While watching some of the recovery efforts going on in both Florida and North Carolina after climate-induced hurricanes wrought havoc, I was, to put it mildly, bemused to hear one victim of the destruction opine she wasn't sure about climate change, as "not all scientists agree on it." Similarly, many vow to rebuild, despite the obvious fact that wider and wider swaths of the U.S. are quickly becoming inhabitable.
I grow weary, astounded by the fact that in the U.S., a man who has proven his manifest unfitness for public office still has a good chance of being returned to the White House. Many complain that they don't know Kamala Harris's policies and can't vote for her. Apparently Trump's many articulations of his post-election vision of mayhem and revenge satisfy many on the policy front.
I grow weary, too, of the great unwashed in Canada that have taken over public discourse. Given their thick and untutored minds, a disdain for Trudeau translates into unqualified support for the repugnant and pugnacious PP. Seemingly, no other parties exist with which to park one's vote.
I grow weary here in Ontario. Doug Ford is being quite successful in his outreach to the benighted; like Pavlovian dogs, they salivate copiously at his decision to limit cities' ability to establish new bike lanes while raising the speed limit to as high as 120 kph on some highways, the consequential increase of greenhouse gases gaining nary a notice.
In today's Star, Bruce Arthur surveys some of the landscape being driven by those least fit to lead:
Two-and-a-half years later, and elements of the [convoy] movement are being embraced by politicians more than ever before. What if the convoy is succeeding at changing our governments for the worse?
Former Saskatchewan premier Brad Wall gave convoy leaders advice, and they met with CPC leader Andrew Scheer in Regina, and various MPs cheered. Then-Conservative leader Erin O’Toole took a half-hearted approach in meeting organizers, and was criticized for it. He was ejected for many reasons, after which interim CPC leader Candace Bergen saw an opportunity, and so did Pierre Poilievre. He glad-handed with convoy folks, and is now the leader of the Conservative party, and quite likely to be our next prime minister, at some point.
Poilievre has dutifully lined up with some of the most deluded members of the public: marching on the day before Canada Day in 2022 with anti-vaccine veteran James Topp, or his private member’s bill that would have banned vaccine mandates for travellers and federal employees, marketed in anti-vaccine code words that implied more than COVID vaccines.
But it’s worsening. In Alberta, Danielle Smith’s government fired Alberta’s then chief medical officer of health Deena Hinshaw, which Smith justified by saying of public health, “they shut down the economy, they put on masks, they put on restrictions, and I thought, we’re not going to let that happen.”
The Alberta Human Rights Act was updated to include the right to refuse a vaccine or to not wear a mask, and Smith plans to do the same with the Alberta Bill of Rights. Her new deputy chief of staff, by the way, owns a restaurant that in 2022 accepted puppy pictures instead of vaccination passports for entry.
And in B.C., Conservative Leader John Rustad crossed into a different place. He has not only told an anti-vaccine group that he regretted getting vaccinated, but in a video unearthed by the indefatigable PressProgress, he was asked about a concept that the most angry and deluded anti-vaccine activists use: Nuremberg 2.0.
“Are you for or against a Nuremberg 2.0?” asked anti-vaccine activist Jedediah Ferguson, making it sound like “Newemberg.”
“A do it bigger 2.0, sorry?” asked Rustad, confused.
“Nuremberg 2.0,” repeated Ferguson, smiling.
“Nuremberg 2.0,” said Rustad, a smile spreading across his face. “Ah, yes. That’s probably something that’s outside of my scope.”
I rest my case.
UPDATE: A new pandering initiative from Doug Ford that will likely will ensure his re-election:
Premier Doug Ford is poised to send cheques to 16 million Ontarians to offset rising costs as a possible early election looms, the Star has learned.
Sources say the premier’s gambit will be announced in Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy’s fall economic statement on Oct. 30.
While the precise amount of the rebate cheques is still being finalized, it should be at least $200 for every adult and child in the province.
That means it could cost the provincial treasury about $3.2 billion when the cash flows out the door in January or February.
Of course, few will wonder about the true expense of this initiative - less money for schools, medicine, social programs, etc. But hey, at least it proves Dougie is for "the little guy', doesn't it?
