Most Canadians are still exceedingly cautious when it comes to the COVID-19 pandemic — in favour of mandatory mask laws, concerned about their personal susceptibility to the virus, willing to lock the country down again if cases spike and leaning toward a mix of in-class and at-home learning for children in the fall.
This might come as a surprise to many.
New cases of COVID-19 have fallen significantly in Canada, though there has been a small uptick in recent days in some parts of the country. With the virus raging unchecked in the United States, governments on this side of the border have been loosening restrictions. In Ontario, most of the province entered Stage 3 today, which allows most businesses to re-open with health measures in place.
Reports of peopleunwilling towearmasks are widespread — but they represent a minority view. Léger found that two-thirds of Canadians think governments should make wearing masks mandatory in all indoor public spaces. Cities like Ottawa and Toronto already have imposed such mask rules, and masks become mandatory in indoor public spaces throughout Quebec on Saturday.
With new cases surging in places like the United States, Brazil and India — and as other countries, such as Israel, are experiencing second waves of the virus that are bigger than the first ones — polls show the vast majority of Canadians expect to see a second wave in this country in the future.
Such a second wave could hit the Canadian economy very hard due to people staying home and spending less — even if governments don’t impose a second lockdown.
A second set of lockdowns could be a crippling blow to the economy, but polls suggest Canadians would support one if there is a big spike of new cases of COVID-19 in Canada. (Justin Tang / Canadian Press)
That doesn’t mean Canadians aren’t willing to live through another one, however. Two recent surveys show wide support for the re-imposition of a lockdown if cases spike again.
A Nanos Research/CTV News survey found that 70 per cent of Canadians support, or somewhat support, requiring non-essential businesses to close again if there’s a significant increase in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. Ipsos put support for the idea even higher than that — at 83 per cent.
Polls suggest Ontarians back a hybrid approach to classes
However, two recent polls suggest views in Ontario are not so cut-and-dried.
Last month, the Ontario government put forward three scenarios for a return to classes in the fall: virtual learning only, in-class learning only or a mix of the two. A hybrid system would still impose significant child care burdens on parents and limit their ability to either return to their workplaces or to work remotely.
A full return to classes in the fall is an important factor in getting people back to work, but polls suggest most parents in Ontario support a mix of both in-class and online learning. (Ryan Remiorz / Canadian Press)
But a poll conducted by Nanos Research at the end of June and commissioned by the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association found that — despite 86 per cent of Ontarians expressing concerns about students’ mental health — just 52 per cent were comfortable or somewhat comfortable with a return to school in September. Men were more comfortable with the idea than women.
The poll found 72 per cent of respondents with two or more children in public school supported or somewhat supported a mixed model of education delivery; that figure increased to 76 per cent among parents with just one child in public school. On this question, there was no significant difference between the genders.
A survey by Campaign Research for the Toronto Star corroborated these findings. Conducted last week, the poll found 53 per cent of Ontario parents support the hybrid model, with 11 per cent supporting online-only. Just 23 per cent supported in-class-only learning.
It all serves to show how millions of Canadians are experiencing the pandemic in millions of different ways, making their individual assessments of the risks posed by COVID-19.
For many Canadians, the self-isolation and the changes to our way of life have been difficult to handle — but a majority remain concerned about the disease, support wearing masks in public spaces and are going about their daily lives with caution. Too many Canadians are struggling with child care and paying the bills. But most would still re-impose another shutdown if it means keeping COVID-19 at bay.
It poses a challenge to governments and policy-makers who have to decide how to balance the concerns of a worried majority with the need to help those who need help the most — a challenge that will get all the more complicated if Canada does not avoid a second wave.
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A federal judge on Monday will hear arguments on whether he should temporarily block a new Louisiana law requiring that the Ten Commandments be displayed in every public school classroom by Jan. 1.
The hearing on that and other issues in a pending lawsuit challenging the new law is expected to last all day. It’s unclear when U.S. District Judge John W. deGravelles will rule.
Opponents say the law is an unconstitutional violation of separation of church and state and that the display will isolate students, especially those who are not Christian. Proponents argue the measure is not solely religious, but has historical significance to the foundation of U.S. law. Louisiana, a reliably Republican state that is ensconced in the Bible Belt, is the only state with such a requirement.
In June, parents of Louisiana public school children, with various religious backgrounds, filed the lawsuit arguing that the legislation violates First Amendment language forbidding government establishment of religion and guaranteeing religious liberty.
Gov. Jeff Landry, a conservative Republican who has backed the new law, for months has said that he looks forward to defending the mandate in court. When asked during an August press conference what he would say to parents who are upset about the Ten Commandments being displayed in their child’s classroom, he replied: “If those posters are in school and they (parents) find them so vulgar, just tell the child not to look at it.”
In June, the GOP presidential candidate posted on his social media network: “I LOVE THE TEN COMMANDMENTS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS, PRIVATE SCHOOLS, AND MANY OTHER PLACES, FOR THAT MATTER. READ IT — HOW CAN WE, AS A NATION, GO WRONG???”
Louisiana’s legislation, which applies to all public school K-12 and state-funded university classrooms, requires the Ten Commandments to be displayed on a poster or framed document at least 11 inches by 14 inches (28 by 36 centimeters) where the text is the central focus and “printed in a large, easily readable font.” Each poster must also be paired with the four-paragraph context statement.
