RECOVERING POLITICIANS PANEL:  FORD CABINET &  GENERAL GOVERNMENT INCOMPETENCE

Libby Znaimer is joined by David Peterson, former Ontario Liberal Premier, Howard Hampton, former leader of the Ontario NDP and Hugh Segal who served as chief of staff to Ontario’s 18th Premier, the late Bill Davis.

Today: we start the discussion off with a recap of the new Ford government cabinet that saw, among other changes, Sylvia Jones take over as deputy premier and minister of health. Will Sylvia be able to fill the big shoes that her predecessor Christine Elliott left? And, we continue the discussion about government incompetence. There seems to be a lot of it these days. Some examples that come to mind include Global Affairs sending a senior rep to the Russian Embassy to celebrate Russia Day and federal transportation minister Omar Alghabra blaming travelers for problems at international airports like Pearson. Our panel weighs in on all of that and more.

HOW CANADA PERFORMED ON ITS PANDEMIC RESPONSE + FOURTH COVID-19 BOOSTERS 

Libby Znaimer is joined by Dr. Fahad Razak, The Scientific Director of the COVID-19 Science Advisory Table and York University’s Dr. Tamara Daly who is the Director of the University’s Centre for Aging Research and Education and then, Dr. Prabhat Jha who is Epidemiologist and Faculty member at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health.

Dr. Razak co-authored a study in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) that compared Canada’s pandemic response in the first two years to that of several other G10 countries. It found that Canada performed better than most in terms of “percentage of the population receiving 2 doses of a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, and on measures assessing the direct effect of the pandemic: number of people infected, number who died from COVID-19 and total excess deaths.” Canada, and especially Ontario, faced some of the most restrictive COVID-19 measures as well. However, at the same time, what is also quite clear is that our long term care sectors were hit hard by the pandemic. So, how does our government track record on protecting LTC residents compare to that of other countries?

We then pivot to the conversation of 4th COVID-19 doses. Back in April of this year, NACI recommended that adults 80 years of age and older, long term care residents and those living in other congregate settings receive their second booster. They also at one point recommended that immunocompromised individuals get their second booster six months after their third. Dr. Jha clarifies it all for us and discusses how we should approach expanding eligibility as COVID-19 continues to rage on.