From school to business closures, Quebec's fight against Omicron drums up mixed reactions
CBC
Doug Bentley's two kids attend St. Patrick Elementary School in Pincourt, Que., just west of Montreal, and he's grateful it won't reopen until at least Jan. 17.
He said keeping kids apart "is only good for the collective health," but on the flip side, home-schooling is "difficult to manage."
With a daughter in Grade 1, he said it is challenging to keep her on task while he and his wife work from home.
The reopening of secondary and primary schools is delayed across the province, said Premier François Legault on Thursday. There is no plan for CEGEPs and universities yet.
Katherine Korakakis, president of Quebec's English Parents' Committee Association, said there is "a lot of anxiety. A lot of fear. A lot of uncertainty."
She said many people were questioning the previous plan to reopen schools on Jan. 10.
Delaying the reopening of schools by a week will give staff and personnel more time to get their booster shots, increasing their protection from a COVID-19 infection from 30 per cent to 75 per cent, Legault said.
"It's quite the difference," he said.
Given the current situation, postponing the return to face-to-face classes seems the right thing to do for now, said Éric Gingras, head of the Centrale des unions du Québec (CSQ), which represents 125,000 education personnel.
"Remote learning is far from being optimal for students, especially those with learning disabilities, as well as for their families, and the same is true for education staff," he said in a statement.
"The most important thing now will be to do everything possible to open our schools in a way that is safe for everybody, and above all, to prevent them from once again becoming a major source of outbreaks."
Schools need a range of tools to maintain safety such as rapid tests and personal protective equipment, he said. It is also important, he added, to have a serious talk about ventilation in schools.
Restaurants in Quebec will once again be closing their dining rooms, and with a few exceptions, stores will be closed on Sunday for the next three weeks.
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business said small- to medium-sized enterprises (SME) will hurt because of these restrictions.
City administration is recommending Edmonton city council backtrack on some aspects of its approach to infill and cap mid-block developments at six units instead of eight.
A longtime friend has identified the victim of a suspicious death earlier this month in Saanich, B.C., as a victim of intimate partner violence.
Toronto will provide an additional $2.6 million in funding for its rent bank this year to help residents stay housed in the city, Mayor Olivia Chow says.
Health P.E.I. is pushing back against an auditor general's report that said it is overpaying a private Ontario firm for after-hours radiology services.
Ottawa police say they arrested someone on trespassing-related charges after Iran's shuttered embassy was defaced during an anti-regime protest on Monday.
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City of Yellowknife officials have tested drinking water in a number of facilities and found elevated lead levels in four buildings.
Prime Minister Mark Carney is headed to China to try to move past years of diplomatic tension and make progress on a key trade irritant — Canada's steep tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles and the agricultural levies China imposed in response.
A woman is recovering after an altercation with a man in Calgary’s northwest that resulted in his death in what police are calling “the most clear-cut case of self-defence.”
Alberta's chief medical officer of health says while it's far from over, the province appears to be through the worst of a bad flu season.
Durham Regional Police Services (DRPS) pushes back on some members’ PTSD claims, even if they have a medical diagnosis, a CBC News investigation has found.
After nearly 25 years, Prince Edward Island's compost system is set to be replaced and modernized.
Analysts at CIBC are forecasting a wider discount on Alberta heavy crude this year as U.S. plans to rebuild Venezuela's ailing industry dominate headlines.