Additionally, tens of thousands of posters will likely be needed to satisfy the new law, considering Louisiana has more than 1,300 public schools Louisiana State University has nearly 1,000 classrooms at the Baton Rouge campus alone.
The mandate does not require school systems to spend public money on the posters, with Republicans saying the displays will be paid for by donations or the posters themselves will be donated by groups or organizations. Questions still linger about how the requirement will be enforced if a teacher refuses to hang up the Ten Commandments and what happens if there are not enough donations to fund the mandate.
In an agreement reached by the court and state last month, five schools specifically listed in the lawsuit will not post the commandments in classrooms before Nov. 15 and won’t make rules governing the law’s implementation before then. The deadline to comply, Jan. 1, 2025, remains in place for schools statewide.
Associated Press (AP) — Democrat Kamala Harris is out to win over suburban voters uneasy about Republican Donald Trump as she touches down in three Midwestern battleground states on Monday to hold moderated conversations with Republican Liz Cheney.
The vice president will make appearances in three suburban counties won by Republican Nikki Haley before she dropped out of the race for the GOP nomination: Chester County, Pennsylvania; Oakland County, Michigan; and Waukesha County, Wisconsin.
Harris’ travel companion, Cheney, is a former GOP congresswoman from Wyoming and a fierce critic of Trump. Their conversations will be moderated by a conservative radio host and a GOP strategist.
With just over two weeks to go before the presidential election and the race a dead heat, the Democratic nominee is looking for support from every possible voter. Her campaign is hoping to persuade those who haven’t made up their minds, mobilize any Democrats considering sitting this one out, and pick off voters in areas where support for Trump may be fading.
A few votes here and there could add up to an overall win. In Waukesha County, for example, Haley won more than 9,000 primary votes even after she dropped out of the race. Overall, Wisconsin was decided for President Joe Biden in 2020 by just 20,000 votes. In-person early voting in the state starts Tuesday.
Cheney and Harris will be joined at the events by Charles Sykes, a conservative radio host and editor-in-chief of the website The Bulwark, and GOP strategist Sarah Longwell.
Cheney has endorsed Harris because of her concerns about Trump. She lost her House seat after she co-chaired a congressional committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. That’s when a violent mob of Trump supporters broke into the building and beat and bloodied law enforcement in a failed effort to stop the certification of Biden’s 2020 presidential win.
Cheney is not the only Republican to back Harris. More than 100 former GOP officeholders and officials joined Harris last week in Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania, not far from where Gen. George Washington led hundreds of troops across the Delaware River to a major victory in the Revolutionary War.
At a rally there, she told GOP voters the patriotic choice was to vote for the Democrats.
As the election draws near, the vice president has increasingly focused on Trump’s lies around the 2020 election and his role in the violent mob’s failed efforts. She says Trump is “unstable” and “unhinged” and would eviscerate democratic norms if given a second White House term.
“I do believe that Donald Trump is an unserious man,” she says at her rallies, “and the consequences of him ever getting back into the White House are brutally serious.”
Trump has been trying to minimize the violent Jan. 6 confrontation as he campaigns, claiming it was “a day of love from the standpoint of the millions.”
Harris will be back in Pennsylvania on Wednesday for a CNN town hall in Delaware County, where she will take voter questions.
NEW YORK (AP) — Jury selection was set to begin Monday in the criminal trial of the U.S. Marine Corps veteran charged with manslaughter for placing a man in a deadly chokehold on a New York City subway train last year.
Daniel Penny, now 25, is accused of “recklessly causing the death” of Jordan Neely, a 30-year-old former street performer who witnesses say was acting erratically on the train on May 1, 2023, when Penny moved to restrain him.
The Manhattan court proceedings, which are expected to last six weeks, will place a spotlight back on a case that sparked debate and division locally and across the country.
Protesters took to the streets to demand that authorities arrest Penny — who is white; Neely was Black — while others rallied in support outside the courthouse once he was charged. The case also became a cause celebre among Republican presidential hopefuls.
Penny, who served four years in the Marines before being discharged in 2021, has been free on a $100,000 bond. He faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted of second-degree manslaughter and up to four years if convicted of criminally negligent homicide.
Witnesses to the incident said Neely — who had struggled with drug addiction, mental illness and homelessness — had been shouting and demanding money when Penny approached him.
Penny pinned Neely to the ground with the help of two other passengers, and placed him in a chokehold for more than three minutes until Neely’s body went limp. The medical examiner’s office ruled the death a homicide caused by compression of the neck.
Penny’s lawyers have argued that the Long Island native didn’t intend to kill Neely, just to hold him down long enough for police to arrive. Penny has claimed Neely shouted, “I’m gonna’ kill you” and that he was “ready to die” or go to jail for life.
Penny’s attorney, Steven Raiser, said the defense plans to offer up other potential causes for Neely’s death, including high levels of the synthetic cannabinoid known as K2 found in his body.
They’ll also argue that video shared widely on social media proves Penny was not applying pressure consistently enough to render Neely unconscious, much less kill him.
Prosecutors, in their court filings, have argued that Penny’s actions were reckless and negligent even if he didn’t intend to kill Neely. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office declined to comment ahead of the trial.
Neely’s uncle, Christopher Neely, said he and other family members have been anticipating this moment.
“Justice for Jordan is all we think about,” he told The Associated Press last week.
