Diversity Community Newscast for December 11, 2020.
Hosted by Rayyah Sempala and Harriet Tinka.
Here are your headlines…
Last week, University of Alberta associate law professor, Ubaka Ogbogu was inundated with hate messages. What was his crime – his skin colour!
The rich countries are doing deals to get their people COVID-19 vaccinated. What are poor countries especially in Africa doing to vaccinate their people?
Meet AC Awards 2020 Unsung Heroes of the Year; Martha, Andrea and Lyse….
New COVID-19 measures in place after numerous calls with the Cities of Edmonton and Calgary threatening to take further actions on their own.
Now the news in detail with Rayyah Sempala….
1. We begin this Newscast in Edmonton….
Academics in Alberta give their expert opinions everyday to the media. But be careful if you are academic and BLACK and the Alberta Health minister’s press secretary does not like your opinion, you might be inundated with more hate messages than Alberta’s COVID-19 cases.
The Conservative Health Minister of Ontario said Alberta COVID-19 situation is in crisis. Well that didn’t stimulate hate any racial spanking until in the same week, Ubaka Ogbogu, an associate law professor at the University of Alberta who specializes in public health law and policy, said to CBC that the province’s pandemic response is in “in tatters.”
After that interview, Alberta Health Spokesman went on Twitter to rally the “Brownshirts” to work with this comment:
“Best joke you’ll hear today: @ubakaogbogu complains about people who politicize the pandemic. This is the guy who said schools would be ‘pox parties’ – the most frantically biased academic in Alberta,” Steve Buick, Press Secretary for Alberta Health on Twitter.
Ubaka received all kinds of hateful messages until he had to ask the university to take down his profile on the website for fear of his safety.
2. After non-stop pressure to implement new measures after the last one was seen as weak, with the cities of Edmonton and Calgary threatening to come up with their own measures, Premier Kenney came up this Tuesday with more COVID-19 measures.
Expanded health measures will be in effect province-wide. All Albertans, businesses, organizations and service providers must follow all new health measures.
New expanded mandatory measures come into effect Dec. 8 for social gatherings and mandatory masking. All others come into effect 12:01 a.m., Dec.13.
SOCIAL GATHERINGS – Effective Immediately
⚠️ All indoor and outdoor social gatherings – public and private – are prohibited. This does not apply to service visits from caregivers, health or child care providers and co-parenting arrangements.
⚠️ Close contacts are limited to household members only. Individuals who live alone may have the same two non-household close contacts for the duration of this restriction.
MANDATORY MASKING – Effective Immediately
⚠️ The mandatory indoor public masking requirement will be extended province-wide.
⚠️ Applies to all indoor workplaces and facilities outside the home. Applies to employees, visitors and the general public. Farm operations are excluded.
PLACES OF WORSHIP – Effective Dec. 13
⚠️ All places of worship will be limited to 15% of fire code occupancy for in-person attendance, with physical distancing and masking.
⚠️ Virtual or online services are strongly encouraged
⚠️ Drive-in services where individuals do not leave their vehicles and adhere to guidance will be permissible and are not subject to capacity restrictions.
RETAIL SERVICES – Effective Dec. 13
⚠️ Retail services must reduce customer capacity to 15% of fire code occupancy, with a minimum of 5 customers.
⚠️ Curbside pick up, delivery and online services are encouraged.
⚠️ Shopping malls will be limited to 15% of fire code occupancy.
CLOSURES – Effective Dec. 13
⚠️ Restaurants, pubs, bars, lounges and cafes will be closed to in-person service. Only take out, curbside pickup and delivery services are permitted.
⚠️ Casinos, bingo halls, gaming entertainment centres, racing entertainment centres, horse tracks, raceways, bowling alleys, pool halls, legions, and private clubs will be closed.
⚠️ Recreational facilities – fitness centres, recreation centres, pools, spas, gyms, studios, day and overnight camps, indoor rinks and arenas – will be closed.
⚠️ Entertainments businesses and entities – libraries, science centres, interpretive centres, museums, galleries, amusement parks and water parks – will be closed.
⚠️ Hotels may remain open but must follow restrictions – no spas, pools or in-person dining. Room services only.
⚠️ Personal and wellness services, including hair salons, nail salons, massage, tattoos, and piercing, will be closed.
