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is right twice a day. Or so they say. In this case Jason Kenney actually gets something right.
This is of course to people protesting the fencing off of a church (from what I understand). These people decided to trespass on Enoch Cree Nation land, threaten and assault their members, and vandalize their property. And it’s here where I get a certain sense of schadenfreude. Jason Kenney has been stoking the far right and using them to his own political means here in Alberta since he joined provincial politics. These people are his base, the people who will show up en-masse to rallies and canvas for him. They’re the ones that just won’t shut up about politics in the work space. They are the ones who have Nutley and TruDOPE bumper stickers on their vehicles, as well as some more unsavory stickers. So I wonder how his base is going to react to what is essentially a post asking people to calm down and come back to reality. Well lets find out.
First up we have the outright anger at Kenney.
Then we have what I like to call the ironic posts.
So that was fun. My favourite part is Tara showing her hatred and getting it wrong. Up next we have the MAGA crowd.
And finally what would a right wing protest be if we didn’t have the Kudatah crowd?
So that was a fun adventure. I wonder if all this outrage will last until the next election. Maybe if they are so upset with the UCP they could go and form their own party. They could name it after an iconic Albertan flower. The Wild Yarrow Party or The Giant Hyssop party or something like that. I’m sure their is some kind of name that would work out well for them. Anyway, I quite enjoyed reading Kenney getting clapped back by the people that used to cheer his incivility to all the other Albertans in this province. That’s all for now and I hope you enjoyed!
Organized religion makes people stupid. This is a tale of a church and congregation in Alberta that kept going without following any public health guidance, as if we were not in a pandemic and that everything was right as rain. Reminds me of the religious wisdom available circa 1347:
Not exactly the best strategy for dealing with an infection disease. Yet, in the here and now of 2021 the religious persist.
“AHS [Alberta Health Services] said it has attempted to work collaboratively with the church for months to address ongoing public health concerns.
Steps taken before Wednesday’s physical closure include:
- An order issued by AHS on Dec. 17 requiring the church to comply with restrictions ordered by Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s chief medical officer of health.
- A Court of Queen’s Bench order obtained Jan. 21 requiring the church to comply with the previous order.
- A closure order issued Jan. 29 requiring closure until compliance with the restrictions was attained.
- On March 27, AHS sent a letter to Coates providing him with information on the continued spread of COVID-19.
- Last week AHS invited Coates to meet virtually to discuss the risks presented by COVID-19, but the church has not provided any dates to meet.
GraceLife Church “has decided not to follow these mandatory restrictions, nor have they attempted to work with AHS to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission,” AHS said in the media statement.”
Finally GraceLife church was shut down.
“Alberta Health Services has closed GraceLife Church in Parkland County west of Edmonton.
In an emailed statement to CBC News Wednesday morning, RCMP confirmed they were on scene, assisting AHS as they closed the church under Section 62.1 of the Alberta Public Health Act.
As of 8:30 a.m., police vehicles and unmarked SUVs were blocking entrances to the church parking lot.
In a media statement, AHS said it “physically closed” the church and has prevented access until the church “can demonstrate the ability to comply with Alberta’s chief medical officer of health’s restrictions.”
It only took a year and a bit to nip this cluster of superspreaders in the bud. Our current government has demonstrated repeatedly (until now) that it will not enforce public health regulations so we should not be surprised with the length of time involved with this particular case of religious inanity.
The United Conservative Party of Alberta has consistently chosen the ‘middle road’ when it has come to policy decisions between keeping the economy open and locking down the province to combat the COVID19 virus. The result has been a roller coaster of half measures and half steps that instead of getting the transmissibility rate down to 0 we are following the historical pattern – experiencing first, second, and now third waves of infection (with a fourth coming as in the USA, because of the dithering of the government).
The Gracelife debacle illustrates how the government in pandering to its ‘base’ is only prolonging the epidemic in Alberta, and ultimately, allowing more people to unnecessarily die. It is policy position that is illogical, science denying, and morally unconscionable.
Unfortunately for Albertans, this is par for the course for this government so fully expect the shit-show to continue.
