AGAR: It's politics, not science, driving many COVID-19 decisions - Toronto Sun | Canada News Media
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AGAR: It's politics, not science, driving many COVID-19 decisions – Toronto Sun

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What scientific metrics are governments around the country using to decide who gets to go back to some semblance of real life?

It doesn’t appear science is driving decision making so much as politics.

Politicians and health authorities have their hearts in the right place, but they are also the people with the least to lose as we stay closed, and they have not given us a scientific formula for their decision making.

The easiest thing for well-employed people with no personal skin in the game is to tell unemployed people and devastated business owners to wait a bit longer.

Until what? Does anyone know? Do the authorities know?

Is it a seat-of-the-pants sort of thing?

Authorities are very specific about such things as when and how businesses can reopen. For example quebec.ca reads, “Bars must stop selling alcoholic beverages at midnight instead of 3 a.m. and customers must also have left bars not later than 1 a.m.”

What is behind the midnight closing? Is it something to do with the Witching Hour or is it actual science?

Ontario lays out a plan for, “Determining when to ease public health measures” with such benchmarks as, “A consistent two–to-four week decrease in the number of new daily COVID‑19 cases.”

Ontario has achieved that benchmark, but Toronto and some other areas are not allowed to proceed to stage 3. Based on what?

Alberta’s relaunch strategy reads, “Health measures we are watching include percentage of tests that are positive.”

That’s great. What percentage will trigger what reaction?

I have never heard something like, “we go to stage three when we have one continuous seven-day period with new cases below 100.”

Or, “we will open up completely when we get two weeks of new daily case numbers under 25.”

I am just making those numbers up to give an example, and to make the point that I have never heard any metrics.

My point here is that if there are metrics – solid numbers – that are being used, I missed them. I have asked and been sent only generalities, such as listed in this column.

If we have solid, as scientific as they can be numbers, we can all see whether we are progressing, regressing or holding steady in relation to reopening.

Businesses can deal with facts a lot better than having to plan for the moment when politicians get it in their heads to spring an announcement on us.

Of course it would be difficult and less than perfect to give us hard numbers. I am sure no one really knows whether reopening when we are below 100 daily cases is the best thing or if it has to be 50 – or 150. But how can it possibly be worse than working off how authorities “feel” it is going today?

They either have the numbers that inform their decision or they don’t. Which is it?

Are decisions made on the number of new positive tests, on hospitalizations or deaths? Which one, or a combination, is most important and why?

“Best medical advice” and “best science available” are phrases we hear, but not that we see employed.

Are you comfortable having our economy continue to suffer based on a whim – a feeling?

What are the numbers and why are they reasonable? Is that too much to ask?

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Youri Chassin quits CAQ to sit as Independent, second member to leave this month

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Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.

He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.

In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.

Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.

He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.

Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.

He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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‘I’m not going to listen to you’: Singh responds to Poilievre’s vote challenge

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MONTREAL – NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says he will not be taking advice from Pierre Poilievre after the Conservative leader challenged him to bring down government.

“I say directly to Pierre Poilievre: I’m not going to listen to you,” said Singh on Wednesday, accusing Poilievre of wanting to take away dental-care coverage from Canadians, among other things.

“I’m not going to listen to your advice. You want to destroy people’s lives, I want to build up a brighter future.”

Earlier in the day, Poilievre challenged Singh to commit to voting non-confidence in the government, saying his party will force a vote in the House of Commons “at the earliest possibly opportunity.”

“I’m asking Jagmeet Singh and the NDP to commit unequivocally before Monday’s byelections: will they vote non-confidence to bring down the costly coalition and trigger a carbon tax election, or will Jagmeet Singh sell out Canadians again?” Poilievre said.

“It’s put up or shut up time for the NDP.”

While Singh rejected the idea he would ever listen to Poilievre, he did not say how the NDP would vote on a non-confidence motion.

“I’ve said on any vote, we’re going to look at the vote and we’ll make our decision. I’m not going to say our decision ahead of time,” he said.

Singh’s top adviser said on Tuesday the NDP leader is not particularly eager to trigger an election, even as the Conservatives challenge him to do just that.

Anne McGrath, Singh’s principal secretary, says there will be more volatility in Parliament and the odds of an early election have risen.

“I don’t think he is anxious to launch one, or chomping at the bit to have one, but it can happen,” she said in an interview.

New Democrat MPs are in a second day of meetings in Montreal as they nail down a plan for how to navigate the minority Parliament this fall.

The caucus retreat comes one week after Singh announced the party has left the supply-and-confidence agreement with the governing Liberals.

It’s also taking place in the very city where New Democrats are hoping to pick up a seat on Monday, when voters go to the polls in Montreal’s LaSalle—Émard—Verdun. A second byelection is being held that day in the Winnipeg riding of Elmwood—Transcona, where the NDP is hoping to hold onto a seat the Conservatives are also vying for.

While New Democrats are seeking to distance themselves from the Liberals, they don’t appear ready to trigger a general election.

Singh signalled on Tuesday that he will have more to say Wednesday about the party’s strategy for the upcoming sitting.

He is hoping to convince Canadians that his party can defeat the federal Conservatives, who have been riding high in the polls over the last year.

Singh has attacked Poilievre as someone who would bring back Harper-style cuts to programs that Canadians rely on, including the national dental-care program that was part of the supply-and-confidence agreement.

The Canadian Press has asked Poilievre’s office whether the Conservative leader intends to keep the program in place, if he forms government after the next election.

With the return of Parliament just days away, the NDP is also keeping in mind how other parties will look to capitalize on the new makeup of the House of Commons.

The Bloc Québécois has already indicated that it’s written up a list of demands for the Liberals in exchange for support on votes.

The next federal election must take place by October 2025 at the latest.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Social media comments blocked: Montreal mayor says she won’t accept vulgar slurs

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Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante is defending her decision to turn off comments on her social media accounts — with an announcement on social media.

She posted screenshots to X this morning of vulgar names she’s been called on the platform, and says comments on her posts for months have been dominated by insults, to the point that she decided to block them.

Montreal’s Opposition leader and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association have criticized Plante for limiting freedom of expression by restricting comments on her X and Instagram accounts.

They say elected officials who use social media should be willing to hear from constituents on those platforms.

However, Plante says some people may believe there is a fundamental right to call someone offensive names and to normalize violence online, but she disagrees.

Her statement on X is closed to comments.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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