FROLITICKS

Satirical commentary on Canadian and American current political issues

Aug 2

Return to Offices in Post-Pandemic Era

by bcurry

Over two years after the pandemic abruptly forced tens of millions of people to start working from home, disrupting family lives and derailing careers, employers are now getting ready to bring workers back to offices.  However, it appears that workers in North America’s midsize and small cities have returned to the office in far greater numbers than those in the biggest cities.  Offices apparently have filled back up fastest in areas where COVID lockdowns were shortest and where commutes are done by car, rather than by public transit. 

In light of the Omicron variants which are creating other waves, the fact that the COVID pandemic is not over has created a snag in how employers are dealing with remote and in-person work.  In particular, the situation has forced some large and major employers to delay a return to the office.  The pandemic has also pushed employees to look at the health and safety protocols of their jobs and to become more vocal about the level of risk and the hazards they are facing.  Recruiters note that regional differences in office attendance and flexible work are making for a bumpier job market, especially given the increased competition for skilled workers in the current labour market.  In certain cases, some companies are forced to advertise jobs where the work is primarily done remotely.

Back-to-office plans have to take into consideration a number of challenges in order to accommodate workers in a healthy and safety manner.  The era of stuffing people into offices like sardines is over.  The inadequacy and poor quality of many existing office buildings was simply illustrated by the conditions surrounding the pandemic.  Indoor ventilation, air filtration and overcrowding became major concerns given the fact that highly infectious COVID was shown to be primarily spread as an aerosol.  The interior of many office towers today are climate controlled whereby one cannot open the windows in order to increase air quality.  Improving the ventilation and filtration systems has led to increased costs for landlords and tenants alike.  Another cost has been the need to have more stringent and frequent cleaning practices.

With health restrictions lifting, many workers are being called back to the in-person workplace, which can bring up a number of different feelings.  Employers can help ease this transition by having a comprehensive return-to-work plan, and clearly communicating it to workers.  Besides potential physical health hazards, there is also a need to address potential psychological hazards given the anxiety and stress that some returning employees may incur.  A gradual return to the workplace may ease anxiety, possibly by allowing for partial in-person work in the initial stages of the return-to-work plan.  There may also be a degree of anxiety of employees working alongside people who have not been vaccinated for COVID.  The question of mandated vaccination of workers became a highly controversial issue during this pandemic, causing a major schism between the vaccinated and unvaccinated.  Employers will have to address the issue as a policy matter and communicate their policy in a clear and concise manner.  They will also have to acknowledge and follow up on worker concerns or complaints.  They will have to show compassion and understanding that workers, particularly those that are immunocompromised, may be stressed, harassed or feel anxious.

How long will employers remain flexible?  When the pandemic loosens its grip, inevitably bosses could well demand that people file back in, and pronto.  The real question is whether the return-to-office plan will be done in a gradual, effective and controlled manner.  Several serious issues will have to be considered by employers as part of their plan, as highlighted above.  If the plan is not well thought out and effectively communicated, the issue of employee retention will quickly surface.  The situation of each individual employee will have to be taken into account and continuously monitored at the outset.  Flexibility is a key.  Employers may incur additional initial costs but they will be worthwhile in the long run.

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Jul 29

How ‘Denial Syndrome’ Plays Out In COVID- 19 And Climate Change Debates

by bcurry

Just what is ‘denial syndrome’?  Psychologists define denial as the psychological process by which a painful truth is pushed out of an individual’s consciousness.  We use denial as a defense mechanism, to protect ourselves from the force of a truth we imagine will be too shattering for us to cope with.  Some current issues such as climate change and the global pandemic have made us feel deeply insecure about the present and the future.  This is where denial comes into its own as a way out.  It’s a lot easier than thinking up a series of individual excuses — just simply deny the whole problem exists.  Unfortunately, despite the best scientific evidence and explanation, there are health-care professionals who claimed the pandemic was all a hoax and environmentalists who deny that climate change exists.  This has led to a barrage of misinformation being put out and the emergence of conspiracy theories.

Take for example, the fact that several physicians in Canada have had their medical licences suspended by professional bodies for providing misinformation to patients about COVID vaccines, masking and available treatments.  Without any scientific evidence or studies, some have even made public assertions such as that COVID vaccines are more dangerous than the virus itself.  Some of these doctors taken to task by their regulator have challenged the discipline actions, arguing that they violate their right to free expression.  Earlier this month, the head the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM), one of the biggest U.S. licensing bodies, commented on the free speech argument for doctors.  He stressed that if physicians want to keep their credentials, the concept of free speech does not extend to communicating misinformation, especially when such information can potentially harm their patients or pose a potential risk to public health.

