DoFo likes sandwiches with real eggs Did someone forward you this newsletter? Sign up here to get it delivered weekday mornings. Some of Canada's beleaguered hotels will see more business—at least, those hotels located within 10 km of four major international airports and fulfill a long list of criteria outlined by the Public Health Agency of Canada. PHAC opened applications to hoteliers that can host returning travellers in quarantine, once the feds have officially enacted those quarantine rules. They'll need to meet ventilation requirements, offer free WiFi and separate the quarantined from regular guests. They'll also have to "establish a process" for "essential and short outside time." By way of example, the public health agency that has a mission to "promote and protect the health of Canadians" points to "smoke breaks." Oh, the cognitive dissonance. The hospitality sector, it's worth saying, is not exactly predicting a revenue boon once the parade of quarantines commences. Ontario measures: "Today we're seeing some sunlight break through the clouds," said Premier Doug Ford at a press conference meant to explain the province's slow-going reopening plan. Three districts on the eastern side of southern Ontario got the best news: a return to "green" status, which comes with the fewest restrictions. Every other region will maintain the status quo until at least Feb. 16, and three areas—Toronto, Peel and York—will definitely extend until Feb. 22. What is reopening, exactly? Some non-essential retail. Small weddings, funerals and religious gatherings, too. Haircuts, though, are still off the table. The premier also made sure to give a plug to Tim Hortons. Ford was talking about a senior named Marian who had written a letter to the premier and enclosed a handful of $10 Tim Hortons gift cards. He saluted her spirit, and then said he'd be distributing the cards to people in need on Toronto's University Avenue. And then he snuck in his apparently unpopular opinion about Tim's. "The best thing you guys ever did is make those real egg sandwiches," he said. "I used to go eat those other ones. They're the best, those real egg sandwiches, so whoever did that at Timmies, good for you." ( Watch Ford's full press conference.) It's all about the spin: Last September, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a $440-million donation to COVAX, an international initiative to distribute vaccines to some of the world's poorest countries. Half of Canada's contribution would pay for doses to low- and middle-income countries. The rest reserved supply for Canada. (The government has since taken heat for accepting any COVAX supply.) Meanwhile, Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke, whom you may remember from the 2021 Maclean's Power List, donated $5 million of his own dough—which mega-billionaire Bill Gates, a vaccine equity champion, matched. The weekend edition of the Canada Gazette published its regular run of senior federal job postings. The feds have a long list of openings—apply here now!—for some high-profile gigs. They're still looking for a new president and CEO for the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, with a salary of up to $459,000, to replace the eventually outgoing Evan Siddall . The Canada Development Investment Corporation also needs a new president. CDEV owns the crown corp that owns the Trans Mountain pipeline. CDEV also runs the emergency financing facility for large employers—and recently announced a $375-million loan to Sunwing Airlines and another $310-million loan to GoodLife Fitness. Statistics Canada estimates that 259,836 people died in Canada between January and November of 2020. The number-crunchers say about five per cent of those deaths—12,067, to be exact—would not have occurred in a non-pandemic year. The pandemic's impact on younger Canadians evolved over time. From March to June, an estimated four per cent of excess deaths hit those under the age of 45. In the fall, that proportion jumped to 16 per cent—but only a small fraction can be attributed directly to COVID-19. Dominique Baker racked up notoriety points earlier this year when the Globe and Mail reported on her trip to Jamaica last November. Baker visited Montego Bay wearing her hat as a fashion and travel influencer (and once appeared in Globe sponsored content about "wanderlust"). Her day job, however, was at the Public Health Agency of Canada’s Centre for Biosecurity, Office of the Border and Travel Health. Awkward. Baker's trip was a seriously bad look. Over the weekend, she posted an Instagram video announcing her resignation from the federal public service: "I feel like a thousand pounds have been lifted off my shoulders." Mea culpa: In yesterday's newsletter, we referred to "both" Green MPs, meaning Elizabeth May and Paul Manly. Of course, Jenica Atwin—this year's rising star at the Parliamentarians of the Year awards—also sits in the Green caucus. Worth noting: A Canadian Press headline yesterday claimed "zero doses" of Moderna vaccine would be delivered to Canada this week. That claim was correct, but slightly misleading. Pfizer sends doses to Canada on a weekly basis (when they do send doses, anyway). But Moderna shipments arrive only every three weeks. The next batch, though, is expected to be smaller than initial estimates. —Nick Taylor-Vaisey | 
