Beware the fourth wave Did someone forward you this newsletter? Sign up here to get it delivered weekday mornings. Delta blues: A more infectious new variant could cause a fourth wave of COVID in Canada, health officials warned on Wednesday. The B.1.617 variant, which the World Health Organization calls the "delta variant," is "probably about 50 per cent more transmissible than" the variant behind the third wave, according to Dr. Peter Juni, the scientific director of the Ontario government's Science Advisory Table. Dr. Lawrence Loh, the medical officer of health for the hard-hit Peel Region of Toronto, said "within one month, the delta variant will be the dominant strain in our region, with the rest of Ontario weeks behind." Experts say the variant is better able to infect people who have received a single vaccine dose, which now accounts for about half of eligible Canadians. “We have a lot of people with partial vaccination and we don’t know what pressure that puts on variants and whether they can find something to take advantage of,” said Andrew McArthur, a researcher specializing in the genomics of viruses at McMaster University School's out: Ontario Premier Doug Ford has heeded the warnings of public health officials and decided not to re-open Ontario schools this year, he said Wednesday. The Star reports: “As your premier, these aren’t risks I am willing to take,” he said, emphasizing that the modelling from the province’s science table proves “returning kids and teachers back to school before they are vaccinated” would lead to more COVID-19 cases. But as an olive branch to students and their parents, Ford said every school would be able to do “outdoor graduation ceremonies” for all students, not just those in Grade 8 or Grade 12. The COVID cocoon: The pandemic has been a tough time for most people, but months of isolation have also created opportunities for some to grow and change, through plastic surgery, new habits or new exercise regimens, writes Prajakta Dhopade in Maclean's. According to Statistics Canada, fewer Canadians are reporting good mental health—55 per cent in 2020, down from 68 per cent in 2019—and one-third of respondents to a Leger survey say they’re exercising less; jokes about the “quarantine 15,” referring to weight gain, abound on social media. But the isolation of the past year has also functioned as a cocoon for some, providing an opportunity to grow and change, whether it be physically or mentally. Tories vote for abortion bill: A majority of Conservative MPs caucus voted in favour of a bill to ban abortions based on the sex of a fetus on Wednesday. The bill was defeated in a 248-82 vote. The Liberals attacked the Conservatives for trying to limit women's right to choose. Echaquan inquest ends: More than 1,000 people marched through the streets of Trois-Rivières, Que. on Wednesday as an inquest into the death of Joyce Echaquan wrapped up. Echaquan, a 37-year-old Atikamekw mother of seven, filmed health-care workers insulting her in the hours before her death. Coroner Géhane Kamel promised her final recommendations would lay the foundation for a social pact declaring “never again.” “To your children, you will have to tell them the small revolution of reconciliation started with their mother,” she said to Carol Dubé, Echaquan's widower. Find the graves: A United Nations human rights spokeswoman said Wednesday that Canada must ensure "prompt and exhaustive investigations" into the deaths of 215 children whose remains were discovered at a British Colombia residential school, and try to find the graves of more missing children. The Trudeau government announced Wednesday that it will provide $27-million to uncover unmarked graves at former residential schools across the country. In making the announcement, Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller chided the Roman Catholic Church for failing to apologize for its role in the residential school system, unlike other denominations, calling it “shameful.” A great leader? Alberta Premier Jason Kenney spoke out against the rush to rename buildings named for people associated with the residential school system on Wednesday. "Just as John A. Macdonald was an imperfect man, but was still a great leader," he said. "If we want to get into cancelling every figure in our history who took positions on issues at the time that we now judge harshly, and rightly in historical retrospective, but if that's the new standard, then I think almost the entire founding leadership of our country gets cancelled." Grand Chief Vernon Watchmaker of the Confederacy of Treaty Six First Nations said his people were "appalled" by Kenney's statements. "We are grieving, I remind the Premier that (Monday) there was a vigil at the legislature to show honour, respect and unity to the loss of innocent lives of First Nations children," he said. Netflix tax collector: Streaming service Netflix has told subscribers that soon it will begin charging customers sales tax, a move the federal government says is fair because Canadian content providers pay tax. Unacceptable bonuses: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called it “unacceptable” that Air Canada paid $10 million in bonuses to executives "after laying off thousands of staff, refusing to grant customer refunds and negotiating a federal COVID-19 aid package that limited its ability to do exactly that," Global News reports. Earlier, Deputy Prime Minster Chrystia Freeland said the government will let Air Canada know how it feels about $10 million in bonuses it handed to top executives while it was negotiating a $5.9-billion bailout from taxpayers. “That gives us a voice in decisions taken by the company, and we will not shy away from using that voice to express our very reasonable view of what constitutes responsible corporate behaviour,” she said. — Stephen Maher | 