I haven’t been blogging these last couple of weeks because Fran, my mother, had to go to the hospital. She had an persistent UTI, which upon further investigation at the University of Alberta Hospital also coincided with a pneumonia. Fran was already suffering from the damage of two previous heart attacks along with atrial fibrillation and diabetes.
On Friday March 5th Fran had just come out of ICU she had stabilized and was in the regular care rooms, my visits on that Friday and Saturday were hopeful as she seemed to have stabilized and was beginning the road to recovery.
Late Sunday night the situation drastically changed. All of her vitals plunged and she was rushed back to ICU. I was not called until early Monday morning. My girlfriend Tara and myself rushed to the ICU where Fran’s doctors outlined the situation and then had the ‘you need to sit-down’ talk.
Fran was barely responding to the highest levels of medicine to keep her blood pressure up and antibiotics to quell the pneumonia and now septic infection that was ravaging her body. Everything that could be done, had been done. Her body was simply overwhelmed and a systemic cascade of organ failure had begun.
Fran was disconnected from life support at 2:55pm, Monday March 8th. She was not conscious or lucid (I don’t think), but I spoke with her, held her hand and told her that she was loved and her pets were safe.
Fran’s vital ceased at 3:00pm. She passed calmly with dignity and in the presence of her family.
——
Today I awoke and went to the living room. I sat on the couch and looked out the window. That’s Fran’s car behind our still winter slept tree.
I could think of nothing to do. So I put on Mozart’s Requiem in D minor and listened and remembered all I could about my Mom’s life and started to grieve over her passing. Please honour her passing as I did with the last movement, the Communio from the Requiem. It begins at 41:46 in the video.
Communio – Lux aeterna
Lux aeterna luceat eis, Domine,
cum sanctis mis in aeternum,
quia pius es.
Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine,
et lux perpetua luceat eis,
cum sanetis tuis in aeternum,
quia plus es.
May eternal light shine on them, O Lord.
with Thy saints for ever, because
Thou art merciful.
Grant the dead eternal rest, O Lord,
and may perpetual light shine on them,
with Thy saints for ever,
because Thou are merciful.
Her cat Angel came and sat with me for the entire requiem. She knew.
I am lost without words.
(Thus, I am taking a bit of break from blogging. Know that I have my Tara and my family supporting me through this time. Thank you all for commemorating with me Fran’s life, it’s the best one can hope for in these Covid times.)
The UCP continues to fail at governing the province of Alberta. We look to our public representatives to set an example of how to act properly during these pandemic times.
Apparently traveling to the likes of Ariziona, Mexico, and Hawaii are the behaviours the citizenry should be modelling. Because air travel is safe:
“Two more Alberta MLAs are returning home from holiday trips abroad.
Pat Rehn, the MLA for Lesser Slave Lake, posted a statement on Facebook Saturday confirming he is on his way back to Alberta from a trip to Mexico.
“Residents in our riding have done a tremendous job reducing the spread of COVID-19. We must all work together to get past this pandemic and get back to normal life,” Rehn said.
“Given this, I apologize for the fact that I recently took a previously planned family trip, following a busy legislative session. I am returning home to Alberta and will ensure I follow the premier’s new travel directive.”
A photo posted to Rehn’s Facebook account on Dec. 24 shows Rehn wearing a T-shirt in a cave, with tropical plants in the background.
Jason Stephan, MLA for Red Deer-South, is also returning from a trip to Arizona. In an emailed statement Saturday, Stephan said he flew to Phoenix on Dec. 31. He said he bought the ticket in October.”
This sort of behaviour from the party of ‘personal responsibility’.
“Allard said she has spent Christmas in Hawaii with her family for most of the past 17 years. She also said she felt she was keeping with the current health mandate through the international border testing program, which allows for a shorter quarantine period following a negative COVID-19 test.
“With all that said, however, as a minister of the Crown, I know that I’m held to a higher standard and in retrospect, I definitely made the wrong decision.”
Kenney said Allard was the only cabinet minister who left the country. The premier also confirmed Friday that Jamie Huckaby, his chief of staff, had travelled to Britain last month.
