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Month: July 2021

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‘We couldn’t be more disappointed’: SS Keewatin relocating to Kingston?

Jul 16, 2021 , , , , by shlf

It appears as though the SS Keewatin will be leaving Port McNicoll.

Skyline Investments, the company that owns the historic Edwardian steamship, is actively working with representatives from the Marine Museum of the Great Lakes to relocate the ship from Port McNicoll to Kingston.

Multiple media outlets have reported that Skyline will be gifting the ship to the Kingston marine museum, pending approval from Heritage Canada, which caught local volunteers with the Friends of the Keewatin off guard.

“We had been led to believe we were still in the running. We knew the effort to move the ship to Kingston was real and is real. What we didn’t know is Skyline’s statement that the ship has been gifted. That came as a surprise,” said David Blevins, spokesperson for the Friends of the Keewatin.

Local volunteers have spent the better part of the last two years working to try and keep the ship docked in Port McNicoll. They had applied to Heritage Canada and received a list of deficiencies to address.

“Heritage Canada had left our application open. We could re-apply and we were working towards that,” said Blevins.

According to Blevins, the Friends of Keewatin had found a financial backer and was working to strengthen their application, before finding out that Skyline officials recently withdrew their application altogether.

“We couldn’t be more disappointed in the fact that Skyline has decided to turn their back on the community,” said Blevins. “Volunteers have worked tirelessly on this vessel to restore it to the world-class artifact that it is. To have it yanked away… it’s just not fair to the community.”

While the situation looks bleak, local volunteers aren’t ready to wave the white flag just yet. They have reached out to multiple levels of government and are making a list-ditch effort to keep the ship docked in Port McNicoll.

“Our disappointment is huge, but we are not going to give up. We are going to look at every possible option that may or may not be available to us,” said Blevins. “We are not done. It may look like it, but none of us are prepared to say we are finished.”

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Barrie employers expect ‘modest’ hiring climate in early 2021: ManpowerGroup

Jul 16, 2021 , , , , by shlf

It’ll be a bit of a mixed bag on Barrie’s employment front during the first quarter of the new year.

ManpowerGroup employment agency has release its latest outlook survey, which found businesses and organizations expect a “modest hiring climate” during the first three months of 2021.

According to the survey, nine per cent of employers plan to hire, while 26 per cent expect cutbacks. Another 57 per cent intend to keep the status quo on staffing levels, said Jennifer Scale, of Manpower’s Barrie office.

“With seasonal variations removed from the data, Barrie’s first quarter net employment outlook of zero per cent is a six-percentage-point decrease from … the same time last year,” she said. “This indicates a slow hiring pace for the upcoming months.”

Eight per cent of employers are unsure about staffing levels during the quarter, Scale said.

Statistics Canada says the Barrie census metropolitan area’s unemployment rate was 10.6 per cent in November, up from 9.2 in October. However, unemployment rates fell across the country and province last month — Canada’s moved to 8.5 per cent, Ontario dropped to 9.1.

Employers in nine Canadian sectors, ranging from public administration to retail, expect to hire people this winter, Manpower said.

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‘Extraordinary demand’: Barrie’s RVH drive-thru COVID-19 testing clinic only takes pre-booked appointments now

Jul 15, 2021 , , , , by shlf

The early bird may get the COVID-19 swab at Barrie’s Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre (RVH) drive-thru testing clinic.

RVH has stopped unscheduled testing at the new site — moving instead to a same- and future-day booking system.

Clinic hours remain 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days per week, with the same-day online appointment portal opening at 6 a.m. daily. RVH says it keeps about 400 same-day slots open each morning — 300 online and 100 by phone reservation.

The portal will close when all available time slots for that day are full.

Ontario’s new guidelines aim to improve turnaround times and prioritize testing for those at greatest risk, RVH spokesperson Liz Ferguson said.

“RVH was already providing pre-booked appointments through online and phone booking,” she said. “To ensure we can continue to meet the extraordinary demand for testing, we have created a same-day appointment booking option. Moving to an appointment-based system only will help people avoid long waits during this time of year when the weather is so unpredictable. Pre-booking appointments is a convenient way for people to ensure they are tested and receive their results in a timely fashion.”

Simcoe.com visited the online booking site Monday afternoon, and it shows there are no future appointments available until Wednesday after 5 p.m.

In November, the Sperling Drive clinic will become a full COVID-19 assessment centre. People with symptoms that require investigation beyond a COVID-19 test can be seen inside Sperling by a team of clinicians.

