FROLITICKS

Satirical commentary on Canadian and American current political issues

Jun 21

Cities Will Definitely Not Be the Same After the Pandemic Is Over

by bcurry

A recent New York Times headline read: “New York Faces Lasting Economic Toll Even as Pandemic Passes.”  This should come as no big surprise given the nature of New York city’s industrial make-up, a good deal of which depends on foreign and domestic tourism.  Indeed, the article notes that the city had an 11.8 percent decline in jobs from February 2020 to April 2021, almost three times the loss on the national level.  Boarded-up storefronts and for-lease signs dot many of its neighborhoods.  Many of the businesses that depend on office and other workers who work in the core have yet to experience any substantive turnaround, especially in the retail, hospitality and performing arts sectors.  Of concern to the services sector is that several large corporations like Google and Facebook, as major commercial tenants, will not require the same amount of office space with a good percent of their staff continuing to work remotely full time or two or three days a week.  With fewer people commuting daily to downtown businesses, there will also be a substantive need to examine current public transportation policies.

While the example of New York is certainly considered to be an extreme situation, there is little doubt that all urban centers in North America will have to adjust economically and socially in the near future.  The impact of the pandemic will leave a substantial mark on every aspect of urban life for sometime to come.  The most evident immediate impact can be seen in the housing market.  Working remotely from home is only one of several factors influencing the rising costs of housing, especially single detached homes.  The average sale price for a home in Canada for example has surged 38 percent to $688,208 over the past year amid a pandemic-driven housing boom, according to data from the Canadian Real Estate Association.  Technology has allowed more people to work from ‘rurban’ communities than ever before, eliminating much of the need to commute to and from urban workplaces.  Employers are having to adjust their working arrangements to accommodate employees, who in many cases have essential skills in short supply.

Even Ottawa, where I live, is experiencing many of the economic and social consequences of the pandemic, despite being primarily a government town and having less of an economic impact that most cities.  However, as in the case of New York, Ottawa has seen dozens of small businesses, which before the pandemic employed about much of the city’s work force, haven’t survived.  Tourism, a major part of the National Capital Region, is way down, affecting hotels, tour operations, restaurants and bars.  The closure of the American border over the past year to non-essential traffic and major restrictions on international air travel has had a major impact on tourism.  Sports and entertainment venues, including Ottawa’s large festival industry, have been non-existent since the beginning of the pandemic.  Like many urban communities, the city is counting on the vaccination of seventy or more percent of its population to eventually encourage locals to return to recreational and indoor activities across the region.  However, much like projections for New York, most observers predict that it’s going to be a long, slow recovery.  Indeed, one can further predict that the eventual outcome will be quite different from pre-pandemic conditions in North American cities.

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Jun 16

Confirmed COVID Cases in U.S. and Canada Mean that the Pandemic is NOT OVER

by bcurry

The headlines today read: “U.S. Nears 600,000 Virus Deaths Despite Progress From Vaccines.”  As several states, including California and New York state, are in the process of reopening, experts are warning the Americans still have a ways to go to get COVID-19 fully under control.  Data shows that about 362 people across the U.S. are still dying from the coronavirus each day.  What’s worrisome is that about half of coronavirus deaths at the end of May were made up of people ages 50 to 74, compared with a third of the total deaths in December.  Many of those hospitalized are younger than in the past, some of whom had not been vaccinated.  Vaccine hesitancy is still a lingering problem.  Nevertheless, about 44 percent of the U.S. population — about 145 million people — is fully vaccinated.  Fortunately, widely available vaccines have played the central role in slowing the death rate.  However, vaccines without continuing precautions such as masking and physical distancing may not be sufficient enough to finally control coronavirus outbreaks.  Only time will tell.  I’m not hopeful.

