[gibsonm]

My retired mother in-law, like many at the time, was sent to live with rural family when Polio was running rampant in 1953.

During polio outbreaks, schools, playgrounds and movie theatres were closed in pockets of the country. Public health officials in some communities gave daily briefings on new cases and recoveries, according to social historian Leah Morton, and families of the infected were quarantined.

Nurses were recruited out of retirement to help with large numbers of patients, while health officials and governments scrambled for much-needed equipment.

https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.5517204

Is that the kind of enjoyment of life you’re talking about?

False equivalence. The polio vaccine provided permanent immunity. Polio was also a debilitating disease whereas most people who get Omicron recover quickly. The immune-compromised, elderly, and obese have many available protections: triple vaccination, masking, staying home, antiviral treatments, etc. In a healthy democracy the public is trusted to make informed decisions and have discretion over their healthcare and behaviour. Most of the population is vaccinated. We’re ready to lift restrictions and live with Covid, which isn’t going away, unlike polio.

 

[gibsonm]

Explain to me how the convoy intends to achieve its goal of avoiding vaccinations for cross-border truckers when the US already requires them?

Don Quixote was a moron, too.

The US government is being lobbied as well. Biden and Trudeau are mostly on the same page and have the low approval ratings to show for it.

 

[zang]

False equivalence.

Uh, no. I wasn’t comparing the disease, but rather your insistence that somehow previous generations led a stress-free, restriction-free life.

 

[zang]

The US government is being lobbied as well. Biden and Trudeau are mostly on the same page and have the low approval ratings to show for it.

So, you believe a small minority of truckers are causing their low approval ratings? There are plenty of other things going on there. Especially when a majority approve of mandates.

Since the very beginning of this pandemic, I’ve been astounded by the people who shrug off claims of death and illness, ignoring the fact that restrictions in place are what’s keeping them low in the first place.

In addition, the sheer ignorance of the fact that while vaccination does not stop Omicron, it does reduce severity and death dramatically, and also reduces transmission. And that’s kinda the point of getting as many people as possible vaccinated. Especially those in high-travel industries.

The anti-mandate/anti-lockdown movement is one driven by selfish ignorance from those with zero value in community and the social contract, and is being grifted left-right-and-centre by politicians and con-artists looking to capitalize on anything anti-Trudeau/anti-Biden, because it’s more about “owning the libs” than it is anything concretely based in science or knowledgeable authority.

At this point, it’s becoming pretty clear that one’s anti-vax/anti-mandate stance is quite clearly correlated to one’s lack of critical thinking and ability to be duped.

So yep, morons.

 

[DirectionNorth]

So, you believe a small minority of truckers are causing their low approval ratings? There are plenty of other things going on there. Especially when a majority approve of mandates.

Since the very beginning of this pandemic, I’ve been astounded by the people who shrug off claims of death and illness, ignoring the fact that restrictions in place are what’s keeping them low in the first place.

In addition, the sheer ignorance of the fact that while vaccination does not stop Omicron, it does reduce severity and death dramatically, and also reduces transmission. And that’s kinda the point of getting as many people as possible vaccinated. Especially those in high-travel industries.

The anti-mandate/anti-lockdown movement is one driven by selfish ignorance from those with zero value in community and the social contract, and is being grifted left-right-and-centre by politicians and con-artists looking to capitalize on anything anti-Trudeau/anti-Biden, because it’s more about “owning the libs” than it is anything concretely based in science or knowledgeable authority.

At this point, it’s becoming pretty clear that one’s anti-vax/anti-mandate stance is quite clearly correlated to one’s lack of critical thinking and ability to be duped.

So yep, morons.

By labelling everyone who disagrees with you as a moron, you've outed yourself as attachment someone who has no points left, who needs to use insults to make your point.

Good day.

 

[zang]

By labelling everyone who disagrees with you as a moron, you've outed yourself as attachment someone who has no points left, who needs to use insults to make your point.

Good day.

Pretty sure I made my points, regardless.

I'm personally tired of pussyfooting around a tyranny of the minority who feel their voice should be heard above all else, and that their foolishness should drive policy and the lives of every other person due to their own selfishness. A group screaming at the top of their lungs that democracy is being threatened because of the things the government is asking them to do while completely ignoring the fact that they're in the minority is laughable. So calling them morons (a synonym for "foolish") is quite deserved.

And calling anti-vax/anti-mandate folks moron is also not calling *everyone* who disagrees with me a moron. Does that matter?