People should only seek testing at an assessment centre if they have symptoms, were notified of exposure to a confirmed case by the health unit or COVID Alert app, live or work in an outbreak setting, travelled or are in a high-risk demographic.

The Sperling building was used as the city’s police headquarters until earlier this year, when the department moved into the new Barrie-Simcoe Emergency Services Campus on . 

Sperling clinic appointments can be booked at , or by calling  between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m.

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Had a baby during the pandemic? Midland’s Well Baby clinic is here to help

Jul 15, 2021 , , , , by shlf

Having a baby during the pandemic adds an extra layer of worry for new parents, says a registered nurse.

“A lot of moms are scared when they come in — Scared about doing something wrong, and nobody has told them what to do. And it’s COVID-19,” says Rebecca Sloan, who is part of the Well Baby team, operating out of the North Simcoe Family Health Team at in Midland.

The disadvantage of having a baby during the pandemic is there is less physical support for new parents and less access to community resources, said Sloan.

That’s why she’s trying to get the word out about the Well Baby program. It’s an OHIP-supported program available for parents of children, from birth to age three, which has now converted to offering the majority of appointments over the phone.

Sloan was recently a part of the Midland Cultural Centre’s ‘Our Health: World of my Baby’ virtual program, where she said every family can benefit from the program that offers baby check-ups at each milestone, as well as a connection to a registered nurse, dietician, social worker and nurse practitioner.

“You’ve got four different professions until they are three years old,” said Sloan.

Well Baby staff also communicate with clients’ family doctors and specialists.

Mom Rebecca Merkley didn’t think she needed the extra help through the clinic, but then her second baby developed severe allergies.

“At five months, my husband gave her peanut butter and she got a big rash on her face. We went to an allergist in Barrie and discovered she is allergic to any dairy, all kinds of nuts and eggs,” said Merkley.

“For a while, it was pretty scary,” said Merkley, because those ingredients are in all types of food, including infant cereal.

Going into the Well Baby clinic made all the difference.

“I’d recommend it to any new mom for sure. They answer all your questions. They give you so much information,” said Merkley.

Her daughter Alice was switched to a soy-based formula and her eczema got better. She now tolerates almond milk.

The silver lining to having a baby during the pandemic is that everything is more relaxed ,and keeping a small social bubble can bring families closer together, said Sloan.

“The expectation to be out there doing things is gone. They feel they are bonding with their baby, and bonding as a nuclear family.”

Newborns are particularly prone to respiratory ailments, so strictly following health guidelines of a small social bubble, hand washing, and mask-wearing is especially important, Sloan said.

The virtual program ‘Our Health: The World of my Baby’ can be viewed through the Midland Cultural Centre website at or through Rogers TV.

For more information about Well Baby, visit the website: or call

STORY BEHIND THE STORY

With people more isolated at home due to the pandemic, it’s a challenging time if you have a newborn and a lot of questions. The Well Baby clinic now offers appointments over the phone, with access to four professions.

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Environmental groups urge Toronto to turn city golf courses into parks, urban farms and housing

Jul 14, 2021 , , , , by shlf

Toronto has been a hot-button issue throughout the pandemic, as cooped-up residents have been heading to their to stretch .

The issue has drawn attention to the concern that residents in racialized and low-income neighbourhoodsto have easy access to any green space. So environmental and food-advocacy groups are calling for the city to ask the public whether it should keep its golf courses, or instead create a new parks or urban farms to better serve residents.

whether to extend the operating licences for five of the city’s seven courses: Dentonia Park, Don Valley, Humber Valley, Scarlett Woods and the Tam O’Shanter for two years with a further optional year into 2023.

“The issue is around how public assets are used to support communities. Green spaces need to serve the public good and this is the perfect opportunity to target populations that are disproportionally disadvantaged at this moment,” says Melana Roberts, chair of Food Secure Canada and a member of the Toronto Food Policy Council. “(The courses) are in dense populations with low-income neighbourhoods that have inadequate access to parks. Build a city for the people who live here and not for the privileged few.”

Roberts says she’d like to see the city’s Indigenous communities have priority input as part of the , in addition to consultations with residents on what to do with the land.

“The only option is a deep public consultation,” says Heather Marshall of the . “There have been a lot of ideas that come up, some around food production, Indigenous peacemaking, and making sure the land helps meet the city’s tree-planting and biodiversity goals. That might still include golf courses, but we just want a consultation and for people to have their say.”

She adds that planting more trees and vegetation can help with flood prevention, and that this is also an opportunity to not go back to the “status quo” and address existing inequity for BIPOC and low-income residents. The organization is asking the public to requesting a public consultation on what to do with the land before council meets this week.

