Summary
Patrons at dine-in restaurants, gyms, and other venues must present a receipt of full vaccination and government ID
Doctors’ notes for medical exemptions will also be accepted
Businesses that don’t comply with the checks required by the system and patrons who give false information may be fined
Ontario’s new COVID-19 vaccine certificate system goes into effect Wednesday.
Patrons at dine-in restaurants, nightclubs, gyms, sports facilities and other venues must present a receipt of full vaccination along with government identification.
Doctors’ notes for medical exemptions will also be accepted.
Businesses that don’t comply with the checks required by the system and patrons who give false information may be fined.
People are able to print or download their vaccination receipt from the provincial booking portal but the province says the site will be down for maintenance until Wednesday at 8 a.m.
Premier Doug Ford has said he understands that some people are concerned that their civil liberties are being infringed upon.
But he says the greater concern is experiencing a sudden surge in infections and having to lock down the province again.
The province’s top public health doctor has asked Ontarians to be “kind and considerate” as the system takes effect.
Dr. Kieran Moore has also said he believes the system will lead to a boost in vaccinations, particularly among those aged 20 to 39 since that cohort often frequents venues covered by the system.
Fines are possible for businesses that don’t comply with the checks required by the system, and for patrons who give false information. But businesses, bylaw officers, police forces and the province say enforcement will be gentle at first.
Businesses have said they feel prepared to implement the system but are uncertain how patrons will respond to it.
James Rilett, Restaurants Canada’s vice-president for Central Canada, said restaurants are “as prepared as they can be” but are expecting “some loss of business” and confrontations with some patrons.
Ryan Mallough, senior director of Ontario affairs at the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, said businesses have a “decent understanding” of what’s required but there’s “some stress and anxiety around what happens in a moment that doesn’t go smoothly.”
While venues will have to check paper or digital vaccine receipts with identification at first, the province has said it aims to launch a QR code and verification app for businesses on Oct. 22 to streamline the process.
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With a report from News staff
A rainfall warning remains in effect for Toronto and the GTA, calling for ‘significant’ amounts of rain for the region.
Environment Canada initially issued a special weather statement on Tuesday but upgraded it to a warning later in the day.
It said the rain, which at times will be heavy, along with isolated thunderstorms, will continue into Thursday morning.
Rainfall amounts of 50-60 millimetres are expected by the time the weather system moves out.
The national weather agency said the rain is stemming from a cold front and a low pressure system from the U.S. Midwest.
The heavy rainfall could cause flash floods and pooling on roads, and drivers are being warned that visibility will be impacted.
Ahead of the heavy rain, muggy conditions were felt across the GTA on Tuesday — the last full day of summer. Fall is due to arrive at 3:20 p.m. on Wednesday.
OTTAWA (CityNews) ─ A buoyant, optimistic Justin Trudeau was met with applause at the Liberal headquarters in Montreal as he thanked Canadians for re-electing him – despite coming out of a 36-day federal election campaign with a nearly identical number of seats.
The gamble to turn a minority government into a majority backfired for Trudeau, but the Liberal leader secured enough votes during Canada’s pandemic election to earn his third term as prime minister.
The Liberals won a minority government, falling short of the 170 seats needed in the 338-seat House of Commons to have a majority. Trudeau will need the support of at least one other party to maintain that minority government.
“When I became prime minister six years, I couldn’t know what the future held,” Trudeau told his supporters during his victory speech. “We didn’t know that we’d be facing a once-in-a-century pandemic or a worldwide economic crisis. But what I did know is that together Canadians can overcome any obstacle, and that is exactly what we will continue to do.
“My friends, I am ready to carry on with the work. My team is ready.”
At dissolution, the Liberals had 155 seats, the Conservatives 119, the Bloc Quebecois 32, the NDP 24 and the Greens two. There were also five independents and one vacancy.
By the early hours of Saturday, the Liberals led in 156 ridings, the Conservatives in 121, the Bloc Quebecois in 31, the NDP in 27 and the Greens in two. Erin O’Toole’s Conservatives led the Liberals in the popular vote by nearly three per cent.
That means an election campaign that cost an estimated $600 million resulted in but a slight change in Canada’s seat count. There is still a chance Canadians return to the polls in 2023.