As of June 15, 2021, the U.S. had had a total of over 33 million confirmed COVID-19 cases, a relatively high number when compared to global numbers.  As of June 16, 2021, there have been 176,156,662 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the world, including 3,815,486 deaths, reported to the World Health Organization (WHO).  On June 15th, there were about 11,180 confirmed daily cases in U.S.   Compare that to 7,600 cases in U.K., 1390 in Italy, 407 in France, 650 in Germany, 1175 in Mexico and 806 cases in Canada.

Everyone recognizes that so-called COVID fatigue is a real thing and that certain sectors of the economy have suffered more during the pandemic, especially in light of necessary lockdown measures.  One can feel the tension in the air and people’s desire to return to some form of normalcy.  Yet new more deadly variants continue to emerge, including the so-called Delta variant which is now being transmitted in North America.  One has to remember that the sole objective of a virus is to replicate.  The more unvaccinated and vulnerable persons available to infect, the virus will continue to mutate.  Most experts believe the sooner that we get more people, including children, fully vaccinated, the better are our chances to limit the further spread of variants.  This is a simple scientific fact that people have to come to recognize.  Forget nonsensical conspiracy theories and abundant misinformation about being vaccinated. 

The fact of the matter is that there is now little chance that Americans and Canadians will ever achieve so-called “herd immunity”.  Simply put, any herd-immunity threshold is looking unlikely because of factors such as vaccine hesitancy, the challenge of the unevenness of vaccine roll-outs, the emergence of new variants and the delayed arrival of vaccinations for children.  COVID will be with us in one form or another for some time, just like seasonal flue strains.  It may very well be that in order to have immunity, many of us, especially the elderly and those with underlying health conditions, will have no choice but to have COVID-type vaccines in the future.  Remember that we are fortunately living in North America with all our health care and pharmaceutical capabilities, unlike what one finds in Third World countries.  Failing to deal quickly with this health issue in the global context will have grave consequences for all of us.  After all, no one wants to be just another statistic!

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Jun 8

Why the Shortage of Labour Will Be a Likely Issue in the Short-term for Certain Sectors

by bcurry

I was surprised somewhat to read that more than 4 million Americans are going to be cut off from federal provided jobless benefits in the next few weeks.  Apparently, 25 states, all led by Republicans, decided to halt some or all emergency benefits months ahead of schedule.  It appears that some business owners and managers have argued that the assistance income, which enabled people to pay rent and buy groceries when much of the economy was shut down, is now dissuading them from applying for jobs.  Many of the businesses affected are in the service and hospitality sectors.  However, the current reluctance or unavailability of workers to return to work can easily be explained by a number of evident factors.

Firstly, since March of 2020, lockdowns imposed by states and cities greatly affected restaurants, bars, clubs, etc. which are comprised often of low-paying employment.  During the past year, many former employees chose to look for other employment, especially attracted by higher wages and benefits offered by bigger employers, like Amazon and Wal-Mart, who continued to rake in the money as a result of on-line purchases and increased customer needs during the lockdowns.  Entry-level workers in service, hospitality and recreational sectors typically earned about $10 to $12 an hour.  These days, as noted by many small-business owners, anyone paying that rate risks losing workers to employers like Amazon where starting pay is $15 an hour.  On top of which, inflationary trends are on the increase.

Secondly, in the short-term with the quick opening of many businesses, it can be expected that employers will face a sudden increased demand for experienced workers.  This will probably force some businesses to offer higher wages in order to attract workers, which some have shown a reluctance to do so because of economic uncertainties.  Higher wages however have already benefited students who are looking for summer employment, especially in the recreational and tourism sectors.

Thirdly, the pandemic is anything but over.  In the U.S., an average of 15,000 new cases and more than 400 related deaths are being reported daily across the country.  Barely 40 percent of the population has been fully vaccinated.  Among those Americans receiving assistance, there are those who have underlying health conditions or have members of their families who are vulnerable to COVID-19.  Needless-to-say, these workers are reluctant to return to work under the current circumstances, especially where masks and physical distancing aren’t required at work.

