We Still Have a Government, Right?: Canadian Politics 2020

http://www.blogto.com/city/2020/04/amount-covid-19-recoveries-ontario-now-outnumbers-active-cases/

Comparing this to national, American, and global figures:

Ontario - recovered, 7,087/active, 5,669
Canada - recovered, 17,916/active, 26,813
USA - recovered, 122,675/active, 816,474
World - recoverd, 900,334/active, 1,920,169

I'm sure there are many other things that need to be factored into that.

Ugh.

https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2020/04/27/one-in-5-canadians-think-its-not-safe-to-sit-beside-an-asian-person-on-the-bus-according-to-recent-poll.html

the attacks on asian-canadians are horrible, but that is a confusing poll:

"VANCOUVER—Just under half of Canadians have reservations about sitting next to a Chinese or Asian person on a bus if the person was not wearing a mask, according to an advocacy group.

One in five Canadians asked in a poll taken in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal don’t think it is safe at all and 24 per cent of respondents said they were uncertain about the idea, according to a poll conducted by the Chinese Canadian National Council for Social Justice. The poll was conducted April 24 among 1,130 adults living in Canada’s three largest cities."

I don't think anybody wants to be sitting next to anyone else on the bus right now, no matter their race or masked-ness.

You're right, it's a poorly worded question, to say the least.

Did they ask about people of other races? Like, for me the answer is “it is not safe to sit on the bus next to a human who is not wearing a mask.” So if they only asked about Asians, it’s kind of a “when did you stop beating your wife” question.

yes that is the issue

It’s amazing to me how many Ontario conservatives have completely turned on Ford, who still seems to be acting with far more integrity and compassion than I would ever have imagined. They are full on insulting him and are demanding that he open things up immediately (check out his live feeds on fb to see it in action.) Apparently millions of people acting responsibly and accepting personal hardship to preserve an aging, vulnerable demographic (that also tends to vote right wing), somehow, somehow the conclusion is that it’s a left wing conspiracy...

I never would have predicted his caution in a million years. I do think he's dithering on schools, which I can't even understand politically--continuing to hedge angers both parents and teachers.

I've asked this before: what constitutes an outbreak?

http://toronto.ctvnews.ca/toronto-s-sickkids-hospital-declares-covid-19-outbreak-1.4915861

"Outbreak" has always implied a large number to me--I don't know what that means exactly, but I don't think of two as an outbreak. I thought the word was CTV's, but it's actually in Sick Kids' original statement and tweet. Is "outbreak" not related to quantity, just the fact that someone has tested positive?

I thought the same as you but the Oxford dictionary that comes with my Mac does define it as "a sudden occurrence of something unwelcome, such as war or disease: the outbreak of World War II" so maybe any appearance could be considered an outbreak?

Agree that Ford has been surprisingly decent on this overall. BC's doing a little more for people who are already on assistance by adding a $300 supplement to the regular transfer or not clawing back any of the CERB/EI from their payments. A little weird that landlords here are still able to issue eviction notices even though hearings and orders are suspended: seems like it mostly functions to intimidate tenants who are not fully informed on the current policy. Still, we don't have too much to complain about, especially from a global perspective.

just slightly better than borowitz, but makes a good point:

https://thebeaverton.com/2020/04/doug-ford-rattles-bars-on-cell-as-imposter-continues-to-competently-manage-covid-19-pandemic/

Just read in the local paper that their definition of outbreak is:

A COVID-19 outbreak is identified as one or more case(s) of a confirmed positive case(s) — either resident or employee — in an institution, retirement residence or long-term care home.

assault weapon ban announced: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-gun-control-measures-ban-1.5552131

Yeah but as long as mass shootings don’t cease forever and ever such laws are useless and tyrannical.

I'm going to have to avoid postmedia even more than usual for the next month I guess lol

obvs this won't say your postmedia types, but I do think it's smart to label these weapons military hardware--no one (well likely almost no one) is out advocating for the right to bear tanks

Some bears only back down when the barrel of a tank is aimed at them. You just don’t know what it’s like up north.

The ban will be enacted through regulations approved by an order-in-council from cabinet — not through legislation.

Does anyone know how "orders-in-council from cabinet" work? I'm really unclear on it; I'd be interested in reading up on it.

they're primary legislation made under the royal prerogative, not subject to legislative review. hardly used nowadays. sort of like an executive order in the US? I suppose the rationale is that we are in an emergency situation and parliament can't sit. my expectation would be for trudeau to put forward legislation in parliament once the it opens again.

and really the only people who are upset are people who weren't going to vote for him ever anyway?

