WildPath

I'm sure that some of them are good people, but I've heard some of them yelling racial slurs and personally know a few supporters that have some pretty horrible views on race, homosexuality, etc. etc. I would be shocked if a good contingent of the ones participating did not hold similar discriminatory views. There is surely a strong correlation by right wing extremist views and this convoy. It is unfortunate that they feel powerless in our system, but I put a lot of the blame on dog whistle politics. There has been a lot of window dressing and high risk situations being fully open when other areas face more severe restrictions. I think this has been one reason so many people are sick of restrictions - they often don't make sense "If _______ is open, why can't I __________". Having bars open around Christmas while telling people to only gather with a small amount of family members comes to mind. If they would come right out and say "we are keeping these industries open for economic reasons" that would at least be more acceptable than to just ignore it outright and go ahead with nonsensical restrictions. Both US and Canada require people to be vaccinated to cross the border, are you saying truckers should be exempt from both rules? There's no mandate that truckers get vaccinated anymore than there is for the rest of the population. Is there any other population that you think should be exempt from the rules on both sides of the border? I can see the argument for truckers somewhat, but not for teachers, seeing as they are in one of the most dense workplaces that exist in our society. Having them unvaccinated puts others at heightened risk. The same with healthcare professionals, especially since they are dealing with especially vulnerable people. I don't agree with mandatory/enforced vaccinations, but trying to protect people from the stupidity/selfishness of others makes sense to me. I have no problem with them dealing with the consequences of not getting vaccinated when our healthcare system is being dragged down by them. We'd need way more unvaccinated medical professionals for this to work or accepting that unvaccinated people will get less attention and a lower standard of care. And we'd have to ignore aerosol transmission in buildings. Ignoring the realities of the situation, I think both vaccinated and unvaccinated people should be fine with this.

Poliovirus - Wikipedia Measles - Wikipedia I guess we are not technically 100% done with these viruses, but they are pretty under control. Not saying we can get to the same place with Covid, I have no clue, but effectively wiping out viruses is possible. Genuinely interested to hear how you would like us to approach the virus and restrictions. I'd agree that a lot of what we've been doing lately does not make sense in terms of what is allowed and what isn't if that's all you're saying.

I have a lot of friends on social media who aren't the most intelligent people and they've been promoting the whole convoy / store shelves being empty thing a bunch. Extremely frustrating. If they knew who was backing it and what they stand for, they would quickly change their tune. They're ignorant, not jerks like those behind the protest and many of those in the protest. Unfortunately the situation has been seized upon by some a-holes looking to get their own 'stop the steal' going in Canada and they've done it fairly effectively.

Worker absenteeism — not trucker vaccine mandates — impacting store shelves: Metro (yahoo.com) According to the CEO of a major national retailer, the effects of the trucker vaccine mandates are not the primary reason to blame for inflation and empty shelves at grocery stores - people being affected by Covid is. Unfortunately this does not stop many politicians in Canada from pointing the finger at Trudeau (ignoring that a US vaccine mandate exists) and saying that Trudeau is to blame and he is the one responsible for causing divisiveness amongst Canadians. Totally ignoring that there are more provincial mandates than federal. Incredibly disappointing that we have politicians that see what is going on in the US and realize how much easier it is to manipulate the dumb and ignorant rather than develop policy that is attractive and effective. Andrew Scheer and Pierre Poilievre surely know and understand the situation, but are using the idiocy of those involved to score political points. The same way Mitch McConnel and and Co. are doing in the states. "If you see empty shelves blame Justin Trudeau." 🙄

Agreed. I was meaning it more that even though he is being a selfish jerk, it worked out that someone else was helped through the situation.

As I said a few pages back, vaccine status does (at least in some jurisdictions) change prioritization for transplants. If the doctors judge that not being vaccinated will harm the chance of survival of a patient - then someone who will have better survivability should get priority - especially if it is something that is readily accessible and a matter of making a decision (a vaccine). If the patient overrules the doctor and decides they understand medicine better, then they have the consequences - unfortunately the family and others that rely on this father will be impacted unjustly. Fortunately, someone who is willing to accept doctors understand medicine better will receive the heart. Ironic that an act of selfishness can turn into a selfless act by providing the heart to someone else in need 🤔

And they see all the supply chain problems as Trudeau's response to unvaccinated truckers. No awareness of shortages of medical staff or lack of workers in other industries that might be caused by a global pandemic or something. The lack of critical thinking skills is reaching new lows. Unfortunately there will be political leaders and others emboldening and supporting them in an effort to boost their own profile...

