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A movement to cancel Canada Day has swept the nation following recent discoveries of unmarked residential school graves, and several communities in Saskatchewan have joined the motion, including Regina.
The calls began following discoveries of hundreds of unmarked graves connected to residential schools near Kamloops, B.C. and on Cowessess First Nation in Saskatchewan.
La Ronge and the Lac La Ronge Indian Band were among the first to announce they will not be celebrating Canada Day in their communities this year, later joined by Wahpeton Dakota Nation and Flying Dust First Nation.
Melville has postponed its planned activities until July 8, as shared on social media. Meadow Lake, located just north of Cowessess First Nation, also cancelled previously planned fireworks.
Residents are instead urged to place candles on their front steps or display orange shirts in windows to show support for residential school survivors.
Regina is one community that will be hosting Indigenous-focused events in place of Canada Day celebrations, to provide support and educational opportunities to residents.
The Queen City actually cancelled its Canada Day events months ago, citing pandemic-related concerns about the logistics of planning the city’s usual celebrations, but several groups in the city have now stepped up to instead fill the day.
The Buffalo People Arts Institute is hosting Buffalo Day on July 1, which will take place in the newly-renamed Buffalo Meadows Park. Scheduled events include a morning pipe ceremony, storytelling sessions, art activities and more.
Local community members have also planned an evening candlelight vigil at the Legislative Building and on Albert Bridge, to remember the hundreds of Indigenous children who attended residential schools, as well as a smudge walk at the First Nations University of Canada.
Moose Jaw residents are also being encouraged to attend the Standing in Integrity rally as their Canada Day celebrations.
Regina Mayor Sandra Masters has said that she will be spending July 1 at Buffalo Day, while Premier Scott Moe said earlier this week he will be celebrating Canada Day while reflecting on the nation’s history.
Mosaic Place thought it would have a great 2020 based on its lineup of programming and entertainment, but then the pandemic hit and forced the venue to close for months.
The building was open for the first two-and-a-half months of last year and managed to host a major curling tournament, dozens of hockey games, and two concerts before the lights were dimmed for nearly seven months. During that time, two-thirds of staff were let go while the remaining employees worked on maintenance, found energy-saving efficiencies, and prepared for a fall reopening.
The building then reopened in November while adhering to many pandemic-related health restrictions.
“We are in the people business. People use the facility. The absence of people comes the absence of revenues,” general manager Ryan MacIvor said during the June 28 regular council meeting while discussing the venue’s annual report.
MacIvor’s report shows Mosaic Place had actual revenues of $1.45 million and actual expenses of $2.6 million for a deficit of $1.17 million. After adding a subsidy from the City of Moose Jaw of $994,760 and subtracting management fees of $142,488, the venue ended with an official deficit of $324,398.
An example of the importance of revenues was seen during the Scotties Tournament of Hearts, which had a huge economic effect on Moose Jaw and Mosaic Place, he continued. According to Praxis Consulting, the event generated $10.1 million in gross output, $5.6 million in gross domestic product, $3.3 million in labour income, and created 116 jobs during the event.
The event welcomed 58,975 fans to cheer on the best female curlers in Canada, while several community groups provided event support, ran the 50/50 booth, and acted as parking attendants.
Mosaic Place hosted 19 conferences, meetings and events and welcomed 1,470 guests when it was open last year, and while other meetings and conferences were rebooked for November and December, there was no uptake for those times, said MacIvor.
The curling centre hosted 253 league games and 8,461 curlers, along with many bonspiels, but Spectra Venue Management Services had to cancel many ’spiels as well, he continued.
Mosaic Place acted as the main community ice surface — Pla-Mor Palace was closed, and $75,000 was saved — and hosted 132.5 hours of recreational hockey and 1,011.5 hours of minor ice time. Overall, the building hosted 399 ice rentals, 40,748 people and 1,144 hours of rentals.
Meanwhile, Mosaic Place hosted the WHL Warriors for nine home games and the AAA Warriors for 17 home games before their seasons were cut short.
Efforts to find efficiencies resulted in a decrease in energy management and natural gas usage, he continued. Mosaic Place reduced its power usage by 37 per cent and saved $189,847.25, while it reduced its natural gas use by 28 per cent and saved $17,477.30.
Reducing natural gas consumption by 91,922.84 cubic metres was equivalent to taking 38,699 passenger vehicles off the road for one year.
Adding some humour to his report, MacIvor noted that the concessions popped 418,880 cups of popcorn during the hockey season, equal to 7,387.78 pounds or nine adult male moose. There were also 756 rolls of toilet paper used, stretching from Moose Jaw to Swift Current, and 76 litres of hand soap applied.
Coun. Crystal Froese appreciated receiving the annual report, saying this is what she wanted months ago when she asked what effect the pandemic had on Mosaic Place and why the building needed a large subsidy when little was happening there.
