COVID-19
RDC to close Donald School of Business and main campus to public until further notice due to COVID-19


From Red Deer College Communications
Campuses & Facilities Update
The following changes are being implemented in the coming days and weeks:
Donald School of Business
- RDC’s downtown campus, home of the Donald School of Business will be open tomorrow and Thursday to allow faculty and staff to remove any personal items and materials they need to work from home.
- Effective Monday April 13, RDC’s Donald School of Business will temporarily close, until further notice. No public access will be accommodated, and all instructors and staff will be working from home and responding virtually to student or other inquiries.
Main Campus
• Effective Monday, April 13, there will be no public access permitted on RDC’s main campus. Any students, employees, visitors or guests must attend RDC’s main campus for business purposes and need to have pre-approved appointments to pick-up or receive goods or services to be on main campus.
Students
• Effective Monday, April 20, all student access to RDC’s main campus will stop, with the exception of students who are coming to clean out their lockers and/or access the Students’ Association (SA) Food Bank as noted below:
o Students will be required to clean out their lockers by Thursday, April 30 and return locks to the SA. If students are unable to physically come to campus to complete this task, please email the Students’ Association to establish alternative arrangements. Please note the SA is currently open Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 10:00 am – 3:00 pm.
o Students who require access to the SA Food Bank can fill out and submit this Food Bank Application.
o Students who do not have access to a computer or laptop to complete course work can email their name, program, and contact information to [email protected] The Library has some laptops that can be signed out on a first-come, first-served basis. Library staff will contact students to determine how best to meet their needs, whether they need a laptop for an hour, a day, or a week. We will be flexible with loan times, while striving to ensure equitable access to technology for all students. Learners may also contact RDC’s Library through online chat or phone for other inquiries.
Employee Parking
• Effective April 1, 2020, RDC has decided to suspend employee parking fees for all parking on RDC’s main or downtown campuses, until further notice.
o For employees whose fees for reserved stalls are paid by payroll deductions, they will first notice that no parking fees will be deducted from their payroll/direct deposit on the April 24, 2020 pay date (for the April 1–15, 2020 pay period).
o For employees who pay fees online for scramble parking lots, they will not be required to pay for parking on RDC’s campuses in April, and until further notice.
- Parking enforcement and fees have been suspended temporarily on RDC’s main campus, until further notice, for all students and employees.
- The College continues to urge employees to work remotely if their work does not require them to be present at the College. For those who must work at RDC’s main campus, please continue to park in Lots C or Public West and check-in and check-out at the Welcome Centre upon arrival and departure.News about RDC’s response to COVID-19 is available at: rdc.ab.ca/coronavirus.
We all want this crisis to end. Read this. Then find a mask and put it on when you go out in public
COVID-19
Quebec says only people at risk who haven’t had COVID-19 should get booster dose


Only people who are considered at risk for severe COVID-19 — and who haven’t already been infected — need to get a booster dose, Quebec’s public health director said Thursday.
The vast majority of Quebecers have hybrid immunity — protection through vaccination and through a SARS-CoV-2 infection — making regular boosters unnecessary, at least for this winter and spring, Dr. Luc Boileau told reporters.
“People with hybrid immunity … have a very good protection against a severe form of the illness,” Boileau said. “And this immunity lasts for a long enough time that we can propose changes.”
Those who have been vaccinated but haven’t contracted the virus are also protected against severe COVID-19, he said, but their immunity “has a tendency to drop with time.”
Quebec’s vaccination committee decided to focus the province’s immunization policy on preventing hospitalizations and deaths, he said. People who are 60 and older or who have chronic illnesses, health workers, pregnant women and those who live in isolated regions are among the people who should get a booster every six months — but only if they have never caught the virus, Boileau said.
Dr. Caroline Quach-Thanh, chairperson of Quebec immunization committee, said the data shows that people already vaccinated for COVID-19 who have contracted the virus “maintain their protection.”
“Adding a dose doesn’t add a lot protection for severe (illness),” she said.
Health officials estimate that more than three-quarters of Quebecers under 60 have had COVID-19 over the past three years, while about half of those over 60 have caught the virus.
Boileau said only people who are immunocompromised should continue getting boosters even if they’ve been infected, “because their immunity could be affected by their condition.”
Before Thursday’s announcement, boosters were recommended for all people considered at risk of severe COVID-19. Boileau said COVID-19 vaccines will remain available to anyone who wants one. “We won’t refuse anyone,” he said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 2, 2023.
Alberta
‘The eyes of the world’: Trial starts for Calgary pastor charged in border blockade


By Bill Graveland in Lethbridge
A court has seen video of a Calgary pastor encouraging truckers to keep blocking the Canada-U.S. border to protest COVID-19 restrictions because the world was watching.
The trial for Artur Pawlowski began Thursday in southern Alberta on charges of breaching a release order and mischief for inciting people to block public property at the border crossing at Coutts, Alta.
He is also charged under the Alberta Critical Infrastructure Defence Act with the wilfully damaging or destroying essential infrastructure.
The blockade that began in late January 2022 paralyzed Alberta’s main U.S. border crossing for more than two weeks .
The Crown’s case against Pawlowski consists of an agreed statement of facts and the 20-minute video of the speech that the pastor gave to protesters on Feb. 3, 2022.
In it, Pawlowski pleads with truckers to stay the course and not leave the protest, which was aimed at COVID-19 restrictions and vaccine mandates.
Pawlowski visited the group at Smuggler’s Saloon, a location that became their headquarters. At the time, protesters were considering whether to leave Coutts for Edmonton to demonstrate in front of the legislature.
“I believe that the eyes of the world are fixed on this place right here. That’s right — this little pitiful piece of land,” Pawlowski told a cheering crowd in the video played for provincial court Judge Gordon Krinke in Lethbridge, Alta.
“The eyes of the world are fixed right here on you guys. You are the heroes. Don’t you dare go breaking the line.
“For the first time in two years, you have the power. You pack your stuff, you go to Edmonton and you will be lost.”
The pastor also told the crowd there weren’t enough police or a big enough army to deal with the protesters. He was arrested days later.
Pawlowski was greeted by about 300 supporters outside court Thursday before trial. Some held Canadian flags and signs reading “Free Pastor Pawlowski.”
Pawlowski told the group he had no regrets.
“I told the people this is a peaceful uprising. No guns. No swords. I stand by what I said a year ago,” he said outside of court.
“I am proud that I stood with the people that simply stood for their God and state. Our rights do not belong to the politicians or bureaucrats or even judges or Crown prosecutors. They belong to us, the people.”
Prosecutor Steve Johnston said the court must determine whether Pawlowski is guilty because he was a party to the events, and the Crown argues that he was.
The defence said it would not be calling witnesses in the trial, and closing arguments were expected Thursday afternoon.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 2, 2023
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