Its sad that he likely caused others to be influenced by the anti-vax garbage that likely led to a few more deaths. Dying of Covid while being an anti-vaxxer really puts a whole new meaning to 'Bat out of Hell' though.

Doctor's Manitoba and most health officials would disagree with you. To think that reducing the amount of high risk situations (bars, etc) being unable to have an impact on Omicron spread is interesting and would be contrary to anything our government has said, including the most recent press conference. The difference is they've tried to wash their hands of responsibility and tell Manitobans they need to protect themselves. Stefanson all but confirmed in her last press conference that she has overruled public health recommendations in consulting with the business community and others. She's also repeatedly claimed we have the strongest restrictions in the country which is just absolutely false. Let's ignore that restrictions have a delay in bringing down case numbers, hospitalizations, etc... You can't compare case counts anywhere right now as there is no accuracy when testing capacity is exhausted. Let's say that I concede that they current case counts are accurate, using the three examples you gave (QC, ON, BC) - We have significantly higher case counts per 100k people than both ON and BC that have more stringent restrictions than us. QC is the only one you noted that is slightly ahead of us. I think a more measurable and important metric is hospitalizations (especially when testing numbers mean little). We are the worst, yet again, in Canada. We have more hospitalizations than QC, almost twice the hospitalizations as ON and almost three times the hospitalizations as BC. We are very close to pushing ICU capacity limits. Southern health was reported to be lagging in Omicron as the primary variant, but news today is that it is starting to breakout there. There are many other provinces in far better shape than even BC. ** These statistics were accurate as of yesterday when I typed this originally. We have announced 12 more deaths today and 19 additional in hospitalization, so I'm assuming the statistics would reflect even more poorly on how Manitoba compares to the rest of Canada. ** The news article below references some of the stats from above along and provides illuminating commentary from a critical care physician. ‘We will get through this,’ premier says amid Omicron pressure, climbing hospitalizations - Winnipeg Free Press "COVID triaging — that’s the only thing we’re not doing. We’re triaging every other aspect of health care," the doctor said. "Our health-care system unequivocally is failing many people and, unequivocally, I think is an embarrassment to Manitoba."

102 millionaires, including Abigail Disney, have signed another letter asking governments around the world to raise their taxes (msn.com) A group of 102 super-wealthy people have signed a letter asking governments to raise their taxes. The current tax system is unfair and leads to trust erosion, they said. They are calling on leaders meeting at the World Economic Forum this week to address the issue.

Out of respect to the posters above I will wait until tomorrow to respond to this. Sorry for both of your losses. I've been a lurker here and on OB for a long time. Definitely remember and appreciated TF.

Her laser-focus is too busy promoting Crown Royal. Check the thread, some of the replies are golden. The replies noting that CR alcohol content are twice her approval rating are my favourite. Apparently people are a little disappointed she would post this on a day where 20 Covid deaths were announced while they evaluate how things will play out.

Let's hope this time they can avoid a press conference that justifies genocide this time around...

Wait'll those truckers figure out how much money they are lining Trudeau's pockets with on commie carbon taxes by wasting all that fuel driving around pointlessly. 😄

I should clarify well known in the political realm. I'd hazard to guess that Willard Reaves is more well known and would win a popularity contest over Obby among Fort Whyte voters.

Agreed. They pretty much tripled any other party in 2019. But that was when they had an experienced politician and the premier of the province running in the riding. Before there was outrage with the party overall and with Pallister in particular. The approval rating of 21% for Stefanson might indicate a chance for another party to steal a seat. The last time any party came close to winning Forty Whyte was the Liberals in 2012 and the PCs won't have the benefit of an experienced and well-known candidate for the first time in over 2 decades.

I still maintain that the provincial Liberals are clearly better than either the PCs or NDP currently. They don't have a chance of forming government, but having a legitimate third party helps keep whoever wins the next election in check. We've seen what majority governments (especially with the secret bills the PCs introduced last year) look like in this province and its usually not good, regardless of political allegiances. There's too much "Vote for us, we're not the PCs. They would ruin the province.", "Vote for us, we're not the NDP. They would ruin the province." Having Liberals as a legitimate third party and potentially holding the balance of power could begin with Willard Reaves winning Pallister's old seat in the coming months.

