Harbour Hi Rises Page land for sale 21 proposed bear Mapleview Page Page 10 3 Richard Jewell OCTOBER, 2020 WWW.BAYOBSERVER.CA VOL. 13, N0. 10 Burlington gearing up for second wave of COVID BY DENIS GIBBONS Joseph Brant Hospital in Burlington has its temporary Pandemic Response Unit field hospital ready to go as it appears the second wave of the coronavirus has arrived. The structure was put up in the spring but has not been used. Fortunately, Burlington has had so few cases of COVID-19 that they all have been treated in the hospital itself. “That first wave did not overwhelm our health care system,” said Ward 2 Council- lor Lisa Kearns in a recent Zoom call with constituents. “But we must remain vigilant to prevent the spread of the virus.” As of Oct. 2, there were only 275 active cases in Burlington and just seven deaths. A total of 225 people who had the virus have recovered. That’s for a population of 175,000. Overall, Ontario had 52,980 active cases and 2,927 deaths. A total of 44,850 cases have been resolved. A total of 13.6 million McMaster is people live in Ontario. Premier Doug Ford has announced that the Province is providing people with access to free COVID-19 testing at pharma- cies in the province. 90 years old Individuals, within provincial testing guidance, will be able to visit select phar- macies by appointment only, and they will be pre-screened and then tested at no charge. When visiting a pharmacy people should wear a face covering, make sure Details on page 20 they have washed their hands and main- tain physical distance from those outside their household or social circle. Residents who have symptoms or are concerned that they might have been REPORT ON HATE GARNERS DISAPPOINTING PARTICIPATION exposed to the virus can also, of course, at- tend an Assessment Centre. But they must BY JOHN BEST 102 of those registered to respond. The on the City’s website via a hero banner on call 311 to make an appointment. Members of Hamilton City Council consultants noted that “having to provide the landing page; on a separate web page Burlingtonians can call (905) 632-3737, were disappointed at the relative lack of a name and email address proved to be a specific to the project; through the newly ext 6550 to book an appointment at the public participation in Hate Prevention & deterrent to participation.” launched Engage Hamilton website; in Joseph Brant Hospital COVID-19 Assess- Mitigation Initiative. Sage Solutions was Specifics of the engagement process a quarter-page print ad that ran in the ment Clinic. engaged to conduct a stakeholder con- included: Spectator on two consecutive Saturdays; Anyone with severe symptoms, should sultation and to make some recommen- • A facilitated 90-minute session with and through email distribution lists. call 9-1-1 immediately. dations to council on combatting hate in the Mayor’s Advisory Table on Diversity • Five 90-minute facilitated community Children have returned to school, but al- Hamilton but the effort garnered a dis- and Inclusion on June 26, 2020 via Zoom. “Listening Sessions” held between June 29 ready cases of the virus have been detected appointingly small response. The engage- • An online survey to inaugurate the and July 9, 2020, conducted via Zoom. In- at Nelson high school and St. Patrick’s ment consisted of face to face interviews, use of EngagementHQ software on the put taken from audio recording and chat elementary school. conducted virtually, an online survey, EngageHamilton website, open for one transcript. The Listening Sessions were One classroom at St. Patrick’s has been and a “listening session.” The survey was month from mid-June to mid-July 2020. promoted using the same methods as the closed. answered by 91 people. 608 people visited The online survey was promoted through the page on the Engage Hamilton site and the City’s Twitter and Instagram accounts; Continued on page 2 Continued on page 2 2 OCTOBER, 2020 NEWS Report on Hate » P 1 ple size. Although selected authors noted, “These var- Lesbian or bisexual—a channels. The process was expressed the opinion that quotes have been included ious events have resulted percentage that could be described as “disingenu- silence or complacency online survey. verbatim, their substantive in potentially distinct but low, given reluctance for ous” and “draining.” Peo- on the part of Council has • Telephone interviews accuracy has not been ver- related issues such as rac- some individuals to share ple were disappointed that emboldened hatred in the with three individuals ified and they should not ism, trans/homophobia, personal matters with a Councillors and the Mayor city and given it a greater and email messages from be understood as