Jessica Bell, MPP for University-Rosedale, to city council and the licensing committee asking for the licences not to be renewed.

“In this pandemic, access to public space is in short supply and many of our city’s residents are struggling to make ends meet, and it is for these reasons why it is unfair to limit the use of city land to those who can afford to pay up to $75 on a game of golf. These golf courses are expensive to maintain and do not generate revenue for the city. The popularity of these city-run golf courses is in decline. We do not have a golf course shortage in our region as there are over 100 other golf courses in the GTA that are available for public use.”

Cheyenne Sundance, a farmer and founder of the local urban farm, says the land should be accessible to all residents and not just those paying for golf. While she says the neighbourhoods should ultimately decide how the land should be used, she’d like to see some of it turned into urban farms and community gardens.

“Urban agriculture is life-changing, and you only need a small amount of space to feed so many families,” she says. “It not only grows food, it grows jobs and gives people the skills to build a career in agriculture.”

The notion of transforming golf courses into public parks has been . In April, for a month while the course was shut down. Seattle turned one of its largest privately owned courses in 2017.

Before COVID-19 struck Toronto, urban planners also suggested , citing the city’s report that the from 2007 to 2016.

In by the city’s Parks, Forestry and Recreation department, which manages the courses, they saw a six per cent increase in rounds being played this year compared to last year through mid-August, though the document goes on to say it’s unknown whether this uptick will continue, and asks that the city council renews the golf course contracts until business stabilizes.

Karon Liu is a Toronto-based food reporter for the Star. Follow him on Twitter:

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Premier Doug Ford won’t close bars and restaurants in Toronto without ‘more data,’ despite soaring case counts and plea from city’s top doctor

Jul 14, 2021 , , , , by shlf

Three days after Toronto’s top doctor asked the province to intervene to prevent the from spreading further in the city, said he’s unwilling to act.

As Toronto has become unable to even effectively trace the spread of COVID-19, of community spread, Dr. Eileen de Villa, the city’s medical officer of health, is recommending in the city, that people only leave their home for essential trips and that indoor group fitness classes be shuttered.

But saying those sweeping closures and orders exceeded her legal authority as a local medical officer of health, de Villa on Friday called on the province to enact those measures.

On Monday, Ford said the province lacks evidence to respond to de Villa’s request and that he won’t make a “willy-nilly” decision to “ruin” people’s livelihoods.

“If there’s a request to shut down restaurants, I have to sit back and look at evidence,” Ford said at Queen’s Park.

“You better show me real, real good evidence before we do it … I’m sorry I’m not prepared to do that to people’s lives right now. I’ve proven if I have to do it, we’ll do it in 10 seconds. But show me more evidence.”

When asked to respond to those comments Monday, de Villa said the province has “many sources of information” and that Toronto Public Health provides data about all of their cases every single day.

In her letter Friday, she outlined several “critical observations,” including the existence of 169 active outbreaks. Of new outbreaks, 44 per cent — about 18 outbreaks — were tied to restaurants, bars and entertainment venues. She also noted significant exposures, including up to 1,700 people at the Yonge Street Warehouse.

And she compared the city’s current daily cases to earlier counts, saying that when cases tallied 165 per day, the city was essentially in lockdown. On Oct. 1, Toronto had 280 cases, de Villa said.

Dr. David Williams, Ontario’s chief medical officer of health, echoed Ford’s comments on Monday, saying the province will continue to look at the request with its public health measures table, while looking at the impact of existing provincial measures and requesting Toronto Public Health provide “more data to make sure that it supports any further steps so we can handle that.”

Williams said the premier is looking for evidence that patrons have been impacted with illness.

“As of yet we haven’t seen that. We’ve seen outbreaks related to staff during their pre- and post-work time and their activities in the back rooms,” he told reporters when asked to elaborate on Ford’s comments. He said that they have not seen evidence that restaurants generally are contributing to outbreaks in the community.

De Villa said if there are further requests for data “we’ll be happy to provide as best we can.”

said Monday that they continue to work collaboratively with the province, saying he believes they’re acting in “good faith.”

“Sometimes it takes some time to compare notes, to fashion solutions which work both for Toronto and for the rest of Ontario and we will continue to succeed at forging those solutions in a collegial and collaborative way,” he said.

Meanwhile, at Queen’s Park, the premier’s officials repeatedly cited section 22 of the provincial Health Protection and Promotion Act as evidence that Toronto’s medical officer of health already has the power to close restaurants and bars if she so chooses.

