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Ontario Declares Second Provincial Emergency to Address COVID-19
Additional Information on Public Health Measures
The Ontario government, in consultation with the Chief Medical Officer of Health and other health experts, is immediately declaring a second provincial emergency under s 7.0.1 (1) of the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act (EMPCA).
Effective Thursday, January 14, 2021 at 12:01 a.m., the government is issuing a stay-at-home order requiring everyone to remain at home with exceptions for essential purposes, such as going to the grocery store or pharmacy, accessing health care services, for exercise or for essential work.
Read the News Release HERE.
View a presentation that outlines the additions and changes to public health measures HERE.
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Ontario Museums and the MHSTCI White Paper
On December 17th, the Honourable Lisa MacLeod, Minister of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries launched her Ministry's White Paper:
The white paper outlines a "broad based recovery strategy centered around multi-year planning" (pg. 36) that includes 15 action items and a Call to Action on page 43.
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| Towards a Sector Response |
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Early in the pandemic, the OMA provided input to the Ministry through OMA Executive Director Marie Lalonde's participation as co-chair of the Festivals, Events and Local Community Attractions Ministerial Advisory Council, one of 14 councils of stakeholders. This FELCA Council emphasized the urgent need for support for member organizations they represented. The OMA's case for museum relief was demonstrated by the findings of two OMA COVID-19 Impact Surveys.
To ensure museums can contribute fully to Ontario's recovery, the OMA's recommendations for the museum sector are elaborated in "Exhibiting Resilience: Empowering Ontario's community museums for strategic recovery", the OMA's own White Paper which aligns with the Ministry's own plans for short-, mid-, and longer-term strategies. Exhibiting Resilience, based on relevant sector data and member input, is central to the sector's response to MHSTCI.
The 3 recommendations in Exhibiting Resilience are:
1. An Ontario Museum Relief Fund, valued at $8.5million, in response to the impacts of COVID-19
2. A Digital Response Fund, valued at $10million over three years
3. That the Government of Ontario renew the Ontario museum funding model, including an increase of sustainable, annual operating support for community museums to $15million per year
Regarding Recommendation 1, the OMA is recommends an Ontario Museum Relief Fund that is inclusive of all museums with a level of support comparable to the federal COVID-19 Emergency Support Fund for Cultural, Heritage and Sport Organizations.
Regarding Recommendation 3, the Honourable Lisa MacLeod spoke at the OMA Annual Conference on November 5, 2020, where she acknowledged a need to update the CMOG program and its funding. Read more of the Minister's remarks HERE.
The OMA will engage museums and Regional Museum Networks, and encourages members to respond to the Ministry by referencing Exhibiting Resilience, and OMA COVID-19 Impact Surveys. The OMA looks to work with Minister MacLeod and MHSTCI to provide a sector-wide response to the White Paper.
The OMA will follow up with available information for the consultation process and timelines in order to ensure museums can fully participate in the strategy development and the short-, mid-, and long-term recovery plans.
The Ministry invites comments on their White Paper by email to MHSTCIRoadmapforRecovery@ontario.ca, and please cc the OMA (mlalonde@museumsontario.ca) and your local MPP (Find your MPP's email address HERE)
Read more in a previous OMA communication about the MHSTCI and OMA White Papers HERE. |
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Canada Summer Jobs 2021
Canada Summer Jobs is an initiative of the Youth Employment and Skills Strategy, which aims to provide flexible and holistic services to help all young Canadians develop the skills and gain paid work experience to successfully transition into the labour market.The program provides wage subsidies to employers from not-for-profit organizations, the public sector, and private sector organizations with 50 or fewer full-time employees, to create quality summer work experiences for young people aged 15 to 30 years.Applications are due by January 29, 2021.For more information, click HERE. To Apply, click HERE.
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Ontario Trillium Foundation provides $41 million for non-for-profits
1st round of Resilient Communities Fund
The Ontario government is providing nearly $41 million to help 486 non-profit organizations across the province to rebuild and recover from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. These grants are part of the first round of funding through the Ontario Trillium Foundation's new $83-million Resilient Communities Fund.
The Resilient Communities Fund provides grants of up to $150,000 to eligible non-profit organizations. They can apply for a broad and flexible range of needs, such as mental and physical health and wellbeing supports for staff or volunteers, identify new health and safety processes or purchasing of new technology and personal protective equipment. The fund will also provide grants to support capital needs, such as renovations and facility updates to meet the changing needs of the communities they serve.
OTF has redirected provincial funding previously allocated for the 2020 Grow and Capital grant streams into the $83 million Resilient Communities Fund*
Read more HERE.
*Note: Resilient Communities Fund is not the same as the Community Building Fund announced in Ontario's Fall Budget 2020. The Community Building Fund will see $25million in funding through OTF this fiscal year (to March 31, 2021) and $75million next fiscal year.
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Science North receives $1.4M provincial investment
With the help of a $1.4-million investment made by the Ontario government, Science North will launch The Great Northern Ontario Roadshow starting in the second half of 2021.
The promotional tour will travel to more than 50 communities to highlight some of the tourist attractions and natural wonders located throughout the North.
Through a series of regionally tailored events, the roadshow hopes to generate revenue for tourist operations impacted by the pandemic.
Read more from sudbury.com HERE.
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#MuseumSelfie Day 2021
Save the Date- Wednesday January 20th!
#MuseumSelfie Day is Wednesday, January 20, 2021.
OMA members can connect with each other and the rest of the global museum community as a part of #MuseumSelfie Day! It's a chance to showcase the people who make our sector vibrant and engaged, even in a time of COVID-19. Try pictures from your work-from-home setup, with your museum's own facemasks on, or over videoconferences!
Make sure to use the hashtag #MuseumSelfie and please tag the OMA (@museumsontario) in Twitter and Facebook posts!
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