The Québec Ombudsman is very concerned about the situation of the elderly in many residences, due to impact of COVID-19 in CHSLDs, and is worried about the measures to ensure their safety and well-being. 

The increasing number of deaths and sites of contamination have alerted the Quebec leaders concerning the ability of residences to deal with pandemics when even basic care is not always a guarantee.
​
"The current crisis is happening in living environments that were vulnerable to begin with and where there were known problems that were often criticized by the Québec Ombudsman," Marie Rinfret pointed out. "These include a glaring shortage of staff, difficult work conditions because of this shortage, a high turnover rate for care attendants, and insufficient oversight of private residences by the public network."

Improving senior care and services

With purpose of shedding light on the government's and the health network's response to the COVID-19 crisis in residences for seniors, the Québec Ombudsman's systemic investigation  will make it possible to identify: the required improvements in residences for seniors based on the events of the crisis and known pre-pandemic shortcomings, and the measures required to better handle future pandemics or any other similar crisis.

A progress report as of next autumn
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The investigation by the Québec Ombudsman should be completed by autumn 2021. In the meantime, with a view to swinging into action quickly, there will be a progress report in autumn 2020.

"Québec must always provide services that meet seniors' needs. It is also obliged to be better equipped to deal with possible crises as severe as the one we are living through now in order to protect the rights of the citizens who built Québec and who continue to be part of what it is becoming and will become," Marie Rinfret said in closing.

#NovaScotia; #ShootingRampage; #Atleast16Killed; #GunmanDead; RCMPOfficerAlsoKilled


Nova Scotia, Apr 19 (Canadian-Media): 51-year old gunman, Gabriel Wortman's 12-hour rampage through several communities of Nova Scotia took the lives of at least 16 including the gunman and an RCMP constable with warning from police there may be more victims, media reports said. 

According to Sunday evening update, police knew of at least 16 victims, besides the shooter, said RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki  also confirmed the incident is not terror-related at this time.

Nova Scotia RCMP said people were killed in several locations across the province, including a veteran RCMP officer.
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There may be more victims, said Police, not discovered yet and their investigation continues. 
The gunman's rampage began late Saturday night in the small community of Portapique, N.S., about 40 kilometres west of Truro, N.S. 

The police's chase which started the Sunday morning along one of the province's busiest highways came to an end near a gas station about 35 kilometres north of Halifax in Enfield, N.S., around 11:40 a.m. local time.

It was confirmed Sunday evening by the police that the gunman was dead and the investigation of the gunman is underway.

According to a release of Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT) of the province, the suspect was involved in a serious criminal event in Shubenacadie, N.S. and during a confrontation with police in Enfield, resulted in officers discharging their firearms, and suspect was then found dead at the scene.​

The investigation as to the motive of the gunman is going on.

Const. Heidi Stevenson, a 23-year veteran of the RCMP, has been identified as the police officer who was killed responding to the active shooter incident, leaving behind two children and her husband.

Premier Stephen McNeil addressed the investigation Sunday afternoon and described the act as one of the most senseless acts of violence in our province's history.

Trudeau also offered his condolences on behalf of the federal government to the RCMP commissioner and Premier McNeil.

#IranPlneDowned; #Investigation; #CanadaOfferingInterimCompensation

Ottawa, Jan 16 (Canadian-Media): An international meeting is being hosted in London today by Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister François-Philippe Champagne joined by four other countries that lost citizens in the crash: Ukraine, Sweden, Afghanistan and Britain to discuss about the thorough investigation into the Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752 that was shot down in Iran by an Iranian missile last week killing all 176 aboard, including 57 Canadians, media reports said. ​

Although Iran is co-operating with the two Canadian investigators on the scene, Marc Garneau, Canada's Transport Minister said, they still want official status in Iran's investigation to facilitate Canadian officials to take part in the analysis of the flight recorders' data.

"We will be sending very, very strong messages to Iran," Garneau said of the meeting on Wednesday in Ottawa.

"President [Hassan] Rouhani has made some comment to the effect that they want to co-operate, but of course the question on everybody's mind is: Will they deliver on that promise?"

Garneau said Canada is also seeking compensation from those responsible after an investigation.

"One of the requirements from Canada's point of view, along with justice, is compensation, compensation to be provided by those that stand guilty of playing a role in this tragic accident. But let's do the homework first," said Garneau.

In the meantime offering of interim compensation to the family members of the deceased is also being considered by Canada, said Omar Alghabra, the prime minister's parliamentary secretary while waiting for a proper compensation claim to be settled with Iran.

​A moment of silence was observed on Wednesday afternoon by the universities across Canada  to pay tribute to the students, professors and PhD candidates killed on Flight 752.

Iran, which initially dismissed allegations of downing the plane, acknowledged only on Saturday that its Revolutionary Guard had shot down the plane by mistake.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani also called on Tuesday for a special court to be set up to probe the downing.

"This is not an ordinary case and all of world is looking at us," Rouhani said and added
"I announce that we will do the follow up in order to detect all aspects of the event and punishing those responsible." 

"The government is accountable and we will fulfill our legal responsibilities but most importantly the people should be assured that such an event should not take place again," Rouhani said and added that the public deserved to know the details about the cause of the crash.

There were calls from the leaders of the countries whose citizens were killed to take full action on the accused.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada would ensure that "a full, transparent investigation is conducted."

"I want to assure all families and all Canadians -- we will not rest until there are answers. We will not rest until there is justice and accountability," Trudeau said at a vigil on Sunday.

About 30 protesters had also been arrested on Tuesday for for endangering the national security. 

"The flight recorders are very, very good at telling you exactly what happened," said Mike Poole, a former investigator with the Transportation Safety Board of Canada and an expert on flight recorders. 

"If you're shot down, the signature is typically a perfectly functioning airplane and perfectly normal operations that all of a sudden stops," Poole said. "That doesn't necessarily [mean] it was shot down, but it says whatever happened was instantaneous."

Although both recorders were said to be damaged, Iranian state television said it was possible to examine these by downloading their memories.

While speaking to the reporters yesterday Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that the  families of the victims and all Canadians and I want answers and added, "That means closure, transparency, accountability and justice. And this government will not rest until we get that."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky issued a plea yesterday to his Iranian counterpart to ensure that Canadian aviation safety officials are included in the investigation as the Transportation Safety Board of Canada announced late yesterday that Canadian investigators would at least be granted access to the crash site.

A provincial court judge was recommended by the prosecution and defence that the company pay a $280-million fine over five years, and that SNC-Lavalin Construction be placed on probation for three years. 
 
The Crown is also recommending to drop five other fraud and corruption charges filed against SNC-Lavalin, SNC-Lavalin Construction, and SNC-Lavalin International.

Earlier this morning, Toronto Stock Exchange Trading halted all  SNC-Lavalin shares. 

The report of a potential cyberattack was filed on Nov 1 by Canadian laboratory testing company LifeLabs, Canada's largest provider of general diagnostic and specialty laboratory testing services, to the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario and the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia.

The investigation, considered criminal,  by the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security concluded that that it was due to a virus breach and added that servers on site were unable to remedy the issue.

RCMP's Integrated Technological Crime Unit (ITCU) is also investigating, but the police have not provided further details.

Compton said personal information of thousands of foster children, families and foster families could be compromised.

Compton also added that due to the system being down, information information of about 5,000 children in its care would be accessed manually.