Coronavirus Update: Erin O’Toole says Tories will respect vaccine mandate in House of Commons

Good evening, here are the COVID-19 updates you need to know tonight.

Top headlines:

1. Erin O’Toole says all Conservative MPs who enter the House of Commons will be fully vaccinated, but the Tory leader won’t say if every member of his caucus has had their shots
2. The ‘Great Resignation’ is happening in tandem with the pandemic – but not in Canada

In the past seven days, 16,611 cases were reported, down 17 per cent from the previous seven days. There were 236 deaths announced, down 15 per cent over the same period. At least 2,078 people are being treated in hospitals and 1,652,819 others are considered recovered.

Canada’s inoculation rate is 12th among countries with a population of one million or more people.

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Sources: Canada data is compiled from government websites, Johns Hopkins and COVID-19 Canada Open Data Working Group; international data is from Johns Hopkins University.

Coronavirus explainers: Coronavirus in maps and charts • Tracking vaccine doses • Lockdown rules and reopening

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Coronavirus in Canada

• In Ontario, Premier Doug Ford says he understands the concerns of parents who are reluctant to have their young children vaccinated against COVID-19. Meanwhile, Ontario’s science table says hosting COVID-19 vaccine clinics in schools is a key strategy in the plan to immunize children. The provincial government is also charging a nursing home with workplace safety violations, after a COVID-19 outbreak last year left eight residents and one staff member dead. And, Ontario’s rules for proof of vaccination to access indoor spaces don’t apply to the province’s approximately 1.8 million condo residents – unless condo boards decide they want them to.
• In British Columbia, 4,090 health care workers missed the deadline for mandatory COVID-19 vaccination yesterday and were placed on unpaid leave. The province expects to deliver third doses of COVID-19 vaccines to 500,000 people by the end of the year to boost waning protection for seniors, Indigenous peoples, those with suppressed immune systems and some health care workers. The majority of British Columbians will be offered a third dose beginning in January. Meanwhile, the COVID-19 pandemic may be contributing to an increase in random assaults in Vancouver, experts say.
• Quebec won’t mandate COVID-19 vaccines for workers in the education sector as the COVID-19 situation improves in the province and vaccination rates in the sector are high, the province’s Health Department said.

In Ottawa, Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole held a caucus meeting today to discuss the Tories’ position on mandatory vaccination in the House of Commons and what it means for unvaccinated members.

• O’Toole says his party will challenge the vaccine mandate that was set by the board of internal economy, an all-party committee that governs how the Commons operates. The board decided last week to make vaccines mandatory for everyone entering the House precinct who doesn’t have a medical exemption.
• Further, he would not say whether his entire caucus is vaccinated. He did say that every Conservative member in the House of Commons will be vaccinated.

Coronavirus around the world

• Beijing is promising a “simple and safe” 2022 Olympic Games as China sits 100 days away from hosting thousands of athletes and personnel as it battles flare-ups of COVID-19.
• The British finance minister announced what he called the biggest cut in taxes on beer in decades in an effort to boost pubs’ revenue as they struggle to recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

Coronavirus and business

The ‘Great Resignation’? It’s not happening in Canada – at least, not yet.

• There is little evidence to suggest that people here are resigning en masse. Instead, it appears that Canadians are exercising some caution as the economy recovers from the worst shock in generations due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Meanwhile, the U.S. numbers suggest a very different situation is playing out. In August, 2.9 per cent of American workers (or 4.3 million people) quit their jobs – the highest share ever recorded in data that go back two decades.

Also today: Toronto-Dominion Bank is giving all non-executive employees a one-time gift of five shares of the bank’s stock to recognize their work through the COVID-19 pandemic.

And: Nearly half of Canadian workers are worried they will be viewed less favourably and lose out on promotion opportunities if they work remotely in a hybrid model, according to a survey commissioned by tech company Cisco.

Also see: When it comes to condos, there’s no clear COVID-19 proof-of-vaccination protocols

Globe opinion

• Irvin Studin: Canada’s postpandemic future turns on excellence in education

More reporting

• Prime Minister and state premier trade shots over whether to allow unvaccinated players to compete at Australian Open
• Bank of Canada to end its quantitative easing program – a measure launched at the start of the pandemic

Information centre

• Everything you need to know about Canada’s travel restrictions for vaccinated and unvaccinated people
• Waiting for a second dose? We answer your COVID-19 vaccine questions
• What is and isn’t ‘paid sick leave’ in Canada? A short primer
• Got a vaccine ‘hangover’? Here’s why

Sources: Canada data are compiled from government websites, Johns Hopkins University and COVID-19 Canada Open Data Working Group; international data are from Johns Hopkins.

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