As the polar vortex tightens its grip, the temperature isn’t the only thing dropping across the country. So is faith in the federal government’s management of the COVID-19 vaccine roll out. According to the latest poll by Abacus Research, the number of Canadians who think the federal government has done a good to excellent job on ordering vaccines has declined by 15 per cent since early January. Meanwhile, Nanos Research found that one in two Canadians do not believe Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s promise that we’ll be vaccinated by September.
Canada
Diane Francis: Questions mount over Trudeau’s vaccine dealings with China
Canada’s inept Liberal government is on the B list when it comes to vaccine deliveries. The United States is vaccinating 1.7 million people per day, while Canadians are being told that six million doses will be delivered by the end of March. Maybe.
Trudeau was acting to protect the interests of Canada’s China class, like them he sold us out.
Sir John A’s Defenders Are Fighting Back

Macdonald is richly deserving of harsh assessments but many people have grown concerned that the criticism has gone too far. Macdonald is being measured against 21st century standards and both his intentions and his administration are being interpreted wrongly and, sometimes, dishonestly, writes Patrice Dutil.
“Canadians have a right to not be detained” | Keean Bexte on mandatory quarantine for travellers

On last Friday’s episode of Rebel Roundup, host David Menzies was joined by Alberta-based Rebel reporter Keean Bexte to discuss his story about a woman in Calgary who was forced into quarantine in one of the federal government’s COVID-19 hotel/jails.
No matter what you call it, Canadians are being held against their will by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s federal government — ironic, coming from a government that touts itself as being transparent.
Canadian Government Issues Grovelling Apology To China For T-Shirt, While China Hasn’t Apologized For Kidnapping Two Innocent Canadian Citizens

This is the kind of weakness that makes people feel Canada can be pushed around without consequence.
FUREY: Canada made pandemic playbooks — and we’re not following them

It’s quite something to look back and see what Canada’s response to a pandemic was supposed to be and then compare it to what we’ve actually being doing to deal with COVID-19.
There’s one recurring theme that comes across when you study the various pandemic preparedness documents that have been put together by different levels of governments in recent years: It’s that they all anticipate a situation worse than the one that is currently unfolding, but they call for less restrictive measures than the ones that have now been enacted.
POWERFUL: Independent grocer pleads with politicians to “be honest with the people”

Harassed for — obeying the law?!
As they used to say on Monty Python: “And now for something completely different…”
‘Time will tell’ if anti-racist pledges over summer will close gender gap, expert warns

“What I saw over the summer were a lot of organizations [that] were quick to release statements, quick to jump to action,” Golnaz Golnaraghi, founder of Accelerate Her Future, a career accelerator for Black, Indigenous, and racialized women, told CTV News.ca in a phone interview on Sunday.
‘Incredibly destructive’: Canada’s Prairies to see devastating impact of climate change

As the climate continues to warm at an alarming rate, experts warn if dramatic steps to mitigate global warming are not taken, the effects in Canada’s Prairie region will be devastating to the country’s agriculture sector.
“Canadian” Khalistan separatists threaten Indian diplomats – Trudeau cabinet, NDP Leader so far ruled out as suspects

Trudeau govt wakes up to death threat to PM Modi, provides security to top Indian diplomats
The Trudeau government last Friday instructed the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to provide protection to the Indian embassies in Ottawa and Vancouver after external affairs minister S Jaishankar spoke to his Canadian counterpart Marc Garneau on February 5.
Remember this? Terror reports to reference ideology, not religions after ‘Sikh extremism’ criticism: Goodale
Friday evening, hours before Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is set to visit one of the biggest Sikh temples in Canada, his government agreed to change the language in a report on terror to no longer explicitly mention Sikh extremism.
Infographic: Canada’s Cancelled Energy Projects
While Canada’s resource sector was dealt a blow with the cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline’s permit by the United States, Canadian officials are facing another challenge as Michigan’s governor tries to shut down Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline.
The Line 5 pipeline, which crosses Wisconsin and Michigan, brings oil from Western Canada east, where it is refined in Sarnia, Ont., into products like gasoline, diesel, and home-heating fuel. Shutting down Line 5 would have a major impact on the crude oil supply of Eastern Canada and cost thousands of jobs.
Bill Gates owns largest ownership stake at CN

The fourth richest man in the world has quietly become by far the biggest shareholder in Canada’s largest railway.
Shipped Deadly Viruses to China: Scientists let go from National Microbiology Laboratory amid RCMP investigation

Two Canadian government scientists escorted from the National Microbiology Laboratory amidst an RCMP investigation and internal review have been let go from the Public Health Agency of Canada, CBC News has learned.
“The two scientists are no longer employed by the Public Health Agency of Canada as of Jan. 20, 2021,” Eric Morrissette, chief of media relations for Health Canada and PHAC, confirmed in an email late Friday.
“We cannot disclose additional information, nor comment further, for reasons of confidentiality.”
Sources say members of the lab’s special pathogens unit were called to a meeting on Thursday and told that Dr. Xiangguo Qiu and her husband, Keding Cheng, will not be returning to work. They were not given an explanation.
Canada ‘will stop at nothing’ to bring in vaccines: procurement minister

In an interview with As It Happens host Carol Off on Friday, Anita Anand echoed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s earlier reassurances that Moderna and Pfizer will hold up their end of the bargain to send six million vaccine doses to Canada by the end of March, and 70 million by the end of September.
This is despite vaccine delivery delays over the last month due to manufacturing issues in Europe.
Everything is going well, just like Lil’ Potato says!
The world is on the precipice of a global vaccine war that could wreck the fight against COVID-19
The ugly row last week between the European Union and drugs giant AstraZeneca, which resulted in the EU threatening to blockade exports of European-produced vaccines, is an early sign of the sort of vaccine nationalism that could be about to spread right across the globe.
The EU has threatened to restrict the export of vaccines to third countries, including the UK, amid widespread disquiet about the slow roll-out of vaccines on the continent.
Canada offers Hong Kong graduates new immigration pathway, cites security law concerns

Hongkongers who recently graduated from Canadian educational institutions will soon have a new pathway to permanent residency as Ottawa launches a three-year open work permit for them, citing “deep concerns” about the national security law.
