November Newsletter 2020

Posted: November 1, 2020

By: Mary Farrar, Friends of Kingston Inner Harbour

Dear Friends of Kingston Inner Harbour,
Thanks Tim Yearington for the image about ALL the people of the four directions. As Tim says “We are all related. We must aim to merge and come together at centre. The ‘great bird’ flying at the Centre represents our shared human spirit of humankind. We need to consciously remember to be kind to humankind.”
Especially relevant in these difficult times!
We are currently involved in two long and complicated final reports for the September canoe build as well as considerations as to what the following year might entail.  More anon in due course….

1) FKIH AGM, Thurs, Nov 29, 7 pm, Frontenac Village Condo
2) Carbon Monoxide Awareness Week
3) Restaurant Safety during COVID
4) Your New Hydro Bill – Rising Costs as of Nov 1, 2020
5) Council Hires First Peoples’ Group, Indigenous Consultants
6) Ranked Ballots: Councillor Kiley’s Motion
7) Lack of Transparency in COVID reporting by Province

UPLIFTING AND INTERESTING:
15) Amazing Maps
16) Do Forest Grow Better by Themselves or with Human Help?
17) Powerful Indigenous Poem about the Canoe and Lost Cultural Memory

1) FKIH AGM: Thurs, Nov 19, 7 pm, party room of Frontenac Village Condo
Due to COVID, only ten participants are allowed in this indoor space with appropriate social distancing. We are currently seven: President, Secretary, Treasurer, prospective new Secretary and three voting members which allows for three more only.  If you are interested in attending, please contact me at inverarymary@yahoo.com or 613-544-1246.  First come first served.

2) Carbon Monoxide Awareness Week
Received Nov 2, 2020 from Kingston Fire and Rescue
Ontario’s Carbon Monoxide Awareness Week runs from November 1-7, and Kingston Fire & Rescue (KFR) reminds you to prevent carbon monoxide (CO) in your home by getting all fuel-burning appliances inspected annually.
“In Ontario, more than 65 per cent of injuries and deaths from CO occur in the home,” said Chief Shawn Armstrong. “We want to make sure everyone is safe from CO. Get all fuel-burning appliances inspected by a registered contractor.” Visit COSafety.ca to find a registered contractor near you.
KFR also reminds you to install CO alarms in your home if you have a fuel-burning appliance, a fireplace or an attached garage. Fuel-burning appliances can include furnaces, hot water heaters, gas or wood fireplaces, portable fuel-burning heaters and generators, barbeques, stoves and vehicles.
“You must have a working CO alarm adjacent to each sleeping area of the home if your home has a fuel-burning appliance, a fireplace or an attached garage,” said Chief Armstrong. “For added protection, install a carbon monoxide alarm on every storey of the home according to manufacturer’s instructions.”
If you live in a condo or apartment building which is served by a central service room, CO alarms must be installed in the central service room and adjacent to each sleeping area of all homes above, below and beside the buildings central service room. In condo or apartment buildings that have a garage, CO alarms must be installed adjacent to each sleeping area of all homes above, below and beside the garage.