When it comes to climate change, despite all of the scientific evidence that climatologists and other experts have gathered over decades, there are still some who would deny that it is an actual global issue.  Climate change science has been settled for decades, yet policymakers have yet to take sweeping action, and greenhouse gas emissions continue to climb to record highs.  There are some politicians who still believe that humans have nothing to do with what is happening to our climate.  The resulting inaction is driving some scientists to engage in civil disobedience.  A global campaign by Scientist Rebellion (SR) has begun.  SR is a climate network of scientists of all stripes and degrees aimed at partaking in non-violent civil disobedience and demanding climate action.  This past April, the group mobilized an estimated 1,000 scientists in 26 countries in protest.

Climate change denial is all around us.  Just today, I read a letter to the local newspaper by someone commenting on the recent U.K. heat wave which got a lot of attention for reaching a “record-breaking” 40 C in July.  The writer even had to go back as far as 1936 to note that London had reached 43.7 degrees centigrade during a two-day heat wave.  On top of which, he claims that so-called ‘eco-anxiety’ is rising because of the number of media stories that focus on extreme weather and blame it on climate change.  It certainly appeared to be the use of unsubstantiated arguments about biased reporting and ‘fake news’ as a denial tool.

Among conservative groups and political parties in both the U.S. and Canada, there are plenty of deniers to go around when it comes to these two issues.  Amazingly, they can produce their own experts and conspiracy theories in defence of their positions.  Why not just ignore the facts, much as former U.S. president Donald Trump did!  Incredibly, in the name of freedom of expression, some Republican politicians in the U.S., such as in Tennessee, have even gone further by introducing legislation to prohibit state medical boards from disciplining doctors who spread COVID falsehoods or prescribe unproven treatments.  Interestingly, with just 55 percent of its population double-vaccinated, Tennessee has suffered more than four times as many COVID deaths per 100,000 as the province of Ontario.

Whether personal or organizational, denial has real consequences.  No better examples are applicable to those related to climate change and the pandemic.

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May 9

The Internet Was a Blessing Until It Became a Curse

by bcurry

A judge just threw out Donald Trump’s lawsuit against Twitter that challenged his ban from the social media platform.  U.S. District Judge James Donato rejected Trump’s claim that Twitter violated his right to freedom of speech guaranteed under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.  He simply declared that Twitter is a private company, and ‘the First Amendment applies only to governmental abridgements of speech, and not to alleged abridgements by private companies.’  When Trump’s account (with over 88 million followers) was suspended by Twitter, he went on to set up his own platform Truth Social which apparently has not done very well.  Now, the question arises over whether Twitter’s takeover by Tesla CEO Elon Musk will offer Trump a possible return to the social media platform.

Marshall McLuhan, a well-known Canadian philosopher whose work was among the cornerstones of the study of media theory in the late sixties, coined the expression “the medium is the message” and the term “global village”.  He is credited with predicting the World Wide Web (WWW) almost 30 years before it was invented.  Little did he know, having passed away in late 1980, of the incredible eventual impact on our daily lives of the Internet.  The Internet is this generation’s equivalent to the telegraph, the telephone and the fax machines that allowed us to communication instantaneously and broadly across the globe.  However, as a marvellous communication tool, the Internet has also proven to be more susceptible to the spreading of misinformation and disinformation than any other means in modern times.

When one talks of ‘misinformation’, one is normally referring to suspect, invalid and often poorly researched information passed on by persons to other persons via social media for example.  Often such information is transmitted without real malice, but simply and inadvertently by persons accepting the information as being valid or such that supports preconceived views, referred to a ‘confirmation bias’.  ‘Disinformation’ on the other hand is where someone is deliberately providing false information in support of their causes, goals or conspiracy theories, similar to what we would view as propaganda.  Unfortunately, we are seeing a lot more disinformation being conveyed via the Internet then ever before.  States or organizations that want to control the flow of information for their own purposes are notorious for facilitating the spread of disinformation, especially as a form of mind control within their borders.  One needs to go no further for examples than Russia, North Korea and Iran.

