上海龙凤419,上海419论坛,夜上海论坛 – Powered By WeiFeng TV

Category: nussdot

nussdot

After a win on sick leaves, NDP plans to squeeze minority Liberals on wealth tax

Sep 27, 2021 , , , , by shlf

OTTAWA—After striking a deal to increase pandemic benefits for the sick and unemployed, NDP House Leader Peter Julian says his party wants to use its influence to press the minority Liberal government to create a wealth tax on the super rich.

The deal came after what Julian described as “respectful” but “combative” talks last week to for the governing Liberal’s make-or-break .

On Monday, the government to fulfil the NDP’s demand of broadening the proposed Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit so it is not restricted to Canadians who miss work because they are infected with COVD-19.

The NDP also took credit for pushing the government to maintain emergency jobless benefits of $500 per week for people who lose work during the crisis, after the Canada Emergency Response Benefit that had been received by millions of people expired on Sunday.

In an interview with the Star, Julian said the changes mean paid sick leave will be “much closer to universal” in Canada, even if the expanded sickness benefit isn’t the permanent program New Democrats wanted.

His party now plans to support the government’s throne speech — meaning the upcoming confidence vote on the speech won’t trigger an election — but Julian said the NDP is also looking for its next moment of potential leverage to push Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to agree to more of its priorities.

That chance could come when the government tables its next fiscal update and budget. The NDP will press for new taxes so Ottawa can raise revenue after historic spending that has driven up the federal deficit during the pandemic crisis, Julian said.

That would include taxes on web giants like Facebook and Google, he said, as well as the wealth tax the NDP during the last federal election: a one per cent levy on wealth exceeding $20 million that the independent Parliamentary Budget Officer could rake in as much as $70 billion over 10 years.

“We’re talking about tens of billions of dollars that we don’t believe are being used appropriately when it’s a pandemic, and it’s all hands on deck, and we have to provide supports for small businesses and for people across the country,” said Julian.

“We can’t pretend that the revenue side is not important. It is, and I think that’ll be a key part of the debate in the coming months.”

The Prime Minister’s Office declined to speak on the record about last week’s negotiations with the NDP, and Liberal House Leader Pablo Rodriguez’s office said he was not available for an interview Monday. A spokesperson for Employment Minister Carla Qualtrough did not respond to requests for comment from the Star.

On Monday, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh told the House of Commons it’s “unacceptable” for workers and small businesses to “pay the price” for the pandemic recovery process and asked for a tax on the ultra-wealthy.

“While the Liberal government talks about taxing extreme wealth inequality, no one knows what that means,” he said.

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland responded by saying the government has a plan to tax web giants and stock options.

“It is a time for all of us to bear a deep responsibility for uniting and not dividing Canadians,” Freeland said.

The legislation tabled Monday is part of the plan to replace CERB with a slate of programs the government predicted would cost before they were expanded to meet the NDP’s demands.

This includes a beefed up Employment Insurance program that allows more people to qualify and apply to receive a minimum payout of $500 per week as of Sept. 27.

For those who don’t qualify for EI, such as self-employed and contract workers, the legislation creates the new Canada Recovery Benefit, which pays $500 per week — up from the originally proposed $400.

The government also plans to create the Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit, which would provide $500 a week per household for up to 26 weeks when someone must take leave from work to care for a family member.

Finally, the bill proposes to create the Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit, which could provide $500 per week for two weeks to workers who fall ill or need to self-isolate during the pandemic. Originally, the government proposed that this only apply to COVID-19 infections, but the NDP talks prompted the Liberals to expand eligibility so that the benefit is also available to “those who have underlying conditions, are undergoing treatments or have contracted other sicknesses that, in the opinion of a medical practitioner … would make them more susceptible to COVID-19.”

The EI changes and new benefits are set to continue until next fall.

Alex Ballingall is an Ottawa-based reporter covering national politics for the Star. Follow him on Twitter:

Kieran Leavitt is an Edmonton-based reporter covering provincial affairs for the Star. Follow him on Twitter:

nussdot

‘Strong’ real estate sales market leads to double-digit home price percentage increases, Barrie realtors say

Sep 24, 2021 , , , , by shlf

Looking to sell? There may be a great return on investment coming your way.