 

[lenaitch]

To enter the US I just had to show my passport, not so for entering my own country.
If only Canada could lose its redundant, thick, Soviet-style border entry requirements, Canadians might enjoy travel more. It’s certainly given a boost to airlines and travel in the UK:

Flight sales soar as Covid testing is dropped — The Times and The Sunday Times

Airlines and travel operators are experiencing a surge of bookings after the government’s decision to abandon testing for fully vaccinated travellers. Jet2, Tui, and Thomas Cook have all reported a rush of customer bookings, with flights during the February half-term and Easter holidays in...

apple.news

Most governments have gone back and forth since the beginning of the virus. You currently cannot enter the US -or the UK for that matter - simply by showing a passport.

 

[Admiral Beez]

Looking back on these two years I have to say I've found my pandemic experience mostly positive. My employer closed their office in April 2020 so I've been working from home ever since, pretty much setting my own hours - meeting during the warmer months at my boss' backyard nearby once a week for coffees, catch-up and planning. My children attend universities outside of the GTA where in-class lessons never moved online, so they're happy. I've never really enjoyed family gatherings as in my case there's a lot of toxicity, so I've really enjoyed two simple, immediate family Christmases. I'm drinking a lot less now, maybe one or two beers and/or 2-3 glasses of red wine a month - though perhaps too much tea and coffee. Actually one of the benefits of the pandemic as we turned to seclusion was a chance to cut out a lot of toxic people from my life. With little to no eating out or drinking and no need to shop for clothes, etc. we've paid down most of our debt and saved enough to pay for our March 2022 trip to London. I've started building model ships and am taking Zoom piano lessons from a teacher up the street - the tuner was here yesterday getting our 120 year upright into shape. In the warmer months I've taken to leading mid-week motorcycle tours with my bike club - at the height of the pandemic we'd pack our own lunches and coffees so we needn't stop at restaurants. I've also started exercising and stretching each morning, walking the dog whilst I listen to podcasts each day (usually BBC History Extra or Planet Money). I've lost about ten lbs these past two years from exercise and not eating out. I've also started a new hobby, remote control sailboat racing and now have both a DF65 and DF95 in contention - you'll sometimes find me at the Humber Bay East pond (currently under reconstruction), thermos of coffee at my side at 7:30am practicing the boat(s) before I return home to start work. I also bought my first new bicycle since the late 1980s, and am loving my Breezer Downtown 8 - my favourite ride is from Cabbagetown to Queen's Park, down University to Sugar Beach, drink my thermos of coffee whilst I watch the boats before heading back to work.

Thanks to Covid I'm almost entirely de-stressed and my wife and I enjoy each others company, making popcorn and watching Brit crime shows on Netflix, etc. I have to admit that Covid has allowed me to live my best life in recent years. More money, no commuting, more free time, enjoyable work conditions, happy adult children, less toxicity, better health and weight, and more personal development. I'm a better person for this pandemic.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Thanks to Covid I'm almost entirely de-stressed and my wife and I enjoy each others company, making popcorn and watching Brit crime shows on Netflix, etc. I have to admit that Covid has allowed me to live my best life in recent years. More money, more free time, enjoyable work conditions, happy adult children, less toxicity, better health and weight, and more personal development. I'm a better person for this pandemic.

Important to keep in mind that this is a rather privileged outcome - the pandemic has also created a class of citizens whose experience is diametrically opposite to yours.

As to "freedom" of the US, well - https://arstechnica.com/science/202...86-taller-than-deltas-and-crushing-hospitals/ - we avoided the worst of that even now. Governments has to preserve health and safety of the broader population.

AoD

 

[gibsonm]

So, you believe a small minority of truckers are causing their low approval ratings? There are plenty of other things going on there. Especially when a majority approve of mandates.

Since the very beginning of this pandemic, I’ve been astounded by the people who shrug off claims of death and illness, ignoring the fact that restrictions in place are what’s keeping them low in the first place.

In addition, the sheer ignorance of the fact that while vaccination does not stop Omicron, it does reduce severity and death dramatically, and also reduces transmission. And that’s kinda the point of getting as many people as possible vaccinated. Especially those in high-travel industries.

The anti-mandate/anti-lockdown movement is one driven by selfish ignorance from those with zero value in community and the social contract, and is being grifted left-right-and-centre by politicians and con-artists looking to capitalize on anything anti-Trudeau/anti-Biden, because it’s more about “owning the libs” than it is anything concretely based in science or knowledgeable authority.