Unfortunately, during the Covid-19 pandemic, certain groups within the U.S. and Canada began disinformation campaigns against the public health measures introduced by many governments to deal with the tragic consequences of Covid on our lives.  The information was used to justify anti-vax, anti-mask, anti-lockdown and other public health mandates, regardless of their evident effectiveness in controlling the spread of Covid and reducing the number of associated deaths and hospitalizations.  These campaigns of course led to numerous protests in both countries easily and quickly arranged via social media, often tying up scarce government resources.  In addition, groups have used the Internet to spread ridiculous conspiracy theories, the most notable being that which promoted the belief that the results of the 2020 Presidential election were affected by corrupt voter fraud.  This culminated in a mob of Trump supporters attacking the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, after Trump repeatedly said that he would never concede the legitimate election.

We must do a better job of educating future generations about the potential pitfalls of relying on one or two sources for information, particularly those who rely on non-verifiable and suspect origins.  We need to be much more suspect when assessing the accuracy and validity of our Internet sources, be they found in social media or on websites.  I might suggest strongly that we include mainstream news media and websites provided by objective professional organizations as an integral and regular part of one’s information sources.  Perhaps this is easier said than done.  After all, access to information via social media in particular is quick and dirty.  Regrettably, this is what the purveyors of disinformation and misinformation are counting on.

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Mar 30

Americans Have Even Been Able to Fully Politicize COVID Masking Policies

by bcurry

Want to get a good overview of past pandemics and the current COVID pandemic, I highly recommend that one read “Apollo’s Arrow” by Nicholas A. Christakis.  In it, he highlights how “nonpharmaceutical interventions” such as social distancing, masking and lockdowns helped people get through past pandemics such as those in 1957, 1918 and others.  During those outbreaks, there were no vaccines or other pharmaceutical treatments available for the most part, forcing the authorities to implement masking, quarantine and other spread prevention measures.  Such public health measures were accepted with very little backlash given the severity of the pandemic and fear of exposure which often led to deaths. 

This brings us to the current COVID-19 global pandemic.  In the spring of 2020, the U.S. and most other Western nations were forced to shutdown.  In addition, numerous nonpharmaceutical interventions were introduced, including mandating the wearing of masks in most settings, including those in the transportation, service and retail sectors.  However, no sooner had the requirement been implemented, various Americans cried out that such mandates were an infringement on their rights.  Unlike in Europe, Asia and the Middle East, the simple act of masking became highly politicized, despite what history tells us about the utility of such measures in limiting the exposure of people to the virus.  For the average American, the act of masking was normally done for occasional visits to grocery stores, clinics, pharmacies and on public transportation.  However, for health-care personnel, they were required daily to wear masks to avoid being infected.  As the author points out: “In some photos, their faces were blistered and bruised from wearing tight-fitting masks all day.”  They had no choice.

Recently, you have the so-called “Peoples Convoy” of truckers in the States, who are protesting all public health measures, including masking and vaccine mandates.  Next, one has a group of 21 states (primarily Republican), as well as groups of pilots and flight attendants, asking federal courts to permanently end the Biden administration’s federal transportation mask mandate.  The mandate is set to expire on April 18th, less than three weeks away.  Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, reportedly said in a statement announcing the lawsuit that “it is well past time to get rid of this unnecessary mandate and get back to normal life.”  Here you have a Governor who was willing to reduce the budgets of any school boards who defied his “no masking” directive in Florida’s schools. 

Thinking back to two years ago, the airlines were among the first businesses to support masking and testing to ensure the health and safety of their employees and passengers.  Now, several American airlines are claiming that the federal mask mandate and other coronavirus travel requirements are no longer aligned with the realities of the “current epidemiological environment.”  Otherwise, they believe that the COVID pandemic is over and we no longer have to worry about it, especially since one now has widespread vaccine availability and newly available therapeutics.  However, they readily admit that they want to encourage more people to fly by removing some of the so-called hassles such as masks, which can make air travel less comfortable.  However, other major airlines that fly globally intend to keep masking requirements for awhile yet, given the different transportation policies among countries.

Given that experts predict that a sixth wave is expected in the U.S. and Canada this spring, mainly because of the Omicron variant known as BA. 2 which appears to be more transmissible than the original strain, one should consider encouraging people to mask when in public settings.  Mandated masking requirements will hopefully continue to exist in long-term care facilities, senior residences and health care settings for some time to come.  Such requirements are essential to protecting the elderly and those who are immune-compromised.  Many people will continue to wear masks in public as a personal choice and for health reasons.  Hopefully, people will respect their rights to do so whatever their political stance.  Attacking or harassing masked individuals has no place in a free and civil society.  Yes, some will argue that there is some “COVID fatigue”, but surely we can continue to support a little longer those public health measures that helped us limit this pandemic’s horrific impact on families and communities. 