The Barrie and District Association of Realtors has released its latest monthly statistics report, which shows “strong” growth in both year-to-date and year-over-year sales numbers across the region.

There were 471 residential units sold in Simcoe County, excluding Barrie, in November; an increase of 25.3 per cent compared to the same month in 2019. The average price of units sold was $672,748 — up 26.4 per cent year-over-year.

Within the city, 240 homes were sold, a 17.6 per cent jump from Nov. 2019 numbers. Meanwhile, the average sale price was $588,265, up 21.6 per cent from the same month last year.

Also of note, 34 apartment and condo units were sold in Barrie in November, a 10.5 per cent dip from 2019. However, the average price climbed 27.9 per cent to $429,242.

“Nov. 2020 information is in, and residential property sales showed that year-over-year sales and average price of units sold continued strong across most regions, with properties outside of Barrie showing stronger growth,” the association said in a statement. “The real estate market begins to slow down this time of year.”

Year-to-date, 5,858 residential units have been sold across the county, excluding Barrie — a jump of 22.3 per cent over the first 11 months of 2019. The average price rose 18.6 per cent, comparatively, to $608,628.

The city saw 2,808 units sold from January to November this year, a 27.4 per cent increase over the same period in 2019. The average sales price was $561,482, up 14.1 per cent over last year’s numbers.

Year-to-date data also showed double-digit price increases in Innisfil and Orillia. There were 628 homes sold in Innisfil, a 13.4 per cent dip from 2019. But the average residential unit sold for $602,762, a 16.5 per cent increase over Jan. 2019 to Nov. 2019.

Meanwhile, 652 residential units were sold in Orillia — 21.4 per cent more than the first 11 months of 2019. The average price also jumped from 11.7 per cent to $468,521.

The association represents more than 1,100 realtors throughout the region.

For more information, visit .

nussdot

Two people facing trafficking charges after police execute search warrant in Innisfil

Sep 22, 2021 , , , , by shlf

Two people have been charged with drug possession and trafficking following an investigation in Innisfil.

South Simcoe police say the investigation spanned about two months, culminating on Dec. 4 when police executed a search warrant at an address in the 7th Line and Webster Boulevard area of town.

Police say a quantity of suspected cocaine and fentanyl was seized. Two people were arrested.

A 49 year-old woman and a 56-year-old man were each charged with two counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking, possession of suspected cocaine, possession of suspected fentanyl, trafficking, and possession of a prohibited weapon.

The accused were released with a future court date.


nussdot

Canada has approved a 15-minute COVID test. But the lineups will still go on for hours

Sep 16, 2021 , , , , by shlf

Health Canada has given the green light to a rapid test for , but experts say people shouldn’t expect the testing backlog — and lineups — will disappear anytime soon.

“It’s sort of sold as reducing the backlog,” Dr. Zain Chagla, an infectious disease specialist with McMaster University, said about the newly approved ID Now test. “I’m uncomfortable with this. I don’t think this is going to significantly reduce the backlog by any means.

“It is nice to have another tool to get people tested, but this is probably not the test that’s going to change the provincial testing queues altogether.”

Ottawa announced Wednesday it approved the test developed by Abbott Laboratories, which can deliver results in less than 15 minutes of a patient being swabbed, without having to first send the sample to a lab for processing.

Neither the company nor the federal government will be more specific about when the test kits will start arriving, other than “the coming weeks.”

The approval came a day after the federal government announced it had signed a deal to buy nearly eight million of the tests from the U.S.-based company, pending Health Canada approval, as well as 3,800 of the analyzer machines that process the results.

The ID Now test has been approved and used in the United States since the end of March under an emergency authorization, but not without controversy. Several clinical studies have since raised concerns over its accuracy, though others concluded with more favourable results.

“If you look at some of the literature that has come out around this machine, it does miss some positives,” noted Chagla. “From reading the U.S. experiences, people who are still having symptoms after a negative test are recommended to get another test.

“There’s limitation with this machine but it’s better than nothing at this point.”

According to an Abbott spokesperson, the test needs to be administered by a trained health-care provider.