Kenney said Saturday that he takes responsibility for not being clear about travel rules.
CBC News has also confirmed that Calgary-Klein MLA Jeremy Nixon was also in Hawaii over the holidays. It is not clear when he left or whether he has returned.
Calgary-Peigan MLA Tanya Fir said on social media Friday night that she had recently been to the United States visiting her sister. In a Facebook post, she said that she has since returned and will abide by the new travel directive.”
So of course our besotted Premiere knew about his MLA’s leaving the country during a pandemic. He has never been in tune with the people of Alberta or the sacrifices they are making to stop the spread of the virus (gutting the healthcare system during a pandemic). This is a clear illustration of one set of expectations for the populace, and another for the political class.
Certainly the rules currently do not forbid international travel but why even take the risk in these unflattened curve times?
Is it Arrogance? Hubris? Or just plain stupidity?
I hope Albertans remember the mendacity demonstrated by this UCP government come election year.
We Survived. Let us celebrate our perseverance and fortitude in dealing with 2020’s challenges.
Thank you to my friends and followers who read and comment on my blog. I’m glad we can come together to share our arguments, thoughts, and opinions.
Take care friends, all the best to you and yours in the New Year.
Arbourist
Mystro
Bleatmop
Sometimes it is nice just to push the current events to the side and refocus for awhile on a different picture.
Happy Solstice everyone. Some pics of my hometown.
First three photos from Randal Talbot.
Fascinating stuff from the Edmonton Journal:
“Premier Jason Kenney did not condemn weekend anti-mask rallies on Monday, saying the right to protest is constitutionally protected.
Saturday anti-mask protests in both Edmonton and Calgary drew crowds of hundreds after new provincial rules were introduced last week that ban private indoor social gatherings and limit “private social” outdoor gatherings to a maximum of 10 people in an attempt to curb the spread of COVID-19.
In question period Monday, Kenney highlighted the legal right to demonstrate.
“We ask Albertans to be responsible in their actions … obviously when it comes to the constitutionally protected right to protest,” said Kenney.”
Let’s take a peek at where “ask[ing] Albertans to be responsible in their actions” has gotten us:
Personal responsibility (en masse) isn’t fucking working Mr.Premier.
Mr. Kenney did you perhaps wish to stop pouring gasoline on this particular fire?
“NDP Leader Rachel Notley said Kenney needs to call out the “irresponsible” behaviour of demonstrators.
“To those people who purposely and knowingly put themselves, their families, their communities at risk, this week you owe an apology for your extreme selfishness to every bleary-eyed exhausted nurse, doctor, and health-care worker in this province who is fighting day and night to fight this pandemic,” she told reporters before question period.
Instead of condemning those who attended, Kenney asked Albertans to be responsible.
“We would ask people not to engage in large-scale protests, and if they do so, please wear masks,” said Kenney, adding enforcement of any measures under the order Hinshaw signed is up to police, not the government.”
I am glad one of our political leaders understands the nature of public health and the ramifications of tacitly condoning behaviour that spreads the virus. The NDP government of Alberta was far from perfect, but they at least understood that people are the basis of our society and public orders to protect their health are necessary actions during times of crisis.
“Kenney has resisted calls to issue a province-wide masking mandate, last Wednesday saying in a Facebook live event that a province-wide mask mandate could be counterproductive.
Kenney cited a rural MLA who told him more people are wearing masks in the local grocery store, but that “a lot of these folks who are doing that now, they’d take it off the moment the government tells them to wear it.”
Yes, because catering to the ‘muh-freedoms’ crowd during a pandemic is going so amazingly well. I’m not going to let this one go folks – Jason Kenney is catering to his base over the well being of Albertans during a pandemic that is spiralling out of control. When will we act? When the hospitals are all bottled-necked? When the field hospitals are full? When there are dead in the streets?
This UCP government is acting irresponsibly and sentencing Albertans to death by COVID-19. There is no place from them in office, I hope the people of Alberta (especially the rural areas that keep voting conservative) see this.
bleatmop
Mystro
Dead Wild Roses 
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