At this point, it’s becoming pretty clear that one’s anti-vax/anti-mandate stance is quite clearly correlated to one’s lack of critical thinking and ability to be duped.

So yep, morons.

I think many very intelligent people from all walks of life, income levels, and education levels have very good reason to be concerned about government overreach. I’d prefer that Canada corrects its course away from totalitarianism and back to liberal-democracy. There’s nothing radical or irresponsible about that. Most of our population is fully vaccinated and the vulnerable have many tools to protect themselves. If we don’t start questioning restrictions (among the most extreme in the developed world), expect them to continue or be implemented arbitrarily. The UK is moving on. Canada looks like a bureaucratic colonial outpost with fewer freedoms, driven by fear and over-reliance on government to control behaviour and make decisions for people.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

I think many very intelligent people from all walks of life, income levels, and education levels have very good reason to be concerned about government overreach. I’d prefer that Canada corrects its course away from totalitarianism and back to liberal-democracy. There’s nothing radical or irresponsible about that. Most of our population is fully vaccinated and the vulnerable have many tools to protect themselves. If we don’t start questioning restrictions (among the most extreme in the developed world), expect them to continue or be implemented arbitrarily. The UK is moving on.

We just had a legitimately democratic election about 4 months ago - there is nothing totalitarian about it. Also you seem to have forgotten that we are a Federated state - and there are provinces with parties in power that have fundamentally different ideological priorities than Ottawa (e.g. Ontario, Alberta and Saskatchewan, for example) and even they chose to implement restrictions that are anathema to their natural inclinations - precisely because the alternative is the risk of a healthcare system collapse.

What are the "many ways" for the vulnerable - such as someone who is in need of cancer treatment and immunocompromised - to protect themselves when surgeries and whatnot gets bumped because the hospitals are swamped (and I might add, in no small part due to people who refuse to protect themselves in the name of "rights"?)

AoD

 

[smably]

I’d prefer that Canada corrects its course away from totalitarianism and back to liberal-democracy.

LMAO, have words lost all meaning? Do you even know what a totalitarian state is?

 

[zang]

I think many very intelligent people from all walks of life, income levels, and education levels have very good reason to be concerned about government overreach. I’d prefer that Canada corrects its course away from totalitarianism and back to liberal-democracy. There’s nothing radical or irresponsible about that. Most of our population is fully vaccinated and the vulnerable have many tools to protect themselves. If we don’t start questioning restrictions (among the most extreme in the developed world), expect them to continue or be implemented arbitrarily. The UK is moving on.

I'll ask this a second time, please cite the rights and freedoms in the charter that are being violated.

The majority support mandates, mandates work to increase vaccination rates, vaccines dramatically reduce death and severity and YET while we're still in the midst of a wave, with our second highest daily death toll to date just yesterday, a social democratic government should abandon this strategy because a small minority have decided they have an inalienable right to keep a certain job because con-artists and grifters told them so.

 

[zang]

LMAO, have words lost all meaning? Do you even know what a totalitarian state is?

to·tal·i·tar·i·an
/tōˌtaləˈterēən/
adjective

A government refusing to allow me to sit and eat in a Denny's, keep my public health job despite anti-public-health actions, or that makes me wear pants in a movie theatre.
"a totalitarian regime"

 

[gibsonm]

We just had a legitimately democratic election about 4 months ago - there is nothing totalitarian about it. Also you seem to have forgotten that we are a Federated state - and there are provinces with parties in power that have fundamentally different ideological priorities than Ottawa (e.g. Ontario, Alberta and Saskatchewan, for example) and even they chose to implement restrictions that are anathema to their natural inclinations - precisely because the alternative is the risk of a healthcare system collapse.

What are the "many ways" for the vulnerable - such as someone who is in need of cancer treatment and immunocompromised - to protect themselves when surgeries and whatnot gets bumped because the hospitals are swamped (and I might add, in no small part due to people who refuse to protect themselves in the name of "rights"?)

AoD

There are mandates for transportation and federal employees. A dysfunctional healthcare system doesn’t excuse radical government overreach. Anyway, I’m sure that many of the posters on here are either retired or enjoy enough pandemic privilege to insulate themselves from the hardships most workers face. Young people are taking restrictions particularly hard. Seems selfish of the Boomers, who can stay home, mask up, triple vax, and order from Amazon or Grocery Gateway.