A swab is taken either from the nose or the back of the throat, and then mixed with a chemical solution that can “recognize a unique section of the Coronavirus genome, while ignoring other viruses even if they’re similar strains,” the spokesperson told the Star in an email.

“ID NOW delivers reliable results in minutes, rather than hours or days, on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic with accuracy rates as high as 94.7% compared to lab-based PCR reference tests in the acute phase of illness.”

Dr. Andrew Morris, an infectious disease specialist at Sinai Health and University Health Network, called the approval of the rapid test “welcome” but not a surprise. The test “has been approved in almost every jurisdiction where there’s been an application,” he said.

The question now is when these tests are going to arrive.

Other countries and the World Health Organization have also purchased them, and it’s not clear “where we are in the pecking order,” Morris said.

“Inevitably it’s going to help us but we really needed it several weeks ago to avoid our backlog,” he said.

The province also needs to figure out how the new tests will be used as part of a larger strategy, which should include “surveillance, screening and diagnostic testing.”

That’s something “we’ve been really challenged by,” Morris said. “This will expand our capacity for testing, it probably won’t be used in the highest stakes, because almost certainly its quality is not going to be as good as the gold-standard PCR test.”

While the rapid test can relieve the pressure on the back end of the testing process at labs, Chagla said people still need to go through the same registration at COVID assessment centres and line up to get tested.

Local health authorities need to take a look at what their testing needs are and how the test can meet those needs.

The rapid test works best in remote areas where test centres and labs are far and apart, for asymptomatic people and at high-risk workplaces where routine testing is called for, said Chagla.

“We need to develop a system to determine who is best for what test,” Chagla said.

Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an infectious disease specialist at the University Health Network, said the approval will “provide incremental help” and is “an excellent move” but “not a silver bullet.”

It might be particularly helpful in remote or northern communities that are far from labs, for some workplace outbreaks, or even in underserved urban neighbourhoods that have been hard hit by COVID, to “remove barriers” to testing.

The newly approved rapid ID NOW test is not to be confused with antigen tests, which test proteins on the surface of the virus. Health Canada said Tuesday it’s still reviewing those.

The goal, said Bogoch, would be a rapid antigen test that you could do at home, before heading to work or school, similar to a pregnancy test.

If it was positive, he said, it would trigger a more formal test at the centre. But in the meantime it would let you know not to go to work and to isolate, to avoid infecting others.

Nicholas Keung is a Toronto-based reporter covering immigration for the Star. Follow him on Twitter:

May Warren is a Toronto-based breaking news reporter for the Star. Follow her on Twitter:

nussdot

Principals in Toronto and Peel schools get permission to dismiss class if there’s a case of COVID-19

Sep 1, 2021 , , , , by shlf

Principals of Toronto and Peel region’s publicly funded schools can now dismiss an entire cohort of kids from class if they have had exposure to a confirmed case of , without waiting for permission from their respective public health units.

This new power, handed down this week, allows principals to be more nimble and act more quickly to make a decision that could keep an entire class — or school — from being exposed to the virus. The change comes as continue to climb across the GTA.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the Toronto District School Board was reporting 110 students and 41 staff infected in 106 schools. Peel was reporting 42 schools with one or more case.

In a letter to the Peel school community Monday, Peel Public Health said: “Starting today, if there is a confirmed positive COVID-19 case in a class or cohort, the students and the teacher in the class must go home immediately. Please have a plan for your child to be picked up during the school day in these situations,” said the directive.

Dr. Lawrence Loh, Peel’s medical officer of health, said this new measure is a way to further stop the spread.

“Students and staff often notify the school administration of their positive result directly. Principals work with the school boards and Peel Public Health to determine if a lab-confirmed case has attended school,” said Loh. “The principal will proceed to dismiss the class and advise the school community of the dismissal while Peel Public Health begins its investigation.”

He said the region is “still actively contact tracing and continues to prioritize those cases at highest risk of transmission and infection. As case counts are increasing in school, immediate class dismissal acts as another proactive measure to stop the spread immediately.”

