Alberta Education Minister Adriana LaGrange, back in the day (Photo: Chris Schwarz/Government of Alberta).

Serious question: How long before Alberta’s United Conservative Party Government tries to ban mask wearing in schools, period? 

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith (Photo: Alberta Newsroom/Flicker).

After all, nothing triggers an anti-vaccine snowflake like the sight of an adult wearing a COVID mask, unless it’s the sight of a child wearing one.

And surely by now we understand we’re all responsible for ensuring those who fly apart at the sight of a paper mask can feel good about themselves again!

Am I being sarcastic? Frankly, I can hardly tell any more. 

Yesterday, Alberta Education Minister Adriana LaGrange banned school mask mandates and changed the rules to ensure that no school can move Grade 1 to 12 classes completely online, no matter how many students are sick, or how sick they are.

Last month, an Alberta Court of King’s Bench judge found Ms. LaGrange overstepped her authority when she ordered school boards not to try to set their own mask mandates. 

NDP Education Critic Sarah Hoffman (Photo: David J. Climenhaga).

Well, this fixes that. That’ll teach parents not to go to court to try to protect their immunocompromised children!

It may not seem very sensible to ban mask mandates and online learning at a time when many classes are reported to be more than half empty with students sick with the three respiratory illnesses that are slamming Alberta at once – COVID-19, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus

But who said the UCP had to be sensible, especially now that a right-wing talk radio host with a fondness for quack COVID cures is calling the shots and the governing party is in the hands of a cadre of anti-vaccine, anti-mask militants called Take Back Alberta?

“Securing a face-to-face classroom environment means students can continue to learn successfully while allowing their parents to go to work,” Ms. LaGrange said in a news release.

“It will also help to maintain and improve student mental health while minimizing student learning loss,” she added, a questionable point on both counts. 

It’s all very well for Ms. LaGrange to sign a letter to parents claiming she’s trying to protect students’ health by requiring schools to remain open without mask requirements no matter what, but what happens if the anti-maskers aren’t satisfied with that? 

Up to now she and Premier Danielle Smith have indicated it’s OK to send your kids to school in masks if you wish to – or, if you’re silly enough to want to keep them safe, the Smith Government’s messaging seems to imply. 

“Families are free to make their own personal health decisions, and, no matter what that decision is, it will be supported by Alberta’s education system,” Ms. Smith promised in yesterday’s press release.

But with the Occupation Convoy talking about heading back to Ottawa, you have to wonder how long it will be before our education minister is seriously considering banning masks in school altogether, because freedom!

According to Sarah Hoffman, the former minister of health and the NDP Opposition’s education critic in the Legislature, “it’s clear that Adriana LaGrange and Danielle Smith don’t have a clue about what’s happening in Alberta schools.”

“The UCP is asking school staff and families to take on more chaos and stress while the current government underspent the education budget by $1 billion over the past two years,” she added. “It is totally unrealistic to expect that school districts can staff in-person and online classes simultaneously with no additional resources. They are struggling to staff schools already given UCP cuts in the last budget.”

However, it’s unlikely the problem is that the education minister and the premier don’t understand what’s happening in the schools. More likely they just don’t care. 

Alberta is being run a group of people who apparently think COVID is a fake disease, and may be starting to imagine influenza is too.

Needless to say, this is not a healthy state of affairs.

2nd-quarter fiscal update: Cue the slide whistles! 

UCP Finance Minister Travis Toews at yesterday’s second-quarter fiscal update news conference (Photo: Alberta Newsroom/Flickr).

Uh oh! Cue the slide whistles! 

Alberta continues to roll in enough cash to bankroll Premier Smith’s vote-buying campaign for now, but according to the province’s second-quarter fiscal update yesterday, “high inflation, rising interest rates and geopolitical unrest are slowing global economic activity,” and, always the clincher in Alberta, “oil prices have softened.”

NDP Finance Critic Shannon Phillips (Photo: David J. Climenhaga).

OK, they’ve remained robust, Finance Minister Travis Toews said in a news conference, and the projected windfall surplus is still $12.3 billion, down close to a billion from the first-quarter prediction. 

But those of us who have been in Alberta for a long time know it doesn’t take much for Alberta Conservatives to go from telling us it’s the best of times, to telling us it’s the worst of times, the spring of spending, the winter of austerity. 

