There are some leaders you’d follow to hell and back, and then there’s Jason Kenney.
On Nov 24 Mr Kenney declared a second covid related public health emergency and outlined restrictions that would go into effect immediately because despite his fervent belief that Albertans would do the right thing, they didn’t.
Mr Kenney advised that after a grueling 8-hour meeting on Monday he and his covid cabinet committee reviewed Dr Hinshaw’s recommendations and developed a new set of restrictions which he unveiled at the press conference.
It was a weird event.
Mr. Kenney said he had “sharp words” with the feds (too slow in approving foreign rapid testing kits, but thanks for the 577,000 domestic kits), he was contemptuous of those with secure pay cheques, particularly secure government pay cheques, who were pushing for more stringent measures, and he displayed yet again his monumental ignorance of constitutional law (no, a government is not required to start with minimal Charter impairments before it can step it up, the legal test is proportionality).
But the most disturbing aspect of Mr Kenney’s remarks is his insistence that the new restrictions are based on data.
What data?
Mr Kenney said the restrictions are targeted measures, focused on places “the data clearly showed [covid] was spreading”.
Really? How can the data clearly show anything when Alberta’s contact tracing capability has been compromised for more than three weeks?
Oh, don’t worry, Mr Kenney says. We have lots of data, namely 8 months of contact tracing data, outbreak data, healthcare utilization data, the number of ICU beds, the case-to-hospitalization ratio, the case fatality ratio, and the inferred infection fatality ratio.
Okay, that was quite a mouthful, but I have some questions.
How can we draw an inference from the pattern of infection for the last 8 months when we have no data for the 9th month and we can’t tell if or how the pattern is changing at the same time our numbers are spiking? There’s a hole in the data.
If the outbreak data is relevant, and to cite one example there have been 9 outbreaks at amateur hockey games, why are there exemptions for team sports under certain conditions?
How were lagging indicators—healthcare utilization data, the number of ICU beds, the case-to-hospitalization ratio, the case fatality ratio and the inferred infection fatality ratio—used to develop restrictions which are intended to decrease the spread of covid in the future? None of these indicators pinpoint how covid was transmitted to those who are sick or dying from the infection, do they?
Oh wait, there’s more.
Mr Kenney has another data source. He’s relying on general learnings, academic and global research and experience in other jurisdictions.
I’m sure inference from these data sources is useful, but wouldn’t it be more effective to fix our contact tracing problem by adopting the federal contact tracing app?
Look, Mr Kenney said, this isn’t just a simple mathematical scientific exercise, there’s a balancing function here as well.
Ah, we’re finally down to what’s driving these restrictions. Ideology.
Churches are deemed safer than libraries. Families of 6 can go out to eat in a restaurant but they can’t invite grandma over for lunch. Ten people can gather for a wedding but not a wedding reception…unless they meet up at a bar. Masks are mandatory in Calgary and Edmonton and 22 other towns and hamlets but a person with “a mental or physical concern or limitation” doesn’t have to wear one. I guess this means the guy who complained that breathing in his own breath would give him gingivitis is off the hook.
Dec 15
Okay, let ‘er rip.
We’ll regroup with Mr Kenney on Dec 15 when he’ll tell us whether Alberta’s R number is 1 or higher in which case he’ll impose stricter measures. If we’re lucky he’ll regale us with another over-the-top story about a recent refugee escaping from [insert socialist country name here] who pleaded with him not to destroy her business and throw her into abject poverty.
And he wonders why we don’t trust him.
Susan on the Soapbox 
Susan: Thanks for another great blog. This is all one very confusing mess with the UCP. Nothing makes sense anymore. Alberta is sitting at the top spot in Canada for the per capita rate of people with covid. The UCP clearly haven’t learned from the first time when covid was in Alberta. I just don’t think we are in the clear yet. If 2020 was bad, we have to hang on tight when 2021 comes around. It will not be an easy ride. What’s also appalling is there are people in Alberta who still think the UCP are handling the covid issue and provincial affairs very well. I don’t see that. I don’t think by December 15, all will be rosy. That’s wishful thinking. If people aren’t healthy, and risk spreading covid to others, what good will this do for the economy? The UCP will have to be held responsible for the lack of clarity they are giving with covid, the inability to learn from their previous experience with the virus, and the problems this is causing.
Dwayne, you’re absolutely right, this is a confusing and dangerous mess. You mention the people who still think Kenney is doing a good job; seems to me he also thinks he’s doing a good job.