What is CO? CO is known as the silent killer because it is an invisible, tasteless and odourless gas that can be deadly. CO is produced when fuels such as propane, gasoline, natural gas, heating oil or wood do not burn completely in fuel-burning appliances and devices such as furnaces, gas or wood fireplaces, hot water heaters, stoves, barbeques, portable fuel-burning heaters and generators and vehicles.
Prevent CO in your home:
Ensure fuel-burning appliances, chimneys and vents are cleaned and inspected annually. Visit COSafety.ca to find a registered contractor near you.
Check that all outside appliance vents are not blocked.
Gas and charcoal barbeques should only be used outside, away from all doors, windows, vents, and other building openings. Never use barbeques inside garages, even if the garage doors are open.
Portable fuel-burning generators should only be used outdoors in well-ventilated areas away from windows, doors, vents and other building openings.
Ensure all portable fuel-burning heaters are vented properly, according to manufacturer’s instructions.
Never use the stove or oven to heat your home.
Open the flu before using a fireplace for adequate ventilation.
Never run a vehicle or other fueled engine or motor inside a garage, even if the garage doors are open. Always remove a vehicle from the garage immediately after starting it.
Know the symptoms of CO:
Exposure to CO can cause flu-like symptoms such as headaches, nausea, dizziness, as well as confusion, drowsiness, loss of consciousness and death.
If your CO alarm sounds, and you or other occupants suffer from symptoms of CO poisoning, get everyone out of the home immediately. Then call 9-1-1 or your local emergency services number from outside the building.
If your CO alarm sounds, and no one is suffering from symptoms of CO poisoning, check to see if the battery needs replacing, or the alarm has reached its “end-of-life” before calling 9-1-1.
Know the sound of your CO alarm:
Your CO alarm sounds different than your smoke alarm. Test both alarms monthly and make sure everyone in your home knows the difference between the two alarm sounds.
Don’t be confused by the sound of your CO alarm’s low-battery warning. Follow your CO alarm manufacturer’s instructions so you know the difference between the low-battery warning, the “end-of-life” warning, and the alarm alerting you to the presence of CO in your home.
For more CO safety tips, visit the Office of the Fire Marshal and Emergency Management’s website and COsafety.ca.

3) Restaurant Safety during COVID
https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/10/28/1011261/how-to-make-restaurants-safer/ember 2020

4) Your New Hydro Bill – Rising Costs as of Nov 1, 2020
You have two choices:  You can revert to the old “Time of Use” (TOU) system where pricing is based on usage at different times of the day – but with increases in price.  (If you do nothing, you will automatically have been switched to this system as of Nov 1 rather that the one size fits all system the Provincial Government put in place during the early days of COVID.)
OR, if your usage is VERY low, you could choose a “Tiered” system.
Thanks so much to Jim Keetch of Utilities Kingston for this useful correspondence with Barb Schlafer, one of our members, about this Provincial Government framework:
“You can choose…
The current electricity commodity fixed rate of 12.8 ¢/kWh for RPP TOU customers will no longer be in effect November 1st. The new rates for TOU and TIERED are shown below.
The new TOU prices set by the OEB for November 1, 2020:
– Off-Peak (Weekdays 7 p.m. – 7 a.m., all day weekends and holidays) 10.5 ¢/kWh
.- Mid-Peak (Weekdays 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.) 15.0 ¢/kWh
– On-Peak (Weekdays 7 a.m. – 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. – 7 p.m.) 21.7 ¢/kWh
The new TIERED prices set by the OEB for November 1, 2020:
– Tier 1 Residential – first 1,000 kWh/month  12.6 ¢/kWh
– Tier 2 Residential – for electricity used above 1,000 kWh/month 14.6 ¢/kWh
On the OEB website there is a calculator to compare bill impacts for TOU vs TIERED using your consumption pattern. For the winter, with the residential TIERED first block threshold set at 1000kWh, what we see generally is that there is savings to switch to TIERED if your residential consumption during the winter is less than 1000kWh per month.
My quick guess is it will cost more either way
Jim”

5) Council Hires First Peoples’ Group, Indigenous Consultants
Received Oct 21, 2020 from the Kingstonist – Samantha Butler-Hassan
“Council Approves Next Steps in Reconciliation, MacDonald Legacy Projects
As part of the City’s reconciliation efforts, council has voted to remove Macdonald’s name from the train engine monument in Confederation Park.
City councillors have agreed to move ahead in pursuit of a sole source contract with First People’s Group, an Indigenous advisory firm in Ottawa that specialize in management consulting and reconciliation.
The City is embarking on the third phase of its Indigenous reconciliation initiative, “Engage for Change: #YGK Reconciliation Journey,” with community meetings planned for November.
At their meeting on Tuesday, Oct 20, 2020, Council approved Cultural Director Colin Wiginton to enter into a sole source agreement with First Peoples Group to provide advisory and consultation services in support of:
Engage for Change, Phase III;
Your Stories, Our Histories;
The Third Crossing project;
Intergovernmental Relations; and
Council support and Staff Training.
The total approved cost for their services is $182,500, exclusive of HST and travel expenses.”
More Info? – City Report: https://www.cityofkingston.ca/documents/10180/38720672/City-Council_Meeting-26-2020_Report-20-227_Approval-of-Sole-Source-Agreement-First-Peoples-Group.pdf/effdc0be-1198-754c-4a54-9e914a7ea597?t=1602775199431

