The Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board (HWDSB) has cancelled exams for all secondary students for both semesters of the 2020-2021 school year.
In a letter to parents posted on their website, HWDSB Director of EducationManny Figueiredo says students from grade nine to 12 will instead be graded on assignments and learning activities throughout the semester and “any final activities that demonstrate overall learning.”
“Teachers will use their professional judgment to decide on the appropriate activities that best allow students to demonstrate their learning, and scheduled exam days will be used to provide additional opportunities for students to complete assignments,” he said.
The board said the decision was made in accordance with The Ministry of Education’s guidelines allowing school boards to modify how students will be evaluated, taking into account attending school during the “uncertainties of a pandemic.” They added that the move was based on feedback from students, staff as well as parents.
Changes to graduation requirements
Graduation requirements have also been changed due to the challenges presented by the pandemic.
Instead of 40 hours of community involvement, student will have to complete just 20. In addition, students graduating in this school year will not be expected to complete the Ontario Secondary School Grade 10 Literacy Test (OSSLT). The test will be administered in the spring of 2021 for grade 10 students and those graduating in future years.
Grade 9 students will still have to take the EQAO math test because they are testing a new format this year. However the results of the test will not be part of a student’s final course mark “unless the student and teacher agree.”
Two 16-year-old boys and an 18-year-old man are facing a slew of charges in connection to a brazen drive-by shooting at a Toronto bakery that injured six people last September.
Emergency crews were called to the scene at Eglinton and Oakwood avenues, west of Allen Road, around 2 a.m. on Wednesday, September 2, 2020.
According to police, a black vehicle drove past a 24-hour bakery and someone in the vehicle began firing numerous shots.
At the time, Toronto Police Superintendent Shaun Narine said the 24-hour bakery was open and filled with customers, adding that investigators were treating it as a “gang-related and targeted event.”
Narine said a group of people had gathered under the front alcove of the bakery to take shelter from heavy rain at the time of the shooting. He stressed that it is “not a gang-related location” and that some of the people gathered in the crowd were believed to be innocent bystanders.
The six victims ranged in age from 30 to 69 years old. Luckily, none of their injuries were life-threatening.
Illia Ayo, 18, of London, is facing numerous charges, including aggravated assault, discharge firearm recklessly and unauthorized possession of a firearm.
Two 16-year-old boys, who can’t be named, are facing similar charges.
Hamilton police say human remains found in a Hamilton park last month belong to a man who was abducted in Toronto in the spring of 2018.
Jammar Allison, 26, was last seen on June 1, 2018 at around 10 p.m. in the Rexdale Boulevard and Highway 427 area.
Following an investigation, police said Allison was forced into a dark Caravan with tinted windows by three unknown suspects at a parking lot at 680 Rexdale Blvd.
He had not been seen since.
In October 2019, a single bone was discovered by a citizen in Windemere Basin Park in Hamilton. The bone was sent for forensic testing, but investigators were not able to determine the identify of the deceased person at the time.
On October 6, 2020, more human remains were found in the same park.
This time, dental records were used to identify the deceased as Jammar Allison. Police say he was the victim of a homicide.
Toronto police had been investigating Allison’s disappearance as a kidnapping. The Hamilton police major crimes unit has now taken over the homicide investigation
Canada reached a troubling milestone on Monday, surpassing 300,000 total COVID cases since the pandemic began earlier this year, and health experts are alarmed — but not surprised — by the rapid growth we’ve seen over the last few weeks.
The marker comes less than a month after the country reached 200,000 overall cases on Oct. 19. It took about four months for Canada to leap from 100,000 to 200,000, suggesting that even as some cases are being resolved, the spread is quickening.
Total COVID-19 cases are different from confirmed active cases. Canada had roughly 50,000 active cases as of Monday afternoon, while nearly 240,000 had recovered and more than 11,000 have died.
Caroline Colijn, an infectious disease modeller and epidemiologist with Simon Fraser University, said the growth trajectory is worrying.
“We’ve seen this with Europe and the U.K. and U.S., and now across Canada — the pattern is very consistent,” she said.
“This is something that can overwhelm the health-care systems in western democracies. And it can do it very rapidly.”
Colijn projected Canada would reach the 400,000 total case milestone by early December, if the current trajectory holds up.
Canada was averaging about 4,500 new daily cases over the past week, and Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s chief medical officer, said Friday that daily case counts may climb to more than 10,000 by early December.