⚠️ Health services, including physiotherapy or acupuncture, social or protective services, shelters for vulnerable persons, emergency services, childcare, and not-for-profit community kitchens, or charitable kitchens will remain open for in-person attendance.
WORK FROM HOME – Effective Dec. 13
⚠️ Mandatory work from home measures will be implemented unless the employer determines that work requires a physical presence for operational effectiveness.
These restrictions will be in place for a minimum of four weeks.
3. In Edmonton….
This week, the City is launching #ShopLocalYEG, inviting Edmontonians to share the local love by posting their favourite gift pictures and Edmonton businesses, shopping safely and supporting local.
During these difficult times, every local purchase you make this holiday season matters.
edmonton.ca/shoplocal
4. The City of Calgary is also calling Calgarians to shop local… Every dollar you spend at a local business makes an impact, especially this holiday season. Local businesses make up 52% of private-sector retail employment in Calgary. If every Calgarian spent $10 in December on holiday gifts from a local store, that would mean an additional 68 jobs generated in our city this month alone. Remember that you don’t even have to go into stores to support local, even though retail remains open at limited capacity under health measures implemented by the Government of Alberta. Many businesses offer online ordering, curbside pickup and delivery. If you are going into the community, please help keep everyone safe by wearing a mask, keeping your distance and practicing good hand hygiene. calgary.ca/supportlocal
5. AC Awards News: Meet Martha, Ryse and Andrea doing an incredible job in our communities but go unnoticed until they all won AC Awards 2020 Unsung Heroes Award.
6. According to a Globe and Mail story this week, Police across Canada reported a 7% rise in hate crimes last year, according to new Statistics Canada data showing the prepandemic uptick was driven by more incidents targeting people over their race and sexual orientation.
Just more than three quarters of all hate crimes reported by police last year occurred in eight cities that tallied at least 70 incidents: Calgary, Edmonton, Hamilton, Montreal, Ottawa, Quebec City, Toronto and Vancouver.
For the second straight year, Hamilton had the highest rate of hate crimes per 100,000 people with 15.7, followed by Ottawa (10.8) and Quebec City (8.6).
The data recently released by Statistics Canada showed nationally, 1,946 hate crimes were reported by police agencies in 2019, up from 1,817 the year before, but still slightly below the record high in 2017.
7. This week Fashion of the Week takes us to meet Ropa, the young entrepreneur designer who has expanded her shoe shop just 4 months after she started in Chinook Mall in Calgary.
8. Our Diversity profile for this week is the story of Ray Z Plumbing….
Coronavirus Project Cool times:
9. Despite new measures in place, Alberta still recorded about 7,000 new COVID-19 cases this week. As a consequence of the rising cases of COVID-19 in Alberta, the government announced a State of Public Emergency for the next 3 weeks, placing a ban on social gatherings, outdoor gathering limited to a maximum of 10. Church gatherings are limited to a third of normal capacity with mandatory masking. Funeral and wedding limited to 10 people. Banquet halls, community centres closed. Retail limited to 25% capacity. Hotels, personal services, barber shops, and beauty shops are limited to appointments only. Workers who can work at home should do so. Grade 7-12 students move to home schooling from November 30. January 11, 2021 next school opening after 1 more week of Winter Break. Mask is mandatory for all indoor workplaces in Edmonton and Calgary and surrounding communities. Fines go up to $1,000. For more information, please go to www.alberta.ca/
In Diversity TV International News…
9. As the rich countries of the world hatch deals to purchase COVID-19 vaccines, some have already secured vaccines to vaccinate three times their entire population, while poor countries are not sure of a vaccine even for their most vulnerable by the end of 2021. Some organizations are raising money to help poor countries, while WHO who helped poor countries with COVID-19 test expertise is also working to help.
10. Presidential election is currently taking place in Uganda, with incumbent, President Yoweri Museveni who has been in power since 1986 is being challenged by pop star turned politician, Bobi Wine. Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, known by his stage name Bobi Wine is a singer, actor, and businessman born 4 years before President Museveni came to power. He currently serves as Member of Parliament for Kyadondo County East constituency in Wakiso District, in Uganda’s Central Region. Bobi Wine has been prevented by the Ugandan police and military from campaigning across the country by harassing, killing, and detaining his supporters. This is an example of campaigning in Uganda, the Bobi Wine way…
Thank you for watching Diversity TV Community Newscast and from Rayyah Sempala and Harriet Tinka, see you next week.
