Princess Elizabeth's Royal Visit to Calgary, October 1951

These are photos of the Royal Visit to Calgary taken by my father, Arnold Roberton in 1951. At that time, Elizabeth was still Princess Elizabeth and was visiting as the representative of her father, King George VI, who was unwell.                                 

Arrival at the C.P.R. Station in Calgary

Princess Elizabeth and Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh with Lieutenant Governor John J. Bowlen and below with Calgary Mayor Don Mackay outside City Hall.

In the motorcade.

 

A Reflection on Labour Day

 As Labour Day rolled out this year (2022), my thoughts were with the countless number of employees who were placed at risk every single day in my province (Alberta) during the COVID-19 pandemic because employers refused to comply with or enforce mask mandates. Even worse, when these employers were reported to the Alberta government, as they were time and time again, the government did nothing about it.

My question is: In cases where employees became seriously ill, developed long-COVID or even died from work-related COVID, what is the liability of employers who knowingly and deliberately ignored public health mandates? When I posed this question to the Alberta Occupation Health and Safety Board, the representative I spoke to would not even discuss the matter with me as I was just a ‘member of the public’ and not specifically an employee or and employee. 

Throughout the mandates, I often asked employees if they had the right to refuse to serve someone who was not wearing a mask. Most said ‘they didn’t know’, which suggested the subject had never even been discussed with them. I also asked managers and HR reps the same question, and for the most part they said ‘yes’, so why didn’t the employees know that? However, when I asked one manager in Extra Foods, a division of Loblaws, she informed me that they had actually been instructed by “head office” not to enforce the mask mandate. Subsequently, I wrote two letters (one in January 2022 and another in March 2022) to Loblaws corporate headquarters in Canada asking for clarification, but to date, have received no reply.

The photo above shows signage on the door of one business in Central Alberta, taken on September 12, 2021 while mask mandates in public places were in effect. Curiously enough, the business appears to have no problem complying with another public health mandate which prohibits pets from entering the store –  much more serious, apparently, than protecting staff and customers against a potentially deadly virus.

Freedom Convoy? NOT!

 

What is currently happening in Ottawa, and other Canadian locations has nothing to do with freedom. It’s about a mob that has been ramped up through social media by extremist right-wing organizations that some of the participants probably have never even heard of. It’s a melee that appeals to the same people who have been abusing retailers, threatening health-care workers and stalking elected officials in their own communities for two years now because somewhere along the line, they have come to believe that the law does not apply to them.

They have already exercised their freedom to not be vaccinated, but now, they now think they should be able to control the way the rest of the world reacts to that choice. Even if Canadian restrictions were removed tomorrow, Canadian truckers could still not enter the US without being vaccinated!

The ‘protest’ part was over by the second day. It’s now an occupation. The citizens of Ottawa are totally blameless, yet this ‘freedom-loving’ mob sees nothing wrong with holding city residents hostage and impinging on their rights to a far greater extent than has ever been imposed through public health regulations. And ironically, in terms of the supply chain, ongoing occupations at Canada/US border have been much more harmful to everyone than a small number of unvaccinated truckers ever would have been.

An obscene amount of money is being thrown at this. When GoFundMe wisely disassociated itself from this fiasco, organizers were quick to hook up with GiveSendGo, purportedly a ‘Christian’ site. Since the site has also raised funds for Kyle Rittenhouse and US Capitol rioters, the ‘Convoy’ certainly appears to meet the criteria. But, do individual truckers really think they are going to benefit from the money that’s presently being amassed? My guess is that a good portion of it will be tied up in litigation for years, because organizers will certainly be sued. Canadian authorities will also be following the money to determine what percentage of it might be ‘threat financing’ from outside Canada. And because organizers are, by and large, part of other organizations with their own agendas, I think there will be a feeding frenzy where the money is concerned, starting with the lawyers.

To see who is really behind the occupation, please see:

https://www.antihate.ca/the_freedom_convoy_is_nothing_but_a_vehicle_for_the_far_right

https://pressprogress.ca/meet-the-extremists-and-social-media-influencers-at-the-centre-of-the-far-right-siege-of-ottawa/

With freedom comes social responsibility, not irresponsibility. It’s not about ego, self-interest and bullying people. The really sad part is that the whole thing is such a colossal waste! A waste of time, resources and money, all of which could be used for so many other worthwhile efforts.

For another excellent perspective, please see:

https://projectprotech.ca/community-news/whose-freedom-is-the-freedom-convoy-fighting-for-not-everyones/