🇨🇦🇵🇭Manitoba plans to bring in 350 nurses from the Philippines
A Manitoba delegation has returned from the Philippines, where it has potentially recruited 350 nurses: 190 registered nurses, 110 health-care aides, and 50 licensed practical nurses.
Selected candidates must undergo an immigration interview and verify proficiency in English.
“Our government committed to providing a welcoming streamlined and reasonable process to ensure that internationally educated health care providers are able to practice their passion and excel in our health care system.” - Health Minister Audrey Gordon said.
When questioned about the ethics of taking health-care workers from other countries, Gordon said Manitoba and the Philippines have a Memorandum of Understanding Agreement.
#healthcare
🍁 Maple Chronicles
A Manitoba delegation has returned from the Philippines, where it has potentially recruited 350 nurses: 190 registered nurses, 110 health-care aides, and 50 licensed practical nurses.
Selected candidates must undergo an immigration interview and verify proficiency in English.
“Our government committed to providing a welcoming streamlined and reasonable process to ensure that internationally educated health care providers are able to practice their passion and excel in our health care system.” - Health Minister Audrey Gordon said.
When questioned about the ethics of taking health-care workers from other countries, Gordon said Manitoba and the Philippines have a Memorandum of Understanding Agreement.
#healthcare
🍁 Maple Chronicles
🤬27🤡6👍5
Ottawa ends shipments of rapid COVID-19 tests to provinces as millions set to expire
There are 90 million rapid tests still in the federal inventory. About 80,000 of those are set to expire within six months and 6.5 million within the year. The rest expire within two years.
Ottawa has ordered more than 811 million rapid tests since the beginning of the pandemic with a price tag of about $5 billion. About 680 million of those went to provinces and territories.
🍁 Maple Chronicles
There are 90 million rapid tests still in the federal inventory. About 80,000 of those are set to expire within six months and 6.5 million within the year. The rest expire within two years.
Ottawa has ordered more than 811 million rapid tests since the beginning of the pandemic with a price tag of about $5 billion. About 680 million of those went to provinces and territories.
🍁 Maple Chronicles
🤡18🎉7🤯2❤1
B.C. firm gets approval from Health Canada to make and sell cocaine
🔹Adastra Labs in Langley, B.C., said in a statement that on Feb. 17 Health Canada granted a cannabis company the right to possess, produce, sell and distribute cocaine.
B.C. Premier David Eby commented on the news: "If Heath Canada did in fact do this, they did it not only without engaging with the province, but they did it without notice to us."
"It is not part of our provincial plan," he added, referring to the ongoing effort to stem the overdose death rate.
🔹Health Canada clarified that the company can only sell to other licence holders who have cocaine listed on their licence, namely pharmacists, practitioners, hospitals, or the holder of an exemption for research purposes.
Adastra Labs said in the statement the amended licence allows the company to "interact" with up to 250 grams of cocaine and to import coca leaves in order to make and synthesize the substance.
🔹Opposition leader Kevin Falcon criticized the move: "Cocaine isn't prescribed, it isn't safe, and this is wrong,. Commercializing cocaine as a business opportunity amounts to legalizing cocaine trafficking, full stop."
#BritishColumbia
🍁 Maple Chronicles
🔹Adastra Labs in Langley, B.C., said in a statement that on Feb. 17 Health Canada granted a cannabis company the right to possess, produce, sell and distribute cocaine.
B.C. Premier David Eby commented on the news: "If Heath Canada did in fact do this, they did it not only without engaging with the province, but they did it without notice to us."
"It is not part of our provincial plan," he added, referring to the ongoing effort to stem the overdose death rate.
🔹Health Canada clarified that the company can only sell to other licence holders who have cocaine listed on their licence, namely pharmacists, practitioners, hospitals, or the holder of an exemption for research purposes.
Adastra Labs said in the statement the amended licence allows the company to "interact" with up to 250 grams of cocaine and to import coca leaves in order to make and synthesize the substance.
🔹Opposition leader Kevin Falcon criticized the move: "Cocaine isn't prescribed, it isn't safe, and this is wrong,. Commercializing cocaine as a business opportunity amounts to legalizing cocaine trafficking, full stop."
