Office of the Mayor and Council update
April 30, 2021
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Limited supply slows Halton’s ability to vaccinate
Given limited supply Halton Region is only able to open COVID-19 vaccination appointments to Halton residents 50+ who cannot work from home at this time. We are opening appointments as quickly as supplies are received from the Province.
This week the Province has dedicated 25 per cent of vaccine allocations to hot spot communities across the 13 public health unit regions. Starting Monday, May 3 and continuing through the week of May 10, the Province will dedicate 50 per cent of vaccine allocations to hot spot communities. Vaccines will resume being allocated on a per capita basis during the week of May 17.
Halton follows the Province’s direction on vaccine prioritization. Our ability to open appointments to more residents is reliant on vaccine supply from Federal and Provincial governments. As Chair Gary Carr has stated, we have the capacity to double the amount of people we vaccinate each day if we get more vaccines.
Please keep well, stay safe, and let me know of any chance to help by emailing mayor@oakville.ca.
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Halton pharmacies vaccinating 40+ pending supply
Select pharmacies in Halton are now offering the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines for all adults aged 40 years of age and over – born in or before 1981. However, due to supply challenges, certain pharmacies offering the COVID-19 vaccine may be out of stock. Please check with the pharmacy first and visit https://covid-19.ontario.ca/vaccine-locations for a complete list of participating pharmacies or book an appointment.
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New Save Glen Abbey campaign discussed on Oakville Matters
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Three community groups have joined forces to preserve Glen Abbey. The new campaign is discussed.
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Oakville Chamber of Commerce launches new series Oakville on Deck
Mayor Burton: Tuesday, May 11 at 11:30 a.m.
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To see today’s updated COVID-19 statistics for Oakville from Halton’s Public Health Unit CLICK HERE
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Oakville Town Council, pictured here following the election in 2018, represents seven wards with a Town and Regional and Town Councillor in each riding.
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There are currently 232 Active Cases in Oakville and 37 COVID-19 patients being cared for at OTMH (this number includes transfers from facilities outside of Halton Region).
Confirmed cases in Oakville increased by + 30 from 4582 to 4612 with + 142 new confirmed cases in Halton from 14,440 to 14,582
There were + 52 new reported recoveries in Oakville from 4,422 to 4474 and + 299 new recoveries in Halton from 13,680 to 13,979
Ontario is reporting 3,887 new cases today, bringing the total to 463,364. Of those, 417,252 are resolved with 8,050 deaths. Currently there are 2,2 p01atients in hospital, 883 of whom are in ICU with 632 of those on ventilators.
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Source: Public Health Ontario
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Halton COVID-19 Monitoring Dashboard
The indicators are based on the Ontario Public Health Unit Core Indicators for COVID-19 Monitoring, with targets adapted to the local Halton context and population. Together the indicators are intended to provide an overall snapshot of current local data on the COVID-19 pandemic, to keep the community informed and assist with local decision-making.
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As of early this morning — before Nova Scotia's update — Canada had reported 1,211,089 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 83,452 considered active. A tally of deaths stood at 24,169.
As of early Wednesday morning, more than 150.5 million cases of COVID-19 had been reported worldwide, according to a coronavirus tracking database maintained by Johns Hopkins University. The reported global death toll stood at more than 3.1 million.
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Halton's COVID-19 vaccination program
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COVID-19 vaccines for Ontario
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As of Friday at 8:25 am CST, more than 13,249,167 doses of approved COVID-19 vaccines have been administered across Canada.
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Town of Oakville Announcements
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Strategy outlines the town’s priorities to respond to the climate emergency
Council received an update on the Community Energy Strategy at this week’s Council meeting, outlining some of the key energy projects being completed in response to the climate emergency declared by the town in June 2019.
In February 2020, Council unanimously endorsed Oakville’s Community Energy Strategy presented by the Oakville Energy Task Force, which sets community goals for improving energy efficiency, reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and enhancing the local economy. The Strategy establishes a collective pathway for mitigating the impacts of climate change and directly supports the climate emergency declaration.
Along with the Strategy’s endorsement, Council committed to providing financial and in-kind support for the Oakville Energy Task Force to develop a non-profit called Future Energy Oakville Centre (FEO). FEO’s mandate is to champion community-driven energy solutions through the implementation of the Community Energy Strategy.
“The town and the Task Force have made significant progress in the first year of implementing the Community Energy Strategy, carrying forward the community-driven spirit in which the Strategy was developed. The town, along with cross-sector stakeholders and residents, collaborated over 2020 and I believe that community engagement and that community buy-in is essential. This effort is gaining attention globally as an innovative and a best practice approach to community energy implementation,” said Mayor Burton.
