the watcher

Everytime I hear " their version of " I think back to 20 years ago when my 10yr old son and I found a " Spaderman " in a dollar store . It looked exactly like you would think a " Spaderman " would look like. So bad It was awesome. I so regret not buying it. I would post a picture of it every time I heard that phrase " their version of "

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/16/ottawa-blockade-strong-ties-extremists I'll add this , it's what the world gets to see of Canada now. I agree with your post %100. Part of " Law , order and good government " is squashing these extremists before it emboldens those who quietly support their ideas. It was left far to long.

Sometimes this doesn't look like Canada anymore.

Utterly disgusting. Wheres our common decency ? Where's our self- respect ? Where's our leadership ? This needs to end now.

So Ford has cleared the port of entry, Kenny has cleared the port of entry and our Premier is negotiating. Personally I would prefer the negotiation tactics of Korbin Dallas in The Fifth Element. https://youtu.be/n4Qcm24dxaA

I think you are right in that there will be alot of regular Conservative voters that will be angry over this. Will they move their vote ? Maybe. I have an extremely flexible vote that depends on the Leader and the issues of the time. I have decided I can't vote Conservative Federally or Provincial again until they : 1- find proper leadership, 2- embrace the issues of the time, not the issues of the previous generation. 3- can reflect the will of the general population , 4- can convince me that they aren't willing to sell their soul ( and mine lol ) to just get elected.

Since many provinces have now announced the removal of restrictions in short order and the blockades and protests continue, it's obvious that there were other reasons why they are there. I think it's a desire of of many of them to be involved in a Trump/ Maga type movement. That includes all the ugliness and hate that is deeply imbeded in that movement. I find it shameful and embarrassing to have the world watching this. I hope that there are many people moving away from supporting any political party that is not actively fighting and resisting that movement.

Yes, but the zambonie wont accidentaly run into them.

Kind of crazy that Ford seems to be a voice of reason ( sometimes ) in all of this. Yes, it's one of the 1st things I noticed after 2 years of " we will have to watch the numbers as time goes by. before we make that decision " Now its set in stone.

I'd hoped to see this opening done alot slower. Start with numbers per sq ft. Then I guess the cards. Then finally masks. Maybe be all in by May or June. To this old farmer that would be the intelligent way to do it. The one thing I really don't want is to go back to full lockdown because we rushed it. A week or 2 ago they said they wanted to be open by spring. Now its a month ? In my mind this is being rushed due to the pressure from the Anti everything's. And that's wrong. Just like dealing with a bratty kid, you can't give in.

Let me preface my comments and say I am a big supporter of balanced budgets in most situations. One of the reasons is that it then allows us to run a deficit in tough times. I fully understand where printing money and hyper inflation takes us because Ive lived through it. I'm vaxed, still go out and have been a big supporter of our rules. And would like to see the rules slowly reduced. I agree maybe let's ignore the Nazis at these protests. But %90 the others that are protesting have been fighting the rules all along. If we had followed their ways we would have overwhelmed our hospital system. Look up the numbers. Can you imagine matching Peru's %6 fatality rate ? I know multiple anti vaxers whose lives were saved in ICU when they got Covid because there was room for them. These are people who have fought any rules from the start. There is no nation, no society , no civilization ,nor has there ever been one that has not had restrictions on freedoms. What we can't allow is a small group of people to do is stop business, stop trade, and give a black eye to this country internationally. The City, the truckers association, the business associations all are asking for it to be stopped. As far as your solutions for fixing our healthcare system let's discuss #1 ,going totally private. I will ignore Switzerland because they are an outlier in every discussion on anything. Let's look at the US. MY figures are prepandemic and off the top of my head but they should be quite accurate. Cost, Canada - % 10.7 of our GDP. US - % 17.3. Effectiveness, Canada 12- 14 th in life expectancy. The US 32- 35th in life expectancy. Just for fun see if you can name 35 modern, advanced functioning countries. It puts them down with some very ugly company. The last time I looked, the number 1 cause of bankruptcy in the US was illness. The vast majority of people in the US want universal healthcare. But their well to do people are quite healthy. A totally private system can't even enter the discussion. There are many other systems we can look at to fix the inadequacies in our system. Interestingly France had quite a low death rate during Covid and their particular system is often rated very high. But there is no system in the world that wasn't overloaded in Covid. Finally I know just as many people who have been affected by the rules who are pro mask, and vax, as those who aren't. What we see at the protests and blockades are the childish ,arrogant , selfish and thoughtless ones.