#BritishColumbia
🍁 Maple Chronicles
🤡28🤯3👍2😱2
Trudeau Foundation returns $200K to Beijing-linked donor
💵In 2016, Zhang Bin, a wealthy Chinese businessman and adviser to the Chinese government, made a donation to the foundation worth $200,000, which Canadian security officials now link back to the Chinese government.
Foundation president Pascale Fournier released a statement saying that the foundation — which funds and promotes academic and public interest research — has reimbursed Zhang the full amount of the donation.
#China
🍁 Maple Chronicles
💵In 2016, Zhang Bin, a wealthy Chinese businessman and adviser to the Chinese government, made a donation to the foundation worth $200,000, which Canadian security officials now link back to the Chinese government.
Foundation president Pascale Fournier released a statement saying that the foundation — which funds and promotes academic and public interest research — has reimbursed Zhang the full amount of the donation.
#China
🍁 Maple Chronicles
🤡24🤬4
Climate activists toss pink paint on Royal B.C. Museum's mammoth replica
A centrepiece of the Royal B.C. Museum in Victoria, Woolly the mammoth, was defaced with pink paint by protesters trying to draw attention to climate change.
The new climate campaign "On2Ottawa'' says washable pink paint was tossed at the tusks of the three-metre-tall mammoth to protest what it calls "criminal'' federal government inaction on the climate emergency.
3 people were arrested for mischief, and the incident remains under investigation.
🍁 Maple Chronicles
A centrepiece of the Royal B.C. Museum in Victoria, Woolly the mammoth, was defaced with pink paint by protesters trying to draw attention to climate change.
The new climate campaign "On2Ottawa'' says washable pink paint was tossed at the tusks of the three-metre-tall mammoth to protest what it calls "criminal'' federal government inaction on the climate emergency.
3 people were arrested for mischief, and the incident remains under investigation.
🍁 Maple Chronicles
🤬26🤡15👍1🤯1
📈Vancouver city council has approved a 10.7% property tax increase as part of its 2023/24 budget
Vancouver city council passed its 2023 budget, just hours after the mayor announced city hall was considering a nearly 11 per cent property tax.
The 10.7 per cent tax hike — up from an initially proposed 9.7 per cent — was approved in a nearly unanimous budget vote that will see spending increase for the fire department, police and city engineering services.
Mayor Ken Sim conceded the hefty increase “sucks,” and pinned the blame on what he said was years of underfunding, leaving core city services badly in need of new investments.
#BritishColumbia
🍁 Maple Chronicles
Vancouver city council passed its 2023 budget, just hours after the mayor announced city hall was considering a nearly 11 per cent property tax.
The 10.7 per cent tax hike — up from an initially proposed 9.7 per cent — was approved in a nearly unanimous budget vote that will see spending increase for the fire department, police and city engineering services.
Mayor Ken Sim conceded the hefty increase “sucks,” and pinned the blame on what he said was years of underfunding, leaving core city services badly in need of new investments.
#BritishColumbia
🍁 Maple Chronicles
🤬15😱5🤡5👍2
🏦CIBC data show 20% of mortgages not covering interest costs
🔻20% of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) mortgage holders are seeing their loan balances increase, as rising interest rates make it harder for them to pay off their homes.
$52 billion of mortgages were in a state where borrower monthly payments are not enough to cover even the interest portion.
The bank has allowed these borrowers to extend the time taken to repay the loan, which is known as the amortization period. Plus, borrowers are adding unpaid interest to their original loan or principal.
🍁 Maple Chronicles
🔻20% of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) mortgage holders are seeing their loan balances increase, as rising interest rates make it harder for them to pay off their homes.
$52 billion of mortgages were in a state where borrower monthly payments are not enough to cover even the interest portion.
The bank has allowed these borrowers to extend the time taken to repay the loan, which is known as the amortization period. Plus, borrowers are adding unpaid interest to their original loan or principal.
🍁 Maple Chronicles
🤡12😢8
Opposition MPs vote for public inquiry into foreign election interference
▪️Opposition MPs passed a motion calling for the federal government to launch a national public inquiry into allegations of foreign interference, after hearing hours of testimony from top intelligence officials who sought to assure that the integrity of Canada's last two elections was upheld despite meddling attempts by China.