The town continues to play a role as a key stakeholder in implementing the Strategy, along with members of the Task Force, and multiple town departments are leading initiatives that directly support the Strategy’s 2020 – 2025 priority projects. The following highlights just some of the town-led initiatives that have been completed or are underway:
- Collaboration with Natural Resources Canada to install 46 public electric vehicle charging stations across the community by December 2021. Currently 14 of the 46 have been installed and are available for use.
- Successfully secured over $48 million from the Province and Government of Canada to begin the transition and expansion of Oakville’s public transit fleet with fully battery-electric buses. Over the next six years approximately 50 per cent of Oakville Transit’s fleet will be converted from diesel to battery electric power.
- GHG emissions reduction of corporate facilities is ahead of schedule to meeting the 2024 target established in the 2020 Corporate Energy Conservation and Demand Management Plan. This has been a result of lighting retrofits, energy conservation projects, retro-commissioning at various facilities and an overall increase in staff engagement on energy management initiatives.
- Collaboration with and funding from the Consulate of Denmark in Toronto to study the opportunities for district energy in the community of Oakville through feasibility studies.
These initiatives highlight the significant progress made to implement the Community Energy Strategy, even with the COVID-19 pandemic requiring adjustments to the timelines and approaches.
In light of that, the town and community continues to play an important role in reducing our impact on climate change, to advance Council’s vision for Oakville: to be the most livable town in Canada.
Review the staff report, item 9.3 on the April 26 Council Agenda Addendum. For more information on the Community Energy Strategy visit oakville.ca.
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New COVID-19 cases are emerging at numerous well-known stores across Halton region Friday (April 30).
Metro is reporting an employee at its Food Basics store on Guelph Line in Burlington has tested positive for COVID-19, with their last day worked being April 24.
Metro is also reporting Friday that an employee at its grocery store on Upper Middle Road in Oakville has tested positive for coronavirus, with the infected worker's last day on the job being April 13.
Read the full story
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The Oakville Chamber of Commerce and the Rotary Club of Oakville West are thrilled to announce the finalists for the 26th Annual Oakville Awards for Business Excellence!
The Oakville Awards for Business Excellence are dedicated to recognizing exemplary models for business excellence and community service by Oakville’s businesses and the invaluable contribution to Oakville’s economic development, unique character, and outstanding quality of life.
Read the full story
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Canada’s minister of environment and climate change, Jonathan Wilkinson, addressed the Oakville Chamber of Commerce during a virtual presentation on Tuesday, April 27.
So, what is he going to do to combat climate change?
Read the story to find out
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After spending 10 years and $100 million on a proposed state-of-the-art sewage facility in York, Ontario is now looking at sending millions of litres of sewage into Lake Ontario.
Read the full story
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Initiative provides families and students with more financial relief during COVID-19
The Ontario government is extending the current one-year tuition freeze for colleges and universities by an additional year, providing more financial relief and predictability for families and students seeking access to affordable postsecondary education.
“Students and their families make significant sacrifices to attend college and university,” said Ross Romano, Minister of Colleges and Universities. “The financial uncertainty due to the COVID-19 pandemic further underscores the need to keep college and university programs affordable. By freezing tuition our government is continuing to reduce the financial strain on families’ pocketbooks.”
The one-year tuition freeze for Ontario residents builds on Ontario’s historic 10 per cent reduction in tuition in 2019-20, and one-year tuition freeze in 2020-21, making postsecondary education more affordable for Ontario students and their families. These reductions represent the first of their kind in Ontario’s history. The government’s action to reduce and freeze tuition has provided students with tuition relief of approximately $450 million annually when compared to tuition costs in 2018-19.
“It is critical to the economic recovery of Ontario that today's students, and tomorrow's leaders, innovators and workers can obtain the skills they need to succeed in a highly competitive global economy,” said Minister Romano. “The extended tuition freeze will ensure Ontarians have affordable access to our first-class postsecondary education system and will provide financial relief to our families.”
In addition to the freeze, the tuition framework for domestic out-of-province students will return to a system similar to the previous framework with the option for a three per cent increase in 2021-22.
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First digital and data strategy emphasizes online privacy and security, supports economic recovery to help people and businesses prosper in a digital world
The Ontario Government is introducing its first Digital and Data Strategy, Building a Digital Ontario, which brings the province one step closer to becoming a world-leading digital jurisdiction. This strategy includes over two dozen new and established initiatives that will equip the province’s people and businesses to succeed, and will play a critical role keeping Ontarians safe, secure, connected and supported in the digital world. Many jurisdictions around the globe have already begun this work, and Ontario is now laying the foundation to ensure that the province is meeting and exceeding the work of other jurisdictions.