That law says the city’s top doctor can intervene where “she is of the opinion, upon reasonable and probable grounds, that a communicable disease exists or may exist or that there is an immediate risk of an outbreak of a communicable disease.”

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On Monday, infectious disease specialists said there is no reason to disagree with de Villa’s recommendations.

“Even with imperfect data we still know that there is transmission in many indoor settings,” including bars and restaurants, said Dr. Isaac Bogoch, a University of Toronto infectious disease specialist.

“The person who has their finger on the pulse and has probably the best access to that information is the chief public health officer of the city … so who am I to argue with Dr. de Villa when she’s saying there’s an unacceptable number of cases associated to bars and restaurants in the city?

“I hope the province listens to her.”

Dr. Andrew Morris, with the Sinai Health System and University Health Network, said he’s also in agreement with de Villa, noting he is not a medical officer of health.

“I actually don’t know what more they would want,” Morris said of the province and available data.

He also noted the directions currently being given to people with bars and restaurants still open are sending “mixed messages.”

“You can go to a restaurant but you can’t have people over to your home for dinner. That doesn’t make sense to a lot of people.”

Asked Monday if she supported a 28-day shutdown in Toronto as requested by de Villa, Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s chief public officer of health, said de Villa is in the best position to know.

“At the rate of acceleration and as we’ve heard about, the public health capacity is not limitless — there’s some testing backlogs and some difficulties with contact tracing — then making sure that we reduce contacts and look at restricting those settings where transmission is occurring is really critical to do,” she said. “The speed is of the essence. The faster you reduce this acceleration, the sooner you come out of it. Whatever decision is made has to be made pretty rapidly.”

On Monday, de Villa urged people to cancel plans for Thanksgiving gatherings this year and opt for virtual celebrations, saying missing the holiday this year is better than looking back on the occasion with regret.

Meanwhile, . De Villa said Monday that even with double the number of contact tracers, they would not be able to keep up with the current overwhelming pace of transmission will resume that strategy when possible.

“We have 700 case and contact managers at Toronto Public Health — the most in the country. Infections are rising at a rate that will very quickly outpace conventional case management and contact tracing no matter how many people are deployed to support it,” she said.

“To be frank, I expect we could have another 700 people added to the ranks and still be unable to contact trace with the same reach and results as when infection rates were lower. It’s an indicator of how serious the spread of infection is.”

With files from Robert Benzie and Tonda MacCharles

Jennifer Pagliaro is a Toronto-based reporter covering city hall and municipal politics for the Star. Follow her on Twitter:

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Man charged with sexually assaulting woman in Orillia business

Jul 14, 2021 , , , , by shlf

A 52-year-old Orillia man is charged after a woman was allegedly sexually assaulted while in a downtown business Oct. 27.

Police were called to the business at about 7:30 p.m. after receiving a report of an assault.

Police are releasing few details to help protect the identity of the victim.

The suspect is charged with sexual assault, sexual interference and invitation to sexual touching.

He was released on a promise to appear in Orillia court Dec. 15.

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Ontario school-related COVID-19 cases jump by 74 in its latest report, including 49 students

Jul 14, 2021 , , , , by shlf

The number of new cases in public schools across Ontario has jumped by 74 from the previous day, to a total of 795 in the last two weeks.

, the province reported 49 more students were infected for a total of 444 in the last two weeks; since school began there have been overall total of 920.

The data shows there are five more staff members for a total of 101 in the last two weeks — and an overall total of 241.

The latest report also shows 20 more infections among individuals who weren’t identified for a total of 230 in that category — and an overall total of 480.

There are 501 schools with a reported case, which the province notes is about 10.4 per cent of the 4,828 public schools in Ontario.

Five schools are currently closed, according to the Ministry of Health figures, one more than Wednesday.

There is a lag between the daily provincial data at 10:30 a.m. and news reports about infections in schools. The provincial data on Thursday is current as of 2 p.m. Wednesday. It also doesn’t indicate where the place of transmission occurred.

The Toronto District School Board updates its information on current COVID-19 cases throughout the day . As of 11 p.m. Wednesday, there were 134 TDSB schools with at least one active case — 173 students and 46 staff.

The Toronto Catholic District School Board also updates its information. As of Wednesday at 4:20 p.m., there were 78 schools with a COVID-19 case, with 70 students and 17 staff infected.

Epidemiologists have that the rising numbers in the schools aren’t a surprise, and that the cases will be proportionate to the amount of COVID that is in the community. Ontario reported 841 new cases overall on Thursday — 335 in Toronto, 162 in Peel, 106 in York Region and 72 in Ottawa.

