Sunday Post

Calling desperate people "selfish" is no way to win votes, Doug:

Ontario Premier Doug Ford ripped anti-lockdown protesters at Queen’s Park today, calling them “reckless” and “selfish” for defying physical distancing measures, as he announced new supports for front-line workers.

(Sidebar: do any of these journalism degree-holders have other words to use other than "ripped"? Is their vocabulary that poor that they cannot manage "disparaged" or "rebuked"? Really?)


The current death toll in Canada stands at 2,560 because the government on which Canadians foolishly relied refused learn from past mistakes and prepare for the worst in times of calm and plenty:

The excuse by today’s politicians, governments and bureaucrats that “no one could have seen COVID-19 coming” is absurd.

Since the 2003 SARS epidemic and 2009 H1N1 pandemic in Canada, there have been at least five major federal studies — in 2019, 2018, 2011, 2006 and 2003 — warning that Canada was not prepared for another highly contagious pandemic.

Every one of the problems they identified — from insufficient stockpiling of medical supplies, to inadequate testing capability, to a lack of co-ordinated data-sharing between federal, provincial and municipal governments — has happened again with COVID-19.

Ditto chronic hospital overcrowding and hallway medicine, resulting in the mass cancellation of elective surgeries and treatments to prepare for COVID-19, creating another looming medical crisis — the huge backlog of patients now awaiting these often vital procedures.

Had governments simply followed the advice of their own experts in multiple reports they commissioned going back 17 years, instead of ignoring their recommendations once the immediate crisis was over time and time again, far fewer patients and health care workers would be sick and dying today.

Now, everyone is forced into their homes, deprived of all but liquor and food, while their governments throw around borrowed money.

How long will that last? Until May 31st when the schools in Ontario re-open?

(Sidebar: home-schooling has become an unintended target of the spotlight during this crisis. Students are learning online, which teachers in Ontario fought strenuously against, and from their parents. No more half-@$$ed regurgitation from textbooks and anti-Trump venom. I suppose there are silver linings here.)


Canada's economy prior to the preventable coronavirus crisis was already on the ropes. Now, it is doubtful that it will ever recover.

This means a great deal to people who are not civil servants and do not have assurances of weekly or monthly paycheques for work not done.

Staying in warm houses or apartments will only increase other illnesses. So there's that.

And what of surgeries and procedures being put off? How will that add to the overall good health of people who need biopsies and heart operations?


No one is suggesting an unrestrained lift of the lockdown, only it end and soon or no intention based on best wishes or contrary science will matter.

That is why other provinces are taking a cautious approach:

New Brunswick has become the first province in Canada to start lifting public health orders and return to normal. ...

Prior to Friday New Brunswickers were required to maintain social distancing with those outside their household. This limit has now been extended to two households. 

Golf courses are open, parks and beaches are now open, certain practical postsecondary programs will also be allowed to meet in person and religious services can be held outside as long as attendees follow physical distancing measures. 

New Brunswick Chief Medical Officer Dr. Jennifer Russell said the province will monitor the coronavirus situation in the province and will be ready to reintroduce restrictions if necessary.

“We will continue to carefully monitor COVID-19 in the province. This includes testing and tracing,” said Russell.

We can frighten people with partisan words or we can examine the knowledge we have so far and not be afraid to act on it.


Also - what would Justin do if he could not stop provinces from acting on their own?:

Opinion polls have shown that Canadians overwhelmingly support an approach that relies on progress on the public health side, and Canada’s premiers have demonstrated a willingness to be cautious and prudent when it comes to any talk of reopening the economy.

The provinces made the decision about when and how best to implement public health measures. They should also be the ones to decide when and how to lift them.

And:

Justin Trudeau has said in the past that he admires China’s basic dictatorship, a place where the internet is heavily policed and the outside world is firewalled from the eyes of Chinese people; but Canadians reject this dark vision of the future and will not stand for this brazen assault on our rights. Justin Trudeau must stop taking plays out of the Chinese Communist Party playbook and refocus any and all available resources to rebuild our economy and protect our citizens from this virus. During this unprecedented crisis we are all on team Canada, but there is nothing Canadian about censoring free speech. Especially not while we face the greatest crisis of a generation.

**

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says it’s premature to talk of so-called “immunity passports” for Canadians because the science is unclear about whether people who have recovered from COVID-19 are protected from catching it a second time.