Toronto Public Health said it created a “guide for principals to dismiss cohorts to self-isolate” so that if a “principal is aware of a confirmed case of COVID-19 in a student or staff, the principal can dismiss the (cohort) for self-isolation including classroom, bus and before/after school programs attended by the case immediately upon learning this information,” said Dr. Vinita Dubey, the associate medical officer of health.

“The principal will send communication to the cohort(s) that they are to be self-isolating for now, and why, and that this is pending TPH’s investigation of the case and their contacts. Once TPH has completed the investigation, we will send a letter to the close contacts in the school setting with information on next steps based on information obtained through the investigation.”

“TPH wanted to enable the TDSB out of an abundance of caution,” Toronto District School Board spokesperson Ryan Bird said.

While it’s unclear how long the process of dismissing a cohort, or isolating an entire class, may take, because each case is different and timing varies, Bird said this new measure will undoubtedly hasten the process. Often, principals are alerted about cases after hours, if a parent or someone in the community alerts them, Bird said.

Until late last week, the cohort possibly exposed to a positive COVID case may have had to come to school the next day — possibly being exposed or only to be told to turn around and go back home.

To help principals decide whether and how to make the decision to send an entire cohort home, or keep them from arriving at school in the morning, Toronto Public Health has created a “decision tree” that walks them through the steps.

According to the chart, principals will only be required to dismiss the cohorts immediately affected. They will not be required to provide direction to siblings of students in a dismissed cohort, nor will they ask staff or students potentially exposed to the positive case outside the cohort to self-isolate. They will wait for direction from TPH before doing so.

And if the COVID-19 positive case is an itinerant worker who goes to many classes or cohorts, the case will be flagged to TPH and the principal will await direction.

Noor Javed is a Toronto-based reporter covering current affairs in the York region for the Star. Follow her on Twitter:

Michele Henry is a Toronto-based investigative reporter for the Star. Follow her on Twitter:

nussdot

Pandemic plus holiday prep puts the pinch on online shopping

Aug 31, 2021 , , , , by shlf

As COVID-era consumers embrace the convenience and sequestered safety of online shopping, retailers are increasingly tasked to ensure prompt and reliable parcel delivery.

Statistics Canada reported a record $3.9 billion in e-commerce sales in May, a 2.3 per cent hike over April and a 99.3 per cent increase over February. The pre-holiday numbers are on an upward trajectory said the agency, noting Canadians now do 10 per cent of their spending online.

The pandemic, causing many brick-and-mortar stores to close, has created massive demand and opportunity for delivery services, an industry valued annually at $12 billion nationally and $4.5 billion in Ontario.

This is a windfall not without challenges for delivery businesses, said LinkEdge Consultancy managing partner Brian Meagher.

“Holiday delivery issues have been around for a long time,” said Meagher who consulted Metroland Media in the planning of its new parcel delivery service launched earlier this month. “There has been a history of early cut-off times and that disappoints many consumers. This year, it could be a significantly bigger issue for everyone.”

The fact that almost 50 per cent of consumers will shop online this year to avoid large crowds, and retailers want more delivery options, was the genesis to create and launch Metroland Parcel Services, said Mike Banville, who leads the new service.

Metroland, a division of Torstar Corporation, publishes more than 70 community and daily newspapers delivered to 70 per cent of Southern Ontario households by a network of 15,000 delivery contractors. Metroland’s facility hubs, distribution networks and expertise ideally positions the organization to successfully extend its services into parcel delivery, said Banville.

“Our research and clients tell us e-commerce channel growth has exploded and is largely expected to sustain post-COVID. Parcel carriers are struggling to meet service level commitments. Some carriers have inconvenient hard stop deadlines for holiday deliveries,” he said.

“Our new solution is designed to deliver a high value premium final mile parcel delivery experience in Ontario right up to Christmas Eve and beyond.”

Metroland offers next-day express and standard two- to three-day delivery at competitive prices and includes delivery guarantees, real-time parcel tracking and photo delivery confirmation. The new service also provides seamless technology integration into client platforms.

Metroland’s strategy and parcel delivery commitment struck an important chord with Toys R Us Canada president and CEO Vic Bertrand.