Building a Digital Ontario is the culmination of over two years of consultations with individuals and businesses about their digital and data priorities. They told government that the province needs clear direction and leadership from the government on these priorities, and that there needs to be a greater focus on protecting people’s privacy, data rights and online security. The strategy responds directly to this feedback, which will shape the future of service delivery for the province, support Ontario’s economic recovery and help cultivate future growth.
As an extension of the ongoing transformational work of Ontario Onwards: Ontario's COVID-19 Action Plan for a People-Focused Government, the Digital and Data Strategy is another way the government is working to give the people of Ontario more convenient, reliable and accessible services, now and for years to come.
“People expect and deserve access to vital programs and services digitally, at their fingertips, with unprecedented speed and convenience. That’s why our government has been rapidly expanding access to online options while preserving in-person services, investing in innovation and harnessing the power of technology,” said Peter Bethlenfalvy, President of the Treasury Board, Minister of Finance and Minister responsible for Digital and Data Transformation. “Building a Digital Ontario is our plan to keep Ontarians safe and secure online, while mobilizing new opportunities for economic growth in a more connected world.”
Building a Digital Ontario will help ensure the people of Ontario are:
- Equipped to succeed — Ontarians will have the skills and access to participate and work in a digital world;
- Safe and Secure — people will trust that their privacy is protected and they are safe when they interact or do business online;
- Connected — Ontarians will have access to the data they need to make good decisions for their health, education, life and business; and
- Supported — people will enjoy convenient, reliable and accessible citizen-centred services that are available when and where they need them.
The Strategy will also track the government’s digital progress, and includes bold new initiatives such as a ‘Know Your Data Rights’ website and consultations to establish a new provincial Data Authority, which will position Ontario as a digital leader on the world stage.
In summer 2021, Ontario is inviting the public, organizations and businesses to help us shape the design of a new provincial Data Authority — the first of its kind in Canada. It will be responsible for building modern data infrastructure to support economic and social growth, while ensuring that information is private, secure, anonymous and cannot identify people individually. The Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario will be consulted throughout the development of the Data Authority. The Data Authority will house datasets from across the province online and set out the rules of the road for how we value, manage and use this data in our daily lives.
An Ontario Data Authority would work with trusted partners such as research organizations and municipalities to leverage secure and reliable data sources to understand our province, do business, grow the economy, and respond to changing labour trends. For example:
- Small business owners could find better information about community needs and local services and supports, so they can get their products to market faster;
- Farmers and crop producers could find the information they need to optimize production, processing and distribution of local foods to maximize yields and drive greater economic growth to deliver the world’s safest food supply; and
- A local government could conveniently access data about labour markets across the province, so they can find and attract skilled workers to their region — something the province heard directly during consultations.
Ontario is also starting work in 2021 on a new website called ’Know Your Data Rights,’ a trusted source of information to help Ontarians learn how to better protect their personal data, take action if their rights are not being respected, and stay safe online. The website will help people make more informed decisions about how, when and where they share personal information online, and who they share it with. It will also offer guidance to businesses about how to keep customer data safe and how to meet key privacy and security requirements.
“A customer-centric digital experience is what busy Ontarians and businesses deserve when they interact with our government,” said Lisa Thompson, Minister of Government and Consumer Services. “Our Digital and Data Strategy is packed with industry-leading cyber solutions, data standards, and protections that form the foundation for accessible, reliable, and secure government programs and services. Building a Digital Ontario will strengthen practices across the public service and put Ontario ahead of the pack in our increasingly digital operating environment.”
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Canadian military health-care and other personnel will start helping Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre's field hospital and ICU in Toronto starting Friday, part of its deployment to Ontario hospitals strained under COVID-19 caseloads. Talks are ongoing about Hamilton's and other hospitals' needs.
Read the full story
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During a Thursday teleconference call, premiers pressed the prime minister to do more on borders and to step up for provincial sick leave programs.
Read the full story
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Ontario Premier Doug Ford's government has sent the federal government a letter asking for quarantine measures at Canada's airports to be extended to the land border with the United States, CBC News has learned.
Read the full story
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"There's clear reason for hope, but this hope requires a commitment, dead-set determination to see the job through."
Read the full story
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Ontario's commission on how and why COVID-19 ravaged long-term care homes is expected to deliver its report today. But those watching the system say not enough has changed as a result of the pandemic, and residents are paying the price of isolation that may now be doing more harm than good.
Read the full story
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Toronto is on track to have 40 per cent of adults vaccinated against COVID-19 with at least one dose by this weekend. It’s a step toward the Ontario government’s goal of reaching that threshold across the province by Monday.
