From Step 2 of Ontario’s reopening plan starting ahead of schedule, to the discovery of 751 unmarked graves in Saskatchewan, here is what we saw in the news this week.
Ontario moving to Step 2 of its reopening plan early
On June 30 at 12:01 a.m. Ontario will see further COVID-19 restrictions loosened as it enters Step 2 of its Roadmap to Reopen plan.
Step 2 is arriving two days earlier than anticipated, as the Ontario government previously said that each step would last at least 21 days.
The announcement was made Thursday afternoon by Premier Ford, who credited the province’s positive progress with vaccinations — the province has already met Step 3 requirements, with 70 to 80 percent of adults with one dose and at least 25 percent fully vaccinated.
However, one exception is Waterloo region, as it battles a surge in COVID cases due to the delta variant. The region will not be entering Step 2 until mid July, according to CTV News Kitchener.
Here are the allowances under Step 2, organized by indoor and outdoor activities:
- Indoor social gatherings and organized public events for up to five people
- Essential and other select retail permitted at 50 per cent capacity
- Non-essential retail capacity at 25 per cent
- Stores in shopping malls open, with restrictions
- Larger indoor religious services, rites, or ceremonies, including wedding services and funeral services at 25 per cent capacity
- Personal care services where face coverings can be worn at all times at 25 per cent capacity
- Public libraries permitted at 25 per cent capacity
- Overnight camps
- Outdoor social gatherings and organized public events for up to 25 people
- Outdoor meeting and event spaces at 25 per cent capacity
- Outdoor amusement and water parks at 25 per cent capacity
- Outdoor sports games, leagues and events at 25 per cent capacity
- Outdoor cinemas, performing arts, live music events and attractions at 25 per cent capacity
- Outdoor horse racing and motor speedways at 25 per cent capacity
- Outdoor dining for up to six people per table
- Outdoor religious services, rites, or ceremonies, including wedding services and funeral services, capped at the number of people that can maintain a physical distance of two metres
- Outdoor fitness classes are capped at the number of people who can maintain three metres of distance
- Overnight camps
For more details on Step 2 allowances, as well as the other reopening steps, visit the Reopening Ontario webpage.
First Nations group in Saskatchewan discovers 751 unmarked graves near former residential school
On Thursday the Cowessess First Nations of Saskatchewan announced a preliminary discovery of 751 unmarked graves at a cemetery near a former residential school.
Marieval Indian Residential School, which ran under the Catholic Church from 1899 to 1997, had young students who came from First Nations in southeast Saskatchewan and southwestern Manitoba.
The site is about 140 kilometres east of Regina, where Cowessess is now located.
At the beginning of June, Cowessess started using ground-penetrating radar to locate unmarked graves. It is believed that the Catholic Church removed grave markers in the 1960s.
Speaking at a virtual news conference Thursday morning, Cowessess Chief Cadmus Delorme said it remains uncertain whether all of the unmarked graves hold bodies of children.
According to Delorme, oral stories within Cowessess tell of the graves holding both children and adults, with the possibility some are former church attendees, including people from surrounding towns.
The initial round of penetrating radar work yielded 751 total “hits” at the site, said Delorme, but there is a possibility more than one set of remains could be discovered at each “hit” upon further examination.
Delorme said the technical team will be able to verify the exact number of bodies in the coming weeks.
Guelph Gryphons gearing up for a return to varsity sports
University of Guelph varsity athletes are planning for a return to school sports following the cancellation of the 2020-2021 season due to COVID-19.
As U of G plans for an in-person semester this fall, Gryphons Athletic Director Scott McRoberts is “very confident” that university sports will make a comeback during the upcoming season.
“However, we don’t determine what happens with this virus and I always leave that as a caveat,” said McRoberts in a GuelphToday article.
“But we need to have a plan, we need to move forward and we have to understand what living with this virus is going to be like.”