As for the Kenney Government’s promise to put $1.7 billion into the Heritage Fund, that’s off already. 

“This sort of ad-hoc, frantic approach is not good for the long-term fiscal sustainability of Alberta’s balance sheet,” said NDP Finance Critic Shannon Phillips. 

But since when did Alberta do things any other way? Other than between 2015 and 2019, I suppose you could argue. 

We’re a distinct society, after all, aren’t we? Ad-hoc, frantic spending and cutting is our unique cultural character. Mr. Toews is just setting us up for the same old, same old. 

Join the Conversation

56 Comments

  1. And there were pundits that thought Smith would pivot.

    There’re the same pundits that thought her televised vote-buying was smart politics.

    Hmmm. Wonder what horror’s next?

    The best prophet of the future is the past.

  2. The UCP ‘s bad policies are making things worse for Alberta, and Albertans, no doubt about it. Bad viruses are running rampant through schools in Alberta, making children very ill, and even having to require hospitalization. Other Albertans are getting very sick too. Danielle Smith and Adrianna LaGrange are doing nothing about this. The UCP is doing nothing about it. It’s certainly not getting better. With this cavalier attitude, the UCP wants to ensure hospitals are overwhelmed, where the public healthcare system in Alberta is on the verge of collapsing, so they can privatize healthcare in Alberta. Oil prices are slumping, and they are not likely to rebound. The UCP’s very pricey shenanigans, which have cost Alberta billions of dollars, and their expensive vote buying tricks, to try and keep the UCP in power, are going to leave Alberta flat broke. Then, someone else must take the blame for this, because the UCP can’t accept responsibility for what they did. They will be screaming at Ottawa.Had Alberta been getting the proper oil royalties, and proper corporate tax rates, which Peter Lougheed was receiving, we wouldn’t be in this horrific mess. The UCP are much like Ralph Klein was, and Alberta wasn’t better off, because of this. How much more foolish can you get? Besides myself, there are others who comment on this blog, and they have been saying similar things. Albertans don’t listen, and hurl insults at us for explaining what has been going on. It’s mindboggling how people can be this ignorant. It truly is.

  3. What triggers me (sort of) is people walking around outside wearing masks. Even on perfectly warm sunny days. Unless someone comes right up to you and coughs in your face there’s virtually zero chance of catching of virus. Why would you put a barrier across your face to constrict your airwaves? Just saying.

    1. Do you also feel the urge to help strangers get dressed in the morning, in accordance with your personal taste? Are you related to my neighbor, Gladys Kravitz?

    2. Ron….I’m curious as to why you would say that seeing people wearing a mask “triggers ” you ? Do you feel intimidated by people who care about their health, who look at the risks and decide they are too high? Do you wear gloves or mitts in the winter, should people look at you and feel triggered by that ? and why would you use the phrase “unless someone comes up and coughs in your face” , should people be avoiding you, in case you get “triggered” ? as stated previously, it’s astounding how the freedomites don’t feel that the rest of the public are also entitled to their own freedom of choice. If I feel comfortable wearing a mask out in the “sunlight” ,without it obstructing my air waves, why exactly does that bother you??
      Are you also bothered by skiers, snowboarders, who are out in the fresh air, or the people who wear scarves in the winter, — oh it’s a scarf ,not a mask — same concept, different name….
      just saying…

    3. Perhaps some of us are walking from transit to a store or business, or walking to an bus stop, or maybe it’s none of your business.

    4. I realized the other day that I like the damn things. Sometimes I wish I could pull one up over my head and not have to watch my species commit attempted omnicide, or watch perfectly rational adults claim not to understand things that have been explained to them dozens of times. I often feel that there is no point in knowing anything anymore or trying to persuade thirsty horses that the waters right there dammit! My friends and neighbors care too much about the privilege of a tiny minority of almost entirely white mostly white supremacists to be protected and enabled by elected politicians and police while striving relentlessly to become ever worse versions of themselves to listen to any fact based argument I could possibly come up with.

      Bark bark. Auga lub tiiiizz. TIIIIIIIIIZZZZ!!!

      …literally has just as much chance to persuade a Canadian as actual proof. I cannot find words to convey my sorrow and hopeless disgust. “Here lies humanity – died humping a toaster in the bathtub.” I sure hope I’m part of the initial die-off – I don’t have the stomach to watch the people I care about get what they deserve.