While the venue reduced its energy costs in 2020, she pointed out that that happened during the quietest months — the summer — when the building was closed. She thought council would have a better understanding over the next few years of how those changes would affect costs.
“We can’t wait to be able to open the doors for the first Warriors’ game on Oct. 1, and I know the first concert,” Froese added. “People are dying to get out and participate in large activities.”
The next regular council meeting is Monday, July 12.
Lindsay Place High School will cease to exist 'as is' after 59 years with the relocation of St-Thomas High School into its building.
Many are sad to see the Lindsay Place name change as it is intended to commemorate Judge Lindsay H. Place. Judge Place was a graduate of McGill Law School and volunteered his time as a commissioner of the Protestant School Board of Pointe Claire and Beaconsfield.
In 1941, Place became the board’s chairman and filled that role until 1967, when he was forced to resign because of ill health.
During the 50’s and 60’s, he was the driving force behind the emergence of the Lakeshore School Board as it expanded from a few schools morphing into a major school board in Quebec.
Judge Place served his community as President of the Quebec Association of Protestant School Boards and President of the Canadian School Trustees Association.
Place was also an executive of the Downtown YMCA, Director of the Child Care and Child Development Centres. Place also worked as vice president (legal) of Alcan.
Recognizing his contributions to education, the commissioners of the Lakeshore School Board proudly named a high school after Lindsay H. Place, a rare honour, as few people are recognized for their contributions while they are still living.
With the decline in enrolment across the school board, Lester B. Pearson officials held a public council meeting which took place on December 17th, 2019. Eight resolutions affecting Lindsay Place high, St-Thomas high school, Lakeside Academy, Beurling Academy, Place Cartier adult education center, Sources adult and career center (SACC) and Allancroft were voted on unanimously.
The decision to move St. Thomas into Lindsay Place was rendered based on the board’s challenge in delivering a “viable and sustainable” school network for the next decade.
St. Thomas maintains enrolment at nearly full capacity with more than 1,200 students while Lindsay Place, with a capacity for 1,375 students, saw its enrolment drop below 40 per cent with approximately 420 students.
After the decision was rendered by the Lester B. Pearson School Board, the 2021 enrolment was just under 400 students.
The steady decline in enrolment which led to the major school change discussions to begin with, solicited many reactions by students, parents, teachers and the general public.
GUYSBOROUGH – Living in rural Nova Scotia often means driving an hour or more to access government and non-profit services. The Strait Area Women’s Place (SAWP) – a drop-in women’s centre in Port Hawkesbury that offers services and programs to all women – is working to reduce the distance between support and those in need by embarking on a road trip this summer to small communities in Guysborough, Inverness and Richmond counties.
“We have selected rural locations in which we will set up and offer program and service information, as well as an abundance of free personal care items, snacks and drinks while we meet locals and determine the needs for each community,” Jessica Simms-Barss – women’s support counselor – told The Journal in a June 23 email.
“It is our long-term goal to be able to offer our programs and services as outreach throughout our entire catchment area.”
Programs available through SAWP include workshops on self-esteem, anxiety, emotional eating, insomnia and building a budget, plus consent education and self-care. The organization also provides advocacy, support-based counselling, accompaniment, social programming and system navigation for women and adolescent girls by drop-in and/or appointment.
Simms-Barss wrote, “We recognize the challenges of rural living and the difficulties that creates in accessing services and we feel we have a lot to offer our surrounding communities … We have clients reaching out to the Strait Area Women’s Place asking about the possibility of bringing programming to the Guysborough area and indicating the need for accessible programming and services in their rural communities.”
Guysborough and Canso have access to a women’s outreach worker through the Antigonish Women’s Resource Centre and Sexual Assault Services Association (AWRC/SASA). Simms-Barss said that SAWP has a long-lasting relationship with the Antigonish-based organization and has “participated in many collaborative partnerships and opportunities and we are certain they would be supportive of us making more services available to rural women.”
As well as offering supports and programming to women, SAWP staff provides multiple supports to men, such as “supporting them to navigate the appropriate resources, financial and food security supports etc.,” wrote Simms-Barss.
The upcoming SAWP road tour will visit the Chedabucto Lifestyle Complex in Guysborough on Tuesday, July 6 – from 9:30 a.m. to noon – and The Front Porch Café in Mulgrave on Tuesday, July 20, from 10 a.m. to noon.
Council could impose a one per cent tax on vacant homes at the start of next year as a way to help ease the city’s affordable housing crisis and raise revenue during a looming economic recovery from COVID-19.
City staff propose doing public consultations with the aim of having the tax in place for Jan. 1, 2022. Residential property owners would be required to make a declaration each year by the deadline and could be subject to a city audit to verify whether the home is vacant or not.
Coun. Ana Bailao (Ward 9 Davenport), the mayor’s affordable housing advocate and one of the councillors who pushed for the tax, said the scheme presented by staff is a good model.
“The reality is … the success of this tax is not to be collected. The idea is to have these houses being turned into somebody’s home,” she said.
