In the wake of the demands by extremist-led “protests” to lift all vaccine mandates around the country, nowhere as this demand been capitulated to as fast as in Saskatchewan and Alberta, where both provinces are pretty much eliminating their mandates as soon as possible, with no consultation, and while their hospitals are still full. Federally, the Conservatives are making the same demand for this capitulation, and they’re using a bunch of specious arguments, like listing countries that are lifting their restrictions already, never mind that in most of those countries, they have better healthcare capacity than we do, and they are further along in their omicron waves than we are. Fortunately, Ontario is not rushing to join them for a change, so that’s one small favour.

What is more concerning, however, is this talking point about “learning to live with COVID,” but in abandoning all public health measures, including mask mandates, they’re not actually planning to live with COVID—they’re planning to ignore it, to let it rip, to capitulate to the virus as much as they are eager to capitulate to the extremists claiming to protest. Learning to live with the virus would mean adequate and sustainable precautions, better focus on indoor ventilation, ongoing mask mandates in indoor spaces, and so on—and the ongoing insistence on vaccination, because that’s what will save us in the long run. But that’s not what they’re proposing, because they are so keen to return to the old normal, never mind that said world no longer exists by any measure. And it’s not “following the science” to take the notion that we need to just let the virus rip at this point—it’s being intellectually dishonest and pandering to selfish instincts.

Grifter Occupation: Day 14

There hasn’t been much change with the grifter occupation, as the police issued a sternly worded statement about tougher enforcement, and a bunch of tickets were issued, but that’s about where we are. The federal government continues to insist—correctly—that they won’t invoke emergency measures, but we are now running into a problem where the provincial government is making itself utterly absent. As a press briefing, Bill Blair stated yesterday that the provincial counterparts had not joined with the federal and city officials to deal with the issue, while the provincial transport minister issued a statement that basically stated that she wasn’t going to get involved in the Ambassador Bridge situation, which is absolutely stunning—or would be if this wasn’t Doug Ford’s merry band of incompetent murderclowns.

Because of course he did. He also ensured to repeat the conspiracy theories about the Global Compact on Migration that the previous “convoy” on Parliament Hill were spouting. https://t.co/IzpgOhncZF

— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) February 9, 2022

https://twitter.com/StephanieCarvin/status/1491510153035894786

Meanwhile, there are some very worrying signs cropping up as to some of what is happening. While the main occupation site around Parliament Hill is largely full of the conspiracy theorists, grifters and a collection of credulous numpties who may be feeling aggrieved (mostly because they are entitled white people who have been told no for the first time in their lives and are throwing an extended temper tantrum), and then at the “staging grounds” near the train station are where the more extreme elements are gathering (directed there by police, it should be noted). And a lot of the people connected to this element are former police and military, which is why they are as well organised and coordinated as they are. As Matt Gurney points out in this piece, the police chief seems to be trying to obliquely raise the alarm about this element, which may be why they’re afraid to enforce anything—for fear of setting them off, and why he’s so keen to insist that this is something that the police can’t handle, and can you please send in the army. While I’m not entirely unconvinced that part of that demand is simply buck-passing, this is another worrying sign about what is behind these so-called protests, which was never about mandates or vaccines, but was always about extremism behind a shield that these credulous numpties and grifters willingly provided. That doesn’t mean the police don’t bear responsibility for letting things get to this point, because they absolutely failed there, and it’s emboldening the other extremist events we’re seeing elsewhere in the country.

https://twitter.com/StephanieCarvin/status/1491459181106581504

As for those copycat protests and blockades at two border crossings now, it’s having a definite impact on supply chains and the ability for the auto sector to do its work, given the flow of parts across the border, which is going to make it all the more difficult for Conservatives to keep giving these agitators sympathy and credibility. Of course, it’s no small irony that the Conservatives were clutching their pearls about the supply chain when the vaccine mandate for cross-border truckers came into effect, and lo, that turned out to be a false alarm, but not that extremists have decided to use extremist tactics on the border, causing actual problems to the supply chain, I have yet to see the Conservatives give the same outcry. Funny that. The RCMP have started ticketing at the Coutts border crossing blockade, but that has yet to dissuade any of the occupants, and even though the province is scrapping their mandates, the occupants claim they’re in it for the “bigger picture.”

Good reads:

• Governor General Mary May Simon has tested positive for COVID a day after her husband did; she reports only mild symptoms.
• The company administering the class action lawsuit settlement for military members and veterans inadvertently released dozens of claimants’ information.
• The CBA’s National Magazine has an interview with Chief Justice Richard Wagner.
• There are private members’ bills and Senate public bills on the Order Paper attempting to deal with forced labour and Canadian companies complicit in it.
• Liberal backbencher Yves Robillard is coming out in support of Joël Lightbound, and wants an apology for being dropped from a committee after we went on vacation.
• The National Post gets more reaction to Lightbound’s comments, plus a glimpse at Mark Holland’s speaking notes on Candice Bergen’s leadership team.
• With O’Toole out, Candice Bergen is scrapping the party’s carbon pricing policy, to be determined in the leadership race, while Senator Denise Batters was back.
• Kevin Carmichael makes sense of Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Maklem’s latest comments about what the Bank is looking for when it comes to raising rates.
• Heather Scoffield meanders through the evolving economic landscape that won’t return to the old-normal, and demands a “roadmap” to relaxing measures.
• Colby Cosh muses about Joël Lightbound’s minor rebellion and what will come of his dissention, particularly with the press calling for his expulsion.
• Robert Hiltz enumerates the Ford government’s many failures in the pandemic, including how often they lied to the federal government.
• My Xtra column looks at Erin O’Toole’s ouster through the lens of his attempts to engage the LGBTQ+ communities, and what it means for the party going forward.

Odds and ends:

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