    5. Hey, ronmac,
      What a coincidence, I too am triggered, but not for the same reason.
      What triggers me are intolerant and ignorant people like you who are triggered by others who exercise their right to wear a mask anywhere they fucking want to protect themselves and others. Last time I checked we are still in a pandemic, and the earth is still round.

    6. Well, ronmac, I wear a mask in public because I’m protecting my 92-year-old mother. She moved into long-term care in March of this year. Since then, there have been three outbreaks of Covid-19 in the facility. Yes, three outbreaks in nine months. I caught Covid-19 there in August, a few days before they realized that there was another outbreak.

      I have NO INTENTION of bringing either Covid-19 or the flu into Mom’s home. Bad enough that LTC facilities are chronically understaffed and have to beg people to take extra shifts–even before illness makes the staffing situation worse. I’m not so bloody selfish that I’ll ignore a disease for a minor increase in comfort.

        1. You ignored five thousand words that effectively debunked your “point” and engaged with this kind of nitpickiness? I think I should probably stop engaging with you, you’re behaving like a Foxxer trying to “own the Libs.” Please do better.

      1. What triggers me is people who obviously don’t know what it feels like not being able to breathe. Seems to be a lot of Freedumbites around the Comox Valley—at least most of the busy bodies who’ve chastised me for leaving my car in a disabled parking spot seem to be from CFB Comox, the plainly—nay, “proudly”—military personnel who somehow are permitted on the Forces Base with “Fuck Trudeau “ decals” on their shortbox, flag-festooned muscle-pickups, if I had to guess, are Freedumbites.

        But nobody takes exception with me or my mask when I return to my car in the disabled parking—except for this bigass rage monkey, one time, who felt like ordering me to respond while his keeper, a normal-sized human female, yanked on the ninety-degree angle of one of his flexed arms. Turning his right shoulder toward me and his jabbing finger like he was winding up a left haymaker, he seemed to think I was being insubordinate.

        Why do I have to explain to some goof that I’m not afraid of him, but only completely out of breath (of which his keeper seemed aware)? I suppose some get “triggered” when they see me get out of my car—that is, after I’ve been sitting and breathing easily—because I don’t otherwise look disabled (I usually leave my cane in the car because the shopping cart keeps me steady) , but nobody usually bothers me when I push my groceries back and have to sit in the car to catch my breath before loading my grub. Then it’s pretty obvious—at least to most people—why I avail the parking which I’m permitted. One time a little old lady even asked if I was alright. Yes, of course I am, and I thanked her—and all goodness that most people mind their own business until they see it their business to offer help instead of threats or ridicule.

        Now the days are chilly, the mask keeps the walk from the grocer to the car from stinging the lungs with cold air. It’s alright: I need the exercise.

        Years before Covid I took the bus to Vancouver so I wore a mask. I was a little worried people would look at me funny (and a lot did), but my better half told me: “wait ‘til you get to Van, the only reason anybody’d look at you funny is because you’re not Chinese.” (She was referring to the fact that many Asian people have worn masks in the city for years. No conspiracy about it: the dust and exhaust is unhealthy. And she was right! Even the Chinese people looked at me funny because, otherwise, I don’t look Asian. )

        So I ask you, my friend, be a little more considerate of people whom you don’t know, or whatever good reason they choose to wear a mask. You have the same option while walking outside where it seems safe—although, since that one day, I’ll always be wary that a Freedumbite might rush up a yell in my face that he doesn’t think I should have the freedom to protect my own and other’s health. Who knows, maybe that’s the concern of the people who trigger you?

    7. Ronmac – How much is mask a ‘barrier across your face to constrict your airwaves’ (what is an “airwave” in relation to breathing???).

      In any case I remember watching the Canadian Women’s hockey team wearing masks for an entire Olympic game and playing at a very high level – enough to beat their Russian opponents 6 – 1 even after the Russian team took their masks off.

      You should probably find something else to be triggered by than people choosing to wear masks. I suspect that there is much that triggers you that would be less silly.

  4. It seems odd that the same people who talk about freedom a lot also seem to want to do things like ban mask wearing, but these are the contradictions of the irrational gang currently in charge of our province. I also find it odd Smith kept so many of the less than stellar ministers from the Kenney regime in place, like LaGrange and Shandro, but perhaps there were no better prospects on the back benches.

