’t think I would survive it again,” she said. 

So she is living on her own and trying to prepare for winter, and hopes the federal government will relax the rules and allow the community to merge into one bubble.

Vivian Culver stands in front of the entrance to the community of Hyder, Alaska. She and her husband have been living apart during the pandemic, and she feels stressed trying to prepare their Hyder home for the winter months. (Briar Stewart/CBC News)

While Alaska currently has more than 9,000 cases of COVID-19, Hyder’s only connection to the rest of the state is through a mail plane that is supposed to come a few times a week, but which frequently gets cancelled due to weather. Hyder also has its own quarantine policy which requires visitors and returning to residents to self-isolate for two weeks.

The NDP MP for the area, Taylor Bachrach, has been lobbying for the bubble idea. Bachrach met with the Minister for Public Safety last month and has also talked to officials in the U.S.

Bachrach said his fellow politicians seemed supportive of the bubble, but there has been no change as of yet and with winter coming, there is potential for even more isolation as the area can get several metres of snow a year. 

Separated from school

The hope is that a COVID bubble would allow people to cross the border freely, including a few children in Hyder who are currently not allowed to attend the elementary school in Stewart. 

Hilma Korpela was supposed to start Grade 5 this fall, and her younger sister Ellie, Grade 3. But they are now home-schooled because the only school in Hyder closed last May due to low attendance. 

They say they miss their Canadian friends. They had been meeting one of them for play dates in a marshy field adjacent to the Canadian border, where they would run barefoot through chilly tide pools and scamper across logs. However, they have recently been told by the CBSA that the area is off-limits because it straddles the border. 

So now in addition to being blocked from going to school, they can really only play with the two other children living in Hyder. 

 “I don’t think it is really fair. Like, how do we get COVID?,” Hilma said.

“We are at the end of the line.”

Hyder residents Hilma Korpela, left, and her younger sister Ellie, right, used to meet up near the Canadian border station for playdates with their friend Kalyn Carey, who is Canadian. (Briar Stewart/CBC News )

Let’s block ads! (Why?)

728x90x4

Source link

News

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

Published

 on


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. 

300x250x1

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

Adblock test (Why?)

728x90x4

Source link

Continue Reading

News

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

Published

 on


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.

300x250x1

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.

Search the complete Sunshine List for yourself here.

Adblock test (Why?)

728x90x4

Source link

Continue Reading

News

1 dead, 2 critically injured after car crash in Montreal

Published

 on

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.

300x250x1

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

Adblock test (Why?)

728x90x4

Source link

Continue Reading

Trending