“I have heard you,” Trudeau told the small crowd. “I know you don’t want to hear any more talk of elections and politics. You want us to concentrate on the work that is necessary for you. You just want to know that your members of Parliament will have your back through this crisis and beyond.
“The moment we face demands real, important change. You have given this Parliament and this government clear direction.”
READ MORE:
Trudeau’s night began with a weaker performance compared to the 2019 election. The Liberals were down three seats in Atlantic Canada.
But results from Quebec and Ontario were enough to give Trudeau’s Liberals a win in the 2021 federal election. The party’s share of the vote in Canada’s most populous provinces was well ahead of what polls heading into the election had forecast.
“To my fellow Canadians, there is no greater honour than serving you and serving this country,” said Trudeau. “If you voted for our party, thank you for putting your trust in our team to keep moving forward for everyone. If you did not vote for us, we want you to know that we will stand up for you and work for you every single day.”
Trudeau wins seat in Papineau
Trudeau was re-elected in Papineau, Que., the riding he has represented in the House of Commons since 2008.
He cast his ballot in Papineau Monday morning with his three children at his side. His wife Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, who already voted, waited by the entrance of the polling station.
Trudeau’s youngest son, Hadrien, 7, held his father’s hand and accompanied him to the voting booth before the two pushed the ballot into the box together.
“Over the past 12 years as MP for Papineau, I had the chance to meet so many people of all walks of life. It’s an honour for me to represent you. It’s with you that my adventure began, so thank you for your trust in me and I will continue to be there for you.”
Other notable Liberal victories
Chrystia Freeland won re-election in her downtown Toronto riding of University-Rosedale. The deputy prime minister and finance minister will now have a chance to keep building a national child-care system announced in her April budget.
She is among a slew of cabinet ministers who won re-election: Jean-Yves Duclos in the riding of Quebec, Melanie Joly in Ahuntsic-Cartierville, Que., David Lametti in LaSalle-Emard-Verdun, Que., and Harjit Sajjan in Vancouver South, B.C.
Anthony Rota won his northern Ontario riding of Nipissing-Timiskaming. Since 2019, Rota has served as Speaker of the House of Commons, taking over the job just ahead of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Election results slow to come in, long lineups
Results were slow to trickle in as polls closed across the country.
Part of that was due to a larger number of mail-in ballots. Elections Canada said nearly 6.8 million people voted early, most of them at advance polls more than a week ago, and the rest through special ballots cast by mail or at Elections Canada offices.
There are almost 800,000 mail-in ballots to be counted, starting Tuesday, which could yet change the preliminary results in many of the tightly contested seats.
There were also several reports of long lineups at polling stations. Fewer polling stations were open overall since many schools were not used as voting locations due to the pandemic.
READ: Elections Canada reports disruptions at some polling stations
When Trudeau called the election on Aug. 15 − two years after the Liberals were reduced to a minority − he asked Canadians to decide who was best suited to finish the fight against COVID-19 and lead the country’s recovery.
But mixed results in polls over the 36-day campaign quickly showed the Liberals’ hope of turning a minority government into a majority was not a fait accompli.
Opposition leaders relentlessly pounded away at Trudeau’s “selfish” choice to put his quest for a majority ahead of the interests of Canadians in the middle of a deadly pandemic.
With Afghanistan falling to the Taliban the very day Trudeau called the election − leaving thousands of Canadians and Afghans who had helped Canada’s military mission stranded in the country − only exacerbated anger over his timing.
Battling the Conservatives for votes
As Liberal support slumped, O’Toole’s Conservatives picked up some momentum. Trudeau attempted to drive a wedge over issues like abortion, private health care and mandatory vaccinations for federal workers.
The Liberal platform logged new spending at $78 billion over the next five years with no plan to balance the budget.
One of the new promises was to establish regulations under the Canadian Health Act to govern the accessibility for sexual and reproductive health, such as abortion.
The platform also included a plan for a ban on assault weapons, making a gun buyback program mandatory, and $1 billion will be given to provinces to help ban handguns in their jurisdictions.
The Liberal plan also included $10-a-day childcare and sick leave.
