Work from home burnout is a problem for many workers, and this could continue to be a challenge if workplaces choose to adopt permanent remote working arrangements.

With remote working on the rise and likely to continue in increased levels post-pandemic, businesses need to know how to support their workers.

GUEST: Olivia Cicchini, Peninsula Canada

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Physicians at McMaster Children’s Hospital are calling for the return to in-person learning in Ontario as soon as possible to avoid further negative impacts on kids’ health and well-being.

Hospital officials say the number of children being admitted after a suicide attempt has tripled since this time last year, and referrals to the hospital’s eating disorders program have increased by 90 per cent since last spring.

Dr. Jeffrey Pernica, head of pediatric infectious disease at the children’s hospital and associate professor at McMaster University, said the impact of kids being out of school goes beyond hospitalizations.

“Nobody is talking about the number of kids who are not going to graduate high school, who are not going to get employment, who are going to have issues with eating disorders for the rest of their lives,” said Pernica. “Nobody is thinking about what this generation is going to be like in 20 years.

GUEST: Dr. Martha Fulford, Pediatric Infectious Disease Specialist at McMaster Children's Hospital and Hamilton Health Sciences

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A detailed statistical analysis of nearly 200 countries and their experiences with and responses to COVID-19 found that Canada ranked poorly compared to other industrialized countries on testing and hospital beds, which were determined to be key in responding to COVID-19, finds a new study released by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan, Canadian public policy think-tank.

Global Storm: The Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Responses around the World is a new study that analyses the COVID-19 responses of nearly 200 countries around the world over the past year.

“While no two countries tackled COVID-19 the same way, there are important lessons that Canada should learn going forward,” said Livio Di Matteo, an economics professor at Lakehead University, Fraser Institute senior fellow and study author.

The study highlights factors that have been successful at reducing transmission of COVID-19 cases and lowering mortality rates based on a detailed statistical analysis of available data.

GUEST: Livio Di Matteo, Senior Fellow with the Fraser Institute

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For more than 10 years before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Canadian public health officials knew there were problems with how the country managed its emergency medical stockpile – but failed to act.

In a new report issued Wednesday, Auditor General Karen Hogan said that failure to fix the problems ahead of time meant Canada was not as prepared as it could have been for the surge in demand for precious personal protective equipment last year.

GUEST: Dr. Ann Collins, President of the Canadian Medical Association

The Canadian Association of Exposition Management represents over 500 producers, venues, and suppliers of commercial events – also referred to as trade shows, consumer shows and/or expositions. The business events industry, including commercial events, directly employs 229,000 people across the country and contributes $33 billion in direct spending annually to local economies. Expositions contribute to increased business development, support for the tourism and transport industries, and drive research, innovation, and professional connections across countless industries. 

The commercial events space has been one of the most impacted sectors in the pandemic. There is no work from-home option for expositions. Unlike retail, gyms, and restaurants, trade shows and consumer shows have not been permitted to re-open to any degree. While the vaccination rollout has given the exposition sector reason to be hopeful, the immediate future still looks incredibly bleak. This reality, combined with the seasonal nature of commercial events and the lead time required to plan and prepare trade and consumer shows, means that a drawn-out restart and recovery for the sector must be anticipated, understood, and addressed by government support programs.

Click HERE to read the full letter.

GUEST: Dwayne McKillop, President of Continuum Productions Inc., 

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Hamiltonians from all wards have joined together to launch a community group to change who sits around the City Council table. The stated goal of IELECT Hamilton is “New Leadership for a better Hamilton,” and organizers want to see new leaders sitting at City Council following the 2022 municipal election by supporting initiatives that increase voter turnout and provide education around key civic issues. 

GUEST: Graham Crawford, Spokesperson for iElect Hamilton

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The Macdonald-Laurier Institute’s Provincial COVID Misery Index compares the performance of Canada's provinces in protecting the health and prosperity of their citizens during the pandemic. Provinces with higher scores have felt more misery, including from the spread of sickness and death from the disease itself, slow or poor responses by government, economic decline, increased public debt, and lost jobs. Three main categories capture the Disease Misery, Response Misery, and Economic Misery impacts in each province by measuring performance across 11 key metrics. MLI’s Provincial COVID Misery Index is the only tool available that comprehensively measures and compares the short- and long-term consequences for the well-being of Canadians during this challenging time.

GUEST: Dr. Shawn Whatley, Senior Fellow with the Macdonald-Laurier Institute and Former President of the Ontario Medical Association

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Canadians’ attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccines suggest hesitancy and its societal consequences are not limited to the choices of newly minted parents. Recent surveys in Canada, and globally, show many of us are hesitant about vaccines that have been produced with such herculean effort and enormous cost. So many, in fact, that the immunization thresholds required to tame COVID-19 are under threat.

This hesitancy has been described in detail, and linked to people's politics, past community traumas and attitudes towards science and industry.

However, just what to do about it has been less clear. While most Canadians will say yes to COVID-19 vaccines, many of us also know a friend or a family member who is, at least for the moment, saying no.

So how can better conversations help reduce vaccine hesitancy for all shots?

GUEST: Myles Leslie, Associate Professor with the School of Public Policy, University of Calgary