Breanna Xavier-Carter is a breaking news reporter, working out of the Star’s radio room in Toronto. Reach her via email:

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‘It’s busting at the seams with townhomes’: South-end Barrie neighbours stand against potential 104-unit development

Jul 14, 2021 , , , , by shlf

Michelle Lackey may lose her home’s biggest selling feature.

The Barrie resident moved into her Loon Avenue dream house in June. The backyard has a pool and it overlooks part of a large wooded area, which is connected to the Lovers Creek ravine. But shortly after closing the purchase and moving in, she found out neighbours had received notice of a public meeting for a proposed 104-unit development, which could be built five metres from the back of their property lines, just weeks earlier.

Lackey says she didn’t know about the proposal and any development on the land would be “devastating” to residents and “costly” to her property value.

“If this development happens, it’s opening a huge can of worms,” she said. “I never thought we’d be backing onto more houses, given it’s a wetland. That’s a big disappointment. We didn’t think it was even possible, but they’ve found a small piece of land they feel they can develop on. It just seems the developers are cramming. It’s busting at the seams with townhomes, leaving no buffer between us and the road that’s going to go right through our backyard. If we’d have known, we’d have backed out of that deal. This is why we moved into this house, because it backed onto this beautiful forest. It’s a huge shock.”

That public meeting for the proposal was held in mid-September. MHBC Planning has submitted an application for Official Plan and zoning bylaw amendments that, if approved, would allow for the construction of 12 traditional and 92 stacked townhouses on three of the site’s 15.3 acres.

MHBC partner Eldon Theodore says preliminary community consultation began about a year ago.

“The lands are a combination of both environmental-protection area and general industrial in the Official Plan; general industrial permits a broad range of manufacturing, processing and servicing,” he said, noting the amendments would actually add environmental protection to land in the southern portion of the site. “The residential on the property would allow for uses that are more compatible with the existing residential to the north. Three consecutive city reports have recommended these lands be converted to residential.”

This proposal also includes 35 at-grade and 127 underground parking spaces, and a trail is slated to run along the natural space, he said.

However, Lackey worries this project could lead to further development of sensitive land in the area. And there are also concerns over additional noise and traffic.

“It’s a sensitive area,” she said. “We just don’t understand how this could even be happening back there. We just hope the city of Barrie is looking at the bigger picture. Why not preserve this beautiful area?”

Lackey and several other residents are spearheading a petition over the matter. So far, nearly 3,700 people have signed it.

The proposal could be reviewed by the city’s general committee later this year.

To see the petition, visit . More details on the development are available at .

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Ontario’s school-related COVID-19 cases jump by 121 in its latest report, including 75 students

Jul 14, 2021 , , , , by shlf

The number of new cases in public schools across the province has jumped by 121 from the previous day, to a total of 793 in the last two weeks.

, the province reported 75 more students were infected for a total of 461 in the last two weeks; since school began there have been overall total of 810.

The data shows there are 22 more staff members for a total of 117 in the last two weeks — and an overall total of 223.

The latest report also shows 24 more individuals who weren’t identified for a total of 215 in that category — and an overall total of 396.

There are 508 schools with a reported case, which the province notes is about 10.5 per cent of the 4,828 public schools in Ontario.

Four schools are currently closed, according to the Ministry of Health figures: two in York Region and two in Ottawa.

Holy Name Catholic Elementary School in King City and Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Elementary School in Woodbridge until Oct. 26.

In Ottawa, École secondaire catholique Franco-Cité, a French Catholic high school, closed after 15 people tested positive while St. Jerome elementary school closed after two staff tested positive.

There is a lag between the daily provincial data at 10:30 a.m. and news reports about infections in schools. The provincial data on Tuesday is current as of 2 p.m. Monday so it includes the weekend reports. It also doesn’t indicate where the place of transmission occurred.

The Toronto District School Board updates its information on current COVID-19 cases throughout the day . As of 10:45 a.m. Tuesday, there were 121 TDSB schools with at least one active case — 151 students and 46 staff.

The Toronto Catholic District School Board also updates its information . As of Tuesday at 10:30 a.m., there were 45 schools with a COVID-19 case, with 44 students and 10 staff infected.

Epidemiologists have that the rising numbers in the schools aren’t a surprise, and that the cases will be proportionate to the amount of COVID that is in the community.

Ontario reported 821 new cases overall on Tuesday — 327 in Toronto, 136 in Peel, 64 in York Region and 79 in Ottawa.

Irelyne Lavery is a breaking news reporter, working out of the Star’s radio room in Toronto. Reach her via email: