Not So Special After All

As I have written before, legitimate exemptions to the Covid-19 vaccinations range from few to non-existent. Ultimately, the enforcement of that fact is predicated on the notion that both doctors and faith-leaders will act with integrity and not give in to pressure from their constituents. The jury is still out on whether that will be the case.

Given that there is no religion that forbids vaccinations, I was encouraged by an article I read in the NYT by a former pastor, Curtis Chang, who sets out very clearly why religious exemptions are essentially baseless.

Religious exemptions to employer mandates are a precious right in our democracy. This is why it is especially important not to offer such exemptions to coronavirus vaccine mandates. They make a mockery of Christianity and religious liberty.

Although writing from an American perspective, his arguments are universal, and they cast a shameful light on those who are enabling people to flout regulations. Their arguments hold no ecclesiastical water.

First, there is no actual religious basis for exemptions from vaccine mandates in any established stream of Christianity. Within both Catholicism and all the major Protestant denominations, no creed or Scripture in any way prohibits Christians from getting the vaccine. Even the sect of Christian Scientists, which historically has abstained from medical treatment, has expressed openness to vaccines for the sake of the wider community. The consensus of mainstream Christian leaders — from Pope Francis to Franklin Graham — is that vaccination is consistent with biblical Christian faith.

A private entity like a hospital can feel confident that it is not infringing on the religious liberty of an evangelical receptionist by insisting that he be vaccinated as part of his job requirement. My religious liberty is actually advanced by the ability of institutions to define job requirements for their employees. I want my church to be able to hire pastors who share our institution’s beliefs — and to be able to reject candidates who don’t. 

Exemption requests also likely fail on the grounds of sincere belief. We naturally look for consistency of a belief as a test of sincerity; it’s common sense. We would doubt the sincerity of a receptionist who demands vegetarian options at a workplace cafeteria when he frequently eats steak at restaurants. Any institution considering religious exemptions should require applicants to demonstrate that they have consistently refused other immunizations for religious reasons.

Vaccine hesitancy has never been a core religious belief of evangelical Christians. The vast majority of evangelicals have historically chosen to be immunized against polio, measles, tetanus and other diseases. As a child, I attended evangelical summer camps that required vaccinations, and as an adult, I worked for ministries with similar mandates. 

One of the most important reasons to get vaccinated is the protection of oneself and one's fellow citizens.

… the law allows companies to forgo offering exemptions if doing so places an “undue hardship” on the employer. Increasing the risk of bringing an infectious disease into the workplace certainly qualifies. For jobs that involve exposure to vulnerable populations, minimizing that risk via immunization is clearly an appropriate job requirement. Religious freedom for a teacher who opposes vaccines does not mean having the right to jeopardize children by being unvaccinated. Religious freedom means that if she doesn’t wish to fulfill her employer’s job requirement, she is free to find another job.

Chang calls for employers to eliminate religious exemptions for all employees, and heseeks a united front from all religious leaders.

… religious leaders will need to join with secular institutions in opposing exemptions. Pastors are already being inundated with requests for letters supporting exemptions. As a former pastor of an evangelical church, I know it will be difficult to say “no.” But my colleagues should do the right thing and refuse such requests. Refuse to mislead our secular neighbors. Refuse to abuse our precious religious liberty. Refuse to be complicit in putting our neighbors at risk.

Given the current perils posed by this pandemic, resolute and principled behaviour is required by all. A tall order, I realize, but one with no alternative if we are ever to be free of this virus. 

The Invasion Of The Idiots

 

For a while I have been trying to cobble together a post on that virulent breed of anti-vaxxers and anti-maskers that are currently blighting our social and political landscape, While attempting to write about this often-execrable horde, in all honesty I've wondered whether I have the psychic reserves to do justice to the topic. Therefore, today I am taking the easy way out by reproducing the thoughts of a number of letter-writers who manage to address it with incisiveness and conciseness.

Protesters force Trudeau to cancel rally, Aug. 28

Shame on all those who prevented our prime minister from speaking about issues facing Canada while on the campaign trail!

We need leaders who will take enact policies to protect us all.

A pandemic is a community’s problem and not an intrusion in individual liberty. 

Judy Cathcart, Collingwood, Ont.

I thought Canadians were smarter than this. What has the social media wrought when people cannot now understand the role of science in our society?

I was a government scientist for 36 years. We are the only scientists paid to look after the citizens of our country. We aren’t there to make money for industry or scramble for grants to promote our own research interests at universities.

This is the foundation of the support the government has to look after the well being of our citizens.

Science works. Canada has contributed to the arsenal that medicine has to combat disease for decades.

Vaccines work. Some statistics suggest you may be more than 100 times more likely to die from COVID-19 if you are unvaccinated.

From smallpox to ebola, vaccines have reduced the impact of infectious diseases.

And scientific knowledge has reduced the degree to which ailments have affected citizens in many areas.

These same protesters will go to their doctors to get relief from many things, all based on the results of scientific studies and analysis.

Are we stupid? It certainly looks like it.

I fear we are entering a new dark age.

Tom McElroy, Professor Emeritus, York University

 It’s time to talk about the hate facing Trudeau, Aug. 29

When you want to motivate people to hate a person or an ethnic group you use dehumanizing or universally rejected words.

In Rwanda the targeted group was referred to as cockroaches. They obviously were not.

Here, in Canada, a popular posting and a popular phrase people have used to start or end political discussions is to say Trudeau is a communist. He obviously is not.

Susan Delacourt is correct; it is time to talk about the hate facing Trudeau.

Social media is now being used to whip up emotions and get people to stage public temper tantrums.

It is not the end of the world if Trudeau, O’Toole, Singh or Paul become prime minister.

A growing minority is mimicking the fanaticism we saw play out on Jan. 6 in the U.S. insurrection.

 Canadians need to make sure we are different by not letting animosity, antagonism and lame internet lies decide our country’s future.

Russell Pangborn, Keswick, Ont.

Province to bring in vaccine passport, Aug. 28; Protesters force Trudeau to cancel rally, Aug. 28

The idea of insisting on vaccine passports is obviously a no-brainer for any organization that wishes to operate in a safe and healthy environment that is free from most if not all COVID-19 restrictions.

What must be astonishing to the vast majority of Canadians are all these decision-makers who appear to be wilfully risking the health and lives of their constituents by wilfully allowing vaccines to be an option within their sphere of influence.

Whether it’s Ontario’s Ford government, Erin O’Toole’s federal Conservatives or any of the umpteen organizations across the country who insist on “respecting” people who insist on the “right” to choose whether to serve and infect, rather than keeping those in their care safe and healthy.

The result will be more COVID-19 sickness and death within our communities, accompanied by renewed restrictions that will, once again, hurt the marginalized and small businesses the most.

What’s becoming clear is that there’s also a straight line that can be drawn from these half-baked decisions to that small, loud and wild eyed subsector of self-entitled Canadians following politicians around the country who somehow have got it into their heads that they have the right to infect anyone they please.

It’s quite clear that Canada does not offer that right to anyone and I hope it never will.

Vaccine passports are a good start, but why are there so many leaders in Canada continuing to offer nonvaccination as a choice for anyone who is eligible?

Jack Bergmans, Toronto 

For those who subscribe to the Toronto Star, there is quite good a article by Hugh Segal that draws clear distinctions between political heckling and bullying, the latter, of course, the only apparent strategy of  the anti-vax rabble.

 

Just A Short Note

                                
Few would disagree that having suffered a severe vaccine reaction would justify caution about subsequent injections. Fortunately, that exemption, in the case of Covid-19 vaccines, has only very, very limited application, one that, if the doctors are doing their jobs, will see the success of newly-announced mandates and certificates. 

In an email sent to members Wednesday, the head of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO), Nancy Whitmore, said doctors are receiving “unfounded” requests for medical exemption notes to vaccines that would allow them to continue working in settings where COVID-19 vaccination is mandatory or, soon, get around Ontario’s newly announced vaccine certificate requirements.

Only children and those with a doctor’s note will be exempt from the rules.

“We need to ensure we are only allowing COVID-19 vaccine exemptions in the few situations where they are warranted,” Whitmore wrote.

Those situations are very few, the email goes on to say. Two valid reasons are if a person had a severe reaction to a previous dose of mRNA vaccine, or if a person had a case of myocarditis following a vaccine. Both are extremely rare.

Whitmore wrote that all doctors’ exemption notes need to clearly state the reason for the exemption, and the time period of the exemption, as it may not be permanent.

In additional guidance posted on the college’s website, the CPSO wrote that doctors, who are typically required to fill out third-party medical forms for patients, are not required to write exemption notes for illegitimate reasons — and should not.

The College's final advice is earnest and clear:

 “If you find yourself in this situation, clearly and sensitively explain to your patient that you cannot provide them with a note or form, along with the reasons why.”

The advice proffered by the Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons rests upon the assumption that doctors will remember and act upon the most sacred injunction of their Hippocratic Oath: Do No Harm.

We live in hope.

Even Dogs Have More Self-Control

Today, I was going to post about the rabble stalking Justin Trudeau on the campaign trail. However, I became depressed at the prospect of writing about humanity's dregs. Therefore, because words fail me, I leave you with this story about equally appalling 'human' behaviour and a caution that you use your discretion in watching the accompanying video.

