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.