Dr. Ilan Schwartz, an infectious disease expert with the University of Alberta, says “widespread restrictions” are needed in order to prevent the skyrocketing spike projected by Colijn and other COVID modellers.
He said government and public health policymakers need to put forward clear, concise and aggressive measures, and continue to “emphasize that people really need to change their plans and minimize their in-person interactions.”
“Because it’s really only a matter of time — and we’re talking weeks, not months — before ICU’s become totally overwhelmed and are unable to provide even the most basic care to people,” he added.
While the jump from 100,000 total cases to 200,000 took place from June to October, a period that coincided with the large-scale re-opening of businesses and schools nationwide, Colijn said the more recent accelerated spike may signify more.
She believes some people became complacent with pandemic restrictions in the final weeks of summer, and so they worried less when cases began rising in the fall among younger people who generally don’t get very sick.
The problem, however, is that COVID continued to spread, infecting more vulnerable people and putting hospitals in danger of reaching full capacities.
“People really relaxed, they went indoors and so that just accelerated the spread,” she said.
Some Canadians’ opinions on the dangers of COVID may be tainted by how relatively well the country handled the first wave, added Schwartz.
People were cautioned about overextending hospital resources back in March, and when the system wasn’t strained to the extent experts anticipated — largely because of early lockdown measures — some may have developed a false sense of security.
“It’s like Y2K, where we were told something big would happen and it didn’t,” Schwartz said.
“But seeing what’s going on now, with hospitals filling up across the country, ICU (admission) going up, and the rate of new infections continuing to accelerate, it’s extremely troublesome… And it is quite clear this (perspective) needs to change very rapidly.”
Dr. Andrew Boozary, the executive director of health and social policy at the University Health Network, says other factors contributing to community transmission need to be addressed.
It can be hard for someone to obey stay-at-home orders if they don’t have access to stable housing, he said. A low-income worker without paid sick leave, for example, may not be able to self-isolate with symptoms if it means missing out on a paycheck.
“We need to ensure that social policy protections can take place for prevention,” Boozary said.
“If we don’t do all these things, and do them in a way that’s coordinated, we’ll continue to keep lapsing.”
Canadians are entering what experts call a crucial period of the pandemic, with the Christmas holidays and winter season only six weeks away.
They say the escalating COVID-19 growth rate needs to be slowed in order to avoid reaching more grim milestones in the near future.
“Many of us have been worried about winter because of the inability of people to be outside and what that can mean,” Boozary said.
“This is not the place we want to be.”
Warning: Details of the trial are graphic in nature, discretion is advised
The father of the man who killed 10 people in Toronto’s van attack will continue his testimony on Tuesday.
Alek Minassian has pleaded not guilty to 10 counts of first-degree murder and 16 counts of attempted murder.
The defence says he should be found not criminally responsible for his actions that day due to autism.
Vahe Minassian told the court on Monday his son has not shown remorse or apologized for his actions.
He says his son told him he hasn’t done anything wrong.
Alek Minassian’s state of mind at the time of the attack is the only issue at play in trial after he admitted to planning and carrying out the attack.
A nourishing breakfast with high-quality dairy protein is key to setting your foundation for the day, giving your body the energy and protein it needs to fuel the morning and prevent the mid-morning crash. TODAY: We’ve invited board member chef Adrian Forte to help us breakfast better and to demonstrate a nutritious, simple and (most importantly) delicious breakfast recipe that you can introduce to your morning routine.
For more information about the Breakfast Better Board guidelines and the complete breakfast recipes, check out www.breakfastbetter.ca
Chef Adrian’s Spiced Cornmeal Porridge
(21 grams of Protein per serving)
Prep Time: 5min Cook Time 20min
Ingredients:
- 2 cup fine cornmeal (22gs)
- 1 can condensed milk (30gs)
- 4 cups 3% Milk (32gs)
- 1/2 cup pineapple juice
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 tsp pimento berry, ground
- 1 tsp nutmeg, ground
- 1 tsp vanilla extract Materials
- Whisk
- Sauce pan
Instructions:
- In a medium pot, add milk, salt, pimento, nutmeg, and cinnamon stalk and bring to a simmer.
- Add the cornmeal along with pineapple juice, using a whisk keep stirring, to avoid the cornmeal from clumping.