Keeping a home locked up and unavailable for habitation is up to the homeowner, but it will come at a price, Bailao said.
The staff plan for implementing a vacant home tax comes in a report released this week to be debated at Mayor John Tory’s executive committee on July 6.
Faced with mounting budget pressures, committee will also review other valuable ways for the city to raise additional funds. Many of those options, like a personal vehicle tax, have been politically unpalatable since former mayor Rob Ford was in office. There are no recommendations from staff on that report.
Any final decision will be up to council at a meeting starting July 14.
Tory’s spokesperson Don Peat said the mayor will continue to support moving forward with a vacant home tax “in a responsible way.”
The policy behind a vacant home tax, staff wrote in their report, is to help with the availability and affordability of housing stock on the market by creating a disincentive for owners to keeping properties vacant.
“The effect of the tax in the marketplace is that of a signal that housing stock and supply is important for people as homes, and not primarily as a buy-hold speculative commodity without any public regulation,” the report says.
Staff are proposing the initial tax be one per cent of the assessed home value. For example, if a home that was declared vacant was assessed at $1 million in 2022, the owner would be subject to a $10,000 annual tax under the staff-proposed scheme.
“Simply announcing” the tax start date of Jan. 1, staff wrote, would likely cause some owners to seek out tenants to avoid paying the tax.
City staff propose that homes be considered vacant if the property is not the owner’s principal residence or occupied by a tenant or permitted family member or friend for more than six months out of the year. Some properties will be exempt from the tax, including when the registered owner dies, is receiving care or properties undergoing major renovations.
The tax would not apply to “snowbirds” — people who spend winter months in warmer climates — if their Toronto property is their primary home.
The city expects a one per cent tax could garner between $55 million and $66 million each year. That estimate is based on the results of a similar tax in Vancouver. Staff say the number of vacant homes in Toronto is currently unknown.
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Start-up costs to implement the tax are estimated to be $11 million and annual operating costs are expected to total $3.1 million, which would be netted from whatever taxes are collected.
While the federal government announced its intentions to implement a nation-wide vacant home tax, city staff said both could co-exist and a federal tax does not preclude the city from taxing its residents.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is leaving a pandemic-inspired nationwide ban on evictions in place, over the votes of four objecting conservative justices.
The court on Tuesday rejected a plea by landlords to end the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention moratorium on evicting millions of tenants who aren’t paying rent during the coronavirus pandemic. Last week, the Biden administration extended the moratorium by a month, until the end of July. It said then it did not expect another extension.
U.S. Judge Dabney Friedrich in Washington had struck down the moratorium as exceeding the CDC’s authority, but put her ruling on hold. The high court voted 5-4 to keep the ban in place.
In a brief opinion, Justice Brett Kavanaugh said he agreed with Friedrich’s ruling, but voted to leave the ban on evictions in place because it’s due to end in a month and “because those few weeks will allow for additional and more orderly distribution of the congressionally appropriated rental assistance funds.”
Also last week, the Treasury Department issued new guidance encouraging states and local governments to streamline distribution of the nearly $47 billion in available emergency rental assistance funding
Chief Justice John Roberts and the court’s three liberal members also voted to keep the moratorium in place.
Justices Samuel Alito, Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas said they would have ended it.
The eviction ban was initially put in place last year to provide protection for renters out of concern that having families lose their homes and move into shelters or share crowded conditions with relatives or friends during the pandemic would further spread the highly contagious virus.
By the end of March, 6.4 million American households were behind on their rent, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development. As of June 7, roughly 3.2 million people in the U.S. said they faced eviction in the next two months, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey.
The Associated Press
Jonah Gallas and his family were surprised when he came in first at the regional level of the 34th annual Music for Young Children competition. When they heard he had taken third place internationally, they couldn't believe it.
Back in March, 3,400 hundred entries were submitted to the competition by children from around the world between the ages of three to 12.
The competition encourages young children to learn how to compose their own music. Gallas's music teacher Janice Long says it's a great opportunity for kids to showcase their talent.
"Every year it's just so exciting to see students take ownership of a song that they have come up with" Long said.
The eight-year-old had originally started working on another piece, which he intended on playing for his mother until, unexpectedly, he started playing something else.
"She got her phone, and then I didn't remember that song," Gallas said. "So I played a different song and that's the song that she recorded."
Afterwards both Gallas and his mother worked together to write down what he had just played. By the end of the day, his winning composition Lightning was complete.
"It only took one day. I started it at 1:30 [p.m.], and then sort of kept playing. Then I started playing the first half of the song and then I just got into the music."
LISTEN | Hear Jonah Gallas's winning composition 'Lightning' on CBC's The Morning Edition
The Morning Edition - K-W5:37Meet Jonah Gallas, the 8-year-old award-winning composer from Kitchener, Ont.
The Village of Lytton in the B.C. Interior only has a population of around 250 people but in the last two days, it has made headlines around the world.
