FROLITICKS

Canada has its regional equivalent to Georgia, Iowa, South Dakota and Florida.  It’s the Western province of Alberta.  Just this week, Alberta’s Premier Jason Kenney imposed a province-wide lockdown, calling it a “last resort”.  Back in November, Alberta had declared a state of public health emergency.  The measures will last at least four weeks — meaning family gatherings will be prohibited over the Christmas season.  It will involve an immediate mandatory province-wide mask law, a shutdown of restaurants and bars and a ban on social gatherings of any kind.  Kenney’s recent elected United Conservative government had been reticent to implement restrictions, citing the balance between the consequences of a prolonged economic closure and the harms of the COVID-19 pandemic.  Alberta was the sole province in the country without a province-wide mandatory mask law, although many municipalities had enacted bylaws.  Even in areas without such laws, many retail outlets require them.

Alberta, with a third the population of Ontario, was having the same number of confirmed COVID-19 cases as that province, with a weekly high positive-test rate of over 8 percent.  In late November, Alberta had more than 13,000 active cases, the most in the entire country, despite having fewer people than Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia.  Deaths had climbed close to 500, and more than 300 people were in hospital, with more than 60 of them in intensive care units (ICUs).  So far in December, Alberta is shattering records, with over 1,800 new cases daily and a positive-test rate of 9.5 percent.  Straining the capacity of the health-care system in the province, the Alberta government has asked the federal government and the Red Cross to supply four field hospitals to care for COVID-19 patients.

Like the Upper Midwest and Plains states in the U.S., Albertans tend to reflect a mid-West attitude in their opinions of government and any perceived impact on their liberties.  If any province were similar in outlooks to Americans, Alberta could be the equivalent of a 51^st state.  They have primarily voted for conservative governments for over the last half century and often express their objections to federal government intrusions into their affairs, especially when it comes to the oil and gas and cattle industries.  When all taxes are taken into consideration, Albertans across all income ranges generally pay lower overall taxes compared to other provinces.  Alberta continues to be the only province in Canada without a provincial sales tax.  For years, the province relied heavily on receiving royalties from its oil and gas industry to supplement its revenues.  However, with the pandemic and the recent downturn in oil and gas demand, Alberta’s economy and its people have greatly suffered.  Now, they have to cope with increasing COVID-19 outbreaks and the resulting strain on their health-care system.

The Alberta government’s current lockdown is receiving criticism from doctors and others, who argue that while the measures might have succeeded had they been implemented weeks ago, they now are coming too late.  For months, Albertans continued to flock to bars and restaurants and to congregate for funerals, weddings and church services.  Like many in the states, scores of Albertans protested any form of restrictions despite the clear evidence that not taking precautions would lead to more people becoming sick and dying.  Interestingly, recent surveys show that Jason Kenney’s administration is considered by Albertans to be among the worst in Canada when it comes to dealing with the pandemic at the provincial level.  Reminds you of anyone?