This is a shot from a public Facebook posting from the Whistle Stop Cafe in Mirror, Alberta March 8, 2021. It refers to the Alberta hairdresser (niece of former premier Ralph Klein) who decided she knew a lot more about COVID-19 than the medical or scientific community. On January 12, 2021, in the middle of the pandemic, she defied public health orders by opening her salon anyway. Instead of getting fined and shut down, the UCP government suddenly announced that 'personal care services' could now legally re-open the following week. This emboldened several other maverick businesses to do the same thing, including the Whistle Stop Cafe, whose owner, in the meantime, appears to be devoting more time crusading against the imagined loss of freedoms than actually minding his own business.
Then along came two Alberta UCP MLAs, Drew Barnes and Angela Pitt, who, in order to further their own agendas, joined a national coalition against lockdowns claiming "Albertans have not been given adequate evidence to justify the rules......:https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/end-the-lockdown-coalition-1.5908105
As of February 2, 2023, 5486 Albertans have died from COVID -19. (When I originally wrote this in March, 2021, the number of deaths was 1900, so to date, an additional 3586 people have lost their lives.) I'd say the family and friends of those who have died, along with the front-line medical personnel who have witnessed those deaths on a daily basis probably believe that they've had more than enough 'evidence' to justify the rules. Political grandstanding from self-absorbed ego-driven business owners and ambitious politicians dishonors every single one of those people who have died and completely disrespects the families. It is also a slap in the face to all the conscientious Albertans who have made sacrifices of their own in order to help bring down the curve.
Right now, we're in a race against the variants. In all likelihood, lockdowns will be necessary again. Obeying those regulations should not be optional.
December 2022 update: As of October 11, 2022, Alberta has been saddled with Danielle Smith, a science-denying interim premier who believes that those individuals who refused to comply with public health regulations and routinely endangered others are 'the most discriminated group she has witnessed in her lifetime'. In November, she announced regulatory changes banning both school mask mandates and a move to on-line learning, even though Alberta is being slammed by a 'tri-demic' of COVID-19, RSV and flu. There is a soaring absentee rate in Alberta schools and the Alberta and Stollery Children's Hospitals are at or over 100% capacity. The Alberta Children's Hospital has placed a heated trailer outside the emergency department in order to deal with surges in patient volume, yet our so-called premier continues to push her ludicrous agenda with little concern for children, teachers, support staff or parents.
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