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Mar 26

Sorry Folks, But COVID Is Not Done With Us Just Yet!

by bcurry

You don’t have to be an epidemiologist to predict that COVID is not finished with us just yet!  Another wave is expected in the U.S. and Canada this spring, mainly because of the Omicron variant known as BA. 2, which appears to be more transmissible than the original strain, BA. 1, and has been fuelling outbreaks overseas.  According to the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Research Center, the United Kingdom had a seven-day average of over 65,000 cases and 79 deaths as of March 16th.  Unfortunately, the lower vaccination rate in the U.S. is very likely to be of major concern as BA. 2 spreads farther in the States, especially in regions where vaccination rates are significantly lower than the national rate.  U.S. health authorities estimate that about 65.4 percent of Americans are fully vaccinated and just 44 percent have received a third booster shot.  Indeed, recent news media headlines note that COVID vaccinations — including boosters — have fallen to their lowest levels since 2020. 

What is indefensible is the fact that these vaccines have proven to be very effective against Omicron, leaving fully vaccinated people with milder symptoms and fewer hospitalizations.  In addition, vaccines greatly reduce the health care costs associated with COVID.  In a December 2022 study, the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation, which tracks U.S. health policy and outcomes, estimated that between June and November of 2021 unvaccinated American adults accounted for $13.8 billion in “preventable” COVID hospitalization costs nationwide.  However, simply because the number of related hospitalizations has steadily gone down in recent months, does not mean that the number of Omicron cases have also gone down.  One can expect that with more and more public health restrictions being removed, more people will become infected, with the unvaccinated most likely to suffer more severe health symptoms.

Federal reports show that the U.S. has spent billions to get vaccine shots into arms, including more than $19.3 billion to help develop vaccines.  Still, the U.S. has one of the largest COVID vaccine holdout rates among highly developed countries.  Particularly, as some question the need for getting the shots, especially boosters, or bristle at government or workplace mandates.  Needless-to-say, there are also costs associated for unvaccinated individuals themselves, often in the form of increased health premiums under employer health insurance plans.  In addition, the biggest financial risk vaccine holdouts have faced is getting laid off from their jobs due to employer imposed vaccine mandates.  A Kaiser Family Foundation nationwide survey in October 2021 found that about a quarter of workers said their employer required proof of vaccination, or faced dismissals, suspensions or regular COVID testing.

The U.S. is on the verge of unfortunately recording one million COVID-related deaths over the course of this pandemic.  What makes this statistic even sadder is the fact that the non-profit Kaiser Family Foundation estimated vaccinations could have prevented 163,000 U.S. deaths between June and November of 2021 alone.  Anti-vaccination and vaccine hesitancy remains a serious problem, despite the evidence that COVID vaccines are safe and reliable.  With the emergence of BA. 2, vaccines, particularly for those seniors 65 and over and for those who are immune-compromised, remain the first line of defence against hospitalization and death.  Yes, current vaccines do not prevent someone who is fully vaccinated from actually getting the COVID.  However, according to Public Health Ontario figures for example, the data shows that unvaccinated people over 60 were 15 times more likely to end up in the ICU with COVID than the fully vaccinated.  According to Ontario’s science advisory table, in January 2022 the rate of unvaccinated people in ICUs in the province of Ontario adjusted or “standardized” for age was 254 per million, compared to 22 fully vaccinated — a significant difference.

As of this March, Reuters reported that costs of going unvaccinated in America are mounting for workers and companies.  The same can be said for Canada, although over 80 percent of Canadians were fully vaccinated and a significant number have received a third-dose COVID vaccine.  Whether one agrees with vaccine mandates or not, they have proven to be effective where they were instituted.  There is little doubt, based on on-going emergence of COVID variants, additional vaccines will be required in the future to finally put an end to this pandemic.

