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There is no question that the airline industry has been drastically impacted by COVID-19 and is suffering in unprecedented ways. Recognizing the importance of ensuring the survival of an essential transportation infrastructure, most countries have provided significant funding to support airlines or, as is the case in Canada, are currently considering doing so.
At the same time, critics have questioned whether airlines’ own practices during the pandemic may have undermined their case for support. Even before COVID-19, many travellers shared their experiences of airlines behaving badly. Reports of interminable hold times on the phone, poor responsiveness to legitimate complaints and an indifference to customer welfare abound. Airlines have often become the businesses we most love to hate and, as such, failed to build a reservoir of goodwill that they can draw upon now.
The Opposition NDP is calling for Extendicare’s financial agreements to be included in the Ombudsman’s investigation into a COVID-19 outbreak at Extendicare Parkside in Regina.
Corporatization of Canada’s virtual health services part of broader privatization drive
Under conditions of the ravaging of Canada’s public health care system produced by decades of austerity and laid bare by the pandemic a mad scramble among corporate giants is under way to seize control of potentially profitable parts. A prime example of this process is Telus, the Canadian-based telecommunications giant, which is seeking to dominate Canada’s emerging health tech sector.
In 2018, Telus Health, a recently-formed subsidiary of Telus Corp., partnered with Babylon, a UK-based virtual health care start-up, to create a downloadable app that lets patients meet with physicians in private video consultations, and check symptoms and access clinical records virtually. The app is currently available in four Canadian provinces: British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Saskatchewan.
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Conservative MPs have voted to expel failed leadership contender Derek Sloan from caucus after hours of deliberations over his future in the party.
The vote was held in an emergency meeting after it was revealed on Monday he accepted a donation from a known white supremacist. It followed other controversies involving the Ontario MP, including comments last year that questioned the Chief Public Health Officer’s allegiance to Canada and a petition he sponsored that cast aspersions on COVID-19 vaccines.