Anonymous ID: 8ade03 Feb. 9, 2022, 8:13 a.m. No.15585824   🗄️.is 🔗kun

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/tow-truck-ottawa-convoy-protest-refuse-1.6343177

Towing companies on city contracts refuse to move convoy vehicles

City, police say finding willing tow truck operators is a Canada-wide challenge

The tow trucks operators on contract to the City of Ottawa are taking a hard pass on requests to haul vehicles out of protest areas, according to the city's top public servant.

"I've contacted them all and they're all refusing, as of today, to provide heavy tow truck work," city manager Steve Kanellakos told reporters Monday evening after a six-hour special council meeting.

"Right now we're reviewing their contracts or standing offer, and reviewing what actions we can take to deal with this unprecedented situation."

More than 400 vehicles are parked illegally in the downtown core, according to Ottawa police, the majority of them heavy trucks (and at least one crane). One of several challenges facing the Ottawa Police Service and the city is how to get them off the streets if protesters refuse to drive them away.

The demonstrators, who began arriving in Ottawa more than a week ago, have said they will only leave after COVID-19 mandates are lifted.

This is proving to be a serious issue for city officials. Experts told the CBC towing a truck without the help of a driver is already difficult. It's impossible without towing equipment.

It's not clear how many towing companies have standing offers with the city, or the terms of their contracts.

And it doesn't seem like Ottawa is having much luck outside city limits.

According to Kanellakos, Mayor Jim Watson has reached out to his counterparts in other Ontario municipalities, but no dice.

"Right now, the consensus seems to be that many of them — or most of them — don't want to do the work because … they rely on on the the heavy truck industry for their livelihood, and they don't want to damage that part of their business. That's the position they're taking, at least."

Kanellakos said the city is speaking with federal and provincial officials to come up with a solution.

Deputy police chief Steve Bell agreed that finding companies that will agree to tow protesters has been a challenge in "every jurisdiction that's faced this, and it's forcing us to come up with some creative solutions."

He wouldn't elaborate on what those creative solutions might be, but said police are coming "toward a position where we're not going to let the tow truck operators … be an obstacle to ending what's occurring."

Anonymous ID: 8ade03 Feb. 9, 2022, 8:14 a.m. No.15585831   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>5868

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath says Premier Doug Ford should strip protesting truckers in Ottawa of their commercial licenses and registration as "an incentive to pack up and go home".

Anonymous ID: 8ade03 Feb. 9, 2022, 8:23 a.m. No.15585905   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>5911 >>5930 >>5937 >>5944 >>5981 >>5988 >>6008

https://twitter.com/mariacaulfield/status/1490740201488007175

Today I joined #HIVTestingWeek by getting a quick, easy test for HIV. Viruses don’t discriminate - anyone can get HIV so I’d encourage anyone who hasn’t yet to find out your HIV status to help achieve our goal to end HIV transmission in England by 2030

Anonymous ID: 8ade03 Feb. 9, 2022, 9 a.m. No.15586172   🗄️.is 🔗kun

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lifestyle/lifestyle-news/george-takei-once-discussed-howard-stern-grabbing-men-persuade-sex-1057333/

George Takei Once Discussed With Howard Stern Grabbing Men to “Persuade” Them for Sex

A recently surfaced piece of audio from Stern's radio program last month highlights the 'Star Trek' actor discussing sexual harassment in the wake of Harvey Weinstein allegations going public.

A former model and actor on Friday accused Star Trek actor George Takei of sexual assault in 1981. The accuser, Scott R. Brunton, who was 23 at the time of the alleged incident, claims that Takei took advantage of him when he was most vulnerable.

On Saturday, an audio clip surfaced from Takei’s appearance last month on Howard Stern’s radio show. The interview was recorded less than two weeks after sexual assault accusations against fallen film mogul Harvey Weinstein were made public. Stern and Takei were discussing the “irony” of the Weinstein case and the audiotape of President Donald Trump boasting about grabbing women’s genitals years ago when Stern asked Takei whether he had ever grabbed a man’s genitals against his will.

Takei, a staunch opponent of the Republican president, initially was silent, then said “uh oh” and laughed. Stern asked again and Takei said, “Some people are kind of skittish, or maybe, um, uh, afraid, and you’re trying to persuade.”

Stern and his co-host, Robin Quivers, persisted, asking Takei whether he ever held a job over somebody for sex and he said no.

Quivers asked if he did “this grabbing at work.” Takei said, “It was either in my home. They came to my home.”

In a series of tweets and in a Facebook post Saturday morning, Takei denied Brunton’s allegations.

“The events he describes back in the 1980s simply did not occur, and I do not know why he has claimed them now. I have wracked my brain to ask if I remember Mr. Brunton, and I cannot say I do,” he wrote. “Right now it is a he said / he said situation, over alleged events nearly 40 years ago. But those that know me understand that non-consensual acts are so antithetical to my values and my practices, the very idea that someone would accuse me of this is quite personally painful.”

Anonymous ID: 8ade03 Feb. 9, 2022, 9:30 a.m. No.15586388   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>15586333

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/ontario-nurses-pandemic-libel-suit-1.6307238

3 Ontario nurses disciplined for social media posts related to pandemic launch $1M libel suit

Canadian Nurses Association, B.C. media company Together News Inc. are named as defendants

Three Ontario nurses who have faced discipline for their stances on the pandemic are suing the Canadian Nurses Association (CNA) and a media outlet in British Columbia, with the libel suit seeking $1 million.

Kristen Nagle of London, Kristal Pitter of Tillsonburg and Sara Choujounian of Toronto have been investigated by the College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO) for sharing their controversial views about the pandemic on social media.

All three nurses are entitled to practise in Ontario without restrictions.

Pitter, a nurse practitioner and former nursing home inspector for the Ontario Ministry of Long-Term Care, has been cautioned by the CNO, along with Nagle, about spreading misinformation on social media about the pandemic.

Nagle, a former neonatal intensive-care nurse at London Health Sciences Centre, was fired last January after she was charged by law enforcement for failing to comply with Ontario's emergency pandemic health restrictions in November 2020. She was charged again in April 2021.

3 are members of Canadian Frontline Nurses

Choujounian, a former practical nurse with a Toronto home-care agency, will face a CNO disciplinary hearing this June for professional misconduct in connection with a dozen social media posts related to the pandemic, including claims surgical masks increase the risk of cancer, the COVID-19 pandemic is a hoax and COVID-19 vaccines are "unsafe."