'He's in our hearts': Family and friends still seek answers one year after Nathan Wise’s disappearance
It’s been a year since Nathan Wise went missing and his family is no closer to finding out what happened to him.
Without clear directive from governments, businesses have to decide whether to make vaccines mandatory for employees and patrons, a decision they say leaves them vulnerable to attacks from anti-vaxxers.
For the first time since 2019, live music will be back at Ottawa's Escapade Festival in September. However, guests must be fully vaccinated to attend.
By making vaccines mandatory, Ali Shafaee, director of the Escapade Music Festival, told CTV National News organizers are trying to protect patrons.
"We're not trying to make this debate on whether someone should get vaccinated or not," Shafaee said. "We're just trying to plan a safe event for 2021 and we feel that this is the best way of doing it."
However, the mandating of doses has become a difficult conversation that more businesses are having to weigh in on as they try to reopen.
Staff at the People's Pint Brewing Company in Toronto voluntarily got vaccinated against COVID-19, posting a proud photo on social media to celebrate the occasion.
While the shots were a choice for staff, the photo was met with negative reviews and online threats from a small but vocal minority of anti-vaxxers.
Doug Appeldoorn, the brewery's owner, said the negative reaction was unexpected.
"That was the hardest thing to kind of combat,” Appeldoorn said.
He recommends other businesses do what they “feel is right” when it comes to making their vaccine status public.
“Don't worry too much about the negativity because even though it's vocal, it is a very small minority of people,” Appeldoorn said. “The vast majority of people support this and will support your business for doing it.”
The brewery was also listed on a website to help guide virus conscious shoppers to stores and restaurants where staff had been vaccinated. The site was met with swift backlash online from anti-vaxxers and was subsequently forced to shut down.
But the criticism also goes the other way.
Last week, an unvaccinated server in Drayton, Ont. said she was targeted and shortchanged on a tip because of her vaccine status.
"The fact that he’s basing my tip off of the vaccination, not on the service provided, is really upsetting to me," server Brooke Rew told CTV Kitchener.
To help navigate the divisive discussion, Ontario's science table recommended the use of vaccine certificates on Wednesday, similar to those already in use in Europe to easily prove one's vaccination status.
Dr. Peter Juni, scientific director of Ontario’s science advisory table, said at a press briefing that proof of vaccines is "inevitable" for the province to return to normal.
"Nobody wants to start to restrict again more. The only way to deal with this is to make a distinction between vaccinated and unvaccinated unfortunately," Juni said.
Should Canada experience a fourth wave of COVID-19 infections, Juni said vaccine certificates would help in keeping the society and the economy open while reducing the risk of contributing to further outbreaks.
"Rather than asking whether vaccines certificates actually should be considered, it's probably more appropriate to ask whether they can be avoided," he said.
A new poll from the Angus Reid Institute reports that nearly 60 per cent of Canadians surveyed believe proof of vaccination should be mandatory in public places including restaurants, shopping malls, theatres and offices.
Despite the controversy, Ottawa-based employment lawyer Paul Champ says rules around vaccinations are fair game.
"There's obviously a lot of competing rights and interests here, but an employer's obligation or their interest here is to maintain a safe and healthy workplace," Champ said.
It’s been a year since Nathan Wise went missing and his family is no closer to finding out what happened to him.
Dozens of Ontarians are expressing frustration in the province’s health-care system after their family doctors either dropped them as patients or threatened to after they sought urgent care elsewhere.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
Amazon's paid subscription service provides free delivery for online shopping across Canada except for remote locations, the company said in an email. While customers in Iqaluit qualify for the offer, all other communities in Nunavut are excluded.
The fire burning near Fort McMurray grew from 25 hectares to 5,500 hectares over the weekend.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin began a Cabinet shakeup on Sunday, proposing the replacement of Sergei Shoigu as defence minister as he begins his fifth term in office.
Police are searching for a male suspect after a man was “slashed in neck” on Sunday morning in downtown Toronto and died.
There were some scary moments for several people on a northern Ontario highway caught on video Thursday after a chain reaction following a truck fire.
Health Canada announced various product recalls this week, including electric adapters, armchairs, cannabis edibles and vehicle components.
English, history, entertainment, math and geography: high school trivia teams could be quizzed on any of it when they compete at the Reach for the Top Nationals in Ottawa in June.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the NFL, despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.
The threat of zebra mussels has prompted the federal government to temporarily ban watercraft from a Manitoba lake popular with tourists.
A small Ajax dessert shop that recently received a glowing review from celebrity food critic Keith Lee is being forced to move after a zoning complaint was made following the social media influencer’s visit last month.
The Canada Science and Technology Museum is inviting visitors to explore their poop. A new exhibition opens at the Ottawa museum on Friday called, 'Oh Crap! Rethinking human waste.'
The Regina Police Service says it is the first in Saskatchewan and possibly Canada to implement new technology in its detention facility that will offer real-time monitoring of detainees’ vital health metrics.
Just as she had feared, a restaurant owner from eastern Quebec who visited Montreal had her SUV stolen, but says it was all thanks to the kindness of strangers on the internet — not the police — that she got it back.