▪️After debate spanning two meetings of the Procedure and House Affairs Committee, by a vote of 6-5 with Liberal MPs voting against, opposition parties voted in favour of an NDP motion calling on PM Justin Trudeau to enact an inquiry that would include but not be limited to allegations of election meddling.
▪️The committee still needs to report this decision to the House, but it is non-binding, meaning it's still in the government's purview whether to take the committee's advice.
🍁 Maple Chronicles
▪️Opposition MPs passed a motion calling for the federal government to launch a national public inquiry into allegations of foreign interference, after hearing hours of testimony from top intelligence officials who sought to assure that the integrity of Canada's last two elections was upheld despite meddling attempts by China.
▪️After debate spanning two meetings of the Procedure and House Affairs Committee, by a vote of 6-5 with Liberal MPs voting against, opposition parties voted in favour of an NDP motion calling on PM Justin Trudeau to enact an inquiry that would include but not be limited to allegations of election meddling.
▪️The committee still needs to report this decision to the House, but it is non-binding, meaning it's still in the government's purview whether to take the committee's advice.
🍁 Maple Chronicles
👍7🤡1
🚑 On the Canadian healthcare system crisis
🔻Though the premiers have accepted the new federal healthcare funding, they admit it is insufficient to improve the situation as the country's healthcare crisis deepens.
The majority of Canadians (56% of respondents) believe that the quality of healthcare provided in their province or territory has worsened over the past 5 years. How did it come to this?
The COVID-19 pandemic has only amplified pre-existing healthcare problems: staff shortages, emergency room closures, long wait times for appointments and surgeries, overworking and burnout.
🔻With worsening working environment, healthcare workers are leaving their jobs in the community health agencies to work in private ones, or leave the industry altogether.
Staff shortages are severe among nurses and family physicians, especially in remote clinics, where they face uncompetitive salaries and high work-load.
Small emergency rooms and family clinics close due to being under-staffed, preventing patients from receiving medical assistance locally. In facilities which still function, it can take several hours to see a doctor.
Healthcare jobs prestige is declining: working overtime has become normalized and is not always paid; healthcare workers often experience aggression from patients and don’t feel like the government does enough to fix the situation.
In Ontario, for instance, nurses fall under Bill 124, which limits wage increases to 1% per year for Public Service employees, which doesn’t keep up with the current 6% inflation rate.
🔻So, it's not surprising that 75% of nurses and 69% of doctors say they intend on leaving the industry in the next 12 months. And this is while there is already an all-time high staff shortage with 126,000 healthcare and social assistance sector vacancies.
Up to two-thirds of newly-graduated nurses leave the profession within the first two years of working. With this trend in mind, some medical students choose to drop out before finishing their degrees.
🔻While healthcare workers in France and in the UK who face similar problems actively protest and demand better working conditions, their Canadian colleagues fail to follow suit. They choose to leave the profession or migrate.
A lot of nurses migrate to the U.S., where employers offer $15-$20 higher pay rate than similar jobs in Canada and a less stressful work environment. This migration rate has doubled in the last 3 years, with more than 1,700 nurses now leaving Canada for the U.S. each year.
🔻The government seems to be aware of the severity of the situation, but the measures they take are insufficient. And plans to attract international healthcare workers have so far not shown visible results.
🍁 Maple Chronicles
🔻Though the premiers have accepted the new federal healthcare funding, they admit it is insufficient to improve the situation as the country's healthcare crisis deepens.
The majority of Canadians (56% of respondents) believe that the quality of healthcare provided in their province or territory has worsened over the past 5 years. How did it come to this?
The COVID-19 pandemic has only amplified pre-existing healthcare problems: staff shortages, emergency room closures, long wait times for appointments and surgeries, overworking and burnout.
🔻With worsening working environment, healthcare workers are leaving their jobs in the community health agencies to work in private ones, or leave the industry altogether.
Staff shortages are severe among nurses and family physicians, especially in remote clinics, where they face uncompetitive salaries and high work-load.
Small emergency rooms and family clinics close due to being under-staffed, preventing patients from receiving medical assistance locally. In facilities which still function, it can take several hours to see a doctor.
Healthcare jobs prestige is declining: working overtime has become normalized and is not always paid; healthcare workers often experience aggression from patients and don’t feel like the government does enough to fix the situation.