Finally, women have been especially affected by the lost of employment in these sectors during the past year.  The biggest issue for those with families is the lack of affordable and safe child and elder care.  This was a pre-pandemic and will remain a major post-pandemic problem.

It’s unfortunate that Republicans have chosen to push their argument that pandemic jobless relief is hindering the U.S. recovery.  The crazy thing is that the balk of income and unemployment assistance is being paid for by the Feds.  Let’s face reality, there will be normal delays associated with reopening a mammoth economy.  It’s simply too soon to pressure individuals facing several obvious hurdles to obtain work at this time.  In their hurry to remove health-related restrictions and in the face of potential new variants, states and cities are risking the possibility of incurring a fourth wave of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations — this time primarily among younger people who appear hesitant to get vaccinated.  Will there be a consequent need for future lockdowns?  Let’s hope not!  Only time will tell.  In the meantime, these unfortunate people continue to need our help.

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Jun 6

Believe it or not, Donald Trump is still around!

by bcurry

Based on findings by Facebook’s Oversight Board, Facebook said it will suspend former U.S. president Donald Trump’s accounts — including Instagram — for two years.  The finding is that he stoked violence ahead of the deadly Jan. 6th insurrection.  On Facebook, Trump’s suspension has meant that his account is essentially in “Facebook jail,” which is a term that users use to describe when the social network bans people from posting or accessing their accounts.  Others can still read and comment on Trump’s past posts, but he and other account handlers are unable to post new material.  In a press release, Trump called Facebook’s decision “an insult.” “They shouldn’t be allowed to get away with this censoring and silencing, and ultimately, we will win. Our Country can’t take this abuse anymore!”  The two-year ban brings Trump back just in time for the 2024 U.S. presidential election, although too late to be of any real import.  In its decision last month, the board agreed with Facebook that two of Trump’s Jan. 6th posts “severely violated” the content standards of both Facebook and Instagram.

Trump in turn gave his first public address since leaving office at the North Carolina Republican Party convention on June 5th.  Of course, he came out blasting the current Biden administration for everything from immigration policies to foreign policy.  Attacks so soon after a change in administration are somewhat uncommon and unusual among former presidents.  However, Trump is anything but normal.  Trump reserved his early remarks on President Joe Biden, which he called “the most radical left-wing administration in history”.  The fact is that his administration provided little assistance to the incoming Biden administration during the transition period, thus hindering a smooth transition.  Trump further believes that the Republicans will take back the Senate, the House, and the White House sooner than most people think.  The former president waited more than an hour to once again advance falsehoods about the 2020 election, which he described as “the crime of the century”.  Of interest, both CNN and Fox News declined to carry the speech on their channels.

The former president has also claimed that vaccines would not yet have arrived in US without him, ignoring the fact that over 400,000 Americans had died from COVID-19 during his administration, and claiming initially that the pandemic was a “hoax”.  On top of which, he unrealistically called on China to pay $10 trillion in reparations to the United States and the world for China’s handling of the virus.  Good luck on that one!

Trump has pushed Republicans to support candidates who are loyal to him in next year’s midterm elections.  In next year’s fight for control of Congress, he further vowed to be an active presence on the campaign trail for those remaining Republicans who share his values.  In any potential run for the White House in 2024, he may yet have to go up against former vice-president Mike Pence who has publicly asserted that he does not see eye to eye with Donald Trump on the horrific events of January 6th on the Hill.  Don’t forget that Pence and his family had to flee for their lives from the pro-Trump mob.

While Trump remains a dominant force within his party, he however remains deeply unpopular among key segments of the broader electorate and elements of the Republican Party.  Remember that he lost the last election by 7 million votes, primarily as a result of alienating Republican-leaning suburban voters across the country.  Trump supporters still haven’t yet come to grips with this fact. 