A disgruntled customer at a Dairy Queen in Port Alberni, B.C., took out his frustration over being told to wear a mask by relieving himself in front of staff at the counter.

The incident was captured on camera and appears to show the man urinating on the counter following an altercation with restaurant employees.

In the video, the man can be heard arguing with staff and refusing to wear a mask before he unzips his pants.

Staff can be heard shrieking as the man begins to relieve himself.

The video was recorded by a customer and was shared with CTV News by his friend.

The RCMP say the incident happened around 9 p.m. Saturday. 

Pondering The Imponderables

 

H/t Greg Perry

I am one of those people capable of holding two opposing notions in my head. I think the federal election is an unnecessary expense and risk during this pandemic, and blame Trudeau for it. I also, however, sympathize with his having to contend with the rabble intent on following him around to disrupt his campaign and threaten him.

In this post I shall only deal with the first notion.

My immediate thought when the election was called was that Trudeau would be facing a cranky electorate, and the polls are bearing that out. Although I probably follow politics more than the average person, I'm sure I'm not alone in seeing this early election as a reassertion of traditional Liberal arrogance. As Canada's 'natural governing party', it was time to right the wrong of 2019 by returning with a majority government was the likely thinking.

My objections to this mentality are many, but here are just two:

That Trudeau would call an election in the midst of a fourth Covid wave suggests prioritizing political power over people's health and lives, surely a perception that undermines his claim that he "has our backs."

All of the spending and new-program announcements preceding the election call were pretty transparent attempts at manipulating the electorate. That we as citizens are reduced to an impersonal group to be messaged and massaged offends me deeply. To be so deeply disrespected is not consistent with a healthy democracy.

What do others think? Rosie DiManno offers some observations:

… there was nothing of urgency on the Liberal agenda they couldn’t have achieved anyway with the support of the NDP in a minority government... we are in the midst of a pandemic fourth wave that is expected to worsen when students go back to school next week. 

There was only a craven grasp for power, majority muscle, mounted on a global plague that the Liberals clearly expected to exploit on their vaccine distribution record, benevolent billions dispersed to those who lost their jobs, their businesses, and Trudeau’s bracing steadiness at the helm. 

Perhaps Trudeau's greatest liability, according to DiManno,  is the same perceived by many.

… I don’t need pollsters to tell me that Trudeau hasn’t made a cogent case for himself and his party’s apparent God-given right to govern with majority chops. 

It didn't have to be this way. Had he not dissolved Parliament, Trudeau could have continued with his agenda, supported by willing opposition members.  And if he had fallen on a non-confidence motion? Then an election would have ensued, of course, but the miasma of negativity and cynicism permeating today's march to the ballot box would likely have been minimized.

September 20 is barely three weeks away. The die has been cast, and we await the results.

 

 

When Are Mandatory Vaccinations Not Mandatory?

When large loopholes are allowed.

As I wrote recently, almost all mandatory vaccine orders allow for both medical and religious exemptions. The only problem is that no religions forbid vaccinations, and the grounds for medical exemptions are very limited. Despite the latter, unscrupulous doctors in the United States, as I wrote, are issuing baseless notes. 

Will the same happen in Canada? In the earlier post, I expressed the concern that some physicians might issue exemptions for those with needle phobias. However, the signs thus far suggest a cautious optimism that won't happen.

It turns out the list of conditions valid for a medical exemption from vaccines in Canada is extremely limited, and even narrower than for masks. The only valid exemptions are for people allergic to ingredients in the vaccine, or those who experienced severe allergic reactions or heart inflammation after their first dose.

This has implications for health-care providers and citizens nationwide, as provinces including Quebec and B.C. introduce or plan to introduce vaccine passports, and organizations such as the Toronto Police Service and Air Canada announce mandatory policies for employees.

“The whole discussion of medical exemptions to COVID vaccine is a pretty straightforward one because the bottom line is there aren’t many,” said Dr. Barry Pakes, a physician and program director of the Public Health and Preventive Medicine residency program at the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health.

“And we’re encouraging physicians to not give medical exemptions for invalid reasons, and despite the fact that their patients are pleading with them … it is really important to just help them understand that those aren’t genuine reasons not to get the vaccine,” he added.

There will, of course, always be those who try to pressure their doctor or offer cash inducements. Pakes says,

“The real challenge is when you have some doctors writing letters of exemption charging $50, $100, whatever they might do. And that undermines the stand of the 99 per cent of doctors or health-care practitioners who are not doing that.”