In Ontario, for instance, nurses fall under Bill 124, which limits wage increases to 1% per year for Public Service employees, which doesn’t keep up with the current 6% inflation rate.
🔻So, it's not surprising that 75% of nurses and 69% of doctors say they intend on leaving the industry in the next 12 months. And this is while there is already an all-time high staff shortage with 126,000 healthcare and social assistance sector vacancies.
Up to two-thirds of newly-graduated nurses leave the profession within the first two years of working. With this trend in mind, some medical students choose to drop out before finishing their degrees.
🔻While healthcare workers in France and in the UK who face similar problems actively protest and demand better working conditions, their Canadian colleagues fail to follow suit. They choose to leave the profession or migrate.
A lot of nurses migrate to the U.S., where employers offer $15-$20 higher pay rate than similar jobs in Canada and a less stressful work environment. This migration rate has doubled in the last 3 years, with more than 1,700 nurses now leaving Canada for the U.S. each year.
🔻The government seems to be aware of the severity of the situation, but the measures they take are insufficient. And plans to attract international healthcare workers have so far not shown visible results.
🍁 Maple Chronicles
👍12
Ontario proposes speeding up mine approvals in bid to gain foothold in battery metals industry
▪️The federal government said late last year that it was working with the provinces and territories to reduce red tape in the sector, after conceding that mine approvals take far too long. Developing a mine in Canada can take up to 25 years.
▪️The potential amendments to the provincial Mining Act would make it easier for companies to obtain permits to mine metals from tailings, allow companies to defer up-front payments on plans to close mines, and loosen restrictions related to the rehabilitation of shuttered mine sites.
▪️Over the past few years, the Canadian and United States governments have pushed to establish North American supply chains of critical minerals used in electric car batteries, such as lithium.
#Ontario
🍁 Maple Chronicles
▪️The federal government said late last year that it was working with the provinces and territories to reduce red tape in the sector, after conceding that mine approvals take far too long. Developing a mine in Canada can take up to 25 years.
▪️The potential amendments to the provincial Mining Act would make it easier for companies to obtain permits to mine metals from tailings, allow companies to defer up-front payments on plans to close mines, and loosen restrictions related to the rehabilitation of shuttered mine sites.
▪️Over the past few years, the Canadian and United States governments have pushed to establish North American supply chains of critical minerals used in electric car batteries, such as lithium.
#Ontario
🍁 Maple Chronicles
🤡14👍3
Families fear crowded classrooms as UCP funds only two Calgary school projects
UCP’s new schools announcement this week only granted full funding to two local projects.
“Our school board has lost the courage and the willingness to advocate for us. Instead, we have a board that’s willing to just stay quiet and take the scraps," says Krista Li, who sits on the West Calgary Catholic High School advocacy group.
According to her estimates, class sizes are well over 40 students in high school core courses at a local school.
Information on class size averages is no linger available after the UCP in 2019 removed the requirement for boards to report the numbers.
“Students know, parents and teachers know, exactly how large classes are. It’s ridiculous how the government and school boards just hide those numbers now,” Li concludes.
#Calgary
🍁 Maple Chronicles
UCP’s new schools announcement this week only granted full funding to two local projects.
“Our school board has lost the courage and the willingness to advocate for us. Instead, we have a board that’s willing to just stay quiet and take the scraps," says Krista Li, who sits on the West Calgary Catholic High School advocacy group.
According to her estimates, class sizes are well over 40 students in high school core courses at a local school.
Information on class size averages is no linger available after the UCP in 2019 removed the requirement for boards to report the numbers.
“Students know, parents and teachers know, exactly how large classes are. It’s ridiculous how the government and school boards just hide those numbers now,” Li concludes.
#Calgary
🍁 Maple Chronicles
👍8😱1
🥇Female athletes are against policies allowing trans athletes to compete in the female category
By a wide margin, elite female athletes have rejected the idea of allowing male-bodied athletes to compete in their women’s sport.
This comes from a Sport Canada commissioned report:
▪️91.7% of the female athletes interviewed agreed that female athletes should have the right to compete in dedicated female sport categories in sex-affected sports.
▪️88% agree that transwomen (biological males) have a competitive advantage over females.
▪️88% disagree when asked if gender identities are more important than biological sex when deciding eligibility in high performance sports.
Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport currently implores national sports organizations to include male-born persons in the female category based upon self-identified gender status alone.
🍁 Maple Chronicles
By a wide margin, elite female athletes have rejected the idea of allowing male-bodied athletes to compete in their women’s sport.
This comes from a Sport Canada commissioned report:
▪️91.7% of the female athletes interviewed agreed that female athletes should have the right to compete in dedicated female sport categories in sex-affected sports.
▪️88% agree that transwomen (biological males) have a competitive advantage over females.
▪️88% disagree when asked if gender identities are more important than biological sex when deciding eligibility in high performance sports.
Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport currently implores national sports organizations to include male-born persons in the female category based upon self-identified gender status alone.
🍁 Maple Chronicles
👍22❤3🤡1
University of Ottawa excludes white scholars to “combat systemic racial discrimination”
The Ontario university joins a growing list of post-secondary institutions taking part in Equity, Diversity and Inclusion practices.
A job posting for a tenure-track Assistant or Associate Public Management Professor position in the University of Ottawa School of Political Studies notes that hiring “will be done in accordance with the University’s initiatives to combat systemic racial discrimination.”
“Only qualified applications from racialized or Indigenous peoples will be considered and evaluated for the position,” the post reads.
#Ontario
🍁 Maple Chronicles
The Ontario university joins a growing list of post-secondary institutions taking part in Equity, Diversity and Inclusion practices.
A job posting for a tenure-track Assistant or Associate Public Management Professor position in the University of Ottawa School of Political Studies notes that hiring “will be done in accordance with the University’s initiatives to combat systemic racial discrimination.”
“Only qualified applications from racialized or Indigenous peoples will be considered and evaluated for the position,” the post reads.
#Ontario
🍁 Maple Chronicles
🤡28🤬5👍3
🍺Beer sales hit all-time low as Canada’s alcohol sales see largest drop in a decade
Canadians bought less booze last year, according to findings from a new report.
The volume of beer sold per person in Canada last year reached an all-time low, while the wine sales based on volume also experienced its largest decline since tracking began in 1949.
🍁 Maple Chronicles
Canadians bought less booze last year, according to findings from a new report.
The volume of beer sold per person in Canada last year reached an all-time low, while the wine sales based on volume also experienced its largest decline since tracking began in 1949.
🍁 Maple Chronicles
👍25❤5😱4🎉2
🇨🇦Chronicles of the week: Feb. 27-Mar. 5, 2023
▪️The government has banned TikTok from all of its phones and other devices. Jagmeet Singh and Pierre Poilievre deactivated their accounts.
▪️Manitoba plans to bring in 350 nurses from the Philippines.
▪️Adastra Labs in B.C. gets approval from Health Canada to make and sell cocaine. This move leaves B.C. Premiere and opposition leader concerned.
▪️Trudeau Foundation returns $200K to Beijing-linked donor amid election interfearance scandal. Opposition MPs vote for public inquiry.
▪️Vancouver city council has approved a 10.7% property tax increase, which is higher that initially proposed.
#digest
🍁 Maple Chronicles
▪️The government has banned TikTok from all of its phones and other devices. Jagmeet Singh and Pierre Poilievre deactivated their accounts.
▪️Manitoba plans to bring in 350 nurses from the Philippines.
▪️Adastra Labs in B.C. gets approval from Health Canada to make and sell cocaine. This move leaves B.C. Premiere and opposition leader concerned.
▪️Trudeau Foundation returns $200K to Beijing-linked donor amid election interfearance scandal. Opposition MPs vote for public inquiry.
▪️Vancouver city council has approved a 10.7% property tax increase, which is higher that initially proposed.
#digest
🍁 Maple Chronicles
🤡6🤯3👍1
🚫B.C. residents face nearly $1M in penalties for gold mining fraud
The B.C. Securities Commission has issued nearly $1 million in penalties and repayment orders against three local fraudsters involved in an international Ponzi scheme that promised investors large returns on non-existent gold mining operations in Africa and Brazil.
Between 2014 and 2015, the trio solicited B.C. investors, organized events and sold membership units to American companies promising high, no-risk returns for what turned out to be sham gold mine operations.
#BritishColumbia
🍁 Maple Chronicles
The B.C. Securities Commission has issued nearly $1 million in penalties and repayment orders against three local fraudsters involved in an international Ponzi scheme that promised investors large returns on non-existent gold mining operations in Africa and Brazil.