Further information can be found at the Kingstonist including:
a)  Councillor Chapelle’s opposition to this single source agreement and his suggestion that city resources could be better spent by hiring a local person to work with the city,
b) Councillor Kiley’s commendation of the previous work of the First Peoples’Group, and
c) Councillor Holland’s thoughts on the Sir John A MacDonald controversies.
According to the City of Kingston, there are approximately seven thousand people in Kingston who publicly identify as First Nations, Métis or Inuit.

6) Ranked Ballots: Councillor Kiley’s Motion
https://www.kingstonist.com/culture/opinion/open-letter-to-minister-steve-clark-re-ranked-ballots-bill-218/

7) Lack of Transparency in COVID Reporting by Province
Received from the Ontario Health Coalition, Nov 4, 2020
Data & Communication Still Poor, Only One Public Health Unit is Reporting All Outbreaks with Names of Businesses Toronto – As COVID-19 cases in Ontario’s general population hit an all-time, increasing 24% in two weeks from October 13, 2020 to October 28, 2020, the Ontario Health Coalition released its most recent outbreaks report for non-health care settings. It is available here: https://www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca/index.php/report-tracking-of-covid-19-outbreaks-in-non-health-care-settings-data-updated-to-october-28/ The Ontario Health Coalition reported that clear data on how the virus is being transmitted amongst the general population is still not available. Peel, with the highest rate of case positivity (6.5% of people tested are testing positive) did not contact trace 16.9% of the cases in the last week of October. In the same period, the proportions of COVID-positive cases that have not been contact traced in other “hot spots” are: Toronto 65%; Durham 27.5%; Ottawa 48.8%. During the two-week period ending October 28, even with insufficient reporting in almost all public health units, we were able to find that several industries are far surpassing the growth in cases among the general public.
Cases in school have grown the most significantly, increasing 67.76% in two weeks while general community spread increased 24% in those same two weeks.
Retail outbreaks have continued to grow at a rate of 27.97% in this reporting period and outbreaks public services have also grown at a rate of 26.34% in this report.
Developmental services have also seen a significant increase, growing 21.26% in two weeks. While the Ontario government is reporting all cases in schools on their website, they are only classifying 233 cases out of 2,001 cases (11.6% of school cases) as being a part of an outbreak. The government has adopted a different definition of “outbreak” in schools, requiring a known epi-link, which means proven, direct contact or exposure between cases. But students and teachers share washrooms, playgrounds, buses, gyms, locker spaces and other common areas. The bottom line is that growth in the numbers of cases in schools is far higher than in the general public, there is no explanation for this in the Public Health data, and there is no way to verify the quality and thoroughness of contact tracing that is being done in schools. But the much higher growth in school COVID-positive case numbers should raise questions about what is happening.   There appears to be no plan to improve public information and data about where transmission is occurring, to provide resources for contact tracing in Toronto and other hot spots, or to require the release of information about outbreaks in workplaces. This raises serious questions: what is the goal of Ontario’s COVID response? What are the plans for the sectors that are seeing increases far above the general population’s? If the market is going to be allowed to rule, and we are not condoning this approach, then why cannot people be given full information to make safer choices? Even with our best efforts at tracking, we were only able to find a small portion of cases in workplace outbreaks by name of the facility, because only Hamilton Public Health is reporting all local workplace outbreaks. Ottawa and York are reporting congregate care (Developmental Homes and Social Services), Windsor-Essex and Chatham Kent are reporting agriculture cases and Toronto is not reporting any workplace outbreaks at all outside of schools, long-term care, retirement homes and homeless shelters.