A reporter asked him if the new restrictions were “an admission of failure.” He said no, and listed the following reasons in support of his belief, namely in the past 9 months Alberta had lowest transmission of most jurisdictions, the lowest active cases and fatalities, was best prepared in PPE, led in testing, was first with an online assessment tool, first with a wireless app for contact tracing and had “the most robust contact tracing system.”
So here’s the problem, that was then, this is now. Today we’ve got the highest infection rate in the country, our contact tracing system collapsed and our contact tracing app identified 19 cases. This is not the sign of a success. It’s a failure. The measure of success isn’t static, it’s not rooted in what you did 5 months ago, it’s rooted in how you’re performing today and today Alberta is in deep trouble.
He also said it was predictable that there would be a “significant spike” in the fall. So why did he wait until the end of November to address it?
This is not leadership.
.. Sadly, Jason Kenney is recently revealed as a liar. That or he suffered cognitive damage from Covid infection. The Venezuela fabrication was laughable. He also stuttered, stumbled & had difficulty reading his own teleprompted script.. and next public sighting appeared disheveled, collar undone, tie pulled loose and sweaty
Twitter is loading up with science backed fact as he whines re Calgary South Asians causing community spread. There are many fine Albertan MD’s, Nurses, Advocates, Educators to read and follow.. not mention American Exemplars like Dr. Larry Brilliant or Dr Michael Warner Chief of Intensive Care, Michael Garron Hospital, Toronto. Kenny is spouting hysterically
diamondwalker, the minute he started with the Venezuela anecdote I knew he’d lost it. He, like Trump, loves these “Sir, tears flowing down their cheeks, please save us” stories.
Then the press found the Venezuelan woman who was not a “new Albertan, a refugee of Venezuelan socialism” but rather someone who came to Canada 31 years ago with her husband, they filed a refugee claim based on her husband’s Colombian background. They settled in Montreal and moved to Alberta 7 years ago, and no, she didn’t recognize him, he chatted with her when he bought some food.
She said Kenney got her feelings right, she and her husband did put their money into the business and closing the economy would be bad for them, but she also said she understands it’s about people’s health and that’s what she told Kenney.
So here’s the problem: if Kenney thinks it’s okay to embroider the story of a living breathing person, what else is he embroidering?
Like I said, there are some people you’d follow to hell and back, there are others you wouldn’t trust as far as you could throw them. Kenney falls into the latter category.
It seems to me that Kenney was caught in various mistruths as an MP. The fake citizenship ceremonies was a classic.
GregH: great reminder that the pseudo Venezuelan refugee story was just par for the course.
The question is – has he ever not embroider?
He is a master of fact less stories to make his supporters salivate in the 5th dimension
It is quite pathological I think – it reminds me of a cousin of mine that could not open his mouth without saying a lie just to impress others.
Showing how you feel about mentally disabled people and masks, tells me all I need to know about you as a writer!
Gail, your comment illustrates a fundamental problem with this Order. The Order is ill-conceived and poorly drafted. Its purpose is to reduce the spread of a life threatening virus by limiting contact and requiring Albertans (in certain locations) to wear masks. The masking provision is subject to many exceptions including an exception for a person who “is unable to wear a mask due to a mental or physical concern or limitation.” The problem is the phrase “mental or physical concern or limitation” is vague. If Kenney intended it to refer to a mental disability as you suggest then the Order should have referred to a “mental disorder” as set out in the Mental Health Act which defines “mental disorder” as “a substantial disorder of thought, mood, perception, orientation or memory that grossly impairs judgment, behavior, capacity to recognize reality, or ability to meet the ordinary demands of life.” Instead it’s phrased in terms of a “concern” or “limitation” which could mean anything, including a concern that breathing in CO2 will cause gingivitis. Sadly, I suspect that may have been the intent.
The guy with gingivitis should brush his teeth with fluoride and floss every day and maybe use a mouthwash. Oh wait, he’s probably afraid of fluoride too… 🙄
hey gail
this is how i read this ” a person with “a mental or physical concern or limitation” doesn’t have to wear one”
if you can tie your shoes and get out without an oxygen tank…your problem is not physical
that basically says ….your problem is mental
mask wearing is not a political statement
it is more of an IQ test
it was an unthinking off hand / parapraxis / commission in con messaging
to appease yet condemn the faithful
lunges mtn: I had to look up “parapraxis”. Nice. In addition to everything you’ve said, the Order was a classic example of sloppy statutory drafting, consequently it is confusing and likely unenforceable. Not exactly the kind of law Albertans need to get them through the worst public health crisis of our time.
