Earlier in the week, I reported that there was a “growing chorus of politicians and health experts” in Canada calling for an end to COVID mandates, after the protests by the Freedom Convoy. While we’ve been focused a lot on the occupation in Ottawa, they also had a blockade going on at the border in Alberta as well as protests in other areas.
The RCMP apparently thought they could tow the truckers away, by calling up the local tow truck operations. But they got rejected big time, with the tow truck organization telling them they supported the peaceful protest.
Tow truck company press release- Alberta pic.twitter.com/GdbjtiaO7o
— fatherjeffrey (@fatherjeffrey) February 3, 2022
We previously reported on a similar effort in Ottawa which also failed.
Now, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney has announced that they would be moving to end restrictions, starting with dropping the restriction exemption program (Alberta’s vaccine passport). Kenney said they would be reviewing all the data and trends, but that they were working on a plan to drop almost all restrictions over the month. He said he wanted them to prioritize lifting damaging restrictions on kids. He of course said this was due to “public health” and not the protests. He said he believed they had passed the Omicron peak about three weeks ago.
Here’s what Kenney said in response to the National Post asking about the benefits of dropping restrictions.
You know, first of all, how about just the basic restoring people’s fundamental freedoms? I’m a little perplexed about how cavalier some in the Canadian COVID debate have been about impairing and violating fundamental freedoms.
Secondly … I think normalcy is underrated.
Thirdly … I know that the kind of government-funded laptop class has never really cared very much about the economic impact of restrictions, but it’s real.
It’s also creating real tensions in some communities about enforcement around it. … The number of stories I hear about people fighting over masks in grocery stores in various parts of the province, fighting over whether or not to permit somebody into a restaurant based on a vaccination status — this stuff has been brutal.
Now, that’s great news and follows the news from Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe that he would be doing the same thing earlier in the week.
Is it time to end COVID-19 restrictions?
Here‘s what I think, and what I’m hearing from Saskatchewan people.
[pt 1/2] pic.twitter.com/w0nguqF4zY
— Scott Moe (@PremierScottMoe) February 3, 2022
These are folks who are moving toward some common sense.
Even the Chief Public Health Officer of Canada, Dr. Theresa Tam, is now on board the “living with it” brigade. She said that all existing public health policies, including provincial vaccine passports, need to be “re-examined” in the coming weeks.
Together, she said, these agencies will review the current “suite of measures,” including severe border restrictions and travel limitations.
“I think the whole concept is, we do need to get back to some normalcy,” Tam said.
She said Canada’s efforts should be focused on preventing severe cases of COVID through vaccinations rather than stopping all new infections of a highly transmissible virus.
Unfortunately, Justin Trudeau is not one of those with common sense, and some of the officials in Ottawa are – in a word – insane.
The Ottawa city council police board met today. The chair of the board, Diane Deans, was completely out to lunch, calling it a “threat to democracy” and “nationwide insurrection.” She said it “must end,” and she wanted more police force brought to bear, which would not end well.
The chair of the police services board, city councilor Diane Deans: "This group is a threat to our democracy… This is a nationwide insurrection. This is madness. We need to put an end to this now." https://t.co/bsb82rCy5q
— Glen McGregor (@glen_mcgregor) February 5, 2022
When asked if she should be calling on Trudeau to meet with the protesters, she replied that you don’t meet with “terrorists.” While sense seems to be spreading across other parts of Canada, Ottawa is like California/New York liberal; it’s locked into the crazy and sounds like they might be going off the deep end.
Deleted that “terrorists” tweet to phrase it a little better. Diane Deans implied the convoy organizers are terrorists by rejecting the idea of calling on Trudeau to meet with them. “You don’t meet with terrorists,” she said.
— Brian Platt (@btaplatt) February 5, 2022
These are the folks that she is calling “terrorists.”
The “fringe minority” is back in full force today on Parliament hill. Thousands of people gathered here again in Ottawa today to support the truckers. #TruckersForFreedom2022 https://t.co/8hpC710hZK pic.twitter.com/0wAKOrLJC8
— Lincoln Jay (@lincolnmjay) February 5, 2022
WATCH NOW: Canadian citizens rally around trucker convoy providing food, gas and rides | https://t.co/P97c46IOIU
— Dr. Nickarama (@nickaramaOG) February 6, 2022
That is Canada. Hopefully, as the trucker says, they are able to “be Canada again.”
Story cited here.