The small community now has the unenviable title of being the hottest place ever recorded in Canada.
The temperature reached 47.9 C Monday after reaching a temperature of 46.6 C Sunday.
Monday’s record even beat the all-time high recorded in Las Vegas.
For residents, the only way to beat the record-breaking heat was to stay inside.
“It’s definitely quieter than maybe it usually is during the workweek because people are probably staying out of the sun,” Jade Baxter, a resident told Global News Monday.
The Mayor of Lytton, Jan Polderman, said right now he’s expecting a beer from the mayor of Lillooet as the two communities had a bet going about which location was going to be the hottest.
The official Environment Canada weather station in Lytton isn’t even in the hottest location in the village — it’s tucked away under some trees and it’s at least a degree cooler there than the rest of the town.
“We’re generally a little bit warmer than Lillooet and they moved their weather station to where it was the hottest in town too,” Polderman joked.
There were a couple of cooling centres set up Monday but locals told Global News they are used to the heat.
“This is perfect,” resident Bernie Fandrich said. “Think about it as being a little warmer than perfect. But almost perfect,” he joked.
“Just kidding, it’s a little on the warm side.”
Sixty historic temperature records were smashed across B.C. on Sunday as a “prolonged and dangerous” heatwave continued, according to Environment Canada.
Fifty temperature records were broken on Monday including Abbotsford at 42.9 C, Bella Coola at 35.8 C, Esquimalt at 39.8 C and Port Alberni at 42.7.
–With files from Gace Ke
© 2021 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
BradfordToday welcomes letters to the editor in response to the article about the Warrior Advocate Crusade and their protest in Bradford last week. Send your letters to natasha@bradfordtoday.ca
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Dear Editor:
It was with heartfelt appreciation that I read the article featuring the Warrior Advocate Crusade who are travelling the province protesting the unacceptable conditions in Long Term Care facilities that seniors and staff have been forced to live and work in.
It is long past time that we as a society stop institutionalizing people simply because their needs are increasing due to age, illness, or disability. It is also long past time that we recognize that profit-making in human services creates far too great a risk that people will suffer as profit motives drive decisions that minimize expenditures to their detriment.
The knowledge and capacity exist to support people within their own homes with a much more robust home-care system or to support them in small non-profit houses in their familiar neighbourhoods. In doing so, they can experience much more normalized and valued life experiences than would ever be possible in a large institution, such as the LTC facilities that exist today.
The Ford government is seriously off the mark in continuing to award more ‘beds’ to this antiquated system. Re-direct that same funding to what seniors and people with disabilities have been saying they want, not to institutions that should have no place in a caring society.
I know of no one who ever said they wanted to live in an institution. Let’s ensure that the supports that are developed are what any one of us would want should we ever need them.
Linda Till
Sharon, Ontario
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BC Wildfire worker (Photo by BC Gov Flickr)
A fuel management project near Heather Park Elementary will be ongoing throughout July and August.
The BC Wildfire Service and the Prince George Natural Resource District are conducting the project on crown land adjacent to the school.
Crews will be on-site while school is out of session, they will be removing dead standing and fallen trees, pruning branches, removing fine fuels, and juvenile conifers under 7.5cm in diameter.
All debris will be chipped and removed from the site, and no burning will take place on-site.
Work is being conducted on the project to reduce the available fuel adjacent to public infrastructure, as well as private properties in order to reduce the risk of wildfires in the area.
Public access within the project area may be limited, however, no road closures are anticipated.
When health care leaders in the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch country began laying out a strategy to distribute COVID-19 vaccines, they knew it would be a tough sell with the Amish, who tend to be wary of preventive shots and government intervention.
Early on, they posted flyers at farm supply stores and at auctions where the Amish sell handmade furniture and quilts. They sought advice from members of the deeply religious and conservative sect, who told them not to be pushy. And they asked three newspapers widely read by the Amish to publish ads promoting the vaccine. Two refused.
By May, two rural vaccination clinics had opened at a fire station and a social services centre, both familiar places to the Amish in Lancaster County. During the first six weeks, 400 people showed up. Only 12 were Amish.
The vaccination drive is lagging far behind in many Amish communities across the U.S. following a wave of virus outbreaks that swept through their churches and homes during the past year. In Ohio’s Holmes County, home to the nation’s largest concentration of Amish, just 14 per cent of the county’s overall population is fully vaccinated.
While their religious beliefs don’t forbid them to get vaccines, the Amish are generally less likely to be vaccinated for preventable diseases such as measles and whooping cough. Though vaccine acceptance varies by church district, the Amish often rely on family tradition and advice from church leaders, and a core part of their Christian faith is accepting God’s will in times of illness or death.
Many think they don’t need the COVID-19 vaccine now because they’ve already gotten sick and believe their communities have reached herd immunity, according to health care providers in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Indiana, home to nearly two-thirds of the estimated 345,000 Amish in the U.S.