Read the full story
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Today, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, the Honourable Chrystia Freeland, introduced Bill C-30, An Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on April 19, 2021, and other measures. This legislation will enact the government’s plan to finish the fight against COVID-19, create jobs, grow the economy, and ensure a robust economic recovery that brings all Canadians along.
Bill C-30 includes key measures that would:
- Provide predictable funding to establish a Canada-wide early learning and child care system.
- Bridge Canadians and Canadian businesses through the third wave of the virus and towards recovery, including:
- The extension of the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy, the Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy, and Lockdown Support until September 25, 2021; and
- The extension of important income support for Canadians such as the Canada Recovery Benefit and the Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit.
- Increase Old Age Security (OAS) for seniors age 75 and older to provide them with better financial security.
- Enhance the Canada Workers Benefit, which will mean more money for low-income Canadians, support about 1 million more Canadians, and lift nearly 100,000 people out of poverty.
- Enhance Employment Insurance sickness benefits from 15 to 26 weeks.
- Establish a $15 federal minimum wage.
- Extend the waiver of interest on federal student and apprentice loans to March 2023.
- Establish the new Canada Recovery Hiring Program, which will help businesses with the costs of hiring new workers.
- Enhance the Canada Small Business Financing Program through amendments to the Canada Small Business Financing Act, including broader eligibility and increased loan limits to facilitate greater access to financing for small businesses.
- Provide an emergency top up of $5 billion for province and territories – specifically $4 billion through the Canada Health Transfer to help provinces and territories address immediate health care system pressures and $1 billion to support vaccine rollout campaigns across the country.
- Provide $2.2 billion to address short-term infrastructure priorities in municipalities and First Nations communities. The funds would flow through the federal Gas Tax Fund, proposed to be renamed as the Canada Community-Building Fund.
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More than 2,000 people returning to Canada since the federal government brought in mandatory hotel quarantines have tested positive for COVID-19 and more than a quarter of them were infected with a variant of concern.
Read the full story
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Maj.-Gen. Dany Fortin, the military commander leading vaccine logistics at the Public Health Agency of Canada, said today that Moderna will deliver one million more vaccine doses during the week of May 10.
Read the full story
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As Canadian officials forecast a rapid increase in new COVID-19 vaccines, new data shows that the current federal supply may not be enough to keep up with provincial vaccinations.
Read the full story
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When several provinces eased restrictions, reacting to a downward curve in overall COVID-19 cases, a rising arc of more-infectious variants was already on a trajectory to thrust Canada into a third wave of infections, a CBC News data analysis reveals.
Read the full story
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Seniors are getting vaccinated in higher numbers for COVID-19 than they did for the flu, Health Canada data suggest.
Deputy Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Howard Njoo says almost nine in 10 Canadians over the age of 80 have now received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Read the full story
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A southern Alberta mother and father are grappling with the sudden, unexplained death of their 17-year-old daughter. With few answers, they're wondering if she could be the youngest victim of COVID-19 in the province.
Read the full story
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Brazil on Thursday became the second country to officially top 400,000 COVID-19 deaths, losing another 100,000 lives in just one month, as some health experts warn there may be gruesome days ahead when the Southern Hemisphere enters winter.
Read the full story
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People who break health rules by holding parties that lead to death from COVID-19 should heed the warning from a British Columbia judge about facing a manslaughter charge.
Read the full story
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New research out of the United States is driving home what public health officials and COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers have been repeating for months: two doses are better than one.
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A new study is suggesting that physical distancing may not be the key to preventing the spread of COVID-19 in indoor settings. Instead, the duration of time spent in an indoor location, along with mask usage, may be a better indicator of your risk and how much opportunity there is to breathe in airborne particles.
Read the full story
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Food Banks experiencing record demand
Oakville's food banks are in record-breaking demand. If you can donate anything, please do. Your help is needed.
Fareshare Food Bank Oakville:
905-847-3988
oakvillefoodbank@gmail.com
Kerr Street Mission
905-845-7485
kerrstreet.com
The Salvation Army Oakville
salvationarmy.ca
Oakville Meals on Wheels continues to operate
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Oakville Meals on Wheels continues to operate under increased safety measures.
Learn more
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Oakville Fare Share Food Bank new hours
The demand for service at the Oakville Fare Share Food Bank have almost doubled over the last nine months and as a result, hours will increase to serve everyone.
The new hours are:
Monday 9.30 am to 2.30 p.m.
Thursday 2 to 7 p.m.
This is an increase of two hours per week and will continue until at least the end of February
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