Thank you Susan! All the evidence indicates that shorter more rigid shutdowns are the best option both for people’s health and the economy. If you don’t believe that, have a look around at the research and the societies that are doing the best. Alberta is just drawing out the deaths, pain and the costs.
I am doing my part by basically cutting off all contact with the outside and also with my small family. But the contradictions are ridiculous. I cannot see my small family of four with whom i have been in a bubble since early May and where we all are working from home and shopping online. Yet I could spend a day going to the gym, going to church, shopping at a mall, having coffee at a coffee shop, having drinks at a bar, eating at a restaurant, getting my hair and nails done and ending the evening at a casino. In that day I would have very little control of my environment and would be in direct and indirect contact with hundreds of people. Oh, and I could perhaps pick up a couple of new friends at the casino to bring home with me and share a few meals etc. All of these activities are in indoor, often crowded spaces. Does this make sense?
agree that despite Kenney’s statements that social gatherings are the drivers of all the infections, I wonder how he knows…what is the role of care home staff who still are working at multiple places, of the schools (we never traced students effectively because we don’t want to know), , of restaurants and bars (known in other jurisdictions to be high drivers) and gyms. It is a mess here people. As someone said, it is like telling people not to fall off a cliff and then pushing them over.
JCurrie: excellent summary! The law profs Shaun Fluker and Lorian Hardcastle did an deep dive on this last week. They said the Order was very poorly drafted, (for example it can be interpreted to allow a social function with an unlimited number of people attending as long as they sat down or were stationary), which will make it hard to enforce.
It was not properly publicized (it went into effect on Nov 24, but wasn’t posted on the gov’t website or the Alberta Gazette until 24 hours later which meant questions were being addressed on Twitter (law by Twitter, how reassuring).
They said there was no excuse for this hurried rush because the Legislature has been in session since late Oct and rather than discussing the covid crisis it was debating “insignificant” bills like the Red Tape amendments.
They close their column with the comment “Unfortunately our leaders seem to have lost the legitimacy to inspire collective action when it is needed the most.”
It’s only because of responsible Albertans like you, that we’ve managed to keep a lid on this, but I worry that with this level of inept leadership we’ll lose the battle soon.
Here’s the link to the Fluker/Hardcastle post: https://ablawg.ca/2020/11/26/covid-19-and-rule-by-fiat-under-albertas-public-health-act/
This is a very good summary. Of course my two selected companions to help take the sting out of living alone and being legally barred from meeting with my small family including two grandkids not in school or on play dates could be members of large families, have several roommates or be working at a bar/restaurant or maybe a bar/restaurant/casino.. or at several care centres. Crazy. Really appreciate this..
Thank you, Susan. Again you have done an excellent capture of the situation. Albertans are not baffled nor reassured by someone who has little understanding, sketchy data and no trust. Why would we believe this – it just doesn’t make sense and the call to Albertans to do the right thing came when daily counts were well over 1,000/day. The “horse had left the barn”.
And then he came unhinged with this video where he talks about mandatory immunization.
The Premier purposively creates divisiveness- following anti masking messages with anti vaccination messages. At a time when Albertans need to work together, regardless of politics, he fuels animosity. It makes no sense. COVID does not care who you vote for. But he doesn’t fool us on ethics, either. The government is acting in a way that is dangerous to the lives of Albertans – which is unethical.
Jason Kenney says COVID-19 vaccination will not be …globalnews.ca › news › kenney-vaccination-covid-19-…
Thanks Dawn. I agree with your comments. I pulled up the clip to see why Kenney has taken the position he’s not making vaccinations mandatory. Naturally he said nothing to back up his position other than it would be ridiculous to strap people down to force them to take vaccine, so instead he’ll “encourage” them to take the vaccine. We all know how well his “encouragement” was with respect to masking, social distancing, and other activities aimed at keeping our covid numbers down.
Seems to me every time he opens his mouth he send dog whistles to the anti-masker/anti-vac crowd which emboldens them even further.
Here’s the link: https://globalnews.ca/news/7490405/kenney-vaccination-covid-19-mandatory/
The federal Conservatives are all complaining about vaccine procurement right now. Maybe he’s trying desperately to connect himself to any message that is anti-Trudeau.