That is kind of my point. The government has adopted a policy that will in all likelihood cause these decisions to be made, but they refuse to accept or plan for this ahead of time. Its not just something that can be swept under the rug or fingers crossed that it won't happen because it doesn't sound nice. Agree. I think acute need is the first factor, but I don't think it is the only factor. I did some brief digging and found this - Ethics - General Considerations in Assessment for Transplant Candidacy - OPTN (hrsa.gov). (American Document) This is just a white paper, but it does suggest that lifestyle factors are already in consideration. This even includes incarceration status and ability to pay for treatment, again U.S. system. I'm not saying this is right or wrong, just that considerations of lifestyle choices already exist in some systems. I was pretty sure alcoholism and such have already been known to factor into transplant decisions, but this is the best source I could find on a brief search. The source shown above also shows that Covid vaccine uptake is already taken into consideration in some places for transplant priority. But my point isn't about transplants at all, just that there needs to be a plan in place for the expected surge in hospitalization/ICU admission. This is something Doctors Manitoba has asked for repeatedly.

Yet Doctor's Manitoba has continually called on the province to develop triage protocols like other jurisdictions have done. Articles from last May, last September and yesterday. A difference between regular triage protocols and those being called for by doctors is that the system is at a continual height of sustained need that likely hasn't been seen in the past 50 years. Physicians press for emergency order to triage rising virus caseload - Winnipeg Free Press Advocates, ethicist renew call for triage protocols as Manitoba approaches 4th wave | CBC News COVID-19: Manitoba doctors worried about Omicron surge in hospitals | CTV News I am not familiar with the transplant protocols in place in Manitoba, but other jurisdictions do include Covid vaccine status in their consideration - Organ centers to transplant patients: Get a Covid vaccine or move down on waitlist (nbcnews.com).

A local lockdown or increase of restrictions could help ease the capacity on the healthcare system. This was the same goal with the original - bending the curve. It is not just about what happens when an individual gets sick with Covid, but what healthcare is available to anyone who needs it, even with non-Covid conditions. As Mark F posted above, many procedures are being delayed and this has directly led to the death of non-Covid patients. With the province basically waving the white flag, that has signaled to all Manitobans that the time for restrictions has passed. Unfortunately everyone going about their business as normal is already causing hospitals to push capacity limits when other healthcare services are running in standby mode to deal with Covid surges. We don't have the ability to 'flex' to increase Covid capacity any more than we currently have. If we have decided to basically live as normal (besides that being a decision to basically disregard health outcomes for vulnerable individuals), it has to be paired with a healthcare plan to decide who does not receive care when the system is at capacity.

I've seen no evidence of them playing the anti-feminist and racist cards, but she definitely is ill-fitted for the position. She is a member of Spring Church/Cult, who give out vax-exemption cards, sue the government for restrictions and continually try to defy any measures to try to contain and reduce the harm of Covid. She's personally been at the centre of at least two controversies where she is defying restrictions. I just watched the movie 'Don't Look Up' and I'm seeing some interesting parallels.

Repeatedly pressed if public health has suggested any new restrictions - Stefanson - dodge the question and then say that they talk to a wide variety of different organizations that throw around different ideas. Health Minister Gordon - Places are making things safer by putting up plexiglass and ensuring santization. - Our health minister clearly has not been paying attention to research from the last year on how Covid spreads. "It is up to Manitobans to defend themselves" - Heather Stefanson It's time for Manitobans to receive a tax refund equal to the pay of Stefanson and Gordon.

Watching now ... confirmed.

I have thought similar before - the people most upset with lockdowns should surely be the first in line for vaccinations and trying to encourage everyone to get vaccinated. Unfortunately this is rarely the case. Those that hate lockdowns and are likely to break lockdown protocol are often the least effected by the negative side effects of lockdowns. Those who take lockdowns seriously and often go beyond government protocol are the ones who most want to go back to normal and will do whatever it takes. Part of their mindset is that they should always be allowed to do whatever they want - don't lock us down, don't make us get vaccinated, don't make have any consequences for our choices. I also think those who hate lockdowns are also the "F Turd-eau" crowd that have a really hard time connecting to dots between mass vaccination and a return to normal life. The lack of critical thinking really boggles the mind. I had one of my early years students go on a huge rant about anti-vaxxers today. Hard to imagine kids under 10 can put together a more logical argument than some adults...

I'm 2/3 there. Do I get a prize? Before remote learning, I went from being a teacher to being a lawn care guy so I could keep myself and pregnant wife safe and to be able to see my parents. I've been literally on my death bed in ICU because of my condition before (when I was 24 no less), so I've been playing it pretty safe, especially since each of the 3 vax shots I've had are likely not super effective on me. Not expecting the world to stop for people like myself, but just for people to be aware there are many people who can't "accept living with Covid" and have had really sh**y lives the past two years. When our hospitals are full and access to medical care is limited, that is the time to have restrictions that actually mean something. Agreed that the conversation on here has been great. A lot of the drivel online is disgusting and not representative of the real population that actually has compassion and awareness.