The weather forecast today is a high of 15ºC and a low of 7ºC, with showers in the morning and afternoon with the possibility of a thunderstorm, says Environment Canada.
Ottawa COVID cases drop after week of high numbers
Ottawa had the lowest daily number of new cases in over a week on Tuesday, according to Ottawa Public Health. The number of active cases also dropped due to a surge in recoveries. CTV News has the details.
No charges for anti-maskers at Chinatown grocery store
Two costumers refusing to wear masks and reportedly shouting conspiracy theories were not charged after police were called to Kowloon Market, a grocery store in Ottawa’s Chinatown. Read more from the CBC.
Ontario faces criticism for handling of second wave
Premier Doug Ford’s comment that Ontario is “flattening the curve” has led to criticism for the provincial government’s “mixed messaging,” as the province’s average case growth rises to 600 new cases per day, says the CBC.
NDP supports Liberal throne speech
The Liberal government passed a confidence vote on Tuesday night with the NDP deciding to support the throne speech, after key changes requested by NDP leader Jagmeet Singh were made to the legislation. A loss of the vote would have led to a federal election. CTV News has the details.
Trebek announces Senators NHL draft pick
Alex Trebek, host of the game show Jeopardy, announced the Ottawa Senators third overall pick of the 2020 NHL draft, Tim Stützle. Watch the CBC‘s video. The Senators had three picks in this year’s draft of amateur players.
Assuming the Throne Speech’s reference to an acceleration of Canada’s development of a national pharmacare plan will not be another hollow promise of universal medication coverage, why has it taken so long for a Canadian federal government to implement one?
Liberal and Conservative governments have consistently allowed us to remain the world’s sole country that has universal healthcare but does not similarly cover prescribed medication, however necessary.
(And considering it’s a potential life-and-death issue, why has our news-media not pursued it far more than it has? Or is there an over-reliance on Big Pharma advertisement revenue?)
Not only does this make medication affordability much harder, but many low-income outpatients who cannot afford to fill their prescriptions end up back in the hospital system thus costing far more than if their generic-brand medication was covered.
Wouldn’t logic say that we cannot afford to maintain such an absurdity that costs Canada billions extra annually?
It’s not coincidental that the absence of universal medication coverage also keeps the pharmaceutical industry’s profits soaring.
Without doubt, its Ottawa lobbyists are very much worth their bloated salaries.