A6 | NEWS O THEGLOBEANDMAIL| FRIDAY,MARCH13,
Companies associated with
camps and lodges for oil sands
workers are ratcheting up efforts
tokeepthenewcoronavirusaway
from the crowded living quarters.
Measures range from developing
software to flag people who may
beatriskbeforetheyboardflights
toremotefacilities,toendingself-
serve buffets in cafeterias.
Thousandsofpeoplewhowork
in the oil sands live in camps and
lodges in Northern Alberta, rotat-
ing in and out on private flights.
Communal living defines the
camps. Workers share bedrooms,
washrooms and elbow space in
lunchrooms. The camps, as a re-
sult, are potential hot-spots for
the virus that causes COVID-19.
The World Health Organization
hasdeclaredCOVID-19apandem-
ic; Canada’s federal Health Minis-
ter estimates between 30 per cent
and 70 per cent of Canadians
could be infected. People living in
oil sands camps tend to be phys-
icallyhealthyandthemajorityare
younger than 55 years old. This
means that while they live in con-
ditions where the coronavirus
could explode, their symptoms
will likely be mild.
But that, too, could fuel the
spread of the illness because
campers may not realize they are
contagious, according to Jason
Kindrachuk, an assistant profes-
sor and Canada Research Chair in
emerging viruses at the Universi-
ty of Manitoba. “People, if they go
home, will potentially have con-
tact with” others who are more
vulnerable,suchasseniorcitizens
or those with underlying condi-
tions such as hypertension and
diabetes.
Gemstone Logistics, which
works with oil sands companies
and camp operators, is working
on software that would flag peo-
ple who may be at risk of carrying
thecoronavirusbeforetheyboard
charter flights to remote camps.
Ross Purdie, a vice-president at
Gemstone, said one of the big oil
sands companies asked his com-
panytodesigntheprogram.Itwill
gather information from screen-
ing questions before passengers
board their planes and if, for ex-
ample, a passenger recently trav-
elled to a high-risk country, the
program would identify that per-
son as a potential coronavirus
threat. “They can use that to de-
cide not to let somebody board a
flight,” Mr. Purdie said. “We’re al-
most ready to release this fea-
ture.”
Suncor Energy Inc. has in-
creased how frequently it cleans
itscampsandoffices,accordingto
Erin Rees, a spokeswoman for the
company. Some of Suncor’s camp
cafeterias are now full service,
rather than self-serve, which lim-
itsthenumberofpeopletouching
surfaces such as serving spoons.
Employees must also use hand
sanitizer before and after spend-
ing time in the dining rooms and
bag rooms, where campers store
itemssuchasdirtybootsandjack-
ets, he said.
It increased staff for its health
hotline, Ms. Rees said. Employees
can use the hotline to report any
symptoms and find resources
with advice for personal travel
plans.
Cenovus Energy Inc. has also
jacked up the cleaning standards
of its camps and buildings, Reg
Curren,aspokesmanforthecom-
pany, said in a statement. It’s also
asked the same of the companies
thattransportitsemployeesbyair
andbus.Risksrelatedtotranspor-
tation have already emerged. On
Tuesday, oil sands workers head-
edtoCanadianNaturalResources
Ltd.’s Horizon project did not get
off the plane when they landed in
northernAlbertabecauseamem-
ber of the airline’s crew received
confirmation, after operating the
flight, that he or she had been in
close contact with someone who
had tested positive for COVID-19.
The plane, operated by Canadian
North, returned to Edmonton
with the passengers.
“The crew who operated the
flight will enact the self-isolation
protocols that have been put in
place by health authorities,” Dan
Valin, a spokesman for Canadian
North, said in a statement
Wednesday.Thecrewmember,he
said, has not been confirmed as a
COVID-19 case.
CNRL,inamemotoemployees
and obtained by The Globe and
Mail, said: “In consultation with
Alberta Health Services, employ-
ees and contractors on this flight
have been cleared to return to
Horizon site on Wednesday.”Oilcompanies
moveto
preventvirus
outbreaksat
remotelodges
CARRIETAITCALGARYThe Ontariogovernment says new legisla-
tion it introduced Thursday takes aim at
unscrupulous landlords who kick out ten-
ants in order to renovate their units or rent
them out to others at higher rates.
