TORONTO – 23,746 deaths, including 10,634 in Ontario, 6,290 in Quebec, and 4,620 in British Columbia. This isn’t a war report, and perhaps it’s even worse, given that we’re talking about patients who were on waiting lists for surgery or diagnostic procedures. In a healthcare system worthy of any civilized country, they would have been operated on and/or treated promptly; in Canada, instead, the wait for the surgery/treatment was so long that, in the end, they died. →
TORONTO – Hard times ahead for “bail-jumpers” in Ontario: the provincial government led by Doug Ford will soon introduce legislation that would require an accused person or their surety to provide a cash security deposit in the full amount ordered by the court. This initiative would improve bail compliance, keep violent, repeat offenders behind bars and make it easier for the province to collect forfeited bail payments when bail conditions are violated.
BELEM (Brazil) – COP 30 has once again proved to be a flop, as was the case with COP 29 last year in Baku, Azerbaijan (as we wrote here). This time, the United Nations Conference of the Parties on climate change — held in Belem, Brazil, a few days ago — almost collapsed, but a compromise was ultimately reached: a final political agreement was unanimously approved by the 195 states that participated in the conference (with Donald Trump’s United States absent). But it’s a sham agreement: there is no explicit reference to a roadmap for phasing out fossil fuels, such as coal, oil, and gas. →
TORONTO – Continued cuts to the number of international student visas, first under Justin Trudeau’s government and now under Mark Carney’s, is bringing Canadian colleges and universities to their knees.
TORONTO – The snow, although forecast, has left drivers stunned, and many of them, perhaps unprepared, have been involved in traffic accidents caused by the slipperiness of the roads. →
