Many found 2020 overwhelming with an influx of heavy news.
And there is no doubt that between keeping up with the COVID-19 pandemic and endless rotating strikes, the provincial government had their hands full, and so did anyone trying to stay up to date on the latest information.
Let's take a look back on some of the key moments and events that set this year apart from the rest.
Ontario's license plate fiasco
Debate was sparked in 2019 when the Progressive Conservatives revealed their plan for new, blue license plates in that year's budget. The province spent $500,000 on a consultation on branding, and many criticized Premier Doug Ford for changing the plates to an 'Open for Business' tagline.
Debate intensified this year when it became apparent that the new plates are 'unreadable' in the dark (even in a well-lit parking lot).
After initially defending the plates and insisting they had passed rigorous testing, Ford announced in May that his government is scrapping the redesign of Ontario's license plates, returning to the old, white-and-blue "Yours to Discover" version.
The problematic new plates stopped getting manufactured on March 3, and the old plates started getting reissued on March 5. By this point, approximately 71,000 drivers were already issued the new plates and a total of 145,000 blue plates were made.
Province accidently sets off false nuclear alarm in Pickering
On Sunday Jan. 12, Ontarians awoke to an alert, pushed to cellphones, radios, and TVs across the province, that 'an incident was reported' at the Pickering Nuclear Generating Station.
The emergency notification warned of an unspecified incident, but said there was no abnormal release of radioactivity and people near the facility didn't need to take protective actions.
A February report found the alarm was the result of human error, but a delay in sending an 'all clear' was due to several systemic failures.
Solicitor General Sylvia Jones said the error occurred during a routine training exercise being conducted by the Provincial Emergency Operations Centre.
Jones acknowledged the systemic issues and said steps have been taken to address them.
Tensions rise between education workers in four major unions, government at the bargaining table
In January and February of this year, workers from Ontario's main education unions started province-wide and rotating strikes.
Members of the Association des enseignantes et des enseignants franco-ontariens (AEFO), the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO), the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association (OECTA) and the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF/FEESO), all participated in a historic one-day walkout on Feb. 21, a strike that impacted 5,00 schools across 72 boards.
The protests came in response to the Ford government's cuts to publicly funded education, plans for larger class sizes, and mandatory e-learning for high school students.
Throughout the months of December, January, February, and early March, unions participated in rotating weekly one-day strikes. These strikes meant days of closed schools and withdrawn services.
Contracts were not reached for months, and tensions rose as the union expressed its concerns were not addressed. Contentious labour negotiations were at a complete standstill until the COVID-19 pandemic struck. In early March, just before schools were closed to stop the spread of COVID-19, the province backed down on class size increases and e-learning requirements.
The government ratified agreements with the Education Workers' Alliance of Ontario (EWAO) on Feb. 4, 2020, the Ontario English Catholic Teachers' Association (OECTA) on April 8, 2020, the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario (ETFO) on April 28, 2020 and the Ontario Council of Educational Workers (OCEW) on May 4, 2020.
The Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation (OSSTF) reached a tentative agreement which was ratified in May.
Province shuts down to curb spread of COVID-19
On March 11, the World Health Organization (WHO) deemed COVID-19 a global pandemic. After that, our daily lives changed in a very drastic way.
On March 13, Ford's government closed schools across the province and on March 17, a state of emergency was declared in Ontario. Some emergency orders have been extended until at least Jan. 20.
On March 23, non-essential businesses were ordered closed by the province. In May, the province allowed some seasonal businesses and essential construction projects to open with strict guidelines.
The province spent the spring and summer months cautiously reopening. However, a rise in cases in the fall led to a pause in re-opening plans.
In November, the Ontario government announced a new COVID-19 response framework, allowing it to rank health units based on case numbers and trends.
The province has been locked down again until at least Jan. 9 for the north.
COVID-19 tears through Ontario's nursing homes, prompting military intervention and long-term care home commission
Ontarians watched as the reality faced by long-term care homes residents became evident with the onset of COVID-19.