repre- discrimination, extrem- government agency. Using did not attend any of the spotlight. seven others, all of whom senting the opinions of the ism etc. getting blended the government numbers consultations. In terms of Council has asked reached out proactively to consulting team as a result and confused—in media such as they are, it would hate, the City is described staff to come back with a make their voices heard. of their inclusion. reports and in people’s put the Hamilton LBGQT as having “abdicated its proposal that would see a • Submitted notes from a The authors noted that minds. A project about population at 15,000 to responsibility of enforce- broader response from the February 2020 community the public consultation “hate” could capture all of 18,000. Surprisingly, the ment.” Many people community. meeting on “Resisting Hate took place under chal- it but could also be con- majority of survey partic- and the Far Right” lenging circumstances, sidered either too broad ipants were white (79%) The consultants cau- beginning with COVID or too narrow in some and Heterosexual (61%). tioned that the level of 19, which in addition to contexts. systemic racism Participants reported a participation means that being a major distraction, and defunding police. significant lack of connec- the results of the survey severely restricted public period. tion “between the City and have to be taken carefully interaction. At the same A report by the Social the city.” They describe and cannot be extrapolat- time there was heightened Planning and Research Council using terms such ed to be representative of tension in the public in Council in Hamilton, as “tone deaf” and “insin- the views of the broader response to the Black using data from the 2016 cere” and “ignorant.” The community writing: Lives Matter response to census says that Hamil- City is seen to have failed • This report summarizes the George Floyd killing ton has 100,600 persons to follow up on previous the input received, but that and other similar events who identify as being a consultation recommen- input cannot be deemed in the United States. And visible minority or one in dations. As a result, there is to be representative in a then there was the scath- five residents. The same deep skepticism about the broader sense of the Ham- ing report of Hamilton 2016 Census reported likelihood that this project ilton population, since it Police actions at the 2019 that 3 percent of Canadi- will lead to any significant involved such a small sam- Hamilton Pride event. The an self-identified as gay. change, across all input Burlington COVID » P 1 a meeting of the Halton from the experience of the she said. “The crisis in LTC started in 1918 and lasted clusion. Catholic School Board. first wave, Burlington MP existed before COVID-19, for three years. “When – not if – the next When a positive COV- The board voted by a Karina Gould said the fed- we have a moral obligation The Burlington Gazette pandemic virus emerg- ID-19 case is identified at slim margin of 5-4 to con- eral government is ready to respond, even if it is a issue of October 9, 1918, es, labs will know how a school, Halton Region tinue with the requirement to get tough with corpora- provincial jurisdiction.” reported that “The Spanish to sequence the genome Public Health will follow for them to wear masks. tions who operate lodging Burlington bars and Flu struck Burlington last quickly. If there was any their contact tracing pro- Laura Keating, a parent, for seniors under shoddy restaurants appeared to do week and over 200 cases positive outcome from this tocol and reach out to any made the point that the conditions well with their patios over have been reported. The devastating event, it was close contacts. All families goal should be to keep as “The Prime Minister the warm summer and pubic schools, Sunday the formation by the Cana- and staff at the school will many children as possible has made an important some have even opened schools, and theatres have dian government of a Fed- be notified by email of any safe from the virus. commitment to work with their doors with social-dis- been closed. eral Department of Health confirmed positive COV- On the other hand, the provinces on National tancing. However, how long A week later it said if to co-ordinate and give ID-19 cases. another parent Nicole Standards for Long-Term that lasts is difficult to say. the epidemic gets worse leadership in matters that The issue of whether kin- Deveau claimed wear- Care (LTC) and an update The first lockdown was churches would be closed directly affect the health dergarten children should ing masks could have a to the Criminal Code to not unlike what Burlington soon after that.