    At least the UCP has a temporary windfall to fund their pre election spending spree. Although if you don’t have kids or are not a senior, you don’t get much and will have to mostly suck it up against inflation, even if you’re working and your income is not high. Unlike Ralph’s bucks, that is a lot of people the UCP have ignored. Don’t think these people will not notice. If they haven’t yet, in a month or so when their friends and neighbours are talking about those $100 cheques, the overlooked are going to be even more unhappy with the UCP.

    Of course with oil prices well off their peak now, it is doubtful this temporary spending spree will continue past election date. In fact it is conveniently set for only for six months. After that, it will likely be back to austerity for everyone if the UCP wins. I am not sure quite how the UCP will hide that bad news in their spring budget. I suspect they will just totally make up the numbers. If they can deny COVID and the flu, I am sure they can dismiss or ignore the provincial deterioriorating financial situation too, if it is electorally convenient for them.

    However, it does present quite a dilemma for those in the UCP who would might like to defer the fixed election date to give Smith more time to try win over skeptical voters. The economy might not hold up that well, so it might be best to not delay the election.

    For the UCP, this might be as good as it gets.

  5. “Spread those germs,” said the alternate universe education minister to the kiddies. “It’s good for your mental health. Lick doorknobs, too.”

    Is this what poultry farmers do to prevent respiratory infections in their flocks? If she thinks so, I invite her to visit a chicken farm and try to get past the security perimeter. Then she can dip her feet in the footbath, etc.

    This is no way to treat human children. But the bird-brained UCP treat a human flock worse than an avian one.

    Should mask-wearing be banned in schools, will parents rush into the schools wearing masks and demanding to be arrested and charged, or is adults rushing schools an anti-masker thing? Was the flock of ostriches running down the road in Taber an omen?

  6. I’m not an economist but when I look at these numbers one thing really jumps out. Working people are not seeing the benefits (personal income tax is below budget). Industry (particularly oilsands) and government is flush with cash, the working person not so much.

  7. The premise of David’s column today really illustrates how Alberta’s political situation has become a parody of itself. As an April Fools prank last spring David wrote that the Kenney government has banned masks outright; eight months later he is speculating it could become a reality. It almost seems like there is a race between the Alberta government and the Beaverton website to see who can come up with the most outrageous ideas.

    David, I commend you for continuing to write intelligent commentary on our current government, but applying intelligent thought to Danielle Smith’s governing reminds me of a line from a sit com “that’s like sewing water”.

    As for Danielle Smith’s ideas on Covid, Duncan Kinney took a look at Ms. Smith’s recent lobbying activity before she became premier. It appears she went to the trouble to make an appointment with then-Health Minister Tyler Shandro to complain about “the College of Physicians and Surgeons interference with doctors ability to prescribe medications based on best available medical research”

    Unfortunately Mr. Kinney did not report who Ms. Smith was lobbying on behalf of, and I can’t really see who would benefit from such lobbying, unless it was just so our new premier could report she had such a meeting on her radio show. Failing that, I am wondering if she believes her pseudo-science so strongly that she thought it was the right thing to do.

    https://www.theprogressreport.ca/highlights_from_danielle_smith_s_year_of_lobbying_include_alternative_medicines_and_chopping_up_ahs

    1. as Danielle was born April 1st …one can make their own judgments….if the shoe fits??
      Oh sorry, wrong fairy tale…

  8. “Securing [possibly enforcing] a face-to-face [the most efficient way of person-to-person transmission of respiratory viruses] classroom [epidemic-spreading] environment means students [unwitting viral vectors] can continue [to be exposed to infection] to learn successfully [but maybe not as successfully as students in other Canadian jurisdictions which practice comprehensive epidemiological protocols ] while allowing [compelling] their parents [mostly unwitting or unwilling viral vectors] to go to work [another epidemic-spreading environment].”

    It’s the minister who needs to improve her unhealthy thinking and minimize her learning loss.

  9. I have only two words to say in reply to this fiscal update: NOR and WAY. Now most of you are better used to these words conjoined as Norway which is ok. As any good political scientist worth her brine knows, the Scandinavian countries do not have identical forms of government and economies. It is worthwhile to note that Norway wholeheartedly embraced the oil and gas sector AND has the highest rate of EV ownership in the world AND has a ginormous “heritage” fund. So, my fellow ‘bertans, it is possible to square the circle, errr whathaveyou. Carry on….