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Mar 9

Who Declared That COVID Vaccines Don’t Work Should Check Out Hong Kong

by bcurry

If there was ever a concrete example of the effectiveness of COVID vaccines, it is the current situation unfolding in Hong Kong.  Today, Hong Kong — a wealthy and modern financial center — now has the highest COVID-related death rate in the developed world.  Overwhelmingly, the elderly, unvaccinated residents, including toddlers and children too young to be immunized, have been hit hardest by the most recent Omicron variant outbreak.  This past January, less than 1 in 5 Hong Kong residents above the age of 80 had been fully vaccinated with two doses, and almost none had three.  That percentage has risen since then, but experts say it is still too little, too late, especially compared with Singapore, South Korea and Japan, where the elderly were a priority for vaccinations.  I find this statistic incredible given that public health officials in both the U.S. and Canada recommended late last year that anyone over sixty-five should get a booster vaccine shot in light of the Omicron variant, bringing the total to at least three doses.  In Ontario, Canada, for example, seniors in long-term care and in senior residences were even given a fourth shot to ensure that their immune systems could better resist the Omicron variant.  As a result, the number of deaths among seniors has significantly and steadily declined since the vaccines were first introduced in both countries.

Since the air-born Omicron variant is highly contagious, almost 90 percent of elderly care facilities in Hong Kong have COVID cases, and to date about 4,700 care home workers have tested positive.  On the other hand, the number of new COVID cases in Ontario remains low, especially as residential staff had been mandated to have at least two doses of the vaccine since the summer of 2021.  Workers in long-term care homes are currently required to have two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine to stay on the job, and they have until March 14th to get third shots.  For obvious reasons, this is the only sector in which the Ontario provincial government has made COVID-19 vaccination a requirement for employment.

When it comes to children aged between the ages of 5 and 12, both the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Canada Public Health Agency recommended that COVID vaccines be given.  Both public health agencies concluded that the benefits of protecting children against COVID-19 are seen as far outweighing any risk.  Yet, here you have Florida’s Surgeon General, Dr. Joseph Ladapo in a recent press conference, recommending that healthy children not receive the coronavirus vaccine.  Florida became the first state to officially recommend against COVID-19 vaccines for healthy children.  Dr. Lapado however did not outline any specifics or rationale behind this recommendation.  Of course, such positions have been behind the COVID-related policies of Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis, who has previously resisted the implementation of several public health measures.  Even officials in the state’s Department of Health and Human Services have asserted that unvaccinated teenagers are much more likely to end up in the hospital with COVID-19 than are vaccinated ones.

Interestingly, Florida ranked 19th among states in terms of the share of people receiving at least one vaccine shot, with about 78 percent of its residents at least partially vaccinated.  According to the CDC, the national vaccination rate is 76.5 percent.  However, when it comes to COVID-related deaths per 100,000 population, Florida ranks fifth in the country, just behind West Virginia, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and South Carolina.  In the past week ending March 6th , Florida reported 1,207 deaths from COVID-19.  In the week before that, 888 deaths were reported.  In total, Johns Hopkins University data shows that almost 71,000 Floridians have died from the disease since the pandemic began or 330 for every 100,000 people.  To date in the U.S., 958,621 people have died since the pandemic began, with the national COVID-19 death rate standing at 288 per 100,000 Americans.

Although the Omicron variant appears to have peaked, the virus is still spreading.  In Florida, the infection rate is still far higher than the national average.  It’s one thing to prevent children from wearing masks in school, but it’s another for the Governor of Florida to suggest that there is no need to vaccinate children!  Maybe, the Governor should spend some time in Hong Kong?

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Mar 6

Truckers’ Convoy in U.S. Aspires to be More Calm Than Canadian “Freedom Convoy”

by bcurry

On February 23rd, taking its cue from demonstrations that paralyzed the downtown of Canada’s capital city of Ottawa for over three weeks, U.S. truckers embarked on a 2,500-mile (4,000-km) cross-country drive towards Washington, D.C., to protest coronavirus-related mandates and restrictions.  Having arrived in Maryland, organizers of the so-called “People’s Convoy” say they are planning to circle their armada of trucks, cars and SUVs around the Beltway on the morning of March 6th and into the following workweek at the minimum speed limit to slow traffic and get their message out to lawmakers.  The convoy, which recently numbered about 1,000 vehicles, intends to repeat that ritual each day this week until the group’s demands are met.  Organizers have proclaimed that they are law-abiding citizens who are simply exercising their rights to protest.  Unlike in Ottawa, they don’t want to shut anything down and they’re not planning to come into downtown Washington.