Dog whistles indeed. Latest example is repealing the portion of the Health Act that allows government to legislate mandatory vaccinations. He has already stated that covid vaccinations would not be mandatory and it is doubtful the legislation would ever be used anyway. It’s also doubtful that many people knew about it in the first place. So, what is the purpose of this overkill? Theatrics and playing to a certain segment of his base. By drawing attention to it, he skillfully secures their continued support (whether he believes in vaccinations or not). Like Trump, he is very good at this type of manipulation.
During the press conference immediately following the leaked conversation Tyler Shandro stepped to the mic’ to valiantly defend Dr.Hinshaw’s integrity. About half way through his speech assuring Albertans how he takes her advice seriously (he obviously doesn’t), and how he would never throw her under a bus (he has), he started stumbling in his delivery.
It appeared to me that he suddenly realized, live and on the air, the fact that absolutely nobody is questioning Dr.Hinshaw’s integrity as a result of the content of these leaked recordings, rather everybody is questioning HIS.
GoinFawr: you nailed it. The issue isn’t Dr Hinshaw’s integrity but the integrity of Kenney, Shandro and the entire UCP caucus.
Twitter carried a story about some people talking with Shandro outside his constituency office. They asked why the masking order wasn’t province wide. His response was “What am I going to tell the guy in Cold Lake?” May I suggest he try something like this: “We’re fighting a global pandemic that will overwhelm our ability to provide healthcare unless we do everything possible to stop it. We are relying on proven methods to reduce infection rates. Masking is one such method. We gave you a chance to mask up voluntarily and you refused. So now it’s mandatory.”
Or he could tell the Cold Lake guy the same thing he told the guy in the Hamlet of Evansburg or the Town of Thorsby (both of which are under the mask order), “Just do it.”
I will never understand why Alberta’s response to the most serious health crisis of our time must be acceptable to our least well informed citizens. Oh never mind, it’s all about ideology and satisfying the base.
Some Cold Lake people tweeted that they wanted a masking order. I checked, and Cold Lake had 50 cases a week ago and I think a school had a case more recently.
https://www.nugget.ca/news/local-news/fifty-active-covid-19-cases-in-cold-lake-monday/wcm/5abe7183-4b3d-4ccd-be8f-fa1ebcc69637
(There is something odd about this article, I think it was on the Lakeland Today news site when I first saw it, but now it’s not there but is on northern Ontario news websites?!)
The Cold Lake city council did vote against passing a masking bylaw, on Oct 27:
https://www.lakelandtoday.ca/cold-lake-news/proposed-mandatory-mask-bylaw-defeated-by-city-of-cold-lake-council-2838144
My previous post may be mistaken, it looks like Lakeland Today is not a Postmedia news site. The reporter, Kelly-Anne Riess, is based in Cold Lake but it looks to me like the North Bay Nugget has more of her stories. Are Alberta Postmedia news sites avoiding publishing some reports about covid-19 that show up in other Postmedia news sites?
Her website: https://kellyanneriess.com/about/
One more link, about small communities in Alberta with high case rates:
https://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/some-of-alberta-s-smallest-communities-are-dealing-with-the-highest-rate-of-cases-1.5206611
Valerie, thanks for the link to the article about the rate of spread in small communities. As Dr Amy Tan said the per capita rate is a critical piece of information and people who live in smaller centres may not know they’re at greater risk than those that live in the cities. This is why a province wide mask requirement would be helpful but Kenney won’t do it despite the alarming case rates in Banff and other town. Add to that the difficulty in treating the seriously ill Covid patients in these small towns and you’ve got a real mess.
As always thank you Susan for your cogent comments. As of this evening,s news I have gone from simmering to boiling. We can take the bandage off slowly which we have now been doing for eight months or so, or get down to business and suffer more but in the use of accomplishing something. The restrictions of November thirteenth have clearly failed as we compete to have the most covid cases , not only per capita, but in absolute numbers in the country. What a success. For those people who dont care because it is only the old and the infirm who are dying, they should give another thought to themselves as there is now no hospital in Calgary without a covid outbreak .
Great, have a heart attack and then get covid on top of it. As for AHS now asking doctors to ration oxygen that is beyond abysmal. Instead of suggesting that and opening more ICU beds they might better suggest serious restrictions to curb the spread. Perhaps that is too political for them .