“Toys R Us is focused on serving Canadians with what they want, when they want, and how they want it,” said Bertrand. “The how is where Metroland comes in.”

Delivery makes up the majority of Toys R Us e-commerce transactions, followed by pickup and curbside, explained Bertrand, adding that the capacity constraints on delivery last holiday, and through the pandemic, will persist through this holiday season.

“That’s why we’re thrilled to be on board with Metroland. Their service is both timely and targeted for our exponential growth in the Golden Horseshoe. Our e-commerce sales have risen triple-digit overall since the pandemic.

“Metroland has a unique, high volume distribution footprint in Ontario that is well-positioned to respond to our last mile delivery needs.”

For information, visit or email .

nussdot

Millions of Canadians will qualify for a tax refund this year because they were working from home — here’s how to apply

Aug 27, 2021 , , , , by shlf

It’s safe to say that the 2021 tax season will be one for the books.

Millions of Canadians have been working from home for the first time ever due to the pandemic and will be eligible to claim new expenses to reduce their taxes. In particular, many former office workers will be able to claim expenses related to their home office to reduce the amount payable — if they meet the criteria.

Interested in seeing whether you qualify? Read on.

Watch out for changes

Janet Gray, an Ottawa-based certified financial planner with national firm Money Coaches Canada, said this tax season comes with many unknowns.

“We know what the rules have been,” she said. “We don’t know how they’re going to be applied against the current situation, or if there’s going to be new rules coming out.”

Evelyn Jacks, author and president of the Knowledge Bureau, agreed. The CRA has been unclear on how it’ll assess these claims, she said, but so far the rules haven’t changed.

Gray expects a lot of people to appeal their tax bills, especially if the rules around how to claim home office expenses aren’t adjusted to make it easier to claim. She recommends turning to a tax professional if you have any doubts about your situation.

What you can claim, and how

If you’re employed but working from home for the first time, your employer will be filing a second tax form — alongside the usual T4, there’s a form called a T2200 that will help guide what you can and cannot claim.

If you’re working from home as an employee, you can claim a portion of your utilities, rent or condominium fees, and a few other minor expenses such as renewable supplies like paper or pens, said Jacks. The proportion is determined by how much space your office takes up — for example, if your home office is 20 per cent of your home, you can claim 20 per cent of your applicable bills. But, you have to meet the CRA’s conditions for a home office.

According to the federal government’s , your home office must meet one of these two conditions: either it’s where you primarily work (more than 50 per cent of the time), or you use it only to earn employment income, and use it on a continuous basis for meetings such as with clients or customers.

However, Jacks said some of these criteria could pose an issue for people who are new to working from home. First, if they haven’t been working at home for long enough, it may be difficult to meet that 50 per cent mark, she said. And your office space needs to be partitioned in some way, so that you can measure it in square feet, she said — another problem for those who are making do at the kitchen counter or in the living room. And of course, Jacks is wondering whether the CRA will count Zoom meetings as part of that second condition.

Jacks hopes the CRA will change the rules to make it easier for people to claim these expenses. After all, for those using a makeshift office in a small home, whether you can claim the space as an office or not is “a grey area.” She recommends partitioning off a small area for work the best you can.

“It challenges our tax system to modernize,” she said.

Brian Quinlan, partner at Campbell Lawless LLP, suggests arguing that the room you’re using is your home office as its “principal” use — even if it’s used for other purposes when you’re not working.

“Those are the arguments I would make,” he said.

Quinlan said you should be communicating with your employer, especially if working from home is becoming a long-term solution for your company. It’s always better if they reimburse you for home office expenses, he said, instead of having to claim them and hope for a return.

Tracey Bissett, a financial coach with Bissett Financial Fitness Inc., agreed. She said it’s possible there are reimbursements available that your employer hasn’t communicated to you.

If you are claiming your home office expenses for the first time, don’t expect a huge return, she said. In fact, it may not be worth the effort and potential audit for some, she said. (Gray expects more auditing this year to check that people are claiming the correct expenses.)

“I think it really depends on your situation,” Bissett said.

If two people in the home are working in the same office, Quinlan said they can either split the cost 50/50 on the their claims, or have the person with the more advantageous tax rate claim the whole office. If they’ve got two separate offices or workspaces, each would claim their own, he said.