However, as in the case of the so-called “Freedom Convoy” in Canada, it’s not exactly clear just what are the ultimate goals of the American protesters.  As in the Canadian case, the convoy also involves a number or representatives of fringe groups, often with far-right links and other unrelated causes.  It seems apparent that there are a number of Trump supporters still asserting that the presidential election was stolen, as well as those from the anti-vaccine movement.  As in the Canadian case, many of the signs and messages can be seen referencing far-right political views and conspiracy theories.  A list of organizations supporting the convoy include those led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a leader in the anti-vaccine movement, Gen. Michael Flynn, the former Trump administration national security adviser, and Rob McCoy, a Republican politician and Southern California evangelical pastor.  In general, the convoy participants do push for an end to government health rules requiring masks and vaccinations, a move that has already begun by governments as new COVID-19 cases have ebbed.  However, as in the case of Canada where provincial governments were responsible for implementing most public health restrictions during the pandemic, many of the mandates were implemented by individual states in varying degrees.

Given what happened in Canada, the Defence Department authorized deployment of about 700 unarmed National Guard personnel from the District of Columbia and neighbouring states to help manage the expected traffic.  Capitol Police said that plans were being drawn up to reinstall the temporary fence that was erected around the Capitol after last year’s January 6th riots in the Capitol.  Like the Canadian protesters, the organizers claim that they just have a message that they want heard and they’re not going anywhere until it’s heard.  Unlike the Canadian truckers’ convoy, they have not also stated clearly any specific protest against the American and Canadian vaccination mandate requirements for truckers crossing the U.S.-Canada border.  The Canadian protest included blockages by vehicles of the Windsor-Detroit and Coutts, Alberta, border crossings that occurred in late January and mid-February.  The negative economic impact of the blockades on trade contributed to the Canadian federal government invoking the Emergencies Act in order to pressure the protesters to remove their vehicles and reframe from further illegal activities.

In Canada, many arrests of leaders and protesters were made both in Ottawa and at the affected border crossings.  In the case of Coutts, Alberta, several guns, body armour and ammunition were seized by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).  The seizure is attributed to militia-style right-wing fringe elements.  In the case of the American truckers’ protest, it is hoped that the organizers will maintain a more peaceful stance.  In light of the decline in new COVID-19 cases and related hospitalization rates, the irony is that both protests against government public health mandates are occurring at a time when many of the restrictions are in the process of being removed.  If the American protest resembles its Canadian counterpart, one will probably see no clear plan and a hodgepodge of multiple and diverse grievances.  Many grievances will once again reflect the general malaise within a large segment of the population, often compounded by a growing mistrust of government and the authorities.  Unfortunately, as illustrated in the Canadian truckers’ protest, these grievances can lead to illegal and sometimes violent actions.

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Feb 2

To Defeat COVID, People Must Have Trust In Their Governments

by bcurry

If there is one thing that the current truckers for freedom convoys in Canada illustrates, that as the pandemic has continued, certain frustrated factions of the population have loss their trust in governments.  This is really important in the war on COVID.   Following ten months of research, a peer-reviewed study recently published in the Lancet, a top medical journal, concluded that trust in government and strength of community engagement is critical to the public health response.  It noted that wealthy countries with more robust health systems, including the U.S. and much of Europe, struggled with tackling COVID through public health measures.  The study noted that the U.S., for example, had the second-worst standardized infection rate of any high-income country.  Starting with President Trump, the messaging has often been confusing and had hampered to work of local and public health officials in implementing vaccination programs and restriction policies.  Frequently, lack of initial public trust in governments and the health care system prevented the more effective implementation of such measures. In this case, the pandemic has furthered eroded trust in the government among certain groups.  Thus, the high rates of COVID-related cases, hospitalizations and deaths in the U.S.

Canada is not immune to the diminishing trust level of certain groups, as evidenced by the current truckers’ protests across the country.  Unfortunately, this lack of trust on the part of these groups has opened up the door for extremist fringe groups to attach themselves to such demonstrations.  Originally, the purpose of the so-called Freedom Convoy was to protest the implementation of a vaccine mandate for truckers entering Canada from the U.S.  The same mandate applies to Canadian truckers entering the U.S.  As the protest grew in numbers, led by Canada Unity, the group behind the convoy, the protest morphed into a call for the end of all anti-COVID restrictions.  The participation of extremist fringe groups became increasingly apparent with the display of swastikas, Nazi and Confederate flags, and the yellow star of David left over from the yellow vest movement which was known for its racist conspiracy theories.  Indeed, one of the convoy’s organizers is controversial right-wing figure Patrick King, who has stated that the truckers currently occupying the capital’s downtown core will not be leaving Ottawa any time soon, and are planning to stay until all COVID-19 public health measures are eliminated.