“That’s the No. 1 reason we hear,” said Alice Yoder, executive director of community health at Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health, a network of hospitals and clinics.
Experts say the low vaccination rates are a reflection of both the nature of the Amish and the general vaccine hesitancy found in many rural parts of the country.
Because many Amish work and shop alongside their neighbours and hire them as drivers, they hear the skepticism, the worries about side effects and the misinformation surrounding the vaccine from the “English,” or non-Amish, world around them even though they shun most modern conveniences.
“They’re not getting that from the media. They’re not watching TV or reading it on the internet. They’re getting it from their English neighbours,” said Donald Kraybill, a leading expert on the Amish. “In many ways, they are simply reflecting rural America and the same attitudes.”
In one case, an anti-vaccine group took out a full-page newspaper ad showing a smashed buggy with the words “Vaccines can have unintended consequences.”
Public health officials trying to combat the confusion and hesitancy have put up billboards where the Amish travel by horse and buggy, sent letters to bishops and offered to take the vaccines into their homes and workplaces, all without much success.
“It’s not due to lack of effort,” said Michael Derr, the health commissioner in Holmes County, Ohio. “But this thing is so politically charged.”
Some health clinics that serve the Amish are hesitant to push the issue for fear of driving them away from getting blood pressure checks and routine exams.
One local business and the organizers of a community event told the health department in Holmes County that it would no longer be welcome if it brought the vaccine to them, Derr said.
Staff members at the Parochial Medical Center, which serves the Amish and Mennonites in Pennsylvania’s Lancaster County, encourage patients to get the vaccine, but many have little fear of the virus, said Allen Hoover, the clinic’s administrator.
“Most of them listen and are respectful, but you can tell before you’re finished that they’ve already made up their mind,” he said.
The clinic, he said, hardly sees any virus cases now after dealing with as many as five a day last fall. “I would suspect we’ve gained some kind of immunity. I know that’s up for debate, but I think that’s why we’re seeing only a spattering right now,” Hoover said.
Relying on possible herd immunity when little testing has taken place among the Amish is risky, said Esther Chernak, director of the Center for Public Health Readiness and Communication at Drexel University in Philadelphia.
“It’s not a community living on an island, not interacting with other people,” she said. “They don’t have zero interaction with the outside world, so they’re still exposed.”
Also, how long someone remains immune after having COVID-19 isn’t clear, and many experts advise getting vaccinated because it brings a higher level of protection.
Close to 180 million Americans — 54 per cent of the population — have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Experts say low vaccination rates could allow the virus to mutate and make a comeback.
During the first months of the pandemic, the Amish followed social distancing guidelines and stopped gathering for church and funerals, said Steven Nolt, a scholar at the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania.
But when non-Amish neighbours and local elected officials began pushing back against state and federal mandates, they resumed the gatherings, he said. What followed was a surge of outbreaks last summer, Nolt said.
Most now say they have already had the virus and don’t see a need to get vaccinated, said Mark Raber, who is Amish and a member of a settlement in Daviess County, Indiana, which has one of the state’s lowest vaccination rates.
“As long as everything stays the same, I don’t think I’ll get it,” he said.
Changing those opinions will require building trusting relationships with the Amish, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a report looking at outbreaks in those communities last year.
What won’t work, health care providers say, is bombarding the Amish with statistics and vaccine lotteries because of their general mistrust and rejection of government help. The Amish don’t accept Social Security benefits.
Trevor Thain, who owns Topeka Pharmacy in northern Indiana, where there are 25,000 Amish, worked with the CDC on bridging communication gaps in LaGrange County, where just 18 per cent of all residents are fully vaccinated.
Since the vaccine became available, they’ve immunized 4,200 people, perhaps only 20 of them Amish, he said.
A few weeks ago he put out flyers offering private appointments or doses dispensed inside homes. Only a few Amish people responded, Thain said, including one who came with a request: “Don’t tell my family.”
© 2021 The Canadian Press
A small but excited group — including a special canine VIP guest — gathered on Monday (June 28) for a “ground digging” to celebrate the progress of construction of the new Peterborough Animal Care Centre and to tour the site.
Construction at the site at 1999 Technology Drive began in May, but a traditional ground-breaking ceremony was not held at the time due to pandemic restrictions.
Staff of the Peterborough Humane Society along with members of the board, along with partners from the Ontario SPCA and Humane Society and Peterborough city councillors, were joined by special guest Thor, a dog currently in the care of the Peterborough Humane Society.
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“Thor is a perfect example of how the new centre will impact the lives of animals in need,” says Shawn Morey, executive director of the Peterborough Humane Society, in a media release. “He’s unneutered and waiting to get a spot for his surgery before he can be adopted.”
“With backlogs at veterinary and spay/neuter clinics throughout the region, animals like Thor wait weeks or even months to get in for surgery,” Morey adds. “When we have our spay/neuter clinic at the new centre, we’ll be able to spay/neuter up to 25 animals a day, which means animals won’t wait as long and will be ready for adoption and to meet their forever families sooner.”
Along with a spay/neuter clinic, the new centre will include the Peterborough Humane Society adoption and education centre as well as a provincial dog rehabilitation centre in partnership with the Ontario SPCA and Humane Society. The centre will include hospital-grade HVAC systems to provide the best in infection prevention and control.
“The provincial dog rehabilitation centre, which will be operated by the Ontario SPCA, will be custom built to help dogs who need more support and individualized care than an animal centre can provide,” says Daryl Vaillancourt, chief of humane programs and community outreach with Ontario SPCA and Humane Society. “It will fill a critical and significant gap in current services by addressing the individualized needs of dogs most difficult to adopt.”
Designed by Peterborough architectural firm Lett Architects, the new centre is being constructed by general contractor PEAK Group Construction Ltd. and is scheduled for completion by December 2022. Other local trades and professionals involved in the build include Cambium, Cremer Brothers Electric, DM Wills, Havelock Metal Co., ICI Roofing, KCM Metals, and WCS Masonry.
The new centre will support around 50 jobs throughout construction and will create 20 new full-time jobs once it is operational.
To date, over $7.6 million of the $10-million cost of the centre has been raised.
Families with children in child care programs are being advised to keep their children home, if possible, for the next two weeks.
In a June 27 statement, the territory’s Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Brendan Hanley issued the recommendation, noting the first true COVID-19 “wave” has hit the territory.
“This recommendation will reduce the number of children in attendance, allow for more distance between children and provide increased flexibility for staff to stay home if sick,” the statement reads, after noting several child care centres have been exposure locations, though not identifying which ones.
Day care operators will be reaching out directly to families with children who may have been exposed.
The stay-at-home recommendation does not apply to day camps.
It comes after 44 new cases were diagnosed in the territory since Friday, bringing the active case count up to 124 cases. The Yukon’s total case count is 308 since COVID-19 made its first appearance in 2020.
“COVID-19 is being widely transmitted throughout Yukon, primarily affecting unvaccinated people and is now present in most Yukon communities,” the release states. “Eleven of 14 communities are home to COVID-19 positive people.”
Outbreak announced at shelter
An outbreak has also been declared at the Whitehorse Emergency Shelter with approximately 15 cases confirmed among shelter guests and staff.
“Testing for COVID-19 is available for staff and guests on an ongoing basis,” the statement reads.
“The shelter has a COVID-19 operational plan and is working with Yukon Communicable Disease Control and the CMOH to ensure practices align with the evolving COVID-19 situation.”
Hospital restrictions in place
Also in place in light of the current situation are updated measures regarding access to hospitals in the territory. Yukoners are asked to only go to the emergency department if urgent care is required.
New visitor restrictions came into effect June 28 with no visitors or support people permitted with the exception of “a few, limited exceptions”.
Non-urgent services will be limited or postponed. That means some surgeries may be rescheduled, appointments for lab work may be delayed and other services may be adjusted or modified as required.
“You will be asked to wear a hospital-provided mask and keep it on in all areas of the hospital – even if you bring your own personal mask,” it says.
“This is to provide everyone the same level of protection. Expect these limited measures to be in place for two weeks and reassessed at that time.”
Hanley urges calm amid “first wave”
“COVID-19 continues to spread widely in Yukon, mostly amongst unvaccinated adults, youth and children. We now have an outbreak involving the Whitehorse Emergency Shelter. This is Yukon’s first true COVID wave,” Hanley said in a statement.
“We must pull together, by staying calm, and staying kind; sticking to six – keeping any informal gatherings to no more than six people; keeping your contacts small and consistent; strictly observing all current public health measures; and staying away from others and arranging for testing when you have symptoms.”
Symptoms include: fever, chills, cough, difficulty breathing, shortness of breath, runny nose, sore throat, loss of sense of taste or smell, headache, fatigue, loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, muscle aches.
Anyone experiencing symptoms in Whitehorse should call the COVID-19 Testing and Assessment Centre at 867-393-3083 or book on-line to arrange for testing at https://book-covid-19-test.service.yukon.ca/en/. Drive-up testing is available in Whitehorse at the CTAC 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. daily at 49A Waterfront Place.
Those in communities should contact their rural community health centre for testing.
Contact Stephanie Waddell at stephanie.waddell@yukon-news.com
Kyle Bonagura
ESPN Staff WriterAustin Lindberg
Seattle didn't blow our socks off this week, but it found a way to consolidate its place on top our list. Elsewhere, New England stumbled while Nani's purple patch has Orlando rising up the order.
So, let's get caught up with the weekend's action and see where your team sits in our Week 9 Power Rankings.