President Trump Is Playing The Victim Role Once Again | FROLITICKS (wordpress.com)

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Jun 3

Next to News About the Pandemic, Climate Change Remains in the Headlines

by bcurry

There is little doubt in my mind that crucial issues surrounding ‘climate change’ continue to surface.  Just look at a few of headlines over the past year from several news outlets:

  • Smoke from wildfires wiped out the United State’s pandemic-related clean air gains in 2020 (Washington Post, March 17)
  • Climate change is making big problems bigger (New York Times, May 13) 
  • How debt and climate change pose a ‘systemic risk to the global economy’ (UK Time News, April 7)
  • A 20-foot sea wall? Miami faces the hard choices of climate change (New York Times, June 2)
  • Carbon dioxide spikes to critical new record, halfway to doubling pre-industrial levels (Washington Post, April 6)
  • Swift action to cut methane emissions could slow Earth’s warming by 30 percent, study finds (Washington Post, April 27)
  • Countries must ramp up climate pledges by 80 percent to hit key Paris target, study finds (Washington Post, February 9)
  • Climate change could cut world economy by $23 Trn in 2050: Swiss Re warns (New York Times, April 22)
  • Earth is now losing 1.2 trillion tons of ice each year. And it’s going to get worse. (Washington Post, January 26)
  • Unprepared and under-insured Canada warned about escalating risk of mega-hurricanes (Bloomberg News, May 21)

These are just a sampling of the dozens of articles that I came across so far this year.  As the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reiterates whenever it can, climate change is already happening around the United States.  In many cases, that change is speeding up.  Canada is no exception.  The world will see more extreme weather events and associated disasters, including wildfires, droughts, heat waves, rising sea levels, flooding, lost of permafrost in northern hemisphere, increased insect infestations, property destruction, etc., etc.  Scientists say the world needs to prevent average global temperatures from rising more than 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit (2 degrees Celsius) above pre-industrial levels to avoid irreversible damage to the planet.  As in the case of dealing with the pandemic, we have no choice but to rely on the science when it comes to ascertaining the projected impact of climate change should we continue on our current course of action.  The evidence is irrefutable!

As with the pandemic, climate change is a global issue and must be tackled through the cooperation and commitment of all countries, including the U.S. and Canada.  Otherwise, we will continue to see more and more articles and discussions like those above with respect to the various impacts resulting from the failure to immediately and adequately deal with climate change.  As with the pandemic, there is also a human dimension behind all the statistics.

In the past year, I also blogged about ‘climate change’, as noted in the following blogs:

All of a Sudden, Climate Change is Back in the News | FROLITICKS (wordpress.com)

Although Climate Change Has Taken a Back Seat to the Pandemic, Today It’s Still a Major Issue | FROLITICKS (wordpress.com)

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May 30

History of Racism Unfolded Once Again This Week in the U.S. and Canada

by bcurry

Two events occurred this past week in both countries that underlined the nature of historical racism.  The first is the one-hundredth anniversary of the Tulsa race massacre which took place May 31 and June 1,1921 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  In its 1996 examination of events, the Oklahoma Commission to Study the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921 was able to confirm 39 dead, 26 Black and 13 White, based on contemporary autopsy reports, death certificates and other records.  However, the commission gave several estimates ranging from 75 to 300 dead, some of whom we now know were buried in unmarked mass graves.  Following the bombings and fires, about 10,000 Black people were left homeless in Tulsa.  Property damage amounted to more than $1.5 million in real estate and $750,000 in personal property (equivalent to $32.65 million in 2020).

The second event is the very recent discovery in Kamloops, British Columbia, of a mass grave containing the remains of 215 children once housed in a former Indian Residential School that closed in 1978.  Canada’s residential schools were compulsory boarding schools run by the government and religious authorities during the 19th and 20th Centuries with the aim of forcibly assimilating indigenous youth.  From about 1863 to 1998, more than 150,000 indigenous children were taken from their families and placed in these schools.  The children were often not allowed to speak their language or to practise their culture, and many were mistreated and abused.  Large numbers of indigenous children were never returned to their home communities.  The school in Kamloops was the largest in the residential system.  Opened under Roman Catholic administration in 1890, the school had as many as 500 students when enrolment peaked in the 1950s.  The children’s remains — some as young as three years old —were found with the help of a ground-penetrating radar during a survey of the school.