  10. Welcome to our Alberta hellscape. I feel like I’m living in a death camp instead of a province within Canada. Now, school board trustees who are elected by citizens to govern local school boards cannot serve their constituents. So, even if all parents wanted trustees to implement mask precautions in schools, they wouldn’t be able to? How is this democracy? Meanwhile, schools are experiencing absentee rates as high as 25%? At this point, you really have to ask if anyone in Alberta cares about kids at all. What’s the next batshit crazy thing these UCP’er going to do? How far does it have to go, before we take to the streets? We have six (6) or more months of this to go, before we get a chance to change the government. Will anyone bother to vote or just the 17% of eligible voters like in Ontario? I can’t believe my beloved Alberta has devolved to this level. What a shame. This used to be a good province.

    1. Athabascan: As previously noted on numerous occasions, I think it’s quite likely we have 18 more months to go. DJC

      1. sorry DJC, and group, to throw a wrench into the wknd and beyond, apparently Mr Bauder ‘s Facebook post is calling for Convoy 2.0 in , “Canada Unity Fest” . for 2 wks in February , Ottawa police said they are aware of the post…….

      2. David Climenhaga: If we have 18 more months to go, before the next provincial election in Alberta, I think that will be quite unbearable. If Danielle Smith is able to pull that off, it won’t be good at all.

      3. I wonder how many governing parties have won a delayed election? I strongly doubt they improve their chances. A popular government can call an early election with a good chance of success–but that ain’t what happened to Jim Prentice. And it ain’t gonna happen to Danielle Smith, neither….

        1. Mike: I don’t have statistics at hand, but the conventional wisdom is that voters in Westminster Parliamentary democracies often punish governments for calling early elections and usually punish them for waiting too long. The difference in this case is that I don’t think the UCP under Smith really accept normal democratic theory. If the polls are against them, they will think it is better to remain in power as long as possible and impose irreversible policies with no democratic mandate than to surrender the government now. I frankly wouldn’t put it past them to be looking for an “emergency” to suspend or further delay elections. That could more easily happen with the election of a Conservative government in Ottawa, of course. As unlikely as such scenarios may seem to some, the UCP, like the Republicans, are now at the point they no longer believe elections are legitimate if the voters foolishly elect a party other than theirs. DJC

          1. Smith may dream about an “emergency” she could use; she would wake up to the bitter reality of Lt. Gov. Lakhani.

            No matter the flaming portapottie we see in the United States, we have Westminister system. Governor Generals and Lt. Governors in Canada have dismissed governments (or credibly threatened to and precipitated resignations & legislative reversals).

            Smith and her fellow travellers can have all the wet dreams they want. They have up to May of 2024 at most.

          2. David, I fear you’re right. I would be disgusted, but not surprised, if Danielle Smith’s theory of political power is “Use it, then lose it.” Blame the Other Guys for your mess.

    2. The following rant shortens “Canadians who support the status quo” to “Canadians.”

      As someone who has been speaking against the FPTP loudly and consistently from my early teens and got nothing from my elders but mockery and derision, let me tell you – Canadians do not know or care what democracy is. The only opinions that matter to them are theirs. The only values that could possibly be correct are theirs, and if you get uppity by not being the same as them prepare for condescension leading to lots of begging the question followed by cognitive dissonance followed by anger and now there might be violence, what uppity, ungrateful brats I and those like me were for not having all the same values at 14 that contemporary 40 somethings did. You had may as well ask a pig about Picasso as ask a Canadian anything more meaningful than which boutique tax credit will be in their short term self interest this year, it will dictate their deepest convictions. Not an accident that Canada has never been governed by anything except two nearly identical parties founded by and for white supremacists that consistently and deliberately govern against the will of the electorate.

      Canadians only care about being able to get what they want, the only thing they want is to be five dollars happier, and they will knowingly stack the deck against their own children to accomplish that while loudly braying about how they are doing everything for their children, even though they are causing their own extinction.

      Maybe humans have taken our genetic code as far as it will go, and the animal we used to be and kinda still are is too prone to anger, greed and sloth to manage the complexity required to have high technology. Maybe our species is just a good try.

  11. Of course they will ban the wearing of masks EVERYWHERE in Alberta. I mean what better demonstration of the FreeDUMB.

    Danielle Smith is an honest woman; she said so, and so did David Staples.

