Ontario officials have released more guidance on the implementation of the province’s proof-of-vaccination system, which comes into effect on Sept. 22.
The vaccine certificate system will cover “higher-risk” indoor spaces where masks can’t be worn at all times, officials say. The province has amended its list to apply to the following settings:
Restaurants and bars (excluding outdoor patios, delivery and takeout).
Nightclubs, including outdoor areas.
Meeting and event spaces like banquet halls and convention centres.
Sports and fitness facilities and gyms, with the exception of youth recreational sports.
Sporting events.
Casinos, bingo halls and gaming establishments.
Concerts, music festivals, theatres and cinemas.
Strip clubs, bath houses and sex clubs.
Racing venues.
Indoor areas of waterparks.
Areas of commercial TV, where studio audiences will be treated as patrons who have to be fully vaccinated.
Businesses and organizations that fall under the list above will be required to cross-reference vaccination receipts with identification (including options like a driver’s licence, birth certificate or passport), and make sure the receipt shows any patron has been fully vaccinated for 14 days.
The government says provincial offences officers will be visiting businesses and organizations starting this week to raise awareness and understanding of the new requirements.
WATCH | New portions of province’s proof-of-vaccine system explained:
Ontario reveals new details on vaccine passport system
5 hours ago
Associate Minister of Digital Government Kaleed Rasheed said Ontarians can print or download proof-of-vaccine receipts from the province’s website, and that’s what patrons will have to show at the door of establishments. 1:48
Officials also say that if individuals or businesses don’t comply, they could be charged or fined.
Regarding enforcement of the vaccine certificates, Health Minister Christine Elliott said at a press conference Tuesday that the solicitor general has been in contact with police forces across the province, but it’s “up to each police force to ready themselves accordingly.”
Some exemptions exist
But officials say exemptions will be made in certain circumstances, including:
When a patron enters an indoor area solely to use a washroom, pay for an order or access an outdoor area that can only be accessed through an indoor route.
When a patron enters an indoor area to place or pick up an order (including placing a bet or picking up winnings at a horse racing track), to purchase admission, to make a retail purchase, and for the “necessary purposes of health and safety.”
Children under 12 years old.
Patrons under 18 years old who are entering the indoor premises of a recreational facility solely for the purpose of actively participating in an organized sport.
Weddings, funerals, rites or ceremonies, when the patron is not attending the associated social gathering (for example, the reception after a wedding ceremony).
Patrons with a written document from a physician or a nurse practitioner stating they are exempt for medical reasons.
When asked Tuesday about allowing unvaccinated patrons at a restaurant to enter an indoor space while paying a bill or going to the washroom, Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore said that circumstance is still not considered a high-risk contact.
The rules assume unvaccinated patrons will be masked and it’ll be 15 minutes or less spent indoors, he added.
Patrons must have vaccination receipt before Oct. 22
At first, fully vaccinated Ontarians will need their current vaccination receipt with a valid photo identification to enter places covered under the new system.
Those with a green photo OHIP card print or download their receipts from the provincial government website. Those with a red and white health card, meanwhile, can call the Provincial Vaccine Booking Line at 1-833-943-3900.
People who received their first or second dose out of province are being asked to contact their local public health unit to receive proper documentation.
More than 84 per cent of Ontarians eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine have now received one dose, while more than 78 per cent have received two doses. (Matt Rourke/The Associated Press)
The province says guidance for businesses will be updated before Oct. 22, when Ontario will shift to certificates that include QR codes containing much of the same information included on current vaccination receipts. Official medical exemptions for the vaccine will also be embedded in the QR code, Associate Minister of Digital Government Kaleed Rasheed said.
“If someone doesn’t want to use the QR code, then the ministry of health will look into issuing an exemption certificate, he said.
People can continue to use the print version after Oct. 22 if they so choose, he added. Businesses will be able to download a free app to scan and verify QR codes after that date.
“It will make it easier, more secure, and convenient to show you have been vaccinated when you need to,” he said.
“Your information will never be stored on our app, it will only show the minimum of information needed to confirm an individual has been fully vaccinated.”