One more point for every level of government. Precedence is being set here. The next time indigenous, LGBQT, the gun lobby , the anti gun lobby or any other group with a bone to pick , just or not ,have an issue, they have a template on how to get attention. . Let's see if Mr Goertzen is so understanding then.

Goertzen on the radio " alot of people ,depending what SIDE OF THE DISCUSSION you are on want us to tell the police to end it. You might like it this time but next time........ blah blah." These morons don't get it. First off , what discussion ? The protestors are breaking the law . Laws you enacted. You have a very small minority demanding they control health regulations. Its effecting business and trade. I'm pretty sure if this goes much longer violence will end up happening. It's embarassing that the US would feel they need to offer to step in. Edit : I just fired off an email to my MLA expressing my view that this needs to end now. I doubt it gets a response or even read but you never know. If they hear enough voices .......

Crazy stuff. You can't tell me where I can go with my unvaccinated body but I can have absolute control over your pregnant one.

I'd make a pretty bid to get to be the driver.

Add in a protest at a Steibach school that has caused it to go into lock down.

You gotta admit she has quite the flip flop , blow in the wind ability . She must have realised how pissed off people are getting at her base. She must be afraid she will be relegated to a Bernier level.

I'm hoping there is a ground swell of anger over this that forces governments to act. Mayor Bowman is calling for towing and clearing, Jagmeet Singh is calling for a crackdown, real truckers are demanding it be stopped. Maybe it's time for the % 70 to be letting our various representatives we want it stopped both whatever means are necessary.

I think all levels of government need to use whatever means they have available to come down as hard as they can. They are blocking #75 with trucks and farm equipment. Apparently some are parking there and leaving. Real truckers are complaining they can't get through to do their business. The RCMP SAY technically they can tow and charge but they don't want to inflame the situation. Totally wrong in my opinion . Hook on, tow them and charge the owners with the max you can and everything you can. Make them pay for lawyers to defend themselves , then we will see how many show up again. ......Hammers , I want hammers. Great big F...ing hammers .It's time.

I teach a martial art and right now it's mostly kids. I work them hard for an hour with masks on. I give them a chance a couple of times to separate and have a drink with their masks off for less than a minute. So ya, I think shopping is possible. Maybe not for the anti mask softies mind you. A quote from the book I'm reading, in reference to the American state of a affairs but it fits here. " Factual evidence, since it is an impediment to what we desire, is banished " Its become a huge issue in the world. From Covid, to climate change, to politics , the facts and the truth no longer seem to matter. I'm so sorry to hear that Tracker. That's an awful thing to have todeal with.

Just a couple of thoughts : Its sad to see AH go. He put on some of the best performances ever and at crucial times. He will be missed but it's pro sports. We've all seen it before. I'm still going to miss AH but I'm excited to see what our young Canucks can do with more time on the field. There was no way we weren't going to lose a bunch of players. The dominance during the regular season was epic. It is something we will talk about for years. When that happens the teams we dominated are going to come hunting. Alot of these guys have a 3 to 5 year window before they are done/ trail off. So you know they need to capitalise. All Walters could do was to prioritise who we could or couldn't keep.

At some point those children need to be sent to their room. In this case home. I use to send my kids out and tell them they could come back whenever they wanted. As soon as they were willing to behave. It usually worked. But I didn't ignore them.

Ive had enough of this crap. You cant let less than %15 if the population do this much damage to the Canadian soul. Come on JT lay down the law. This is your " Just watch me " chance. Continue the legacy.

Lol, I just said to my wife they are like spoiled kids stamping their feet , and yelling , I don't want to, you can't make me. The whole thing is asinine. 1- Most restrictions are done by Provincal governments. You can protest all you want in Ottawa, the Provincal govs don't care. 2- IF the Feds changed the border crossing rule , my understanding is it wouldn't effect anything as the US have the same resticions. 3- IF you are a trucker and won't vax, just haul in Canada. Companies are desperate for truckers. 4- No society has ever or will ever have no rules and no restrictions on freedoms. 5- I'd love to see both politicians and the press start to call these idiots out. Make these points and others in press announcements. Show these idiots up for what they really are. Spoiled, selfish children without a clue as to what they can and can't get. What society needs to function. I've heard enough of "we need to respect their views and decisions."

There will a bigger backlash against that kind of support than positivity from it. It gives a whole lot of ammo for the other parties.