A “memorandum of understanding,” posted on the Canada Unity website, says its coalition is opposed to all restrictions and mandates related to COVID-19, rules it deems are “unconstitutional, discriminatory and segregating.”  The memorandum’s goal, it says, is to form a committee with the Senate and Governor General to override all levels of Canadian government.  If parliamentarians refuse to join, the group says they should “resign their lawful positions of authority immediately.”  Otherwise, they propose to overthrow the current democratically elected Parliament and install an autocratic government.  Interestingly, a GoFundMe campaign was launched in support of the truckers convoy — to date raising almost $10 million Canadian.  However, questions have been raised about the destination of the money, particularly since some of the organizers have been involved in extremist politics.  In addition, it is believed that some of the donations have come from groups in the U.S.  For this reason, it appears to be incumbent on the federal government to investigate this GoFundMe campaign to ensure that the funds are allocated to assist the truckers with their expenses and not for other political causes.  GoFundMe has announced that it would begin releasing money only after the organizers of the fundraising campaign provided a distribution plan for the funds.  In the meantime, given some of the charges levelled by law enforcement as a result of illegal actions committed by protesters, the government may want to have the courts issue an injunction against the distribution of any GoFundMe funds until full disclosure of the processes is made public.  One owes this full disclosure to donors.

The public health battle against COVID has gone reasonably well in Canada with 90.9% of doses delivered to the provinces having been administered as of today.  The result appears to imply that the vast majority of Canadians still have a fair amount of trust in their governments and in the science, despite certain public health restrictions remaining in place.  It is expected that these restrictions will be slowly lifted when there are fewer new cases of the Omicron variant and the rate of hospitalizations decreases.  I am certain that this public trust is warranted under the circumstances.

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Jan 26

Canadian Trucker Protest Over Mandatory Vaccination Between U.S. and Canada

by bcurry

This weekend, in something called the Freedom Convoy 2022, hundreds of semi-trucks will be arriving in Ottawa from cities across Canada in order to protest vaccine mandates.  However, plain and simple, their reaction to the Canadian government’s January 15th imposition of a vaccination requirement for truckers entering Canada appears to be just another protest tied into anti-vaxxers’ movements.  Indeed, the largest national organization representing Canadian truckers, the Canadian Trucking Alliance, has denounced the protest.  The Alliance has already stated that 85 percent of its members have been fully vaccinated, roughly the same as for the Canadian population at large.  It has strongly denounced any protests on public roadways, highways, and bridges and has urged all truckers to get inoculated.  However, the Alliance does not represent the majority of independent truckers who one would suggest are primarily involved in this protest, especially those in the West. 

On the other side of the border, the American administration has also imposed a mandatory vaccine requirement for truckers entering the U.S.  Indeed, it is interesting that Donald Trump Jr. this past Tuesday urged Americans on social media to follow the example of the Canadian trucker convoy’s fight against ‘tyranny’ and should carry out similar protests in the U.S.  Apparently, it is estimated that only half of American truckers have been vaccinated, not a dissimilar portion when compared to the general population in the U.S.  What concerns authorities is that the trucker convoy has become a lightning rod for far-right fringe, particularly those against public health measures and government restrictions in the fight against COVID. 

Despite claims that the vaccine mandates will negatively further exacerbate supply chain problems, in monitoring the volume of trucks crossing the border each day since January 15th, authorities have seen no measurable reduction in the number of trucks to date.  Last week, the Canadian Transport Minister noted that almost 100,000 trucks crossed the border — about the same as usual for this time of year.  Unfortunately, those opposed to vaccine mandates have attempted to frighten Canadians by claiming that there will be food and other materials shortages as a result of the government’s policies.  For the vast majority of Canadians, who support COVID vaccination and such mandates, the real issue is in the fight to control the pandemic’s current wave and reduce its terrible impact on a stressed-out health care system. 