What is even sadder about these two events is that they were never part of a history or civics curriculum in the U.S. or Canada until very recently.  The Tulsa race massacre was largely omitted from local, state, and national histories until 2020 when the massacre formally became a part of the Oklahoma school curriculum.  Until a commission launched by the Canadian government in 2008 to document the impacts of the system of Indian Residential Schools, few Canadians would have ever even heard of this part of Canada’s indigenous history.  When I was in high school in the mid-1960s, there was absolutely nothing in our Canadian history books about this “shameful” colonial policy.  It was only in 2008 that the then-prime minister Stephen Harper, on behalf of the Canadian government, formally apologised for the system.  The Canadian government subsequently signed an agreement with the Assembly of First Nations pledging to pay a lump sum in compensation to former students of Indian residential schools, expected to include tens of thousands of affected persons and families.

Systemic racism of course continues to exist today in both countries.  Denying its existence is denying the historical evolution of racially-motivated policies and activities perpetrated by governments and institutions in both countries.  As a society attempting hopefully to improve race relations, we need to be aware of our histories and to discuss their relevance and importance in order to really understand and appreciate our current situation.  Hopefully, as in the case of the above two cases, this much needed discussion should begin among our youth and teachers in our schools.

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May 28

What’s a Billion Dollars? President Biden’s Proposed $6 Trillion Budget for 2022 Fiscal Year

by bcurry

During the Second World War, Canada’s newly appointed Minister of Munitions and Supply, the Honourable C.D. Howe, had allegedly said “What’s a million?” in response to his war spending estimates in 1945 (which totalled $1.365 billion).  This was in response to opposition queries about cutting a million dollars from that budget.  Howe responded that a million dollars from the War Appropriations Bill would not be a very important matter, which of course in those days represented a lot of money.  Howe eventually went on in 1944 to become Minister of Reconstruction in the post-war government’s successful overhaul of the Canadian economy. 

Now one has President Biden’s apparent proposal for a $6 trillion budget for the 2022 fiscal year.  Wow, this is a lot of money!  The budget proposal would call for the most sustained spending in more than a half-century, which forecasts deficits at more than $1 trillion for at least the next decade.  As in the case of WWII funding, the President sees the proposed expenditures as necessary to turn the economy around after the pandemic is over.  Most of the planned new funding would go to building up America’s infrastructure: everything from roads, bridges, public transit systems, passenger and freight rail, airports, water infrastructure, broadband infrastructure, etc., etc.  Already, in addition to the American Jobs Plan, the President has put forward a $1.8 trillion American Families Plan, a massive package that would invest in education, childcare and paid family leave.  To pay for all this, the President plans to increase taxes on the wealthy and to raise the current corporate tax rate.

Of course, the Republicans have raised their objections, especially to any increases in personal or corporate tax rates.  A group of Senate Republicans apparently have announced a $928 billion counteroffer on infrastructure.  After all, what’s a few billion dollars less?  Needless-to-say, many Democrats dismissed the Republican counteroffers as being too small.  Sounds familiar.  Another group of Republicans reportedly has suggested using unspent funds from previous coronavirus relief plans to pay for the infrastructure bill.

As in the case of the American and Canadian extensive efforts and massive spending for their economies to fund the war and recover from WWII, it would make sense that similar efforts are required of governments to do the same in order to recover from the damages incurred as a result of the global pandemic.  One way is for a massive investment in the much needed upgrading of our infrastructures, many of which have suffered from past neglect.  Yes, a billion or more dollars is a lot of money, but not when you’re talking about trillions.

