Despite having markedly lower COVID-19 death rates than most G7 nations, Canada is on track to record 20,000 COVID-19 cases a day across all age groups by the end of December. A growing chorus of pundits are calling for the federal government to compel the provinces to adopt a more stringent pandemic response. The idea is that invoking greater federal control – particularly as we enter the winter months – could help stem the rising second wave.
During Army Basic Training, decades ago, I was one of about a hundred recruits in our class. One hot summer day, we were called outside, to stand in formation, so that the commanding officer could address us. It was not a pleasant speech. Someone had tampered with the commander’s locked, glass-encased bulletin board. This was not discovered until several days later, when a copy of one of the commander’s letters, a letter that had been posted on the board, appeared in a national magazine. The letter had been the subject of published ridicule. It had warned recruits to stay away from a known house of ill repute. Since the house was in a remote rural location that had no street address, the only way to identify it was to describe the location, which amounted to a detailed, “how to get there” set of instructions.
There is a narrative setting in, pushed by much of the media and opportunistic politicians, and it goes a little something like this:
‘The COVID-19 crisis shows the importance of government authority, since government action is what will get us through it. Government was there every step of the way, providing financial support to families and businesses, providing resources in the healthcare system, imposing restrictions for your own good, and keeping our society functional during this time.’
This narrative will be very compelling for many, and will feel truthful to many Canadians.
It is also completely wrong, and quite dangerous.
In a surprise, the group of volunteers that got a lower dose seemed to be much better protected than the volunteers who got two full doses. In the low-dose group, AstraZeneca said, the vaccine appeared to be 90 per cent effective. In the group that got two full doses, the vaccine appeared to be 62 per cent effective. Combined, the drugmakers said the vaccine appeared to be 70 per cent effective. But the way in which the results were arrived at and reported by the companies has led to pointed questions from experts.
BREAKING: Adam Skelly of Adamson BBQ ARRESTED!
MORE: https://t.co/GobHmx0wcz#adamsonbarbecue #topoli #AdamsonBBQ #onpoli #COVIDー19 pic.twitter.com/oMP7c26kFs
— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) November 26, 2020
The U.S. Supreme Court granted an injunction Wednesday evening against New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s restrictions on religious services in a 5-4 decision that saw Justice Amy Coney Barrett with the conservative majority — and Chief Justice John Roberts siding with the liberal minority.
The Court was responding to a request for an emergency injunction by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn and the Agudath Israel of America, an Orthodox Jewish group, against restrictions limiting services to ten people in some areas and 25 people in others.
When lawyer Naomi Sayers advocates for Ontario strippers suing the province for the unfair way they were treated during the COVID shutdown, she knows of what she speaks.
As a former dancer herself, she remembers well what it’s like to be stigmatized for being a sex worker.
Ontario reported 1,478 new positive tests for COVID-19 on Thursday along with 21 new deaths, as the overall positivity rate declined and hospitalizations reached their highest point so far in the second wave.
“Locally, there are 572 new cases in Peel, 356 in Toronto and 111 in York Region,” Health Minister Christine Elliott wrote on Twitter.
Police change locks at Etobicoke BBQ restaurant after charges laid for defying lockdown rules
Police have returned to an Etobicoke BBQ restaurant for a third day in a row after the establishment was charged for opening its doors for indoor dining, failing to comply with provincial COVID-19 lockdown rules.
At around 6 a.m. on Thursday, officers were seen at the Queen Elizabeth Blvd. location of Adamson Barbecue, changing the locks at the restaurant under an overnight order made by Toronto Public Health.
For what it’s worth, Trudeau and vaccines, who is telling the truth?
“That’s rubbish…that’s not true” says @profamirattaran of the government’s remarks that Canada’s production facilities don’t have the capacity to mass produce vaccines even if we had the licensing agreements to do so. #cdnpoli #ctvpp
More at https://t.co/uCQmGSHoEL pic.twitter.com/LnrN6shmFJ
— CTV Power Play (@CTV_PowerPlay) November 25, 2020
Update Adamson’s
At 11 o’clock we will open up and see how it goes – Adam Skelly pic.twitter.com/FlXWA3DzoO
— Joe Warmington (@joe_warmington) November 26, 2020
Toronto Police/city staff with locksmiths in tow move in on Adamson Barbecue in Etobicoke to prevent it from opening indoor dining room for third straight day. Locks changed. The owner had been defying lockdown rules. This “raid” happened just before 6am. pic.twitter.com/ipPNCaAbAd
— carl hanstke (@carl680) November 26, 2020
Nova Scotia is heading back into another COVID-19 lockdown where party guests in western and central parts of the province risk $1,000 fines and “faith-based activities” are paused.
Old Order Mennonites have had their churches and schools forcibly closed following what the local health authority deemed an “outbreak” of COVID-19.
Adamson Barbecue at 7 Queen Elizabeth Blvd. in Etobicoke opened its doors again on Wednesday morning despite warnings from authorities that they would be shut down and fined if they did so.
1,373 new cases and 35 new deaths
Police expected to have presence outside Etobicoke BBQ restaurant that was ordered to close after flouting lockdown rules
Police are expected to have a presence this morning outside an Etobicoke barbecue restaurant that was ordered to close indefinitely after openly flouting public health restrictions prohibiting on-site dining.
Adamson Barbecue owner Adam Skelly opened up the Queen Elizabeth Blvd. location of his restaurant on Tuesday morning for indoor and patio dining, despite a lockdown order that went into effect in the city one day prior.
Ontario AG slams Dr. Williams’ leadership during COVID-19 pandemic
Ontario’s chief medical officer of health and his associates “did not lead” the province’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic in its early days and repeatedly ordered measures only when it was too late, the province’s auditor general wrote in a scathing 230-page report.
Bonnie Lysyk said Dr. David Williams and his team did not “fully exercise his powers” under provincial to marshal resources and enact measures to protect the public during the early months of the pandemic, nor did he embrace the “precautionary principle,” where any precaution thought necessary should be enacted as fast as possible, even when the science of the matter is not certain.
Canada will not be first in line for COVID-19 vaccines, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said during his morning briefing in front of Rideau Cottage on Tuesday (Nov. 24).
“We recognize the disadvantage Canada has of not having a domestic pharmaceutical industry capable of making the vaccines,” Trudeau said.
It already seems clear that the first major political and cultural eruption of the Biden years will be a roiling populist backlash against the next round of COVID-19 lockdowns and other restrictions on ordinary life.
Trump’s fault!
