The internet has become essential for almost all Canadians due to COVID-19. Suddenly, millions of workers are told to work from home, via the internet. Education is forced online, with teachers discovering that many students don’t have access to computers, laptops or even the internet. People need to go online to contact banks, essential services, […]
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Tim Heffernan and Jim Sugiyama Cockroaches, rotten food, patients with ulcers left bed-bound, staff moving from unit to unit wearing contaminated gear, staff afraid to ask for supplies for fear of increasing the costs to the home. Those were just some of the disturbing conditions detailed in a Canadian Armed Forces report based on the […]
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The metaphors of war have been in abundance since the onset of COVID-19. In Britain, the Queen, in a speech, evoked the WW2 song, “We’ll Meet Again.” The Italian Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte, also invoked WW2 when he used Winston Churchill’s words to talk about Italy’s “darkest hour.” Donald Trump has described himself as a […]
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Canada is opening up after varying degrees of restrictions due to COVID-19. Retail stores, cafes, bars and restaurants, hairdressers and many workplaces are restarting operations. Of course, many businesses and workplaces deemed essential (some rather dubiously, like building luxury condos or pipelines) never closed. Schools in most provinces are closed, apart from provision for some […]
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Written by a BC teacher. After weeks of hearing about the nightmare of states in the US reopening their economies amid the COVID-19 pandemic, we knew it was coming. The reopening of the Canadian economy! Granted, the pandemic has not been as devastating in Canada as in the US, but that doesn’t say much. The […]
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Early on into the COVID-19 pandemic my mom called me from home to tell me that I should get myself a mask. I waited until the last moment to buy a mask, because I can be lazy, and was astonished at the prices. I did a little digging around online until I found some reasonably […]
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The word “hero” is in vogue these days. The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the importance in our society of nurses, cleaners, and grocery store workers to millions. Most Canadians are rightly grateful for the labour of these workers, who are doing their best to contain the pandemic and keep the country fed, often at great […]
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On my way to work today, I was standing in a subway alcove, in a nearly deserted car. The scattered patrons were a motley crew of essential workers, some masked, some open faced. I don’t wear a mask while on transit (this was written before wearing masks was clearly good policy) – I am well, […]
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In 1983, The Police, recorded a song called “Synchronicity.” Some of the lyrics: We know you, they know meExtrasensorySynchronicityA star fall, a phone call,It joins all,Synchronicity The word synchronicity generally has positive connotations and is briefly defined as a “meaningful coincidence.” Could it be a coincidence, meaningful or otherwise, that the Ontario Minister of Education […]
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Whether we like it or not, whether it’s safe or not, and whether we’re comfortable with it or not, Canada is beginning to reopen. After roughly two months of comprehensive social and economic shutdown, the provinces are loosening restrictions despite widely varying COVID-19 circumstances. Québec is reopening, including sending children back to school on May […]
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