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May 22

The Palestinian-Israeli Conflict Once Again Raises the Issue of Bias in Journalism

by bcurry

Back in February 22, 2019, an opinion article in the Washington Post by Jeremy Littau talked about the five myths of journalism.  One of the myths alluded to is the belief that good journalism must be objective.  However, Littau points out that the press in the past was more often than not openly biased.  Indeed, he points out that The American Press Institute says the public has developed a flawed conception of news objectivity by confusing it with lack of bias.  On the other hand, I have read that some believe that younger journalists tend to be more activist, thereby leading to more overt bias in their coverage of news events.  The very terms that they use to describe or portray these events often illustrate such biases.  Some have even demonstrated evident biases through their personal social media outlets.  This can lead to their dismissal by news outlets as it has on occasion in the U.S.

Nowhere was the nature of journalistic integrity challenged more then during the reporting in both the U.S. and Canada on the recent Palestinian-Israeli conflict.  In some cases, choice phrases were borrowed from implicated groups to describe Israel’s attacks on Gaza, such as “indiscriminate airstrikes”.  The phrases “ethnic cleansing” and “forced expulsions” emerged to describe what is happening in the occupied Palestinian territories, phrases often employed by some human rights groups.  Of course, it didn’t take long to discover that input about the conflict on social media was by far more favourable to the Palestinian cause than to Israeli justification for its military actions.  Heartbreaking videos being released and viewed by millions provided clear evidence of the resulting destruction within Gaza.  Not only did these appear on social media, but many were selectively used by news outlets to describe the scene, especially those depicting injured women and children.  The emotive term “humanitarian disaster”, whether justified or not, was repeatedly used to describe the tragic situation on the ground.  Moreover, one would have to do a more in-depth study to assess whether and how many biases did occur among reputable news outlets.  How were journalists influenced in their accounts and by whom?

As Andrew MacDougall, a communications consultant, pointed out: “It’s one thing for an opinion journalist to make such an incendiary claim; it’s another for a straight-news reporter to do the same.”  Despite what journalism schools may proclaim on the need for objectivity, MacDougall sees younger journalists increasingly identifying themselves as activists as much as they do practitioners of the news craft.  Furthermore, this cohort views journalism as a means to an end, a tool to produce the changes it wishes to seek in society.  There is little doubt that journalists can be influenced by accounts of events on social media, but by how much is another story?  It cannot be easy to maintain objectivity in an era of the me-too generation, Black Lives Matter, indigenous issues, systemic racism against minorities, etc., etc.  Activism is most often encouraged on campuses and its influences upon journalism faculties are just as certain to be found on most campuses.

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May 19

Clashes Between Israeli and Palestinian Supporters Increase in Canada

by bcurry

In the past week, clashes between Israeli and Palestinian supporters occurred in Canadian cities, especially in two of the largest, Toronto and Montreal.  Palestinian protests occurred primarily as a result of the most recent conflict over religious sites in the old city of Jerusalem.  However, the ongoing strife is decades old and is centered in Gaza, with its two million Palestinians, and where the radical group Hamas is situated.  It has been seven years since the last significant conflict with Hamas, and 16 since the last major Palestinian uprising, or intifada.  In addition, the level of destruction and loss of life in Gaza has underlined the humanitarian challenge in the enclave, already suffering under the weight of an indefinite blockade by Israel and Egypt even before the latest conflict.  Past wars and the blockade, according to a report last year by the United Nations, have left Gaza with “the world’s highest unemployment rate” and more than half of its population living below the poverty line. Then there are the planned Israeli expulsions of Palestinians from their homes in Jerusalem.  There is also Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu whose government has been complacent, nurtured by more than a decade of right-wing governments that treated Palestinian demands for equality and statehood as a problem to be contained, not resolved.  His argument for bombing Gaza sites is that Israel has a right to defend itself from rockets launched by Hamas into Israel.

