Evening Brief: Light at the end of the COVID tunnel – iPolitics.ca

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Good evening to you.

Do you see that? After nine months of masks, hand sanitizer, distancing and restrictions, there is finally a light at the end of what has been a very long and dark tunnel. There was word today that Pfizers vaccine against COVID-19 has been approved in Canada, and the first shots could be given to Canadians as early as the middle of next week. Health Canada authorized the vaccine this morning. Pfizers shot, which it created with the company BioNTech, is the first to be approved in Canada, and Canada is the third country in the world to give it the green light, after the United Kingdom and Bahrain.

This is a critical milestone in our fight against COVID-19 and in our efforts to provide every Canadian with access to a vaccine, Dr. Supriya Sharma, Health Canadas chief medical adviser, told reporters. Canadians can have confidence in our rigorous review process, and that the vaccine was authorized only after a thorough assessment of the evidence demonstrated that it met health Canadas strict standards for safety, efficacy, and quality.

Maj.-Gen. Dany Fortin, who is overseeing the vaccines distribution, said Pfizer is shipping the first of 249,000 doses that Canada expects to receive before the end of the year on Friday. Charlie Pinkerton reports.

Not everyone will get this vaccine, however. Its only approved for people over 16. Heres why. And if todays news has spurred you to burn your mask in a sanitizer fuelled blaze, you might want to hold off for just a wee bit.

Across the pond, Britains medicine regulator has advised that people with a history of significant allergic reactions do not get the Pfizer vaccine after two people reported adverse effects on the first day of rollout. Thats something Canadian officials are watching closely.

Its really important to say that as we monitor the vaccines, adverse event reports will come up, Sharma told reporters. We are always looking for any additional side effects. And thats why we continue to monitor. But it is still a drug, still a vaccine, and there are potential risks even if they are rare.

Margaret Keenan isnt feeling any side effects. One day after the 90-year-old British grandmother became the first in the world outside a trial to receive the vaccine, she said shes feeling great.It has all been such a whirlwind and everything hasnt really sunk in yet, she said. I feel great and Im so pleased to be able to go home and to spend some quality time with my family.

As part of its dive into how pandemic response funds have been spent, CBC News reported today that two Ontario long-term care providers that received more than $157 million in federal and provincial COVID-19 relief while doling out $74 million in dividends for shareholders this year. Meanwhile, more than 480 residents and staff at Extendicare Inc. and Sienna Senior Living Inc. homes have died.

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland warned yesterday that companies that have tapped into the governments wage subsidy program are not to use that money to pay dividends or bonuses. I want to emphasize for any companies that may be listening, that the wage subsidy must be used to pay workers, she told the House finance committee . That is very, very clear and we expect companies to comply with that. To date, the governments lips have been sealed when it comes to revealing which groups and businesses are benefiting from some of its highest-spending programs. CBC News has that story as well.

Still in Ottawa, MPs from multiple parties are making a renewed push to get the federal government to recognize Aug. 1 as Emancipation Day. That day, in 1834, the Slavery Abolition Act came into force, ushering in the end of slavery throughout the British Empire. It included Canada, where slavery had existed for more than 200 years, and there were still a small number of enslaved persons. Jolson Lim reports.

Back on the topic of money, Quebec Premier Franois Legault said today he doesnt expect the premiers request for a $28-billion annual increase to the Canada Health Transfer will be accepted at their meeting with the prime minister tomorrow. But he is hoping that the money which Ottawa gives to provinces and territories to help them pay for health care will arrive before the next election. We understand thats a lot of money, said Legault, whos also the chair of the Council of the Federation that represents Canadas 13 provinces and territories. He told iPolitics judging by their revenue streams, provinces and territories will have deficits that are a lot larger than the federal deficit.

Legault is also threatening Quebecers with immediate fines of up to $6,000 if they throw house parties, refuse to wear masks or breaking physical distancing guidelines. He also says his government will follow the (COVID) situation in the coming days, to evaluate if stricter lockdown measures are needed. Thats from Kevin Dougherty.

The leader of Ontarios NDP wants MPPs to return to Queens Park after the Progressive Conservative government on Tuesday moved to adjourn the fall session two days early. At this moment, when so many folks are in crisis and they need their government to step up and help them, (Premier) Doug Ford is literally calling it quits. Hes throwing in the towel, Andrea Horwath told reporters. I am calling for the legislature to return.