When it comes to the ongoing battle against COVID-19, Trudeau said his party supports proof-of-vaccination credentials and mandatory vaccines for people travelling on planes and trains.
The victory puts Trudeau back in a position he has held since the 2015 federal election, which saw the Liberals win a 184-seat majority.
But Trudeau had been in the spotlight in Canada long before 2015.
The eldest son of Pierre Elliott Trudeau, one of Canada’s most famous prime ministers, the young Trudeau first showed no interest in politics. He worked as a teacher in Vancouver following his graduation from Montreal’s McGill University.
Trudeau was then thrust into the public eye at his father’s funeral in 2000, where he delivered an emotional eulogy. His star rose from there.
The former drama teacher first won his seat in Papineau in 2008 to be elected a member of Parliament. Five years later, the Liberals chose him as party leader. In 2015, he became Canada’s prime minister by handily defeating then Conservative Leader Stephen Harper.
And whether it was fighting Harper’s government in the House prior to that, or fighting Sen. Patrick Brazeau in a charity boxing match, Trudeau has been a magnet for attention.
His remarks on why his first cabinet was gender-balanced went viral worldwide.
“Because it’s 2015,” was the response that travelled around the world − the first of many viral moments. Others, like a trip to India in 2018 that saw a slew of wardrobe changes, was shared for less flattering reasons.
That’s because the 2015 shine − in the eyes of Canadians − may have come off Trudeau.
The now 49-year-old has battled a string of scandals over his six years as prime minister: Aga Khan, SNC-Lavalin, Blackface, and We Charity.
But none have seemingly dented his popularity among Liberal supporters.
─With files from The Canadian Press.
Despite dealing with a handful of disruptions at various stations across the country, Toronto and Greater Toronto Area (GTA) residents headed out to the polls on Monday.
CityNews is projecting the Liberals have won enough seats to stay in power with a minority government but have fallen short of winning a majority.
For Toronto and GTA ridings, there wasn’t much in terms of surprises of altered outcomes. Here in Toronto, the Liberals had hoped to pick up some of the 15 seats they need to form a majority and entered the night widely expected to sweep every riding in the city, all considered red heavy.
Toronto-Danforth saw Julie Dabrusin win her riding while Melissa Lantsman of the Conservatives managed to hold her riding in Thornhill.
The Liberals’ Anita Anand was declared the winner in Oakville; a significant development for Canada’s vaccine minister. Anand was a rookie MP after winning in 2019 when she was appointed.
She quickly became in charge of the country’s efforts to secure COVID-19 vaccines and was often on the campaign trail with Trudeau.
Two notable flips came in Markham-Unionville, where Liberal Paul Chiang took his riding; a region that strongly leaned in the Tories’ favour heading into the election. The other was Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill, which goes to Leah Taylor Roy.
The Conservatives had a 1,000 vote lead in that region back in 2019.
In Toronto, former “The Social” host and rookie MP, Marci Ien, took her Toronto Centre riding by ensuring a win for the Liberals. Chrystia Freeland, meanwhile, won re-election in her downtown Toronto riding of University-Rosedale.
The deputy prime minister and finance minister will now have a chance to keep building a national child-care system announced in her April budget.
According to Elections Canada, almost 6.8 million people voted early, most of them at advance polls over a week ago, and the rest through special ballots cast by mail or at Elections Canada offices.
Canada’s first-ever pandemic election culminates today as Canadians from coast-to-coast go to the polls to choose the 338 members of Parliament to sit in the House of Commons.
Elections Canada says almost 6.8 million people voted early, most of them at advanced polls over a week ago, and the rest through special ballots cast by mail or at Elections Canada offices.
But a majority of Canada’s more than 30 million eligible voters will mark their ballots today.
Elections Canada encourages voters to wear masks but only requires them in places where they are mandated by provincial rules. Proof-of-vaccination regulations do not apply at polling stations in any province where they currently exist.
Polling stations are open for 12 hours, but the opening times vary by region, starting as early as 7 a.m. PST in British Columbia and as late as 9:30 a.m. EDT in Ontario and most of Quebec.
Most riding winners will be known by the end of the evening, but Elections Canada is also warning it could take up to four days to finish counting all the special ballots, meaning some close races may not have official winners for several days.