- Cook the cornmeal until it thickens and has a porridge consistency (for around 10 minutes).
- Add condensed milk and vanilla extract and cook for 30 seconds more.
- Remove from heat, and serve in bowls topped with diced pineapple and a sprinkle of ground cinnamon.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is self-isolating after being told he came into contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19, officials said Sunday.
“He will carry on working from Downing Street, including on leading the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic,” a statement from his office said.
Johnson “is well and does not have any symptoms of COVID-19,” it added.
Johnson met with a small group of lawmakers for about a half-hour on Thursday, including one who subsequently developed coronavirus symptoms and tested positive.
He was notified by the National Health Service’s Test and Trace system Sunday and told he should self-isolate because of factors including the length of the meeting.
Officials said they will discuss with parliamentary authorities how Johnson can take part remotely in Parliament’s business. He plans to “continue speaking to the country during his self-isolation period,” they added.
The statement didn’t say how long Johnson plans to isolate, but U.K. health authorities’ guidance is that anyone contacted by Test and Trace should quarantine for 14 days.
In April, Johnson was hospitalized in intensive care after contracting the coronavirus.
Should Ontario school boards be considering an extended Christmas break to try to stem the spread of covid 19?
The Council of Ontario Directors of Education has recommended that they should, for an extra few days or a week for the safety of students and staff. The idea is being considered by the Quebec government, where 20 per cent of new cases in the last two weeks have come from schools, but Premier Francois Legault did express reluctance to take that step, saying it would happen only as a last resort.
Quebec’s two main teachers’ unions and a prominent parents group say they’re opposed to closing schools in the province despite rising cases of COVID-19.
As of Wednesday, more than 1,200 classrooms across the province were closed due to COVID-19 outbreaks. The data from the Health Department also indicated more than 2,330 students and 700 school staff members had active cases of COVID-19.
And yet, the Quebec Provincial Association of Teachers, which represents teachers at English-language schools, along with a federation representing teachers at French-language schools, said Friday they did not support extending the winter break.
Corrine Payne, general director of the parents’ group Federation des comites de parents du Quebec, said her organization is worried about the long-term effects school closures could have on children.
In Ontario, where cases continue to climb to record daily highs, the Conservative government said it is not considering such a move at this point.
“Our focus remains on doing everything we can to keep students and educators safe while keeping schools open and students learning in person”, a Ministry of Education spokesperson said in a statement.
The Toronto District School Board also dismissed the idea, for the time being, saying they take direction from the ministry.
“It’s their call,” said media relations manager Ryan Bird.
Public health specialists are also reluctant to support the recommendation and prefer to take a wait and see approach.
“The schools are going to be one of the last things that will shut down not just for logistical or political reasons, but because so far schools have not proven to be a major source of transmission in Ontario,” says Dr. Barry Pakes, a public health physician and professor at the University of Toronto.
Pakes adds that in some ways it would make sense to keep schools closed for an extended period after Christmas because people will be gathering over the holidays which will likely lead to an increase in community spread. But he points out, it is still November and “there’s a long way to go before the Christmas break.”
His hope is that the numbers will improve before then. But he is also bracing for the worst: even higher case counts and deaths, and another widespread shutdown, which might very well include the schools.
Files from The Canadian Press were used in this report
One man has been taken to hospital in life-threatening condition after being pulled from the water near Cherry Beach.
Police reported a group of five to six kite boarders were on Lake Ontario in the area of Cherry Street and Martin Goodman Trail when they received calls about a person in distress shortly after 3 p.m.
When police arrived, one man had been pulled from the water by another individual who was already on the scene and officers performed life-saving measures until paramedics were able to transport the man to hospital.
There was no word on the condition of the remaining kite boarders.
The conditions on the lake at the time were treacherous due to a wind and rain storm that was sweeping across the region.
Three regions in the Toronto area join the COVID-19 red zone today.
The stricter public health measures come into effect in Hamilton, York and Halton regions.
Toronto joined Peel Region in the red alert level — the highest short of a full lockdown — on Saturday.
Another six regions, such as Durham and Waterloo, will move to the orange alert level, and six more, including Windsor-Essex and Sudbury, will join the yellow alert level.
Today’s developments come just days after Premier Doug Ford lowered the thresholds for his colour-coded restrictions system.
He said on Friday that recent COVID-19 projections show the province is “staring down the barrel of another lockdown.
