Good morning, Ontario.
Here's what we're following:
Ford told Halton politicians to push back against new health regulations
Premier Doug Ford said he told politicians in Halton Region to push back against Ontario’s chief medical officer of health — and the suggestion the region might need to enter a modified Stage 2 of the province’s reopening strategy. PC MPP Jane McKenna says Ford encouraged leaders in Halton to send a public letter to David Williams, which argued their region was not ready for increased restrictions. Travis Kann, Ford’s communications director, denied that the premier was undermining his top health adviser. “Public health officials continued to monitor over the weekend but have not made a recommendation to Cabinet based on recent trends,” Kann wrote on Twitter.
Hundreds of nurses managing school outbreaks not actually in schools
Many of the public health nurses hired to help manage COVID-19 in GTA schools are not actually in schools, the Toronto Star reports. “I know that many hoped that they would be right in the schools, and spending time going from school to school to school,” said Vicki McKenna, president of the Ontario Nurses’ Association. “But because of the stretch of the many schools that need to be supported, in many cases the work they are doing is virtual.” Most of the nurses are involved in contact tracing, sometimes monitoring a dozen schools at a time.
Stay up to date!
Get Current Affairs & Documentaries email updates in your inbox every morning.
MPP apologizes for breaking social distancing rules
Tory MPP Sam Oosterhoff posted — then deleted — photos of him posing with a group of more than 30 people at an indoor event over the weekend. No one in the photos is wearing a mask. Ontario Hospital Association president Anthony Dale called on Oosterhoff to resign as parliamentary assistant to the minister of education. “How many health care workers gathered this weekend for a party with 40 other people indoors?” Dale wrote on Twitter. Oosterhoff apologized, saying, “I should have worn a mask when we took a quick pic, given the proximity of everyone.” Premier Doug Ford said he still has “100 per cent confidence” in Oosterhoff. “He made a mistakes. Everybody makes mistakes.”
Watch now
The Agenda: Jann Arden
Extraordinary Women: Martha Gellhorn
Martha Gellhorn became a war correspondent when her lover, Ernest Hemingway, urged her to file a report from Madrid during the Spanish Civil War. She wrote about the innocent victims: civilians who lived in daily fear. It was the beginning of a remarkable career.
Read now
The Tories want to deregulate intercity bus service. What comes next?
Bill 213 would dissolve the Ontario Highway Transport Board and end a century-old system of regulation. Columnist John Michael McGrath explains what that could mean for travel in and around the province. “What’s not clear right now is whether the government has any overarching vision for what the intercity bus system in Ontario should look like after reform — and after the pandemic,” he writes.
What new Ontario-led research says about mesothelioma
Non-occupational cases are on the rise — and experts are calling on government to introduce a national strategy. Here’s what they’re proposing.
Listen now
#onpoli: Kathleen Wynne says goodbye
Tonight on TVO
8 p.m.—The Agenda: The value of Canadian expats
John Stackhouse joins Steve Paikin to explain why Canadians working or living abroad should be considered strategic assets to Canada and its prosperity. His new book is Planet Canada: How our Expats are Shaping the Future.
10:30 p.m. — White Earth
An immigrant woman and her three children brave a cruel winter to seek work in the North Dakota oilfields. This Oscar-nominated short film explores themes of innocence, home, and the American dream.
Not subscribed?
Sign up to get stories in your inbox every morning.