Never let a good crisis go to waste. One never knows when an opportunity to control the citizenry may pop up again.




I thought that the coronavirus was a boon to euthanasia-fetishists. All of those old and disabled people would be out of the way:

Disability advocates say the lonely death of a non-verbal B.C. woman is far from an isolated case in Canada — and underscores the need for a clear policy on who, exactly, is an essential hospital visitor during the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Ariis Knight had cerebral palsy and communicated with her family and support workers through her eyes and facial expressions. She was admitted to Peace Arch Hospital in White Rock on April 15 with symptoms of congestion, fever and vomiting, but did not have COVID-19.

Her support staff were not permitted access due to restrictions put in place during the pandemic. Not long after being admitted, Knight was put on end-of-life care, and died days later. She was 40 years old.

Also - the tragedy of "social distancing":

Finally, Roper went to visit her mother at Ballycliffe. Since they weren’t allowed inside, Roper visited her through the window of her ground-floor room. Roper could see her, but Iris wasn’t very responsive — it seemed as though her eyes weren’t focusing. The nurses later told her many of the residents who were diagnosed with coronavirus were lethargic.

“It was heartbreaking,” Roper said.

But there was some light.

On April 17 — the day the facility notified Iris’ family that she had been placed in palliative care — Margaret’s sister was standing by the window when she saw a man attending to her mother. 

According to Margaret, he began to wave his phone with his number visible and she called it.

“He put the phone close to her ear and she was able to chat with mom,” Margaret said. “All of a sudden, she clapped her hands.”

The next day, Margaret and a few family members visited, and, hearing about her sister’s experience the day before, went to ask the front desk if anybody was available to phone them into Iris’ room, but to no avail.
 
But Margaret said that when she returned, the man was in her mother’s room again. They gave him a call and she says the family was able to say their goodbyes as the man held Iris’ hand.

Because jobs:

Six executives from the Montreal-based engineering giant SNC-Lavalin are to receive $2.6 million in bonuses amongst employee salary cuts and layoffs. 

The bonuses were revealed in the company’s recent filings, according to the Society of Professional Engineers and Associates (SPEA). 

Executives and board members took a 20% pay cut, but the reduction does not affect bonuses, stock options or incentives.

The American economy will zoom along when we are still hiding in our homes:

The United States has cleared the way for its long-awaited trade agreement with Canada and Mexico to go into effect July 1.

The U.S. notified its North American trading partners today that it has finished the domestic housekeeping work called for in the agreement, a step the other two countries completed earlier this month.

Also:

Energy projects like an LNG Canada export terminal and the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion may face short-term setbacks but the coronavirus pandemic and oil price crash shouldn’t threaten their long-term viability, economists say.

One can only shake one's head at the predictable weakness of the Europeans:

• Austria. On April 6, the Ministry of Economic Affairs confirmed that 500,000 masks ordered from China for use in South Tyrol were "completely unusable" because they did not meet safety standards: "The result of the quality control check showed that the masks do not meet an FFP standard. When putting on the masks, it is impossible to obtain a tight fit in the area of ​​the chin and cheeks." Minister of Economics Margarete Schramböck complained that international providers of the urgently needed FFP2 and FFP3 masks had not delivered the required quality in nine out of ten cases. On April 9, Austrian media reported that the defective mask problem was far greater than initially thought. The Austrian Red Cross ordered 20 million masks from the same Chinese manufacturer that made the defective masks for South Tyrol.

• Belgium. On March 31, the University Hospital of Leuven rejected a shipment of 3,000 masks from China because the equipment was substandard.

**

Governments in Europe have been wary of engaging in a diplomatic row with China at a sensitive time. One UK official, who like others declined to speak on the record, said there was a "nervousness" about confronting China and that relations were "delicate".

**

The European Union is planning a major pledging conference early next month to help fill the World Health Organization’s funding gaps, and it expects Canada to play a key role.

 Also:

Shrieks of joy rang out Sunday in the streets of Spain as children were allowed to leave their homes for the first time in six weeks, while residents of Italy and France were eager to hear their leaders’ plans on easing some of the world’s strictest coronavirus lockdowns.

Wild rumours of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un's demise and who might replace him at a moment's notice are making their way through the news cycle.

But what are the vaunted speculators and intellectual betters discussing in earnest?:

 

Yep.