Bylaw enforcement officers will be monitoring to make sure businesses conform to requirements, Elliott said.
Anyone at a business who is concerned about feeling threatened over entry should call 911, she added.
“We want to make sure everyone conforms to these rules, but if anyone feels threatened we have the facilities available for people to seek help,” Elliott said.
“I don’t anticipate demand will be huge, we’re asking people to be reasonable, we’ve let people know what the requirements are,” she said.
Rocco Rossi, the president and CEO of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, said the business community has some unanswered questions regarding workplace guidance and protection of businesses.
“While we welcome further guidance provided by the province on its proof-of-vaccination framework, there are still outstanding concerns left unaddressed around workplace guidance and business protection,” Rossi said in a statement.
The chamber is specifically asking for clarity around immunization of employees, protection for businesses from potential lawsuits and other legal consequences, and if small businesses will receive supports to hire additional staff to implement the new framework.
To date, the province says it has administered more than 30,000 third doses.
Groups that will be offered a third vaccine include people undergoing active treatment for solid tumours and those who are in receipt of a solid-organ transplant and taking immunosuppressive therapy.
Patients in ICUwith COVID-related illnesses: 192, with 119 needing a ventilator to breathe.
Deaths: seven, pushing the official toll to 9,624.
Vaccinations: 28,657 vaccine doses were administered in Ontario yesterday — nearly double Sunday’s total. More than 84 per cent of Ontarians eligible for a vaccine have now received one dose, while more than 78 per cent have received two doses.
MONCTON, N.B. – New Brunswick RCMP say two youths have been arrested after an emergency alert was issued Monday evening about someone carrying a gun in the province’s southeast.
Caledonia Region Mounties say they were first called out to Main Street in the community of Salisbury around 7 p.m. on reports of a shooting.
A 48-year-old man was found at the scene suffering from gunshot wounds and he was rushed to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Police say in the interest of public safety, they issued an Alert Ready message at 8:15 p.m. for someone driving a silver Ford F-150 pickup truck and reportedly carrying a firearm with dangerous intent in the Salisbury and Moncton area.
Two youths were arrested without incident later in the evening in Salisbury, and the alert was cancelled just after midnight Tuesday.
Police are still looking for the silver pickup truck, covered in mud, with possible Nova Scotia licence plate HDC 958. They now confirm the truck was stolen from Central Blissville.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
MISSISSAUGA, Ont. – Golf Canada has set an impressive stretch goal of having 30 professional golfers at the highest levels of the sport by 2032.
The World Junior Girls Golf Championship is a huge part of that target.
Credit Valley Golf and Country Club will host the international tournament from Sept. 30 to Oct. 5, with 24 teams representing 23 nations — Canada gets two squads — competing. Lindsay McGrath, a 17-year-old golfer from Oakville, Ont., said she’s excited to be representing Canada and continue to develop her game.
“I’m really grateful to be here,” said McGrath on Monday after a news conference in Credit Valley’s clubhouse in Mississauga, Ont. “It’s just such an awesome feeling being here and representing our country, wearing all the logos and being on Team Canada.
“I’ve always wanted to play in this tournament, so it’s really special to me.”
McGrath will be joined by Nobelle Park of Oakville, Ont., and Eileen Park of Red Deer, Alta., on Team Canada 2. All three earned their places through a qualifying tournament last month.
“I love my teammates so much,” said McGrath. “I know Nobelle and Eileen very well. I’m just so excited to be with them. We have such a great relationship.”
Shauna Liu of Maple, Ont., Calgary’s Aphrodite Deng and Clairey Lin make up Team Canada 2. Liu earned her exemption following her win at the 2024 Canadian Junior Girls Championship while Deng earned her exemption as being the low eligible Canadian on the world amateur golf ranking as of Aug. 7.
Deng was No. 175 at the time, she has since improved to No. 171 and is Canada’s lowest-ranked player.
“I think it’s a really great opportunity,” said Liu. “We don’t really get that many opportunities to play with people from across the world, so it’s really great to meet new people and play with them.
“It’s great to see maybe how they play and take parts from their game that we might also implement our own games.”
