TRAINING SUPPORT WORKERS TO COST $38.5M OVER 2 YEARS

Parliament’s budget watchdog estimates it will cost $38.5 million over two years to train 4,000 new personal support workers across the country in a six-week accelerated online program and four-month internship.. Parts of the country have faced dire staffing shortages in long-term care homes, where COVID-19 outbreaks have strained resources and caused thousands of deaths. Miranda Ferrier, who heads the Canadian Support Workers Association, backs the training regime's intent but worries it amounts to a Band-Aid solution. Ferrier is calling for greater regulation and professional recognition of the industry in order to cement higher wages, full-time hours, benefits and pensions, and thus boost staff retention and care quality.

The head of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service is warning that China is undermining Canada through its efforts to steal valuable technology and silence critics of Beijing's policies. In a speech Tuesday, CSIS director David Vigneault, shown, said all sectors of Canadian society must work together to fend off these threats. He bluntly stated that Beijing is “using all events, all elements of state power, to carry out activities that are a direct threat to our national security and sovereignty.” Among the sectors most vulnerable to state-sponsored cyberespionage are biopharmaceuticals and health, artificial intelligence, quantum computing and aerospace, he said. These technologies are largely developed within academia in small startups, which are attractive targets because they have modest security protections.