Ah, thanks. Executive orders in the US make sense to me bc of the separation of the executive and legislative branches in that system. I don't know if I've heard of these before in ours but makes sense that they would be used in an emergency situation, if used at all; I can see why it could raise concerns that a minority govt, especially, could do this, although I don't think I have an issue with the content of this one.

the last time I remember one being used in the uk was this terrible decision by the labour government in the 00s to override a uk court decision to allow the expelled Chagos Islanders to return home (which also ended up being challenged in court, long and the short of it - the Chagos islanders were never allowed to return)

While I think the ban is a good thing and right, and am almost impressed that Trudeau had the guts to just get it done, the fact that it’s via what amounts to a loophole, exploitation of situation, is not going to up down well (despite the fact that his detractors would support an equivalent opposite reaction in a heartbeat). This issue is like a hydra and chopping off one head seems to just give it that much more power. Much in the way a lot of international citizens actively involve themselves in protesting or supporting American politics, this is going to amp up a shit storm of international meddling into our own. The gun peeps are very threatened by this stuff and won’t just let live.

The gun peeps ... won’t just let live.”

Always self described law followers, so justified, safe and compliant, that is until the law is tweaked to keep up with reality. No matter that it is supported by public opinion - NEW laws, they cannot abide.

The jump in cases yesterday was so large it's hard to ignore: 2,760, almost double the previous high. We're almost at 900,000 tests, and the overall infection rate is between 6.5-7.0%, which is up from 5.8% when I posted three weeks ago. So there's a rise in prevalence, too, not just testing.

In ON or Canada? Where did you find info on new cases from yesterday?

Canada:

http://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/canada/

Ah, OK, thanks.

As I understand it, most if not all hospitals in On are not even close to being overwhelmed at the moment, if the goal was just to cope, we probably are at a point where full lock down starts having diminishing benefits and more detriments.

I think this at least partially explains that big "jump": https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/confirmed-covid-19-cases-in-quebec-near-32-000-after-missing-april-data-found-1.4922826

If you subtract those 1,317 retroactive cases from yesterday, that would bring the total down to around 1,450, which is right in line with the past two weeks. So that would explain it--that's good.

"Computer error"?

This seems like a mistake:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-covid-19-end-lockdown-physical-distancing-regional-1.5545600

I know a phased-in loosening feels unfair, but in Perth County, where I am, you've got 35 positive tests (still two in St. Marys--not a single positive in three weeks); treating that the same as Toronto or Peel doesn't really make sense. I'm not saying we don't proceed cautiously here, but I can't see having an identical timetable across the province.

That's a little garbled...Should read "I know a flexible loosening feels unfair..."

yeah I have zero objection to opening up parts of Quebec before Montreal, though I do worry about travel between regions

That's the concern, and yeah, you're taking it on blind faith that people are going to confine themselves to their town/county. That's a strong argument against.

Good point. I saw a story yesterday that smartphone location data showed people traveling to Georgia when they lifted restrictions

I suppose I'm more in the middle than I thought I was. But I'm retired; from the point of view of local retailers, it must be maddening.

"If they loosen up restrictions in one area, guess where all the people from Toronto and the GTA are going, if they want to go have dinner? They're all going flock to Kingston, and I don't think that'd be very fair for that jurisdiction to have everyone coming in in one shot like that."

I'm really enjoying the mental image of hordes of Toronto families driving for 2.5h on the 401 to have dinner in Kingston.

What about all the Montrealers who are going to swarm the dining establishments of Shawinigan?? Legault isn't thinking.

xpost More concern about the number of Ottawans driving for a day trip to Kingston, including dinner in a sitdown restaurant before heading back to our locked-down city. It'd odd that Kingston would actually want to risk that situation, esp when the Muskoka area clearly does not.

Yeah, I thought the Premier's phrasing was funny but you're right that there could be a credible risk there.

You might be surprised how far some city goers would travel just to shop or do “stuff”. If rural opens first, my money would be on places like Wasaga, Prince Edward County, and Grand Bend being more problematic than Kingston, but all are far from Toronto, and anything along major routes is going to get busy. Even as is, with lack of public toilets basically the only thing limiting travel, I’ve been kinda shocked by others from my town that are routinely driving to Costco in Guelph and beyond just for something to do.

Haha, OK, fair enough. Of late, I hardly go anywhere (even pre-quarantine) but I can see it.

Speaking of which: https://globalnews.ca/news/6919518/coronavirus-doug-ford-cottage/?fbclid=IwAR097zyIhpPJ02wy5_NQHN9gUesNL6EJ84jIEQ9mUg7f6f2y3QgQdvM8Tkg

By contrast, this guy had no choice but to resign: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/may/05/uk-coronavirus-adviser-prof-neil-ferguson-resigns-after-breaking-lockdown-rules

and they were both just checking the plumbing

It’s like when Zac and I tell the kids that there will be no more treats so late at night, put them to bed, then we bust out a bottle of wine and a pack of butter tarts.