Be reasonable

Remember that you’re not the only person facing a confusing tax season during an unprecedented and stressful time. Gray recommends just doing the best you can, and hiring a tax professional if there’s any confusion.

The bottom line, Jacks said, is to be reasonable with the expenses you claim, and hope the CRA will be too.

Rosa Saba is a Calgary-based business reporter for the Star. Follow her on Twitter:

nussdot

Expanded program will give all New Tecumseth residents access to bus stops

Aug 27, 2021 , , , , by shlf

Residents who live in Tottenham and the town’s rural areas who don’t drive will soon have a way to hop on the County of Simcoe’s LINX bus that travels between Alliston and Bradford.

At its Nov. 30 meeting, council approved a budget recommendation to make changes to the Community Transportation Program, which subsidizes the cost of taking a taxi to certain locations in town for seniors and people with mobility issues.

The program will be opened up to all residents of New Tecumseth who need to go to and from any bus stop within town, from Monday to Friday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Council has also agreed to include banks as another eligible destination for seniors.

Other eligible locations for these users include medical appointments, grocery shopping, the 54 Plus Seniors Centre, and service trips for the Community Living Associations for South Simcoe and Children’s Treatment Network.

The program currently costs the town $35,600 annually to run.

A person using the service has to pay $3 out of pocket for each in-town trip and $5 for trips between communities.

The town expects to provide 300 trips per year to the LINX stops. At $16 per trip, this will add an additional $4,800 to the annual operating cost of the program.

This was one of several changes council has made to the draft budget since it was first presented last month.

The most significant addition was to move forward with building the new administration centre at the former Alliston Union property at 25 Albert St. W. Another $2.5 million was added to the budget, which brings the total cost of the building to $19.3 million when factoring in spending from prior years.

Other additions include $20,000 to pay for maintenance and repairs at the Tottenham Food Bank to allow the building to meet COVID-19 health regulations, $10,000 for the South Simcoe Arts Council, $40,000 in dedicated annual funding for the Gibson Centre, and a one-time grant of $40,000 to the Alliston Out of the Cold program.

The proposed levy increase has risen slightly from 1.95 per cent to 2.28 per cent. The special levy to build up the asset replacement reserve remains unchanged at 0.5 per cent.

For the owner of an average assessed home worth $452,695, the increase works out to about $63.

The proposed increase to the water and wastewater rates remains unchanged at four per cent.

Council will vote to ratify the budget Dec. 14.

nussdot

Rosie DiManno: Delays, flip-flops and bad decisions on COVID-19 testing are costing us dearly

Aug 25, 2021 , , , , by shlf

“It goes up your nose.”

Well of course it does, the swab. Who doesn’t know that by now?

With not a client in sight, we were forced to get nosy with the pharmacist at this Shoppers Drug Mart on Danforth Ave. as she fielded inquiries over the phone, jotting down bookings for testing. Nor was there a lineup at three other outlets visited on Friday, as Shoppers launched the service at 60 of its stores across Ontario, though only 43 were up and running according to a company spokesperson.

There is confusion, given that the province did a quick U-turn this week — inside of 24 hours — on its testing directive, flipping from whoever-wants-it to only the symptomatic, at the province’s 151 assessment centres.

The pharmacies that came online Friday are intended to test, by appointment, only people who have no symptoms, including those who might need proof of negative results before they can visit family members in long-term care homes and those with confirmed exposures to the coronavirus-afflicted and positive-determined environments.

It is hoped that culling the asymptomatic from the herd will ease the tremendous burden on labs that actually do the sample processing, with the goal of 50,000 a day, although present capacity is 40,000. And, crucially, prioritizing those at high-risk.

The usefulness of asymptomatic testing is limited, primarily because it’s just a snapshot of a specific time — you might test negative today but positive a day later. It’s also true that small numbers of people unaware they were infected have seeded huge swaths of new cases. But as the Star’s Kate Allen , targeted testing data of asymptomatic individuals compiled over the summer, targeting high-risk settings such as long-term care homes, farms and factories, yielded few new cases.