Avalon I’m with you going from simmering to boiling. People will always do stupid things, but a few might think twice about doing it if their leader, Jason Kenney, set the right example by imposing stringent mandatory restrictions across the province and explaining why he’s doing so. Instead he imposes incoherent restrictions and muddies the waters by creating the impression he’s OK with hundreds of people gathering in anti-mask protests. The irony is Kenney’s approach backfired. One anti-mask protester posted an outraged complaint on Twitter after the “gestapo” showed up at his place, gave him 5 summons and tickets, after Kenney, announced “we have a right to protest.” Of course they have the right to protest, if they wear masks and socially gather in groups of 10 or less, because that’s Kenney’s law now. Someone should tell Kenney that’s what happens when he soft peddles the message trying to appease his base. They’ll be marching on his house next, like they did with Ford in Ontario.
This exercise by Kenney has all the traits of bad public policy making.
First, there is little or no transparency. What recommendations did Henshaw actually make? We don’t really know, but I doubt leaving casinos and bars open was her first choice, hence the grueling 8 hour meeting, I suspect to partly to wear her down.
We don’t have a widely used contact tracing app yet, because Alberta fumbled this early, and to add insult to injury, it still refuses to adopt the Federal one which seems to be working. Presumably, this is because of Kenney’s and the UCP’s aversion to the Federal Liberals and Trudeau. So, we are still driving quite blind in a storm, which is not helpful. The government “thinks” transmission is occurring mostly at private in home gatherings, but heck we don’t really know.
There is also a slowness to respond and a reluctance to act by top leadership to what is becoming a crisis. I gather this is in part out of fear by the UCP that certain measures may upset its more devout or freedom loving supporters. Politics seems to be taking too much importance in what mostly is a public health issue.
Lastly, there is a confusing and at times contradictory series of half measures – a bureaucratic Frankenstein. It is ok to go to the mall or maybe a restaurant with granny, but not to have her over for dinner. There are different rules for masking in different parts of the province and while it is clear what cities are, what the heck are potentially shifting purple zones? How can the average citizen be expected to keep track of all of this confusing mess.
Maybe we will muddle through this all somehow by December 15th, but I am not hopeful. There is a reason things in Alberta have gotten so much worse than in the rest of Canada over the last few months. I don’t think Kenney and his UCP gang have fully grasped the seriousness of this yet. They may now have moved past the initial denial stage to bargaining now, but unfortunately I don’t think the virus is much into bargaining right now.
Dave, you make an interesting point when you ask what recommendations did Dr Hinshaw make. I heard a good discussion on CBC The Current about a CMOH’s role. Dr Jim Talbot the former CMOH for Alberta and Nunavut said there is always some tension between the CMOH and the government but the areas of disagreement are usually “small or medium”. He said the serious issues tend to rise from (1) the fact that the primary duty of a CMOH is to look after the health of the province, (2) the reporting structure has the CMOH reporting to the Minister of Health but also the people of the province and it’s important the CMOH maintain their trust and (3) the CMOH like all doctors takes the Hippocrates Oath and must do no harm. So if they’re instructed by government to do something they think will cause harm or not prevent harm they can’t do it. The difficulty we’re having here in Alberta is the lack of transparency and Kenney hiding behind Dr Hinshaw or popping out of front of her whenever it suits him (remember when he rescinded the first emergency order without her knowledge). Consequently our trust in Kenney and Hinshaw has been compromised. This is the last place we want to be as this pandemic ramps up and likely worse.
What is happening in Alberta is a clear example of what happens when people are asked to do what they cannot handle.
What more do we need to show the UCP and their supporters the real facts of this situation and not just silly beliefs and slogans that they have been nurturing all their pathetic lives.
This is reality not make belief and people are dying due to a total lack of competence.
I will add a little more to Dave’s sentence ‘I don’t think Kenney and his UCP gang have fully grasped the seriousness of this yet’ – the problem is that they do not WANT TO.
Strange, isn’t it? Con politicians believe businesses can do nothing wrong, and governments can do nothing right. Then, as soon as the form a government, the Cons prove that they’re correct….
.”Strange, isn’t it? Con politicians believe businesses can do nothing wrong, and governments can do nothing right. Then, as soon as the form a government, the Cons prove that they’re correct…”
Well, on that last part, anyway.
Like it!