The current military clashes between Hamas in Gaza and Israel have resulted in losses on both sides.  They have led to the worst violence between Israelis and Palestinians in years – not only in the conflict with Hamas.  At last count, they have killed at least 149 people in Gaza and 10 in Israel, as well as a wave of mob attacks in mixed Arab-Jewish cities in Israel itself.  It is estimated that more than 1,000 Gazans have been wounded in the Israeli offensive, and hospitals and clinics have been damaged, including the only clinic dispensing much needed COVID-19 tests and vaccines.  Needless-to-say, it can be understood why emotions are running high among pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli groups in Canada.

Montreal and Toronto in particular have fairly large communities of Jews and Palestinians. Unfortunately, protests by supporters in both communities have resulted in some violence and subsequent arrests of protesters.  In addition, Canadian Jewish leaders now warn of potential spike in anti-Semitic violence not seen since the last round of Gazan violence in 2014.  The political temperature seems higher, some blaming this as the result of the presence of much more prominent anti-Israeli rhetoric on social media.  Of course, the mayors of both cities, Quebec’s and Ontario’s premiers and the Prime Minister condemned any violence associated with the protests as being unacceptable.  The PM condemned the “despicable rhetoric and violence we saw on display in some protests this weekend.”  However, one must expect that existing groups promoting anti-Semitism will increase their attacks on social media and in the streets.  I do trust nonetheless that the vast majority of Palestinian and Jewish Canadians believe in our democratic values and especially in peaceful protest.  While the issues are particularly emotional to both groups, one can only hope that their reactions will be more moderate and non-violent.  Every Canadian has the right to express their views in a respectful and peaceful manner, without spewing hatred on-line or elsewhere.  Cooler heads need to prevail!

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May 15

To Mask or Not to Mask? That is the Question.

by bcurry

This past week, Director Rochelle Walensky of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CSC) announced the CDC ‘s recommendation that anyone who is fully vaccinated can participate in indoor or outdoor activities, large or small, without wearing a mask or physical distancing.  Subsequently, President Biden reiterated the CDC’s recommendation in a press conference, suggesting that if Americans wanted to get rid of their masks, they should get vaccinated.  However, as in everything about COVID-19, there is again confusion as to what this actually means.  As it pertains to states and municipalities, there are those that had already lifted masking restrictions and those that indicated they will continue the restrictions for the time being.  Labour groups and others warned that employees at stores, restaurants, bars and other businesses could be left exposed to the coronavirus from customers and could be forced into the unwanted role of “vaccination police.”  Who will have to police the need for a mask and how will one prove that one has received sufficient doses of a vaccine to be fully immunized?

In Canada, there continues to be a reluctance to remove masking requirements, particularly indoors, because of the existence of remaining hot spots and high case rates in some regions.  This is despite the fact that almost half the population has received their first vaccine shot.  Except for a very few anti-mask groups, Canadians appear to be more willing to maintain the course.  As with the general approach to the pandemic, Canadians have been supportive of lockdowns and other preventive measures.  Unlike Americans, Canadians did not portray masking as a political issue, a perception propagated by several prominent American leaders including former President Donald Trump.  One has to ask how individual liberties take precedent over the health and safety of the community at large and the impact on front-line workers?  With close to 600,000 COVID-related deaths in the U.S. to date, Americans and their leaders appear to have already answered this question.  Indeed, several mask supporters were voted out of office in a number of jurisdictions and threats were made against politicians and officials in other places over restrictions.

The experts have made it clear all along, whether vaccinated fully or not, wearing masks helps to control the spread of the virus within the community.  The CDC’s declaration is seen by many as being to soon and too fast given that the number of cases in certain states and localities remains high.  It appears that the agency’s approach has quickly gone from one extreme to another. Add to this the fact that the agency still recommends fully vaccinated people wear masks on planes, buses, trains and other forms of public transportation, as well as in health care settings, correctional facilities, homeless shelters, and where required by state and local governments, or businesses.  No wonder Americans are confused once again!

As far as I’m concerned, even with having been vaccinated, I will continue to wear a mask as long as it is deemed appropriate, especially in indoor public spaces.  I believe that most Canadians feel the same way.  It’s the least selfish thing that one can do under the circumstances. 

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