Premier Doug Ford will gradually lift Omicron restrictions starting Jan. 31
Ontario Premier Doug Ford will gradually lift Omicron restrictions on Jan. 31, Feb. 21, and March 14. Restaurants, bars, gyms 50% capacity indoors on Jan. 31. 100% capacity Feb. 21.
January 20, 2022
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Can’t get an N95 for kids? How to mask your children for Ontario’s return to school
Not all masks are equal, and fit is especially important for a small child’s face.
With in-person schooling resuming in Ontario Monday, shielding children from COVID infection in the classroom is once again at the forefront of many parents’ minds.
While kids were home, the highly contagious, more vaccine-resistant Omicron variant spread an incredible amount throughout the province and the world. It changed much of what we thought we knew about COVID.
Still, many of the tried-and-true methods of staying safe from the virus still hold up, such as getting vaccinated, social distancing and masking, experts say.
But which masks should children wear now? Where can parents buy them? How should masks be cared for and worn?
The Star reached out to pediatricians for advice. Read more:
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2022/01/13/cant-get-an-n95-for-kids-how-to-mask-your-children-for-ontarios-return-to-school.html
January 13, 2022
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Coronavirus news update of the day | January 12, 2022
Coronavirus news update of the day for Wednesday, January 12, 2022.
Read more: https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2022/01/12/coronavirus-covid-19-updates-toronto-canada-january-12.html
January 12, 2022
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Millions of COVID-19 rapid tests to be distributed when Ontario reopens schools
Education Minister Stephen Lecce said millions of rapid antigen tests will be provided to teachers and students, as well as to daycares.
Are there COVID cases at your child’s school? Use our tool to search Ontario schools by name and track cases in the province: https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2021/09/14/are-there-covid-cases-at-your-childs-school-use-our-tool-to-search-ontario-schools-by-name-and-track-cases-in-the-province.html
January 12, 2022
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Quebec is looking at taxing residents who don’t get vaccinated
Premier François Legault dropped that bombshell Tuesday during a news conference ostensibly arranged to address the resignation a day earlier of his top public health official, Dr. Horacio Arruda.
But after briefly thanking Arruda and naming his replacement, Dr. Luc Boileau, the premier turned his thoughts to the surge in COVID-19 hospitalizations in his province and the number of Quebecers who remain unvaccinated.
“I’m announcing that we are currently working on a health-care contribution that will be charged to all adults in Quebec who refuse to get vaccinated,” said Legault.
“All people who are not vaccinated for non-medical reasons will have to pay a contribution,” Legault said.
He likened the contribution to the drug insurance coverage in Quebec, where, if a person’s employer doesn’t cover drug insurance, the person pays a contribution when they pay their taxes.
Legault said he would be working with his finance minister to sort out the logistics of such a contribution but that it would be a “significant amount.”
Read more: https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2022/01/11/quebec-making-plans-to-tax-the-unvaccinated-as-covid-hospitalizations-surge.html
January 11, 2022
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COVID-19 news update of the day | January 11, 2022
Coronavirus news update of the day for Tuesday, January 11, 2022.
Read more: https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2022/01/11/coronavirus-covid-19-updates-toronto-canada-january-11.html
January 11, 2022
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Mental health support tailored to Indigenous culture remains out of reach
Guest: Robert Cribb, investigative reporter for the Star
A joint investigation by the Toronto Star and the Investigative Journalism Bureau has done an analysis of key mental health indicators for First Nations youth, including antidepressant prescriptions, suicide attempts, self-reported disorders and access to support, revealing a strained system of care failing to meet the needs of desperate young people. As Indigenous youth in Canada suffer from some of the highest rates of suicide in the world, culturally relevant counselling and community healing practises are few and hard to access. Star reporter Robert Cribb headed the Toronto Star series Generation Distress and joins “This Matters” to explain how mental health support tailored to Indigenous culture remains out of reach for youth in crisis and how the system is failing them.
January 07, 2022
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Voter rights and fights: How Jan. 6 changed American politics
Guest: Ed Keenan, The Star's Washington Bureau Chief
It has been one year since the insurrection of the U.S. Capitol building by rioters who felt the 2020 election was stolen from former president Donald Trump. Despite the attack failing, the event cst a long shadow over the American political system, as many Republicans continue to push what some call "The Big Lie." As U.S. President Joe Biden gets ready to tackle his voting rights agenda, many experts feel the spirit of U.S. democracy could be at stake.
January 06, 2022
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The Omicron wave: What numbers to watch
Guest: Ed Tubb, assignment editor focused on COVID-19 data
The recent surge of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 has broken the province's testing regime, rendered contact tracing useless and made an already high case count almost impossible to calculate. With warnings about our health care system in danger of being overwhelmed, there is still a lot we can learn by paying attention to the data. The focus needs to be on things like hospitalizations or people in the ICUs to get an accurate picture of how this highly transmissible variant is affecting Ontario.
January 05, 2022
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A spirited take on Dry January
Guest: Christine Sismondo, author of “America Walks Into a Bar” and the upcoming “Cocktails: A Still Life”
Happy New Year! By now, hopefully your hangover from new year celebrations are long gone and you are focusing on the year ahead. One thing that many people do after holiday season is decide to cut alcohol intake for the month of January as a way to reset and refresh. While some people do Sober October, more mark Dry January to abstain from alcohol. How did it get that way? Is a zero-tolerance policy the best way to go? We get some history, tips and advice from someone who’s been thinking about consumption for a long time.
January 04, 2022
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Boko Haram survivors, Mellissa Fung and the complexity of shared trauma (REBROADCAST)
We are taking a short break over the holidays and are rebroadcasting some memorable discussions. This episode was originally published February 19, 2021.