Moreover, studies have shown that vaccine mandates work in increasing vaccination rates.  For example, recent research from Simon Fraser University economists indicated that the mere announcement of vaccine mandates last fall led to an average 66 percent surge in new, first-dose vaccinations in Canadian provinces.  From a constitutional perspective, whether a government can mandate vaccines depends on what exactly a new law says.  Canadians have rights to make decisions about vaccination but these rights are not absolute.  And having rights does not mean there will be no consequences for your decisions, including forms of penalization.  In the case of truckers, the government has done more than enough to promote voluntary vaccination.  Since the federal government imposed an immunization requirement last fall on workers in the air, rail and marine transportation sectors, it deliberately gave truckers more time to get vaccinated.  In consultation with the trucking and retail industries, the government waited for a “critical mass” of truckers to get their shots before making it mandatory.  In taking this approach and given the proven effectiveness of vaccine mandates, there is little doubt that the courts would find that such policies legally pass the taste test.

There is no doubt that Canadians and Americans owe much to these essential workers, but truckers need to vaccinate for their own health reasons and those of their families and friends, just like the rest of us.  While independent truckers in particular tend to reflect a ‘wild west’ mentality, they still have a responsibility to themselves and their communities to continue contributing to beating COVID-19 so that life can get back to normal and the economy can open.  They need to cut down on extreme pronouncements about attacking ‘tyrannical governments’ who supposedly are oppressing their people with public health measures.  Instead, they might gain more public support by avoiding such far-right fringe edicts.

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Jan 22

It’s Hard to be Optimistic About the Rest of 2022 — Here’s Why

by bcurry

Well, the New Year began much as the old year ended.  Across the board there are numerous reasons for North Americans not to be overly optimistic about the rest of the year.  Several key factors are leading us to this conclusion.

  • The Omicron variant of COVID-19 has created a fourth or fifth wave, depending on who you are talking to.  Although Omicron appears to have possibly peaked, it has once again severely strained our health care systems.  In addition, the unvaccinated continue to represent the largest number of hospitalizations, especially when it comes to patients in our ICUs.  Our health care providers continue to be under a great deal of strain, especially after two years of treating COVID patients.  There is now a tremendous backlog of elective surgeries and treatments.  In addition, although CDC studies show the effectiveness of booster vaccine shots in preventing severe COVID cases, far fewer adults have gotten booster shots to date.  When will we move from a pandemic to an endemic?
  • In most jurisdictions, kids are back for in-person learning in schools.  However, there are still a large number of children under the age of twelve who have not received their first dose of a COVID vaccine.  With the Omicron variant being twice as contagious as the Delta variant, many parents are concerned about the safety of schools and the potential effect of the disease on their children.  Indeed, statistics have shown that more children are being hospitalized due to Omicron.  Questions have been raised about whether in-person learning can continue in the near future.
  • Even with the economy starting to reopen, a number of economic issues have arisen.  Among these is the forecast of continuing hyperinflation over the coming months.  There continue to be supply chain problems, shortages of skilled labour and increasing fuel, food and housing prices.  With the current annual inflation rate running at around six percent, Canadians have not seen such a high inflation rate since 1991.  A survey of consumer expectations showed Canadian households also expect inflation to stay above 3 percent over the next couple of years, above the two percent average considered normally acceptable.  Central banks have little choice but to raise interest rates this year which will have a major effect on government and personal debt payments down the road.
  • Internationally, both the U.S. and Canada, as members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), will have to deal with on-going Russian threats suggesting a possible military incursion into eastern Ukraine.  Although the Ukraine is not a member of NATO, the allied countries strongly believe that there needs to be an immediate and firm reaction to any Russian incursion.  As a warning to Russian President Vladimir Putin, NATO countries are arming and training the Ukraine military and defence forces in preparation for such an event.
  • China’s economy is slowing, a worrying sign for the world.  China’s National Bureau of Statistics indicates that economic output from October through December of 2021 was only 4% higher than during the same period a year earlier.  This is a far cry from previous annual growth rates ranging between 6 and 9 percent in recent years.  The Omicron variant of the coronavirus is now starting to spread in China, leading to more restrictions around the country and raising fears of renewed disruption of supply chains.  Being a major supplier to the North American markets, any continuing slowdown in China’s economy will have a severe impact on U.S. and Canadian businesses and consumers.
  • COVID-19 government relief programs for the unemployed and businesses affected by government-imposed lockdowns and public health measures are being phased out.  This could result in many hardships for lower income individuals and small to medium-sized businesses.  The resulting loss of income due to the pandemic will have an impact on government revenues in the near future.  Many government support programs may have to be reviewed for termination or reduction under expected future austerity measures.

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