news // no. 4 theotherpress.ca Bonnie Henry grants new powers to WorkSafeBC in dealing with COVID-19 rulebreakers » And how BC and Ontario are dealing with coronavirus on the education front Luana Ross Senior Columnist I ut e 1 = rr. A this point of the year, some are tating that the third wave of the pandemic is in full swing. BC Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry has made a pointed message that residents should stay close to their homes and in their own neighbourhoods: “If you live in North Van, you should not be travelling to Langley or to Richmond. If you live in the Lower Mainland, you should not be travelling to the Island. If you live in Penticton, you should not be going to Sun Peaks or Oliver or Kelowna right now. We need to only do those types of travel if it is essential, and nothing more.” She goes on to promise that everyone should have access to the vaccine by June. In Ontario, the CBC reports that the previously reopened in-person classes have been shutdown once again. Doug Ford acknowledges that this isn’t the news people wanted to hear but stresses that Ontario “is at a critical point right now.’ Child care will remain open for non-school age children but before and after school programs will be closed; free emergency child care will be available exclusively to those “of eligible healthcare” and to the Tr = | ba a ~ Te Teh Toke Dt eal | Photo by Arnaldo Fragozo TransLink fares set to increase on Canada Day » U-Pass website still not available because of recent cyberattack Jessica Berget Assistant Editor Along with the lower ridership levels caused by the pandemic, the organization has seen its “fare” share of challenges this year. For starters, the organization is currently looking for a new permanent CEO since the previous Kevin Desmond stepped down in February. They are also still dealing with the backlash of a cyber security attack in December 2020 which forced them to shut down the U-Pass website; students have had to call the compass card support line instead of using the website to renew their bus passes for the past few months now. To add insult to injury, on March 15 TransLink was nominated for a joke award known as the Teddy Awards for wasting tax payers’ money by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF). Their spending on designer furniture (over $300,000) and hile many people will be celebrating Canada Day on July 1 (albeit in the comfort of their own homes), TransLink will be celebrating a different occasion: fare increases. TransLink announced that they will be increasing their bus and SkyTrain fares by an average of 2.3 percent (5 to 15 cents depending on zones); this will be their first fare increase in two years. The company says that the small increase is needed to maintain the current levels and is also a condition of the emergency funding of $644 million from provincial and federal governments. In a pandemic free world, the increase would have gone up 4.6 percent in 2020 and 4.1 percent in 2021 to fund projects and upgrades for the public transportation stations. At the beginning of the pandemic, TransLink peak ridership levels decreased below 20 percent but has since stayed at around 4o percent since August and based on simulated scenarios are estimating ridership to rebound between 60 and g1 percent pre-pandemic levels in the next year. use of COVID relief money to reimburse executives for pandemic pay cuts (despite saying they would decrease executive pay cheques by 10 percent) is what gained them the nomination (which they later lost). Despite the lower ridership and financial losses, the public transportation company has also seen many upgrades and improvements to the commute stations over the past few months. Back in March, TransLink announced the completion of some communication upgrades such as 1400 new speakers for Expo and Millenium line stations, digital screens, and 1200 new CCTV cameras to help with Transit Police investigations. These upgrades cost about $79 million and is part of the $92.4 million Rapid Transit children of frontline workers. With the online summer semester ending and the fall semester of in-person classes fast approaching, some wonder how these outbreaks and new restrictions will impact elementary schools, high schools, and post-secondary institutions in BC. Bonnie Henry has been pressed with this question time and time again and her stance for elementary and high schools is that community transmission is more common when kids are out of school, actually. She also mentions that educators and parents complained that the shutdowns “impacted [students] negatively across the board” so she is still not considering that option. This comes after the recent indoor-restaurant shutdowns— and Henry even has stated that sector-wide shutdowns are “really a blunt tool.” Asa fix to for this “blunt tool” of business closures, Henry has given WorkSafeBC inspectors “the power to shut down non-essential businesses for at least 10 days if there has been COVID-19 transmission at the business premises.” This is done in hopes of making targeted closures instead of having to resort to sector shutdowns (which has garnered protest as recently as last Saturday in Vancouver). Photo by Arnaldo Fragozo Systems Rehabilitation and Maintenance Project financed by the Public Transit Infrastructure Fund (PTIF). Recently, TransLink has included the expansion of copper on their trains and busses to help curb the spread of COVID as copper is said to have self-disinfecting properties.