In 2008, Canadian journalist Mellissa Fung was abducted while on assignment in Afghanistan. She survived 28 days of torture and captivity inside a hole in the ground. In her new documentary “Captive,” she makes the rare and difficult move to use the lens of her trauma to revisit the story of the Nigerian school girls who were kidnapped and brutalized by Boko Haram militants. Fung speaks to “This Matters” host Saba Eitizaz about the survivors, their struggle to move on and the strange complexity of shared trauma.
Correction – The audio has been updated to reflect that Mellissa Fung was kidnapped in Afghanistan in 2008, not five years ago as stated in the original version of this podcast.
December 30, 2021
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A four-day work week? (REBROADCAST)
We are taking a short break over the holidays and are rebroadcasting some memorable discussions. This episode was originally published July 30, 2021.
GUEST: Professor Jean-Nicolas Reyt, Assistant Professor of Organizational Behaviour at McGill University
A recent study in Iceland involving thousands of workers has brought back the buzz around a shorter four-day work week. As the pandemic has accelerated the movement to work smarter and not longer, we explore the tantalizing possibilities — and potential problems — with a four-day work week in North America.
December 29, 2021
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How sportsmanship brought two nations and the lacrosse world closer (REBROADCAST)
The Iroquois Nationals Lacrosse team are ranked as one of the top teams in the world, but were passed over for the upcoming World Games likely in part due to their fight for sovereignty. This slight inspired an act of sportsmanship that has helped bring two nations closer together. Rex Lyons is a former player and board member of the Iroquois Nationals, and he joins “This Matters” to explain this remarkable sports story.
December 28, 2021
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Why you miss (and need) casual friendships (REBROADCAST)
We are taking a short break over the holidays and are rebroadcasting some memorable discussions. This episode was originally published February 9, 2021.
The pandemic has shrunk people’s lives. We’ve been limited to seeing the people in our homes, some family and maybe close friends. What happens when lose contact with acquaintances and serendipitous interactions in the world? The loss of this engagement and relationships can have a detrimental effect on our lives. Amanda Mull, staff writer for “The Atlantic,” wrote an article about this and joins “This Matters” to discuss.
If you would like to support the journalism of the Toronto Star, you can subscribe at thestar.com/subscribingmatters.
December 27, 2021
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Q&A with Lou Marsh Trophy winner Damian Warner
At his training site at Western University, the Olympic decathlon champion and Lou Marsh Trophy winner took some time to talk with Star contributing columnist Rod Black about his remarkable year and pick up his newest trophy.
December 24, 2021
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Should the end of Ontario’s liquor server wage mean lower tips for restaurant workers?
Guest: Rosa Saba, business reporter for the Star
Ontario, unlike elsewhere in Canada, has had a much lower minimum wage for liquor servers leading to a culture of tipping, not just for great service but to help balance the wage disparity. Now, starting in 2022, front-of-house workers in hospitality will see a $2.45 hourly pay increase to align closer to the minimum wage. But Ontario’s minimum wage is still far from the $20 per hour living wage needed, according to the Living Wage Network. So, should we keep tipping? What will happen to our “culture” to tip? Business reporter Rosa Saba has some tips for “This Matters” listeners.
December 24, 2021
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Nurses are leaving the profession in worrying numbers
Guest: Patty Winsa, data reporter for the Star
We have all seen the huge price that front-line workers have paid during COVID-19. Nurses have been at the forefront of this battle in clinics, hospitals and long-term care homes. Nearly two years into the pandemic, nurses are now leaving the profession in worrying numbers. While COVID-19 has added to burnout and pushed nurses off the job, the shortage has actually been inching its way into hospitals across Ontario and Canada for years. Data reporter Patty Winsa explains how bad the current nursing shortage is and why it is happening.
December 23, 2021
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Ontario doctors fight virus, system that exposes the vulnerable
Guest: Dr. Gaibrie Stephen, ER physician and member of the Decent Work and Health Network (DWHN)
We all remember the haunting posts on social media — doctors across the province sharing stories of their patients who caught COVID-19 at work and fell seriously ill, or spread it to their families. As a result, the Ontario government implemented a temporary three-day paid sick leave program that’s now being extended till the summer of 2022. Nurses, doctors and health care providers say it’s not enough. An emergency room physician from Peel region joins “This Matters” to make the case for paid sick days and talk about how doctors ended up fighting on two front lines — the virus and the system that exposes the most vulnerable to the worst of it.
December 22, 2021
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How a massive bitcoin robbery ended up with an arrest in Hamilton
Guest: Nicole O’Reilly, courts and crime reporter for The Hamilton Spectator
It was a story that has become infamous within the cryptocurrency community. In early 2020, an early bitcoin investor reportedly had $46 million worth of the cryptocurrency stolen through a phone hacking attempt. After reporting it to the authorities, an international investigation led police to Hamilton, Ont., where an arrest was made and $7 million in bitcoin recovered but plenty of questions remained unanswered. Now, the suspect — a teen who can’t be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act — is starting his journey through the criminal justice system.
December 21, 2021
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The Night Walker: Kevin Donovan on the suspect in the Sherman murders
Guest: Kevin Donovan, chief investigative reporter at the Star, and author of The Billionaire Murders: The Mysterious Deaths of Barry and Honey Sherman
It has been four years since the bodies of Barry and Honey Sherman were found murdered in their Toronto home. Despite the fact the that couple were very wealthy and high profile, there have been few updates from the police and no arrests made in this crime. Recently, the Toronto Police gave an update on the case, and released a short video with information about someone they believe to be a suspect. Kevin Donovan has been reporting on this case since it happened, and as some official documents have shown, his work has helped push the official investigation. He joins This Matters to to discuss the latest developments.
December 20, 2021
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