I like it Mike. If anyone has demonstrated that government can’t get it right, it’s Jason Kenney’s UCP.
Carlos: You explained exactly how it is in Alberta. No matter what, there are still people in Alberta, and they will be loyal to the Conservative brand, and sweep any wrongdoings under the rug. Problem is, there isn’t a big enough rug to sweep things under. The UCP’s popularity is slipping faster and faster, but the steadfast UCP supporters will want to disregard that.
Yes. As I’ve said before, I live in a very conservative region of AB. People here don’t see any wrongdoings, let alone sweep them under the rug. Recently, a neighbour talked about how we get fake news about the UCP drummed up by left wing media. If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought I was at a Trump rally.
Dwayne and Comment: I was talking with my daughter about how to get through to hard core UCP supporters. She said, don’t bother. They’re not interested in having a dialogue, their minds are made up and nothing you can say will change it. As you point out, whatever evidence/information we present will be dismissed as left wing media propaganda. The fact over 70 million people voted for Trump and continue to argue the election was stolen from him bears this out.
You raise an interesting point Carlos, do Kenney and his entourage believe Covid is real and the problem with mass infections and overloading our healthcare system is critical? I heard an interview with Barack Obama in which he was asked whether he thought Trump was a racist. Obama said he didn’t know what was in Trump’s heart or his mind, but his behaviour certainly fanned the flames of racism in America. I think the same analysis applies here. We don’t know what’s in Kenney’s heart or his mind, but his behaviour certainly encourages Albertans to deny the serious of this pandemic (it’s just the flu, right). This denial will continue even after we get a vaccine because the the Covid deniers will refuse to be immunized. Or even if they believe Covid is real they won’t trust the vaccine is safe. Yesterday Kenney told them they didn’t have to get the shot(s) if they don’t want to so they’re going to exercise their right to [blah blah blah] and not get it. Thanks Jason for undermining our herd immunity.
I agree with you Susan
Jason Kenney is undermining mostly everything because evangelicals have this belief that they are special and they are the ones who know it all and the chosen ones to go live with God after death. Well I do not have a problem that they do that amongst themselves but I certainly mind when they force this on 60% of the population that does not want anything to do with this. He definitely behaves as a superior being that will never change his mind because what he knows is sacred and the truth.
So until we get rid of him we have to live in this rigid stupidity that has no place anywhere and much less in an educated and progressive country like Canada.
He can move to Alabama or one of those states that even banned evolution and I am sure he will be happy there. I guess he is a missionary here.
Let me try to post one more time – struggling to get post today
Mike it is strange to a degree but if you read a little of Jason Kenney’s life and others you will quickly realize that first they believe that the market ideology was given to men by God so it is sacred. Whatever the market does it is the invisible hand in action.
Second they learn only the ethics of survival of the fittest which allows them to consider whatever is that they do as business people to be correct regardless. Of course including using business money to subjugate does that are not smart enough to make it and as a consequence are inferior. To top it all Jason Kenney has never had a job as a business man at all. He has been a civil servant all his life so he clearly hates everything that is public and like you say they are in to destroy anything that belongs to the commons because to them and according to Reagan and Thatcher society does not exist only individuals in constant competition. It is a sick ideology but one that has been in different levels applied in the Western World and that has brought us to our knees in different fronts all interconnected. We now have a social, political and financial crisis in our hands that brought us to elect loonies like Trump, Jason Kenney and Boris Johnson. All of them, right now in serious decline.
They are neo-liberals, that’s for sure.
.. this comment really gets after it..
.. I know this as ‘Dominionism’
Riding a crusade under that banner.. come a ‘secure’ those who have a bizarro way of seeing the planet.. It would be great, Susan to put discussion of this as a future focus.. Few on this planet can read & absorb at my pace.. (or make mistake) but your site of all I have seen has seriously alert comment response, insight, questions
Diamondwalker: what an intriguing comment. Would you mind elaborating a little bit.
PS I absolutely agree with your characterization of the quality of the comments.
Carlos and Comment: This new-liberal ideology is disturbing for so many reasons. One element that frustrates me to no end is how hypocritical it is. On the one hand its adherents argue the free market is infallible, we have to let it run, and on the other they sink billions of dollars into corporate tax breaks, buying KXL and funding idiotic public inquiries and war rooms to protect big business from public criticism because they can’t protect themselves. They pulled out all stops to “save” the economy from the pandemic but will sink it when the people are too sick or dead to shop. Brilliant.