Golf Canada founded the World Junior Girls Golf Championship in 2014 to fill a void in women’s international competition and help grow its own homegrown talent. The hosts won for the first time last year when Vancouver’s Anna Huang, Toronto’s Vanessa Borovilos and Vancouver’s Vanessa Zhang won team gold and Huang earned individual silver.
Medallists who have gone on to win on the LPGA Tour include Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., who was fourth in the individual competition at the inaugural tournament. She was on Canada’s bronze-medal team in 2014 with Selena Costabile of Thornhill, Ont., and Calgary’s Jaclyn Lee.
Other notable competitors who went on to become LPGA Tour winners include Angel Yin and Megan Khang of the United States, as well as Yuka Saso of the Philippines, Sweden’s Linn Grant and Atthaya Thitikul of Thailand.
“It’s not if, it’s when they’re going to be on the LPGA Tour,” said Garrett Ball, Golf Canada’s chief operating officer, of how Canada’s golfers in the World Junior Girls Championship can be part of the organization’s goal to have 30 pros in the LPGA and PGA Tours by 2032.
“Events like this, like the She Plays Golf festival that we launched two years ago, and then the CPKC Women’s Open exemptions that we utilize to bring in our national team athletes and get the experience has been important in that pathway.”
The individual winner of the World Junior Girls Golf Championship will earn a berth in next year’s CPKC Women’s Open at nearby Mississaugua Golf and Country Club.
Both clubs, as well as former RBC Canadian Open host site Glen Abbey Golf Club, were devastated by heavy rains through June and July as the Greater Toronto Area had its wettest summer in recorded history.
Jason Hanna, the chief operating officer of Credit Valley Golf and Country Club, said that he has seen the Credit River flood so badly that it affected the course’s playability a handful of times over his nearly two decades with the club.
Staff and members alike came together to clean up the course after the flooding was over, with hundreds of people coming together to make the club playable again.
“You had to show up, bring your own rake, bring your own shovel, bring your own gloves, and then we’d take them down to the golf course, assign them to areas where they would work, and then we would do a big barbecue down at the halfway house,” said Hanna. “We got guys, like, 80 years old, putting in eight-hour days down there, working away.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
NEW YORK (AP) — Fenway Park has the Ted Williams seat. And now Citi Field has the Grimace seat.
The kid-friendly McDonald’s character made another appearance at the ballpark Monday, when the New York Mets unveiled a commemorative purple seat in section 302 to honor “his special connection to Mets fans.”
Wearing his pear-shaped purple costume and a baseball glove on backwards, Grimace threw out a funny-looking first pitch — as best he could with those furry fingers and short arms — before New York beat the Miami Marlins at Citi Field on June 12.
That victory began a seven-game winning streak, and Grimace the Mets’ good-luck charm soon went viral, taking on a life of its own online.
New York is 53-31 since June 12, the best record in the majors during that span. The Mets were tied with rival Atlanta for the last National League playoff spot as they opened their final homestand of the season Monday night against Washington.
The new Grimace seat in the second deck in right field — located in row 6, seat 12 to signify 6/12 on the calendar — was brought into the Shannon Forde press conference room Monday afternoon. The character posed next to the chair and with fans who strolled into the room.
The seat is available for purchase for each of the Mets’ remaining home games.
“It’s been great to see how our fanbase created the Grimace phenomenon following his first pitch in June and in the months since,” Mets senior vice president of partnerships Brenden Mallette said in a news release. “As we explored how to further capture the magic of this moment and celebrate our new celebrity fan, installing a commemorative seat ahead of fan appreciation weekend felt like the perfect way to give something back to the fans in a fun and unique way.”
Up in Boston, the famous Ted Williams seat is painted bright red among rows of green chairs deep in the right-field stands at Fenway Park to mark where a reported 502-foot homer hit by the Hall of Fame slugger landed in June 1946.
So, does this catapult Grimace into Splendid Splinter territory?
“I don’t know if we put him on the same level,” Mets executive vice president and chief marketing officer Andy Goldberg said with a grin.
“It’s just been a fun year, and at the same time, we’ve been playing great ball. Ever since the end of May, we have been crushing it,” he explained. “So I think that added to the mystique.”