- Stream FC Daily on ESPN+
- MLS on ESPN+: Stream LIVE games and replays (U.S. only)
Previous ranking: 1
Next MLS match: July 4 at Colorado Rapids, 9 p.m. ET, ESPN+
After New England's loss to Dallas, there isn't a reasonable way to justify anyone else atop the rankings. With that said, a 2-2 draw with Vancouver on Saturday shows the Sounders aren't untouchable, and that came after they needed a late penalty to get by Real Salt Lake, 2-1, on Wednesday. -- Bonagura
Previous ranking: 5
Next MLS match: July 3 vs. New York Red Bulls, 7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN+
Nani set up the equalizer and scored the winner in Orlando's 2-1 comeback victory over Miami. He's been directly involved in exactly half of the Lions' goals for this season, with two goals and three assists in his past two appearances. It's the sort of purple patch (pardon the pun) that could make Orlando a real contender at the business end of the season -- if the 34-year-old can continue at this pace. -- Lindberg
Previous ranking: 4
Next MLS match: July 4 at LA Galaxy, 10:30 p.m. ET, ESPN+
It was an impressive week for Sporting KC, which outclassed Colorado, 3-1, before coming back to beat 10-man LAFC 2-1 at home. Daniel Salloi bagged the winner on Saturday after scoring twice against the Rapids.-- Bonagura
Previous ranking: 2
Next MLS match: July 3 at Columbus Crew, 5 p.m. ET, ESPN/ESPN Deportes
Dallas ended its six-game winless streak against New England, snapping the Revs' five-game winning streak. The Revolution are still on top of the Eastern Conference, but only by two points over Orlando, who have a game in hand. -- Lindberg
Previous ranking: 6
Next MLS match:July 4 vs Sporting Kansas City, 10:30 p.m. ET, ESPN+
Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez scored a pair of goals in a cakewalk of a win for the Galaxy at San Jose. The Galaxy won, 3-1, with a San Jose own goal adding LA's third, but the game could have easily been more lopsided. -- Bonagura
Previous ranking: 7
Next MLS match: July 3 at Nashville SC, 8 p.m. ET, ESPN+
Quinn Sullivan won't soon forget his first goal in MLS, a spectacular bicycle effort, but a 3-3 draw at Chicago isn't a result worth remembering for a club with postseason aspirations. -- Lindberg
Previous ranking: 3
Next MLS match: July 4 vs Seattle, 9 p.m. ET, ESPN+
The 3-1 scoreline in Colorado's loss to Sporting Kansas City on Wednesday felt a little harsh, but the Rapids were still clearly outplayed in their first game against one of the league's top-tier teams this year. -- Bonagura
Previous ranking: 11
Next MLS match: July 7 at CF Montreal, 7:30 pm ET; ESPN+
Keaton Parks equalized in the 84th minute and Thiago Andrade netted the winner in the fifth minute of second-half stoppage time as NYCFC fought back to beat D.C> 2-1 on Sunday. City haven't scored a first-half goal in any of their past four games, yet still won three of them. It's impressive resolve, but not a sustainable long-term strategy. -- Lindberg
Previous ranking: 8
Next MLS match:July 3 vs. New England Revolution, 5 p.m. ET, ESPN/ESPN Deportes
The Crew have been held scoreless in their past two games, but their fans can take solace in the fact that Sunday's 0-0 draw in Austin ensured former owner Anthony Precourt's new team has now been unable to celebrate a goal in either of its first two games in the brand-new Q2 Stadium. -- Lindberg
Previous ranking: 10
Next MLS match:July 3 vs. Philadelphia Union, 8 p.m. ET, ESPN+
Nashville needed every last moment of stoppage time, but Abu Danladi's 94th-minute equalizer in the 1-1 draw against Montreal extends Music City's unbeaten run at home -- where they'll play four of their next five -- to seven straight matches. -- Lindberg
Previous ranking: 18
Next MLS match: July 3 vs San Jose, 8 p.m. ET, ESPN+
Minnesota ran its unbeaten streak to six with a pair of wins this week and have climbed all the way to fifth place in the Western Conference. The Loons got two clean sheets from Tyler Miller, while Adrien Hunou scored in both wins (2-0 vs. Austin, 1-0 at Portland) and Franco Fragapane added the other. -- Bonagura
Previous ranking: 9
Next MLS match: July 3 at Orlando City, 7:30 pm ET; ESPN+
Two games without RB Leipzig-bound Caden Clark, and the Red Bulls have a loss and a draw to show for it. They need the 18-year-old creator back, as soon as possible. -- Lindberg
Previous ranking: 12
Next MLS match: July 3 vs LAFC, 10 p.m. ET, ESPN+
After nearly taking a point off Seattle in a 2-1 loss on Wednesday, RSL settled for a point against Houston after Justin Gladd's 11th-minute opener didn't hold up. Bobby Wood made his long-awaited debut off the bench against the Sounders and appeared again off the bench against Houston. -- Bonagura
Previous ranking: 13
Next MLS match: July 3 vs FC Cincinnati, 8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN+