The more-testing mantra to which Ontario has cleaved since the pandemic struck globally is not particularly efficient, when applied broadly and generically, as experts have been warning for months; low-value outcomes for limited public spending resources.

However, for that kind of catchment undertaking, some dentists are wondering why they haven’t been deployed to the task, since they’re in people’s mouths all the time.

“It hasn’t been for any lack of trying or contacting people in the government,” says Dr. George Christodoulou, co-CEO of Altima Healthcare group, one of Canada’s largest dental medical groups, with 50 offices in Ontario. “I’ve tried to lobby all three levels of government and get nothing back except an automatic email reply.”

Christodoulou points out that there are more than 5,000 dentists practising in the province and about 14,000 dental hygienists. “Typically we work in teams. With one dentist and two hygienists, we see more than 20 patients a day. That’s 100,000 patients a day that can be tested.

“Ideally, it would be part of a regular visit,” Christodoulou continues. “Appointments are made, procedures are followed. The protocols are there so that when a patient comes to our office, they’re escorted in. We have the PPE, we already minimize contact. It’s the same as the oral cancer screening we do for some of our patients. It would only take an extra minute or two.

“So, you’d be coming in for your cleaning or your filling and part of that exam would also include a nasopharyngeal screening or the antibody antigen procedure, especially the saliva ones.

“Who’s better trained to handle saliva than dentists?”

Yet a spokesperson for the Ontario Dental Association counters that it’s not as simple as Christodoulou suggests. “We’re certainly aware of the idea of COVID-19 testing in dental offices but the main priority for most dentists so far has been getting through the backlog of patients they weren’t able to treat for 12 weeks during the shutdown,” Maggie Blood tells the Star via email.

Blood says many dentists are still struggling to obtain the more protective N95 masks, and “won’t have enough of a supply to do COVID-19 testing as well as treat patients.”

The ODA has asked the Ministry of Health repeatedly to designate dentists as front-line medical staff so they can access provincial stockpiles of personal protective equipment.

“That being said, we’ll be watching with interest how the rollout for testing at pharmacies goes.”

While Ontario is reactively slapdash in attempts to curtail the predicted surge of COVID-19 — on Friday that bars and restaurants will henceforth stop serving alcohol after 11 p.m., although there’s no empirical evidence that these establishments have been connected to a surge, and strip clubs ordered to pack up their G-strings, close down their fleshy emporiums — Premier Doug Ford has repeatedly called out the feds for failing to get their rapid-result saliva-based testing act together.

Instead of waiting in a long queue at assessment centres to get a swab shoved up one’s nose, then waiting days for the findings, saliva-based tests can produce results in minutes. Yet Health Canada has taken an exactingly cautious approach in evaluating the efficacy. Health Minister Patty Hajdu has doubled down on resistance, reiterating last week that saliva tests will not be approved until everyone is absolutely satisfied they won’t actually endanger the lives of Canadians because they are inaccurate or offer a false sense of security.

False sense of security, you may recall, is what was posited by leading health authorities in this country who originally disapproved of masking for the general public — and now they’re mandated in Toronto for indoor public spaces.

Three Toronto hospitals, as of this week, began offering saliva tests for some groups of eligible patients, although they’re still recommended as a primary option and samples still need to be sent to a lab for analysis, which could result in longer turnaround times than the swabs. Which rather defeats the purpose.

Meanwhile, British Columbia last week introduced a new saline gargle test — swish and spit — for students from kindergarten to Grade 12. And Edmonton’s International Airport has joined a saliva trial program — devices that will light up green or red, within one minute, indicating if the traveller is virus-free. They do not need to be administered by medical professionals.

In the U.S., the Food and Drug Administration last month gave emergency-use authorization for a fifth saliva-based test developed by the Yale School of Public Health that requires minimal processing and allegedly much of the accuracy of nasal swab results.

There is another alternative, for the anxious asymptomatic but it comes at a high cost: A company is offering at-home testing, saying its employees will travel anywhere in the GTA for the purpose, charging $399 per person, plus a fee of $329 for every additional person in the household. Doctors have slammed the scheme as “pandemic profiteering.”

