Throughout the pandemic politicians have been callous about policies that cost regular people their jobs
The vaccine mandate on truckers entering Canada is as unnecessary as the risks associated with vaccination are trivial, yet it is a policy we’ve collectively allowed to collapse our politics even further into unseriousness, if that is even possible. The existence of a similar policy implemented by the Biden administration renders this conversation mostly obsolete, but never mind that.
It was all of eight months ago that Justin Trudeau dismissed the idea of mandates on the grounds they are “divisive.” On Wednesday he could only scoff at the hundreds of truckers headed to Ottawa to protest his policies. “The small fringe minority of people who are on their way to Ottawa, who are holding unacceptable views that they are expressing, do not represent the views of Canadians,” Trudeau said.
Throughout the pandemic politicians have been callous about policies that cost regular people their jobs, strained their relationships and kept their kids out of school. Progressive supporters of restrictions routinely shout down those advocating for more freedom as selfish and immoral psychopaths who want to sacrifice the young and old to SARS-CoV-2.
The border mandate could cost upwards of 16,000 people their jobs and could further impede supply chain problems for everyone. But to Trudeau, those protesting these measures are a “small fringe” with “unacceptable views.”
A more generous interpretation of the prime minister’s comments would be that he was alluding to reports that a handful of people taking part in the protests are hoping for a Canadian version of the Jan. 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol last year, or to those who have expressed racist and antisemitic views. However, it is becoming something of a habit for Trudeau to associate the vaccine hesitant with hate groups.
As with any protest, there will be elements, sometimes truly unsavoury, trying to take advantage of widespread anger. Others, though, may hold merely strange views.
One of the groups organizing “Freedom Convoy 2022” is bringing a memorandum of understanding that it apparently believes will force politicians at all levels of government to end all COVID restrictions. This would supposedly be done by entering into an agreement with the Senate and Governor General who would then be compelled to “resign their lawful positions of authority immediately” if they refuse to go along. At least I think that is what it says.
It is a completely ridiculous proposition that doesn’t merit a response, but it doesn’t necessarily follow that this group intends to be violent. People have the right to publicly express their opinions, no matter how silly.
The convoy organizers do seem to realize they are at risk of being completely dismissed. “This is not about the vaccine, by the way. There’s nobody in here that’ll tell you it’s about vaccines on this entire convoy,” one told the Post Wednesday.
That is certainly an advisable way for the protesters to present their views — anti-mandate, not anti-vaccine — if they want to appear reasonable and appeal to Canadians more broadly.
Unfortunately, at least some in the convoy are happy to promote vaccine conspiracy theories. There are bumper stickers and signs that read “mandatory injections are a global mass murder” and “we are being murdered.” One even reads “No more Auschwitz.”
One of the most pernicious falsehoods of the pandemic is that vaccines are leading to thousands, or millions, of deaths.
When you ask someone why they believe this, they will inevitably point to the U.S. Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System, or VAERS. But this database doesn’t prove mass deaths. What it does is monitor possible or suspected adverse effects following vaccination, but as the website makes clear, “anyone can submit a report to VAERS, including parents and patients.” Health-care workers are required to report any death if it occurred within a certain timeframe of vaccination, but it doesn’t mean those deaths were caused by vaccines.
The database exists so researchers can look for patterns. Some sources twist this data to make it appear as if vaccines are killing people in high numbers when there is no evidence that that is the case. In fact, analysis of deaths reported to VAERS concludes that the rates are lower than what would be consistent for the relevant demographics such as age and sex.
So yes, there are some in the convoy who hold ludicrous, misguided or even offensive views, but such is their right.
Opposing border mandates is, however, far from a silly position to take, and several business organizations have warned that the policy could exacerbate shortages, including for food, or contribute to steep price increases.