  12. If we are to continue with a kakistocracy I cannot think of a more appropriate head snowflake than Cherokee Dani Kolodnicki (quite a history on this heritage girl)

    1. Lungta, yes, very interesting history indeed….especially if one does a wikipedia search now, compared to say a month ago. I know I did ,because my sister who has an in-depth chart of our family coming to Canada, asked me what the spelling was of her great grandfather , and when I looked it up on wiki , it was no longer on the initial page, and i had to search to finally find it. It would be curious if anyone had the previous version….a few additions, a few subtractions, you know…just updating as you are allowed to do…..leaving out or adding details is only relevant to the people who like facts, I know, because I was quite “miffed” when i found out that my ex had run and was elected as an MLA , yet I wasn’t mentioned on his wikipedia page, oh dear! she said laughing, which just proved you can’t trust everything you read on wiki and also that political parties don’t do a very good job of vetting their candidates, unless they are deliberately looking for a certain , how shall we say, social skill set? Well at least she keeps her PR staff well employed, woo hoo, said the tax-payers !!!

  13. Danyell Smith’s UCP government that vociferously opposes mandates has mandated a ban on school mask mandates and online only classes. When is a mandate not a mandate? This is beyond dumbfuckery.

  14. Dear Albertans:

    The rest of the country isn’t laughing WITH you…

    (Signed, a former Albertan living next door in a less insane province)

    1. Anon Ymous: yeah, we’re used to it. What’s worse is Scott Moe in Saskatchewan, who cheers instead of laughing.

  15. The underlaying premise is that, if You become ill and require medical assistance, You do not have sufficient faith. If You are run aground on the Great Barrington Reef, You are therefore at fault.

  16. The very best one I’ve seen is a vehicle with only one occupant (obviously driving) wearing a mask???

    1. Old: There are a few reasons this can make sense. Multiple stops and it’s a pain in the patoot to take off the mask and put it on again every time, especially when it’s not that uncomfortable to wear anyway; you’re driving an Uber and you don’t want to share your last customer’s air, and you don’t want your next customer to have to share yours; it makes your beard look stupid anyway, so why not just leave it on; and, it’s fun to annoy other drivers’ tender sensibilities. DJC

    2. The best one I’ve seen is some old Albertan driving a huge truck, alone, everyday…. but never uses the truck as a truck or takes it off road. Thats the absolute best, eh?

  17. Frustrating to me that right wingers can claim to care about mental health and not be laughed out of the room.

  18. Travis Toews has no one to thank for the price of oil being what it is, except Vladimir Putin. What does it say about a government who’s finances are not determined by sound fiscal management but by the naked aggression of a brutal dictator?

    1. Mostly, it says, “Them’s the breaks.” Then it says, “Hey, stupid, fix this or get broke real fast.” Any bets the UCP will listen?

  19. What’s really frightening about sending kids to school maskless is the kids return home and take virus with them. They then infect the household. And the hospital admittances go up. Can we all say madness

    1. Sure, but we must ensure that both parents have the ability to keep money moving around, especially into the pockets of wealthy UCP donors. Why do you hate money?

    2. Oh, but the UCP are taking care of the kiddies! In December, some of the sick kids and their families will no longer have to stand outdoors in long lines winding outside the emergency room at the Alberta Children’s Hospital. Tada! They can wait in a trailer. In case you think that’s inhumane, the trailer will be heated. No word on the availability of seats. So you see, this is not just some trailer hauled from a skating rink somewhere, but a trailer with electricity. How cool is that? In the meantime, they can freeze in the dark because it takes a week to plug in an extension cord here in Alberta.

  20. “Securing a face-to-face classroom environment means students can continue to learn successfully while allowing their parents to go to work”: so sayeth the Minister of Keeping Kids in Class.

    Yay. So now that school boards can’t take the initiative to keep kids from getting sick by the obvious method of wearing PPE, what happens next? Same thing that’s happening now: kids in school get sick. They bring home the virus, whatever’s going around this week. Their parents catch the bug. They bring it to work. Their co-workers catch it and bring it home. And around we go in circles…again.

    So what’s the result? Lots of kids missing school, lots of parents missing work, lots of bosses complaining they’re losing money. What then? Lots of bosses bitching to the guv’mint to “Do Something,” I guess.

    But what can Queen Dannie of Qberduh do? I know! Blame Trudeau-Notley-Singh.