But we don’t know, do we, how dire the situation will become in the second wave months ahead — 409 new positives Friday in Ontario, 236 in Toronto.

So here’s the backwards-glance global timeline tweeted out by the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.

One case to one million cases: 90 days

One million to 5 million: 48 days

5 million to 10 million: 38 days

10 million to 20 million: 44 days

20 million to 30 million: 37 days.

The numbers explode, even as the time span contracts.

Rosie DiManno is a Toronto-based columnist covering sports and current affairs for the Star. Follow her on Twitter:

nussdot

Pandemic shutters some Ontario Legion branches, while others survive with community support

Aug 25, 2021 , , , , , by shlf

With their traditional revenue streams choked by the COVID-19 pandemic, Ontario’s Royal Canadian Legion branches are facing shortfalls of the cash they need to operate year-round. 

Fortunately, they, and the Royal Canadian Legion at-large, are adopting novel methods to raise funds for operating costs and veteran supports. Among those methods is an update to the traditional poppy campaign: cashless payment. 

Garry Pond is a war veteran and now serves as president of the Royal Canadian Legion’s Ontario Command. He said that, without the ability to rent out their event spaces, host guests in their bars and dining rooms, and plan in-person fundraisers during various stages of the province’s COVID-19 shutdowns, Ontario’s legion branches have taken a financial hit this year.

“We have some branches that are suffering, just like everybody’s suffering in our type of business,” he said. “Legion halls, hall rentals, weddings — those kinds of things we’re involved with — are suffering everywhere.”

Individual locations use funds from branch events to cover operating costs throughout the year. Without this income, Pond said, as many as six branches that were already struggling before the pandemic are in the process of closing permanently. Pond declined to say which branches were closing, but said some had struggled with shrinking memberships due to the aging-out of their members before COVID-19 struck. That remains an ongoing issue. 

“A lot of it is to do with just the nature of things, because of failing membership, and it’s related to COVID-19 in the sense that it pushed (the decline) faster,” he said. “The branches that are in trouble are branches that were in trouble before COVID-19.”

In addition to serving as a community hub, Pond said each branch has a dedicated provincial services officer who offers veterans in-person assistance benefit applications and Veterans’ Affairs paperwork.

“If the branches don’t survive, there’s nobody there to help our veterans who need assistance,” Pond said. “So it’s absolutely critical that the branches survive.”

Aside from year-round fundraising for operational costs, the Royal Canadian Legion raises funds to assist individual veterans through its annual poppy campaign, which Pond said is also suffering this year.

Funds raised through the sale of poppies are used to assist veterans with housing costs, to help match them with service dogs and to provide other forms of support. This year, the campaign has experienced a low profile because volunteers who would normally sell poppies and collect donations near the entrances of businesses aren’t able to do so. Pond also guessed people’s reluctance to carry small change due to the pandemic isn’t helping.

To soften the blow of the pandemic to its coffers, Pond said the Royal Canadian Legion has upgraded its poppy campaign to meet people where they are, by adding a contactless payment option for people looking to purchase a poppy without donating change. The Legion also offers virtual poppies supporters can  

“The poppy campaign is probably going to suffer but we’re optimistic that it’s not going to be too bad, and Canadians across the country love wearing the poppy,” Pond said.

He said individual branches have also adapted to the pandemic by hosting contests and games like “Catch the Ace” that people can participate in from home, selling takeout meals from their kitchens and launching crowdfunding campaigns.

“Our branches are doing better than I would have thought at this point in the game. They are doing well to make money however they can, and survive,” Pond said. “They’re finding ways to adapt and they’re being very diligent about how they deal with stuff. We have some branches that have done quite well with GoFundMe.”

Pond is also optimistic about the $20 million the federal government pledged to help veterans’ groups.

He urges civilians who want to support veterans to remember to donate to the poppy campaign, but said they can also support their local legion branches by becoming members. Although the Royal Canadian Legion exists to support veterans, anyone over the age of 18 can become a legion member. Annual membership dues help cover branch operating costs and keep branches open to veterans who need them.

“The best way anybody can help the legion is to become a member,” Pond said, “and help us help our veterans.”