Regulatory bodies have high expectations of their doctors: 

The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario’s website says health-care providers must be “comprehensive, accurate and objective” when providing notes, and if a patient does not have a valid reason for a medical exemption, they must still write a note and “state the accurate clinical information (e.g., patient doesn’t have any medical conditions/risks to their health).”

Pakes said mental health challenges such as anxiety or needle phobia are a worthy consideration but “not a reason to get a medical exemption,” noting there are clinics that cater to people with needle phobia.

The list of valid exemptions is short (acute illness -wait until it resolves, bleeding disorders - wait until under control, and myocarditis or pericarditis). Essentially, very, very few qualify for an exemption.

Today's conditions require decisive action for the public good. Let's hope that all medical professionals are onboard with that imperative.

 

.

 

The Fairy Tale Factory

 

As children, we very much enjoyed fairy tales. Stories filled with wolves and innocent damsels, children led astray by heartless witches, princes and plotters, giants and giant-slayers, all combined to fill us with both fear and ultimately hope, as good prevailed over evil and the world was once more set aright.

It occurs to me that the summer of 2021 sees us in the midst of a fairy tale, only this one is entitled the federal election of 2021.

The identities of the heroes and villains depend largely upon where you are on the political spectrum. If a Liberal and swayed by manipulated media, you will see Erin O'Toole as the big bad wolf huffing and puffing at the house built by public healthcare, to name but one of his 'targets'. And while that wolf promises a tax credit for child-care, the Liberals are signing deals to bring about $10-a-day daycare, within five years. Writ large: Justin as middle-class hero.

If you are a Conservative, Mr. Trudeau and his gang are wanton spendthrifts heedlessly saddling Canadians and their descendants with unsustainable debt that ultimately spells ruin for old age security and health care, to name but two. The hero of this narrative? Erin O'Toole, who promises to balance the budget over a 10-year period and not raise taxes. Indeed, all the pressing problems of today, ranging from the opioid crisis to the cost of housing, will be met with swift and decisive action.

If you veer to the left, Jagmeet Singh is your man as he battles the neoliberal forces within our midst. One of his promises entails ending all subsidies for fossil fuels. Other goodies include universal prescription drug coverage, dental care and up to $5000 for families to cover their rent. Clearly he is the hero of the tale if exploitative and extractive capitalism, inadequate or unaffordable housing and runaway climate change rattle and rankle you.

We all know that fairy tales are unreal, and those who treat campaign promises as anything other than thinly-disguised fiction are either being naïve or have their ideological blinders firmly in place. One needs to take but a quick look at one aspect of the campaign to see the fictions being perpetuated.

Taxation. We have gone through an extremely difficult time this past year-and-a-half that has required extraordinary expenditures. Few would argue that they were unnecessary. The deficit has grown tremendously, but that isn't a part of the parties' narratives, for the most part.

Mr. Trudeau promises to hike taxes on the big banks and insurance companies, raising by three percentage points (from 15% to 18%) on all bank and insurance earnings over $1 billion to "support middle-class Canadians in their goal of home ownership." He has also announced something called the Canada Recovery dividend which, combined with the other measure, is supposed to generate $2.5 billion per year for the next four years. In my view, this timid measure is mere camouflage of neoliberal truths.

The Conservatives, on the other hand, are offering tax breaks and tax credits:

To help ailing retailers, a government led by O'Toole would implement a "GST holiday" — a month-long break on federal sales tax — sometime this fall. All purchases at a retail store would be tax-free for a month.

The Conservative government would scrap the $30-billion Liberal child care program...and instead convert the existing child care expense deduction into a refundable tax credit to cover up to 75 per cent of the cost of child care for lower income families.

Nary a word from either party of a sustained, realistic approach to taxation that would address either new program spending or the bourgeoning debt, but O'Toole has promised balanced budgets within 10 years. The roadmap, however, is non-existent.

Jagmeet Singh's NDP is the only party that seems more forthright about taxation, at least acknowledging the need for more revenue through a number of measures, including a wealth tax of 1% for those worth more than $10 million, raising the marginal tax rate for those making over $210,000, and restoring corporate tax rates to $18 from the 15% it had been reduced to by the Harper government.

Some, of course, might argue that he is playing to his base, but that base is rather large, given that 90% favour a wealth tax. But even here, the tax is a timid, given that a 3% rate would raise much, much more.

To give an order of magnitude of the amount that could be raised, the Parliamentary Budget Office published a report in July, estimating that a one-time wealth tax of three per cent on net wealth of more than $10 million and five per cent on net wealth over $20 million, could raise between $44 billion and $61 billion.

Kim Campbell once famously said that an election is no time to discuss serious issues. Judging by the willing suspension of disbelief  embraced by so many, she may indeed have been right.