    Meanwhile, I’m gonna order some more KN-95 masks from Costco. Nobody’s challenged me in public yet, probably because I’m tall, male and white.

    1. I haven’t been challenged yet either, but that’s because I puff myself up to look bigger than I am and wear my resting B-face in public.

  21. Juste to alleviate the dismal mood of this article and commentariat:
    a comedy show broadcast this Saturday morning (November 26 2022) made a funny parallel between Justin Trudeau and Pierre Poilièvre. Justin Trudeau is made to sing: “I look less like a fool when you stand beside me”, the original lyrics saying “I’m crazy about you”.

    Not as good as the “chicken fucker” episode that could be read on this blog recently, but nevertheless a decent second best.

    But let us be serious: the author of this blog and the many contributors are certainly aware that readers outside Alberta are grateful for what they do. The living hell they describe day after day could very well spill elsewhere, and faster than we would like.

    Thanks to their work, we know what to expect.

    1. Thanks Maurice . We’re glad you appreciate our efforts. Tell your friends and neighbours, “See what they did? Don’t do that.”

    2. If the living hell that is alberta burst its borders, you could stand on your own two feet and you could woke back and forth to your hearts content.

  22. Maybe “progressives” can register as a religion and have pandemic masks as your religious attire.

    Its worth a shot.

    Was watching Al Jazeera last night and they had one of the Chinese billionaires running their country opining on the legitimacy of government intrusive interventions in the wake of the current popular uprising.

    Sounded like your pal Trudeau and the NDP gang.

    Doesnt that make you even abit concerned with the horse you are riding?

    1. Bret, well “progressive ” religious hospitals of at least 4 separate faiths ,and I combined that I was able to find in the first minute of Google search, just here in BC, ,so add up all the ones across Canada and I’m sure the number is even higher in the U.S., have one thing in common, the use of masks, to protect their patients and themselves, so that they can continue to treat their patients …and just out of curiosity, how would your “theory ” work in Quebec, where you can’t wear religious symbols, so all publicly funded hospitals would fall into that category? I honestly feel sorry for people who obviously failed science, failed common sense, and are failing to realize that they are being led by the nose by a very very small group who are using their ignorance for their own purposes.,so immoral.

      imho– going by the “Trudeau ” and “NDP” snipe, is it Larson or Wilson?? venacular is hard to put aside, unless one really tries, like when one spreads misinformation….

      And when one mistakenly resembles the part of the horse that they seem to be riding…….it should be concerning….

      1. Laugh, yes masks work, employed by trained professionals in well funded professional environments. Employed as public health measure by the public at large, they do not. Why do you think they aren’t trying to educate the public to use masks and haven’t provided details on type, length of use and such things? A suggestion for your next google search, try looking for a clue. It might have some good hits.

        1. Bret—it’s kind of hard to know exactly where to start with this, but I will try..
          1.masks work,
          2.employed by trained professionals
          3.in well funded professional environments…

          1. so you are acknowledging that masks work, okay
          2. I’m assuming you mean people like bus drivers, EMTS, grocery clerks, hair stylists, dentists, bank personnel, restaurant personnel, etc.
          3. again I’m assuming you mean stores, banks, offices, medical clinics
          ….I’m just using these examples by way of experience of the masked people I have dealt with since the pandemic began, and which contradicts your statement about “the general public at large”

          And if you think that “they aren’t trying to educate…….provide details on use” , ….my first instinct would be, hey , welcome to earth, where are you from??
          So since you obviously missed it, they did educate us, they did tell us what kind and yes like the virus changed so did recommendations, and when supplies were short for the N95s & disposables, how to make our own, which I have done, still do.
          I also still wear it, because it cuts down on vehicle exhaust fumes, which were always an irritant, my sister was able to do garden work in spite of forest fire smoke, but as retirees we are no longer in well funded environments, fixed pensions don’t go far, but then you don’t have much care or consideration for us…..
          Google search:clueless

          but I’m willing to try and help you out here..
          Back on Twitter, someone I’m sure you’ll understand
          MTGreene: So many people still wearing masks
          I just want to ask you
          if a pair of underwear ,really thick ones, high quality cotton, can’t protect you from a fart,then how can a mask protect you from covid?
          Maybe you can ask your leader Danielle?? I’m sure we’d all like to know her response..

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