And this,
“Almost Four Dozen People Who applied to Testify Before the Ontario Legislature’s Standing Committee on Bill 218 Limiting Legal Liability for COVID-19 Liability for COVID-19 Harms for Long-Term Care Homes and Others, Cut out of Hearings Today.
Toronto –  Increasingly frustrated with the lack of accountability for the response to COVID-19 in Ontario’s long-term care homes, Coalition executive director Natalie Mehra called today’s revelation that dozens of people who applied for standing in today’s legislative hearings on Bill 218 which limits legal liability for the home operators, “Injustice heaped upon injustice,” for the families of those who have died. A number of family members and their lawyers were among those cut from the hearings, as the Ford government has limited the hearings to one part-day meaning that there are only 15 spaces for people to be heard. The government gave almost no notice for the hearings, which are being held this afternoon, so families spent hours in the past two days reliving the horrors of the last days of their loved ones lives while trying to write up their presentations, only to find that they will not be heard, Ms. Mehra reported. “It is heartbreaking, just so wrong,” she said. Fifty-eight people applied for standing and only 15 are being heard. The practice of severely limiting public hearings has reached unprecedented levels under the Ford government which has also changed the rules of the Legislature to enable themselves to pass bills with unprecedented speed. “There is no reason that the government cannot extend the hearings to one more day to hear from people who have been directly impacted in the most devastating of ways,” she said. “We are calling on the government to extend the hearings and give the families the ability to have input on this legislation that directly impacts their attempt to seek justice.” Bill 218 raises the legal bar for those suing for COVID-19 harms to gross negligence from simple negligence. It redefines “good faith effort” which usually means a reasonable and competent effort to say that long-term care and retirement homes, among others, just had to make an “honest effort, whether reasonable or not”, thereby making it both harder to sue and easier to defend. It makes these measures retroactive to March 17, 2020, the week that COVID-19 began to spread in long-term care homes, impacting more than two dozen class action and legal suits that are already underway against for-profit long-term care homes that were responsible for more than half of the COVID-19 deaths in Ontario’s homes in the first wave of the pandemic, a trend that is shaping up to be the same or worse in the second wave, reported the Coalition. The Health Coalition, which opposes these measures for long-term care and retirement homes, will testify before the Standing Committee on Justice Policy at 1 p.m. today and will call on the committee to extend the hearings.   ITEMS # 8-14 FROM THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE:
Council denies Picton Terminals’ rezoning for cruise ships, more storage, County Live (Bloomfield, Ontario), October 22, 2020.  Prince Edward County council presented a united front at Wednesday night’s planning meeting in unanimously denying the Picton Terminals application for re-zoning to allow a Great Lakes cruise ship port destination, and expanded open storage for goods and materials.  “I do not think what is being proposed here is appropriate for this community.  It’s too big.  It has the potential to fundamentally change Prince Edward County for years and years to come,” said Mayor Steve Ferguson.  Council and staff are aware an appeal can be made to the Land Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT).  Mayor Ferguson noted Picton Terminals owner Ben Doornekamp has stated previously he would appeal the decision if rezoning were to be denied.

Archaeological findings should stop Enbridge Line 5 project, group says, Seeking Alpha, October 22, 2020 (also appeared in the Wall Street Journal).  A Native American group says it wants to stop Enbridge’s Line 5 oil pipeline project after members found numerous culturally significant man-made rock patterns below Michigan’s Straits of Mackinac near the project that could date back 10,000 years.  The group hopes it has enough evidence to halt the project and has submitted its findings to the state as a public comment on two of the 10 major permits Enbridge needs to begin construction on its proposed tunnel project.