Socialism for the rich and barbaric capitalism for the rest of us. That is basically what neo-liberalism is. The worst part to me is that this is not accidental. They knew that they had to work very hard on all of us to allow this to happen destroying the middle class and creating superrich. This has been happening for decades now and we all know about it but they are so rooted in the system that nothing ever changes. This is why people are abandoning democratic institutions and voting in lunatics that they think will help them. Unfortunately the populists are the black belt of neo-liberalism and unethical behaviour.
.. early this morning I posted a tweet question via Twitter.. Context is: Since its a given that Conservative politicians are pro Trump ergo pro GOP.. its not even arguable.. every State except Hawaii is currently experiencing ‘uncontrolled community spread’ (that from Dr Larry Brilliant who with his team of 1500 snuffed out Smallpox in India.. going door to door with a photograph of a child at Day 10 of Smallpox. Members of his team then snuffed out Polio)
So.. In the US,, 70-80 % of Republicans believe ‘the election was rigged’
50 % of Republicans believe Trump will be Inaugurated in January
My question is re Alberta especially, then all provinces
What % of Albertan Conservative voters, agree with Republicans ?
and especially, CPC Party members and elected public Servants ?
What % of all Provinces, their Conservative voters, Party members, elected MP’s – MPP’s – MPL’s and Evangelicals agree with American Republicans ?
These are questions Mainstream Media and the concerned public should be asking of anyone who identifies as ‘conservative’. Especially with Jason Kenney now crying for Federal field hospitals and Red Cross assistance.. with Intensive Care patients overwhelming Hospitals
Diamondwalker: interesting question. The answer is probably too complex to reduce to 280 twitter characters but I’d be interested in hearing the replies. I note that Michelle Rempel tweeted a GOP politician (I’m not sure which one) urging him to shut down the economy in his state because COVID was out of control. Ironic given Jason Kenney’s conviction that shutting down the economy will kill it, instead he’ll bring in field hospitals and the Red Cross, which tells me as far as he’s concerned it is our duty to die in the battle to save the economy.
We’re all ‘Soldiers for Kenney’ now, and he is making damn sure there is no way to dodge the draft. See you all at the field hospital!!
Well trying to post this since yesterday and keeps telling me it is a repeat 🙂 but the first one does not show up
Today is Wednesday and I just heard our illustrious premier talking about covid along with Deena Hinshaw
This man created a deep crisis in our province and especially in Health Care System with outbreaks in many schools, 21 students had to be hospitalized, overstretched ICUs and outbreaks in most hospitals and then he pukes more lies and more propaganda and how we are here to help you.
It is just just a disgraceful unethical and immoral display of total lack of character. This man has to go and fast and keep him away from any political position in Canada.
What a horrible lack of responsibility. What a gong show and total disrespect towards Albertans.
The polls show 60% disapproval, I would say that the other 40% need mental health help.
Nothing this man has done has any value to us or to the province. To bad UPS does not pack him and send him back to his tutor failed dictator supporter Harper. Bon Voyage.
To those JK supporters that are reading this – Yes if having critical thinking skills and common sense is to be a communist , yes I am a proud one.
Get your house in order and kick this guy out once and for whole – BE BRAVE and do the right thing the rest of us are just up to our necks in failed government.
Carlos, over the last few months I’ve noticed a serious uptick in the number of Albertans who are taking action to get rid of Kenney. Most of them acknowledge that we’re stuck with him until the next election but they are taking steps to slow him down before he burns the province to the ground. I urge everyone who is concerned about what Kenney is doing to identify one of the many groups that has formed to fight him. Some examples include CPAWS (Defend our parks) and Eyes Forward (save public health). I’m sure there are many others, I simply mention these two groups because they’re nonpartisan and so will be of interest to Albertans across the political spectrum.
We should also write to our MLAs and the cabinet ministers. If and when the UCP MLAs understand that the public does not trust their great leader and will not vote for them the next time around if their great leader is still at the helm, they may call a leadership race and replace him with someone not so fanatical. (Although I’ll be the first to admit the pool of quasi-reasonable candidates is pretty shallow).
Jason Kemmey is disappointed with the anti-mask protests.
These are people that support him and the he supports so tough luck.
What else can be said about this complete circus. By December 15 when the pseudo-measures are evaluated he will recommend the same but but instead of 10 people gatherings it will be reduced to 8.5 !!