Since the last varsity season was cancelled on March 7, 2020, sporting practices have been held when and where possible under health and safety protocols. Head coaches were reportedly cleaning equipment and monitoring fitness centres.
To further ensure a safe upcoming sports season, Ontario University Athletics (OUA) has delayed the beginning of any competitive games so that athletes and coaches can “properly prepare themselves, get an additional vaccine or vaccinated if they haven’t already.”
On June 23 the OUA announced changes to both league-based and open championship structures.
Football, volleyball, basketball, and men’s rugby will all see a reduced regular season schedule. Championships for G2/G3 sports, such as cross country, wrestling, baseball, curling, and golf, will take place as single day events whenever possible.
McRoberts says while the changes can be attributed to pandemic protocols and restricted budgets, they are not necessarily negatives.
“We don’t need to drive on a bus to go somewhere for a game, stay overnight in a hotel, eat in restaurants and come back,” said McRoberts.
“We’ll be having a lot shorter school bus trips and more of a regional-play strategy. It’s both the safe thing to do for our athletes as well as the financially responsible thing to do for our program.”
More details regarding the structure of the 2021-2022 season are available here.
Israeli-Palestinian ceasefire broken
The ceasefire agreement between Israel and Palestine has been broken as violence erupted between the two on June 15.
According to Global News, an ultranationalist parade marched through contested Jerusalem on June 14 to celebrate Israel’s capture of the east end of the city in 1967. Some participants were heard chanting “Death to Arabs.”
On Twitter, Yair Lapid who is a foreign minister and head of the centrist Yesh Atid Party, referred to those who called out racist slogans during the march “a disgrace to the Israeli people.”
Palestinians saw the parade as a provocation, and Hamas urged Palestinians to “resist” the parade. As a result, Palestinians sent fuse-laden balloons to southern Israel, and dry farmland was set ablaze as a result. Israel sent airstrikes to the Gaza Strip the following day, and there were no reported injuries.
The Israeli army claims it is targeting Hamas facilities, calling them a “terror organization” which will “bear the consequences of its actions,” though it is still unclear if Hamas are directly responsible for the balloons.
Egyptian mediators have been trying to arrange a “long-term agreement” between Israel and Palestine since the initial bombings in May. Reportedly, they have been in “direct and around-the-clock contact” with Israel officials and Gaza rulers in an effort to maintain the ceasefire agreement.
Additionally, the United States has also been in contact with Israel regarding the ceasefire.
These latest provocations are complicated by the new Israeli administration which was sworn in shortly before the Gaza Strip was bombed on June 15. Now led by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, negotiations with the administration are left uncertain.
Ford enacts notwithstanding clause to restore unconstitutional bill
Ontario Premier Doug Ford used the notwithstanding clause on June 14 to restore parts of the unconstitutional Elections Finances Act.
Under the clause, third parties can now only spend $600,000 in the last 12 months before an election.
Formally known as Section 33 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the notwithstanding clause allows Parliament or provincial legislatures to override certain portions of the charter for five years.
CBC News states it originated from charter negotiations in the early 1980s when some provinces such as Alberta and Saskatchewan “wanted an out should they disagree with the decision of the courts.” Former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau thus agreed to the creation of the notwithstanding clause, though reluctantly.
Notably, the clause can only be used for certain charters, and cannot, for example, be used against provisions that protect democratic processes.
Ford had previously hoped to use the notwithstanding clause in 2018 to cut Toronto city council seats during the municipal election, but the subsequent court process did not involve it.
While the Ford government claims the recent clause to be necessary “to protect elections from outside influence,” opposition claims that the Progressive Conservative are “trying to silence criticism” before next summer’s provincial elections.
Further, critics also argue that Ford is trying to prevent unions and other groups from opposing his government, calling his use of the notwithstanding clause dictatorial and undemocratic, according to CBC News.
However, Ford’s apparent attempt to muzzle criticism through the unpopular notwithstanding clause could potentially generate even more opposition in upcoming elections.
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