Two points from two matches this week makes it three draws in three for the Dynamo. The midweek 2-2 draw with Portland will sting after Fafa Picault and Tyler Pasher scored first-half goals, only for the Timbers to erase the 2-0 lead and find the equalizer in stoppage time. -- Bonagura
Previous ranking: 15
Next MLS match: July 1 at Austin FC, 9:30 p.m. ET
Jeremy Ebobisse rescued a point against Houston with a stoppage-time header on Wednesday, but the Timbers couldn't climb out of a 1-0 hole in a loss to Minnesota to end the week. -- Bonagura
Previous ranking: 17
Next MLS match: July 3 vs. Inter Miami, 7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN+
The 1-1 draw with Nashville extends Montreal's unbeaten streak to three games, but the Quebecois will rue what is sure to feel like two points dropped in the game's final moments, when Abu Danladi scored in the fourth minute of second-half stoppage time to earn the hosts a share of the spoils. -- Lindberg
Previous ranking: 16
Next MLS match: July 3 vs Real Salt Lake, 10 p.m. ET, ESPN+r
One step forward, one step back. A reenergized Carlos Velas led the Black and Gold to a dominant 2-0 win against Dallas on Thursday, but after going ahead 1-0 in Kansas City on Saturday, Tristan Blackmon was sent off early in the second half and SKC went on to score twice to take all three points. -- Bonagura
Previous ranking: 20
Next MLS match: July 3 vs. Toronto FC, 5:30 p.m., ESPN+
Allowing goals in the 84th and 95th minutes to let a late 1-0 turn into a 2-1 defeat against NYCFC will sting, but D.C. can't expect to win every game 1-0. United have scored more than one goal in a game just twice this season. -- Lindberg
Previous ranking: 23
Next MLS match: July 4 vs Vancouver, 8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN+
After a laxidasical performance in a 2-0 loss to LAFC midweek, FC Dallas rebounded with its most encouraging performance of the season: a 2-1 win against New England. Ricardo Pepi, 18, provided both goals, with the second coming after an incredible run with the ball in which he left two Revolution defenders in the dust.-- Bonagura
Previous ranking:14
Next MLS match:July 3 at Chicago Fire, 8 p.m. ET, ESPN+
The Five Stripes bounced back from last week's defeat at the hands of NYCFC, but could only manage a scoreless draw against the Red Bulls, extending their winless streak to five games -- and nine of their past ten. -- Lindberg
Previous ranking: 15
Next MLS match: July 1 vs Portland, 9:30 p.m. ET
The good news: Austin remains undefeated at home. The bad: It still hasn't scored in front of its home fans. A point against the team that nearly moved to Austin, the Columbus Crew, is a positive result, but it's hard to get excited about a team that has scored just one goal in its past seven matches -- including a 2-0 loss at Minnesota midweek. -- Bonagura
Previous ranking: 25
Next MLS match: July 4 at FC Dallas, 8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN+
The Whitecaps earned just one point in two games, but it was still an encouraging week considering the draw came against the Sounders and the Galaxy scored in the game's dying moments to win 2-1. -- Bonagura
Previous ranking: 22
Next MLS match: July 3 at CF Montreal, 7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN+
Friday's 2-1 defeat to Orlando was Miami's fourth straight loss. The silver lining for the Herons is that Gonzalo Higuain scored his fifth goal in eight appearances; unfortunately for the club, his teammates have combined for just four in 2021. -- Lindberg
Previous ranking: 26
Next MLS match: July 3 at Houston Dynamo, 8 p.m. ET, ESPN+
You have to feel for the fans in Cincinnati. The stunning TQL Stadium is now open, but FCC's fortunes at home haven't improved any. On the road, though, that's a different story. Saturday's 2-0 win over Toronto was their second straight victory -- both away from home -- and all three of the club's wins this season have come outside of Ohio.-- Lindberg
Previous ranking: 21
Next MLS match:July 3 at Minnesota, 8 p.m. ET, ESPN+
In the past four matches, San Jose has scored more own goals (2) than goals (1) and is winless in seven straight. The Quakes were exciting to start the year and now they're just irrelevant. -- Bonagura
Previous ranking: 24
Next MLS match: July 3 at D.C. United, 5:30 pm ET, ESPN+
As disappointing as a fifth straight loss is for a club as accustomed to success as Toronto has been in the past six years, potentially more damning is a 2-0 defeat to Cincinnati. Only one team in MLS has a worse goal differential than the Reds' minus-eight. -- Lindberg
Previous ranking:27
Next MLS match:July 3 vs. Atlanta United, 8 p.m. ET, ESPN+
The Fire's three-game losing streak is over after a wild 3-3 draw with Philadelphia, but the underlying context makes for depressing reading and sums up Chicago's season rather neatly: Three goals in Saturday's game accounts for more than 40% of the team's goals this season, and the draw was only the third time in ten games this term that they've earned a point or more. -- Lindberg
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