But tenants’ advocates argue the pro-
posed changes to the province’s Residen-
tial Tenancies Act will do little to curtail
what they say are tens of thousands of un-
lawful evictions and what they call “reno-
victions” across Ontario each year.
Steve Clark, the Minister of Municipal
AffairsandHousing,tabledabillintheleg-
islature on Thursday that would boost
fines for violations. It would also require
landlords evicting tenants from a unit they
intend to use themselves to report to the
Landlord and Tenant Board if they have
done that previously within the past two
years – something Mr. Clark said would al-
low the board to determine patterns of
wrongdoing. In some cases, landlords fal-
sely claim they are taking over units for
their own use, but then turn around and
rent them to others at higher rates.
The bill would also force landlords of
buildings with fewer than five units to pay
one-month’s rent in compensation to ten-
ants in “no fault” evictions, as larger land-
lords must.
Mr. Clark said the bill’s higher maxi-
mum fines for violations, increased to
$50,000 from $25,000 for individuals and
to $250,000 from $100,
for a corporation, would de-
ter bad landlord behaviour.
“It will make someone
think twice about trying to
unlawfully evict a tenant,”
Mr. Clark said.
Landlords who evict ten-
ants under false pretenses, or
who fail to offer renovated
units back to their evicted
tenants, could be forced to
cover the difference in rent
costs that their former ten-
ants face for two years, up
from the current one-year
period, to a maximum of
$35,000.
The legislation also in-
cludes provisions to stream-
line the process before the
Landlord and Tenant Board
and, thegovernment says,
make it easier for landlords
and tenants to settle disputes without for-
mal hearings.
The changes were welcomed by the Fed-
erationofRental-HousingProvidersofOn-
tario, a landlord association.
But tenants-rights advocates, who also
oppose the Progressive Conservative gov-
ernment’s2018movetoscraprentcontrols
on new buildings, say the bill will make lit-tle difference to tenants. Geordie Dent of
the Federation of Metro Tenants’ Associ-
ations says the bill’s provisions to hike
fines and compensation would make no
difference for the thousands of evictions
and renovictions that are never brought
before the Landlord and Tenant Board.
“The problem is 98 per
cent of these don’t go to
hearings,” Mr. Dent said.
“They’re fraud.”
He also said that some of
the bill’s other changes
would weaken a 90-day no-
tice provision for rent hikes
and make it more difficult
for tenants to win disputes
overrepairsandunpaidrent.
Caryma Sa’d, a housing
lawyer in Toronto, said she
had concerns about the bill’s
aim to streamline proce-
dures at the Landlord and
Tenant Board.
“It’s under the guise of
streamlining. But if stream-
lining simply means remov-
ing procedural protections
for tenants, that’s not bene-
ficial in this type of housing
market,” she said. “It needs
to be more difficult to evict, not easier.”
Tenants’ advocates have been raising in-
creasing alarms about the number of bad-
faith evictions and renovictions. Last year,
a Globe and Mail investigation found that
thenumberofcasesbeforeOntario’sLand-
lord and Tenant Board involving evictions
by landlords demanding units for their
own use had doubled since 2012.Ontariopledgesaction
tofight‘renovictions’
Newbillwouldraise
finesforlandlordstryingto
ousttenants,butadvocates
sayitwouldalsoweaken
noticeprovisionsonrenthikes
JEFFGRAY
TOMCARDOSO
TORONTO
Landlordswhoevict
tenantsunderfalse
pretenses,or
whofailtooffer
renovatedunitsback
totheirevicted
tenants,couldbe
forcedtocoverthe
differenceinrent
coststhattheir
formertenantsface
fortwoyears,up
fromthecurrent
one-yearperiod,
toamaximum
of$35,000.Ontario’s Catholic teachers have reached a
tentative deal with the province, the first
of the four main teachers’ unions to settle
after months of labour unrest.
The Ontario English Catholic Teachers’
Association (OECTA) said on Thursday
that it was suspending all job action while
its 45,000 members ratify the deal on April
7and8.
“Details of the agreement remain confi-
dential pending ratification,” the union
said in a statement.