The virus ravaged long-term care home facilities. As of Dec. 29, 10,725 residents and 4,228 staff of LTC homes have been diagnosed with COVID-19. As of Dec. 29, 2,688 residents and eight staff members died as a result. Of Ontario's 626 long-term care homes, 194 have had outbreaks.
In April, Ford announced the province was calling in military assistance to battle the spread of COVID-19 in long-term care homes.
What military personnel would find shocked and disturbed many.
Teams deployed to five of the province's worst-hit long-term care homes reported horrifying conditions, including 'blatant disregard' for infection control measures and mistreatment of residents.
Their scathing document describes the care as ranging from below best practices to 'borderline abusive, if not abusive.'
Ford called it "the most heart-wrenching report" he's ever read in his life.
In response, the provincial government announced in May it would launch an independent commission into Ontario's long-term care home system.
Three commissioners, Associate Chief Justice Frank N. Marrocco, Angela Coke, and Dr. Jack Kitts, were appointed to investigate how COVID-19 spread within long-term care homes, how residents, staff, and families were impacted, and the adequacy of measures taken by the province and other parties to prevent, isolate, and contain the virus.
So far, the inquiry has heard that Ontario homes were neglected when the pandemic hit, as the government focused on preparing its hospitals for a surge of COVID-19. Other issues the commission heard include some doctors refusing to enter the facilities, a lack of PPE, and 'problematic' staffing levels in the homes.
The commissioners are expected to deliver their final report by April 2021.
Tensions rise between province, health care workers as pandemic unveils conditions for front-line workers
In April, Ford announced the province would offer temporary raises for workers on the front lines of the COVID-1 pandemic. The $4 per hour raise was initially to last for four months, going to staff working in environments such as hospitals, correctional facilities, and long-term care homes.
Between July and October, unions protested in response to the government's emergency orders and handling of the COVID-19 crisis.
Back in July, the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions said it did not want emergency orders extended, as it would suspend their collective bargaining agreement, doing a five-minute in-hospital protest.
In September, unionized healthcare workers and other front-line workers in the Sault (and across the province) protested, decrying the impacts of Bill 195 - the same bill that extended emergency orders.
Bryan Keith, northern Ontario representative for CUPE Ontario, told SooToday that vacation time, leave - in addition to shift schedules and the location of those shifts - can pretty much be changed on a whim, leaving essential healthcare workers and their families without support.
In October, Unifor Local 1359 in the Sault rallied outside MPP Ross Romano's office in protest of job conditions for personal support workers in long-term care facilities. The union called for Ford's government to improve pay and working conditions while increasing the number of full-time personal support workers in Ontario. The union also called upon the Ford government to end for-profit long-term care throughout the province.
In December, the provincial government announced it would spend nearly $2 billion annually until 2024-25 to create more than 27,000 new jobs in the long-term care field, making it 'one of the largest recruitment and training drives in Ontario's history.
Ford's government has said this is in an effort to achieve an average of four hours of daily direct care.
Province starts vaccinating Ontarians against COVID-19
A historic and hopeful moment took place amid all the bad this year, when Ontario administered the province's first COVID-19 vaccination to a health-care worker in Toronto on Dec. 14.
The Pfizer vaccine was approved Dec. 11.The province has received a total of 90,000 doses, and expects to receive 2.4 million doses – allowing it to vaccinate 1.2 million people – during the first three months of 2021.
On Dec. 23, Health Canada approved the Moderna vaccine and Ontario received 50,000 doses of it on Wednesday.
Health-care workers, long-term care residents and their caregivers, as well as adults in Indigenous communities, residents in retirement homes, and recipients of chronic home health-care are priority groups.
Some 15 million vaccines are set to arrive in Ontario during the spring, and while it has not yet been determined where or to whom they will be administered during the second phase of the rollout, about 8.5 million Ontarians should be able to get the shot by midsummer, according to retired General Rick Hillier, who is leading the COVID-19 vaccination task force.
While some First Nations communities in Northern Ontario can expect to receive the vaccine in the early months of the new year, it will likely be April, May, Or June before most citizens of northeastern Ontario can expect to see vaccination clinics in their communities.