Global Pandemic Could Lead To Restructuring Of Canadian Supply Chains, Yahoo! Finance, October 20, 2020.  The COVID-19 pandemic has led Canadian businesses to source more inputs from domestic suppliers, a shift that could permanently change how supply chains are managed in this country, new research from The Conference Board of Canada has found.  Responding to the Global Commerce Centre’s latest trade survey, many Canadian organizations said they shifted their supply chains more toward domestic suppliers during the global pandemic.  An even greater share of survey respondents said they plan to continue sourcing more inputs from local suppliers after the pandemic is over.  More than 40 per cent of the businesses that responded to the Global Commerce Centre’s survey said that they are planning to source more inputs from local suppliers after the pandemic concludes.  For large and medium-sized organizations, the share of respondents planning to source more inputs from local suppliers after the pandemic is over was even larger at 50 per cent

CNL Awarded Transport Canada Contract to Research Clean Energy Technologies to Decarbonize Marine Sector, Press Release, Canadian Nuclear Laboratories, October 26, 2020. Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a contract by Transport Canada to develop an assessment tool to examine clean technologies that could reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the release of other pollutants from marine vessels. Using what is known as CNL’s Marine-Zero FuelTM (MaZeFTM) Assessment Tool, the objective is to help Canada assess and pursue the use of hydrogen and other clean energy technologies to transition away from traditional forms of fuel that are contributing to marine pollution and climate change.
  Minister Garneau announces new regulations to improve marine safety, security and the protection of marine environments in Canada, Canada NewsWire, October 28, 2020 (also appeared at Markets Insider – Business Insider and at Yahoo! Finance).  The Government of Canada has reached another milestone in its commitment to keep improving the safety of Canada’s transportation sector by modernizing legislation and regulations.  The Minister of Transport, the Honourable Marc Garneau, today announced that the Government of Canada has published the new Marine Navigation Safety Regulations, 2020, which now apply to commercial vessels of all sizes, including fishing vessels, workboats, water taxis and ferries.  The Marine Navigation Safety Regulations, 2020, also include enhanced requirements to address important safety issues.  The new regulations, which reflect extensive consultation with Canadians and the marine industry, represent a consolidation of nine existing sets of marine safety regulations into a single one

Large cruise ship ban in Canadian waters extended until at least February, Global News (Toronto, Ontario), October 29, 2020 (also appeared at CTV News, Canada NewsWire, at Markets Insider – Business Insider, at Canada, in the Orangeville Banner and at Yahoo! Finance).  Transport Minister Marc Garneau says big cruise ships will be banned from Canadian waters at least until the end of February now.  The same extension is being applied to the ban on smaller vessels carrying 12 or more passengers in Arctic coastal waters.  Cruise ships were early hot spots for COVID-19 with hundreds of passengers falling ill and ships being stranded at sea as multiple countries began refusing them in ports.  Canada banned cruise ships with overnight accommodation for at least 500 passengers in mid-March.  In May, it extended the ban until the end of October and increased it to include all ships with 100 or more overnight passenger spaces.
A new era in maritime travel: Electric boats, Washington Post (Washington, D.C.), October 29, 2020.  Earlier this month, the Maid of the Mist launched two electric catamarans into the gorge, the first of their kind in North America.  The hulking double-deckers run on dual banks of lithium-ion batteries.  All the power used to charge the batteries is supplied by the nearby Robert Moses Niagara Power Plant, one of the most productive hydroelectric facilities in the United States, making the boats a zero-emission operation.  Maid of the Mist is at the forefront of what observers say is an emerging trend in maritime operations.  On the other side of the country, Washington is in the process of electrifying its ferry fleet — the largest in the United States — with the goal of cutting diesel fuel consumption in half by 2040.

UPLIFTING AND INTERESTING:
15) Amazing Maps
Thanks to Nesreen, Paul Baines and the Great Lakes Atlas Group
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wE3XJrP3cQ12Vl00EnDFlqsnstO5_9sy/view?usp=sharing

16) Do Forest Grow Better by Themselves or with Human Help?
Thanks so much to Mary Louise Adams for this really interesting piece.
https://e360.yale.edu/features/natural-debate-do-forests-grow-better-with-our-help-or-without

17) Powerful Indigenous Poem about the Canoe and Lost Cultural  Memory
Thanks so much Dave McCallum for forwarding this Mi’kmaw rallying cry for justice.
Rebecca Thomas’s poem “Canoe” is just after 14 minutes in.
https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-50/clip/15805641

Cheers,
Mary Farrar, President,
Friends of Kingston Inner Harbour

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