While making her case for MPPs to return to Queens Park, Horwath zeroed in on Tuesdays Financial Accountability Office of Ontario (FAO) report, which found that the government has been sitting on $12 billion that could be put to use fighting the pandemic. Theres important work we can and must do right now to invest that $12 billion in COVID-19 funding that Doug Ford has been keeping from the people of Ontario, she said. We should be working to stop the spread of the virus (and) helping people and businesses stay afloat. Iain Sherriff-Scott reports.

A day after implementing much tighter restrictions to try and curb the spread of COVID-19, Premier Jason Kenney is rejecting criticism he waited too long to do so. He says that kind of talk is Alberta bashing. Actually, wed call it Jason Kenney bashing, and that comes with the territory as premier where the buck stops with you.

In other news, the government introduced legislation this afternoon to implement Canadas newly signed transitional trade agreement with the United Kingdom that will keep trade flowing after it leaves the European Union at the end of the year.

Tomorrow, the government is expected to table legislation that will bring changes to the Canada Elections Act. As CTV reports, Elections Canada had recommended a series of amendments so that the agency can make voting more accessible and safe should Canadians have to go to the polls during the pandemic.

South of the border, things are getting frothy. As the Canadian Press reports, the U.S. is in a bit of a lather, formally accusing Canada of unfairly limiting the ability of American dairy producers to sell their products north of the border.

And, look whos back. Like a boomerang, former MP Maxime Bernier is eyeing his old seat. The Leader of the Peoples Party of Canada has announced he will be running in Beauce, Que., the riding he held from 2006 to 2019. He lost to Conservative Richard Lehoux in the last election. He also lost a bid for a seat in York Centre in a byelection in October. In a fundraising letter announcing his bid to return to the House of Commons, Bernier said he has considered all of my options and he has decided to return to his political home turf of Beauce.

Our defeat in Beauce last year was a discouraging upset, he notes in the announcement. Today, we begin work and planning for the campaign in Beauce. Its going to take everything we have to beat the corrupt establishment.

In The Sprout: A familiar face expected back at USDA

In The Drilldown: Global temperatures will rise by over 3 C: UNEP report

In Other Headlines:

Liberal MP and doctor says hell vote against assisted death bill (CBC)Mink at B.C. farm test positive for virus that causes COVID-19 in humans (CTV)Follow the COVID-19 rules or youll be fined, Quebec Premier Legault warns (CBC)Military was warned of reservists hard-right online ties by allied intelligence agency (CBC)Pornhub bans user uploads after abuse allegations (BBC)Canadian envoy says Kovrig, Spavor healthy despite being in Chinese prison for 730 days (Globe and Mail)Trudeaus half-brother is an anti-vaxxer, bitcoin entrepreneur and (affectionate) critic of the PM (Postmedia)Global Affairs objected to Canadian military decision to cancel training with Chinas Peoples Liberation Army (Globe and Mail)

Internationally:

Although its gotten the nod from regulators north of the border, officials at the FDA may not make a decision about authorizing Pfizers COVID-19 vaccine until next week. Peter Marks, the director of the FDA division overseeing vaccines, said today that a decision would come in days to a week after an agency advisory panel meeting tomorrow. More from The Hill.

Elsewhere, federal regulators asked for Facebook to be ordered to divest its Instagram and WhatsApp messaging services as the U.S. government and 48 states and districts accused the company of abusing its market power in social networking to crush smaller competitors. The antitrust lawsuits were announced by the Federal Trade Commission and New York Attorney General Letitia James. Its really critically important that we block this predatory acquisition of companies and that we restore confidence to the market, James said during a press conference announcing the lawsuit. The Associated Press reports.

U.S. president-elect Joe Bidens son Hunter said today that his tax affairs are under investigation, putting a renewed spotlight on the questions about his financial dealings that dogged his fathers campaign. As CNN reports, investigators have been examining multiple financial issues, including whether he and his associates violated tax and money laundering laws in business dealings in foreign countries, principally China, according to two people briefed on the probe.

The Kicker:

Finally tonight, the Bad Sex In Fiction awards have been cancelled. Set up in 1993 by the Literary Review, the annual prize honours the most outstandingly awful scene of sexual description in an otherwise good novel.

But this being 2020, the judges figured weve suffered enough already: The public had been subjected to too many bad things this year to justify exposing it to bad sex as well.

True enough.

On that note, have a great night.