A recent CBC story about the trucker mandate led with infectious disease experts who were skeptical that the mandate would accomplish what it sets out to do. “A vaccine requirement for a select group of people I don’t think is highly likely to make a big, huge difference in the short-to-medium term,” the University of Alberta’s Dr. Lynora Saxinger said. “Of course, (truck drivers) could be spreaders of COVID, but so could everyone else right now.”
If this is how the public broadcaster is framing Trudeau’s vaccine policies, the government truly has lost the plot.
The prime minister could have simply expressed his support for the right to protest and reiterated why he thinks the mandates are necessary, but he just can’t help himself from dismissing the unvaccinated and perhaps even the vaccinated who oppose mandates, as “unacceptable.”
National Post
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HALIFAX – Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston says it’s “disgraceful and demeaning” that a Halifax-area school would request that service members not wear military uniforms to its Remembrance Day ceremony.
Houston’s comments were part of a chorus of criticism levelled at the school — Sackville Heights Elementary — whose administration decided to back away from the plan after the outcry.
A November newsletter from the school in Middle Sackville, N.S., invited Armed Forces members to attend its ceremony but asked that all attendees arrive in civilian attire to “maintain a welcoming environment for all.”
Houston, who is currently running for re-election, accused the school’s leaders of “disgracing themselves while demeaning the people who protect our country” in a post on the social media platform X Thursday night.
“If the people behind this decision had a shred of the courage that our veterans have, this cowardly and insulting idea would have been rejected immediately,” Houston’s post read. There were also several calls for resignations within the school’s administration attached to Houston’s post.
In an email to families Thursday night, the school’s principal, Rachael Webster, apologized and welcomed military family members to attend “in the attire that makes them most comfortable.”
“I recognize this request has caused harm and I am deeply sorry,” Webster’s email read, adding later that the school has the “utmost respect for what the uniform represents.”
Webster said the initial request was out of concern for some students who come from countries experiencing conflict and who she said expressed discomfort with images of war, including military uniforms.
Her email said any students who have concerns about seeing Armed Forces members in uniform can be accommodated in a way that makes them feel safe, but she provided no further details in the message.
Webster did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
At a news conference Friday, Houston said he’s glad the initial request was reversed but said he is still concerned.
“I can’t actually fathom how a decision like that was made,” Houston told reporters Friday, adding that he grew up moving between military bases around the country while his father was in the Armed Forces.
“My story of growing up in a military family is not unique in our province. The tradition of service is something so many of us share,” he said.
“Saying ‘lest we forget’ is a solemn promise to the fallen. It’s our commitment to those that continue to serve and our commitment that we will pass on our respects to the next generation.”
Liberal Leader Zach Churchill also said he’s happy with the school’s decision to allow uniformed Armed Forces members to attend the ceremony, but he said he didn’t think it was fair to question the intentions of those behind the original decision.
“We need to have them (uniforms) on display at Remembrance Day,” he said. “Not only are we celebrating (veterans) … we’re also commemorating our dead who gave the greatest sacrifice for our country and for the freedoms we have.”
NDP Leader Claudia Chender said that while Remembrance Day is an important occasion to honour veterans and current service members’ sacrifices, she said she hopes Houston wasn’t taking advantage of the decision to “play politics with this solemn occasion for his own political gain.”
“I hope Tim Houston reached out to the principal of the school before making a public statement,” she said in a statement.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
REGINA – Saskatchewan Opposition NDP Leader Carla Beck says she wants to prove to residents her party is the government in waiting as she heads into the incoming legislative session.
Beck held her first caucus meeting with 27 members, nearly double than what she had before the Oct. 28 election but short of the 31 required to form a majority in the 61-seat legislature.
She says her priorities will be health care and cost-of-living issues.
Beck says people need affordability help right now and will press Premier Scott Moe’s Saskatchewan Party government to cut the gas tax and the provincial sales tax on children’s clothing and some grocery items.
Beck’s NDP is Saskatchewan’s largest Opposition in nearly two decades after sweeping Regina and winning all but one seat in Saskatoon.