All four main teachers’ unions have
been engaged in job action, from work-to-
rule to one-day strikes, over the past few
months as tensions with thegovernment
have risen. Teachers and education work-
ers have been without a contract since the
end of August.
Education Minister Stephen Lecce said
onThursdaythatthedealwasgoodforstu-
dents, teachers and education workers,
and “hopefully [it] will build momentum
for further deals that ensure stability for
every child [in publicly funded schools],
Catholic and public, English and French.”
The OECTA resumed bargaining with
the government and the school trustees’
association last week after Mr. Lecce an-
nounced changes to the province’s pro-
posals.
Hesaidthegovernmenthadsoftenedits
stand once again on increasing average
class sizes in high school, reducing the
maximum number to 23 for the length of
the contract. Previously, thegovernment
had set a goal of 28 and then 25, which
would have led to thousands of fewer
teachers in the education system over four
years. The current average is 22.9.
Further,hesaidparentscouldhavetheir
children opt out of two online courses re-
quired to graduate from high school. Par-
ents and the school’s guidance counsellor
would meet to determine whether the
courses, in Grades 11 and 12, would be ap-
propriate. The province had initially
planned to have four online courses.
Mr. Lecce also saidhis government hadmade a commitment to maintain full-day
kindergartenandfundsupportsforspecial
education and other learning needs nego-
tiated in a previous contract.
Aspartofthenewoffer,thegovernment
would require unions to comply with its
wage-cap legislation, meant to limit pub-
lic-sector pay increases to 1 per cent, and
wants concessions on a seniority-based
hiring regulation.
The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of
Ontario (ETFO), the country’s largest edu-
cation union with 83,000 members, also
renewed its talks with the provincial gov-
ernment this week. The union had said
earlier this week that it would escalate its
strike action after March break, which be-
gins on Monday, if a deal is not reached
with thegovernment.
ETFO said on Thursday that it was sus-
pending its rotating strikes scheduled to
begin on March 23. The union’s announce-
ment came as Mr. Lecce issued a ministe-
rial order to close all publicly funded
schools in Ontario for two weeks following
March break in response to the COVID-
pandemic.CatholicteacherspicketinTorontoduringaone-daywalkoutlastmonth.TheOntarioEnglishCatholicTeachers’Associationisthe
firstofthefourmainOntarioteachersunionstosettleaftermonthsoflabourunrest.FRANKGUNN/THECANADIANPRESS
Ontario’sCatholicteachersreach
tentativelabouragreementwithgovernment
CAROLINEALPHONSO
EDUCATIONREPORTER
TORONTO
A man that defence lawyers suggest
could be an alternate suspect in the
killing of a young woman acknowledged
he saw her several times on the night
she disappeared.
The man, who can only be identified
as J.G. because of a publication ban, was
called by the defence to testify at the
murder trial of Kalen Schlatter, the
23-year-old accused of sexually assault-
ing and strangling Tess Richey. Mr.
Schlatter’s lawyers have raised questions
about J.G., who can be seen wearing a
light-pink trucker hat and dark parka in
some security footage from the area the
night Ms. Richey went missing.On the
stand Thursday, J.G. was repeatedly
asked if he had left his apartment in the
early hours of the morning on Nov. 25,
2017, because he was “looking for sex,”
which he eventually agreed was the
case.
The short, muscular man said he saw
Ms. Richey on a few occasions that
night, first coming across her and two
companions shortly after 3 a.m. near the
ATM where he had gone to withdraw
money. He said Ms. Richey called out to
him and tried to start a conversation but
was held back and “coerced or ledaway” by the two others.
Mr. Schlatter has pleaded not guilty to
first-degree murder in Ms. Richey’s
death, testifying earlier this week that
the young woman was alive when he
left her after a consensual sexual en-
counter.
Mr. Schlatter said he and Ms. Richey
made out in a stairwell, but she declined
to have sex and they parted a bit later.
Ms. Richey’s body was found a few
days later, discovered in a stairwell by
her mother and a family friend.THE CANADIAN PRESSDEFENCE IN SCHLATTER TRIAL QUESTIONS MAN THEY SUGGEST COULD BE ALTERNATE SUSPECT