Between 2014 and 2015, the trio solicited B.C. investors, organized events and sold membership units to American companies promising high, no-risk returns for what turned out to be sham gold mine operations.
#BritishColumbia
🍁 Maple Chronicles
👍7
Ontario food bank reports record-breaking usage
The Mississauga Food Bank reported that roughly 3,900 more residents used the facility this January, a year-over-year increase of 41%.
“Every month a record is broken is not a cause for celebration, but an alarm bell urgently ringing.” - the food bank stated.
The food bank reports feeding 13,326 people in January.
#Ontario
🍁 Maple Chronicles
The Mississauga Food Bank reported that roughly 3,900 more residents used the facility this January, a year-over-year increase of 41%.
“Every month a record is broken is not a cause for celebration, but an alarm bell urgently ringing.” - the food bank stated.
The food bank reports feeding 13,326 people in January.
#Ontario
🍁 Maple Chronicles
😢14
🇮🇳Indian Immigration To Canada Has Tripled Since 2013
▪️The number of Indians who became permanent residents in Canada rose from 32,828 in 2013 to 118,095 in 2022, an increase of 260%, according to a National Foundation for American Policy.
▪️In 2022, at 118,095, Indian immigration to Canada dwarfed the next largest source countries for permanent residents: China (31,815), Afghanistan (23,735), Nigeria (22,085) and the Philippines (22,070). In 2014, Canada had more immigrants from the Philippines than from India.
🍁 Maple Chronicles
▪️The number of Indians who became permanent residents in Canada rose from 32,828 in 2013 to 118,095 in 2022, an increase of 260%, according to a National Foundation for American Policy.
▪️In 2022, at 118,095, Indian immigration to Canada dwarfed the next largest source countries for permanent residents: China (31,815), Afghanistan (23,735), Nigeria (22,085) and the Philippines (22,070). In 2014, Canada had more immigrants from the Philippines than from India.
🍁 Maple Chronicles
🤡21🤬17👍4❤1
Prince Edward Island election to be held April 3
Prince Edward Islanders are heading to the polls for a provincial election this spring, with voting day set for Monday, April 3.
Progressive Conservative Leader Dennis King made the official announcement Monday evening at his nomination meeting, as he became the final candidate to be nominated to run in the 2023 provincial election for the party.
Prince Edward Island does have fixed election legislation setting the next voting date as Oct. 2, 2023, but King exercised his right as premier to trigger it early.
🍁 Maple Chronicles
Prince Edward Islanders are heading to the polls for a provincial election this spring, with voting day set for Monday, April 3.
Progressive Conservative Leader Dennis King made the official announcement Monday evening at his nomination meeting, as he became the final candidate to be nominated to run in the 2023 provincial election for the party.
Prince Edward Island does have fixed election legislation setting the next voting date as Oct. 2, 2023, but King exercised his right as premier to trigger it early.
🍁 Maple Chronicles
🤡7🔥3👍1
🚫B.C. proposes new law to combat sharing of intimate images online without permission
Attorney General Niki Sharma presented a bill in the legislature Monday that would create new legal rights and remedies to stop the distribution of intimate images and allow the injured person to seek compensation for their harms.
❗️The legislation covers intimate images, near-nude photos, videos, livestreams and digitally altered images, including videos known as deep fakes.
It will require an offender to delete or destroy images or order social media platforms to remove them and scrub the images from search engines.
If the bill is approved, Sharma said the legislation will be retroactive or available to prosecutors back to the moment she tabled it on March 6.
#BritishColumbia
🍁 Maple Chronicles
Attorney General Niki Sharma presented a bill in the legislature Monday that would create new legal rights and remedies to stop the distribution of intimate images and allow the injured person to seek compensation for their harms.
❗️The legislation covers intimate images, near-nude photos, videos, livestreams and digitally altered images, including videos known as deep fakes.
It will require an offender to delete or destroy images or order social media platforms to remove them and scrub the images from search engines.
If the bill is approved, Sharma said the legislation will be retroactive or available to prosecutors back to the moment she tabled it on March 6.
#BritishColumbia
🍁 Maple Chronicles
🤡9👍5❤2🤬1