The Saskatchewan Party won 34 seats, retaining its hold on all of the rural ridings and smaller cities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
HALIFAX – Nova Scotia‘s growing population was the subject of debate on Day 12 of the provincial election campaign, with Liberal Leader Zach Churchill arguing immigration levels must be reduced until the province can provide enough housing and health-care services.
Churchill said Thursday a plan by the incumbent Progressive Conservatives to double the province’s population to two million people by the year 2060 is unrealistic and unsustainable.
“That’s a big leap and it’s making life harder for people who live here, (including ) young people looking for a place to live and seniors looking to downsize,” he told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.
Anticipating that his call for less immigration might provoke protests from the immigrant community, Churchill was careful to note that he is among the third generation of a family that moved to Nova Scotia from Lebanon.
“I know the value of immigration, the importance of it to our province. We have been built on the backs of an immigrant population. But we just need to do it in a responsible way.”
The Liberal leader said Tim Houston’s Tories, who are seeking a second term in office, have made a mistake by exceeding immigration targets set by the province’s Department of Labour and Immigration. Churchill said a Liberal government would abide by the department’s targets.
In the most recent fiscal year, the government welcomed almost 12,000 immigrants through its nominee program, exceeding the department’s limit by more than 4,000, he said. The numbers aren’t huge, but the increase won’t help ease the province’s shortages in housing and doctors, and the increased strain on its infrastructure, including roads, schools and cellphone networks, Churchill said.
“(The Immigration Department) has done the hard work on this,” he said. “They know where the labour gaps are, and they know what growth is sustainable.”
In response, Houston said his commitment to double the population was a “stretch goal.” And he said the province had long struggled with a declining population before that trend was recently reversed.
“The only immigration that can come into this province at this time is if they are a skilled trade worker or a health-care worker,” Houston said. “The population has grown by two per cent a year, actually quite similar growth to what we experienced under the Liberal government before us.”
Still, Houston said he’s heard Nova Scotians’ concerns about population growth, and he then pivoted to criticize Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for trying to send 6,000 asylum seekers to Nova Scotia, an assertion the federal government has denied.
Churchill said Houston’s claim about asylum seekers was shameful.
“It’s smoke and mirrors,” the Liberal leader said. “He is overshooting his own department’s numbers for sustainable population growth and yet he is trying to blame this on asylum seekers … who aren’t even here.”
In September, federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller said there is no plan to send any asylum seekers to the province without compensation or the consent of the premier. He said the 6,000 number was an “aspirational” figure based on models that reflect each province’s population.
In Halifax, NDP Leader Claudia Chender said it’s clear Nova Scotia needs more doctors, nurses and skilled trades people.
“Immigration has been and always will be a part of the Nova Scotia story, but we need to build as we grow,” Chender said. “This is why we have been pushing the Houston government to build more affordable housing.”
Chender was in a Halifax cafe on Thursday when she promised her party would remove the province’s portion of the harmonized sales tax from all grocery, cellphone and internet bills if elected to govern on Nov. 26. The tax would also be removed from the sale and installation of heat pumps.
“Our focus is on helping people to afford their lives,” Chender told reporters. “We know there are certain things that you can’t live without: food, internet and a phone …. So we know this will have the single biggest impact.”
The party estimates the measure would save the average Nova Scotia family about $1,300 a year.
“That’s a lot more than a one or two per cent HST cut,” Chender said, referring to the Progressive Conservative pledge to reduce the tax by one percentage point and the Liberal promise to trim it by two percentage points.
Elsewhere on the campaign trail, Houston announced that a Progressive Conservative government would make parking free at all Nova Scotia hospitals and health-care centres. The promise was also made by the Liberals in their election platform released Monday.
“Free parking may not seem like a big deal to some, but … the parking, especially for people working at the facilities, can add up to hundreds of dollars,” the premier told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
— With files from Keith Doucette in Halifax
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