COVID-19 Ottawa:
Ottawa Public Health is reporting three new COVID-19 cases Wednesday, though the total number has gone down.
The City’s Top Doctor, Vera Etches, says seven cases confirmed earlier this week turned out to involve people who don’t live in our region.
According to Public Health’s new COVID Dashboard, there have been 2002 confirmed cases in the Capital, with 256 deaths, and 83 per cent of cases resolved.
COVID-19 Ontario:
Ontario is reporting 251 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday, and 11 more deaths.
That brings the province to a total of 31,341 cases, and 2,475 deaths. Wednesday marks the first day the percentage of resolved cases in the province is over 80.
Ford Getting Tested:
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is getting tested for COVID-19 after the education minister learned he had come into contact with someone who had tested positive.
Ford held a joint news conference Tuesday with Stephen Lecce to announce a child-care reopening plan, with Health Minister Christine Elliott also in attendance. Minister Lecce’s test has since come back negative.
New Brunswick Chiefs Call for Independent Inquiry:
The six chiefs of the Wolastoqey Nation want the New Brunswick government to hold an independent inquiry into what they call systemic bias against Indigenous people by police and the courts.
And they want the inquiry to be made up of a panel of legal experts from Indigenous communities. A private funeral will be held Thursday morning for 26-year-old Chantel Moore, an Indigenous woman who was shot dead by police in Edmundston during a wellness check.
Freeland Addresses RCMP Complaints:
Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland says all federal agencies, including the police, must understand and acknowledge that systemic racism is a problem in Canada.
Her comments come a day after the RCMP’s commanding officer in Alberta insisted that there is no entrenched racism in Canadian policing. Freeland says both Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Public Safety Minister Bill Blair have already spoken to R-C-M-P Commissioner Brenda Lucki about the issue.
City Service To Resume:
Some in-person city services are set to resume in the Capital next month.
City Manager Steve Kanellakos told council Wednesday that counter services at Ottawa City Hall and Ben Franklin Place, for items like marriage licences and parking permits, will resume by appointment July 6.
Kanellakos added that city sports fields would re-open for competitive play on August 4, or two weeks after provincial approval is given. Most administrative staff will still be allowed to work from home until early September.
Scooter Project Approved:
City Council has also approved a pilot project that will allow electric scooters to be used on its pathways and bike lanes.
The pilot project that will run until the end of October will see companies rent out up to 600 e-scooters.
The scooters will not be allowed on city sidewalks, or on NCC pathways.