A video clip of Calgary-Lougheed MLA Eric Bouchard musing about the future of COVID-19 vaccinations on an anti-vaxx video podcast stirred up a storm on social media yesterday among commenters who fear the United Conservative Party may be about to try to ban the what the podcast’s host called “the murder shots.”
Mr. Bouchard, as alert readers will recall, was principal sponsor of the so-called “Injection of Truth” town hall held in an evangelical church in his riding in late June. That well-attended event featured the bloviations of a group of discredited anti-vaccine physicians – a description, naturally, that the MLA does not accept as fair or accurate.
MLA Bouchard, who somehow managed to get the nomination in Jason Kenney’s old Calgary riding after the former premier was driven out of office by the UCP’s lunatic fringe, is pretty obviously neither a particularly clear thinker nor a master communicator.
And that may be why, having listened to the passage from the July 3 podcast several times, I’m not absolutely certain whether Mr. Bouchard was saying he thinks Premier Danielle Smith’s Government is moving toward a complete ban on the COVID-19 vaccine – a play that would certainly let loose an impressive $#%+-storm of lawsuits – or is merely talking about an inquiry along the lines Preston Manning once fanaticized about in a bizarre stab at speculative fiction.
Here’s my transcription of the relevant passage, only part of which is heard in the clip circulating on social media.
Podcast host Bruce Scholl: … When is the UCP going to then call for an inquiry? That’s what we’re all wondering here in Alberta, right? So, stop the shots, do an inquiry, and find out what the hell happened? That’s the ultimate question.
UCP MLA Eric Bouchard: I agree. Well, I’m sure you’re well aware that unfortunately government moves really, really slow. And that’s, uh, unfortunate. But I think from this, uh, you know, the Manning Report is already out. Dr. Gary Davidson has submitted a report, has submitted his report to the premier, and I’m hoping that comes out sooner than later. I’ve had multiple lengthy conversations with Health Minister LaGrange. And, uh, you know, there’s no, no set date, but, I, it, my, my win would be the shots are removed, of course. But, you know, as I mentioned, government moves incredibly slowly, so, I think the fact that the discussions are already – it’s begun. So the wheels are in motion. The fact that we’re not sitting now, we don’t get to discuss it in the Legislature, or in caucus meetings, but, uh, I’m hoping sooner than later. I’m very optimistic. And I’m uh looking forward to seeing Dr. Davidson’s report.
Needless to say, it is difficult to draw clear conclusions about what Mr. Bouchard thinks is happening from that murky passage.
Dr. Davidson, of course, is the “contrarian physician” from Red Deer who in 2021 accused Alberta of exaggerating the impact of COVID on the province’s hospitals. AHS called his allegations disappointing and “completely false.”
He was hired by Premier Smith in 2023 to lead a review of pandemic data, possibly in the hopes of creating some new facts more sympathetic to her MAGA-adjacent views of the pandemic, vaccines and quack COVID cures. It sounds as if Mr. Bouchard may have seen the report, or heard a description of what it has to say.
Mr. Manning is the superannuated Godfather of the Canadian right, paid $253,000 in personal pin money by the province to cobble together an embarrassing report (plus another 253 pages of appendices) advising us to stop putting doctors in charge of public health emergencies and quit listening so much to scientists and medical researchers in the event of another pandemic so we can give equal time to “alternative scientific narratives.”
That said, notwithstanding the best efforts of Mr. Scholl (whose potted bio says he “debunks the myths and propaganda of the World Health Organization, the United Nations, and other globalist institutions”), I’m not at all certain from Mr. Bouchard’s word salad just what he’s been suggesting to Health Minister Adriana LaGrange, or what she may have indicated to him that she’s considering doing.
But it sure seems as of these might be worthwhile questions for Alberta’s professional media to put to Ms. LaGrange and Premier Smith the next time they have a chance to chat with them.
After all, one of the premier’s MLAs has raised some worrisome possibilities here, so asking for a little clarity and noting down their answers for the public would certainly be a reasonable thing to do.
NOTE: Thanks to the author of @disorderedyyc for pointing me to the site of the full podcast. DJC
Another example of Danielle’s Law:
“Stupidity AND malice”
Outrageous! Don’t they know the Covid vaccine is safe and effective? It’s so effective that people are getting nine or ten doses and a couple more on top just to show what a good sport they are.
But let’s get Dr. Stanley Plotkin into the mix. He developed the measles vaccine way back when and is considered to be the godfather of vaccine immunology. He just co-authored an opinion piece in the New England Journal of Medicine which is causing a stir. He admits there are some serious inadequacies and gaps in vaccine safety research. He’s calling for more funding for post-approval vaccine safety studies which are needed to help restore public confidence. This flies in the face of longstanding claims that vaccines are thoroughly studied and among the safest of medical interventions. The article is behind a paywall but you can get two free articles if you sign up.
https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/stanley-plotkin-vaccine-safety-cola/
Ahh such a fine, reputable source you have there sir! Accurately described as “one of the main sources of misinformation on vaccines”. Great jorb!! Please continue!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children%27s_Health_Defense
“But let’s get Dr. Stanley Plotkin into the mix.”
Sure thingy, one ringy dingy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffxVap-1L1Y
The stuff that hegemonic dreams are made of?
Anyway, back to the tedious ‘conundrum’, so yes “let’s”, by all means.
Because, . . .
. . . “If there’s one thing that antivaxxers do, particularly antivax shill lawyers like Aaron Siri, it’s to spin and dissemble, often misrepresenting what vaccine advocates say in order to produce a false “gotcha” moment that, if you don’t know the background, can make them seem either to have changed their views or to have been deceptive.”
https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/aaron-siri-vs-stanley-plotkin-on-post-licensure-safety-monitoring-of-vaccines/
Intellectual dishonesty is not a virtue.
A nice bit of gaslighting that is debunked here:
https://vaxopedia.org/2024/07/11/did-the-worlds-leading-vaccinologists-claim-vaccine-safety-is-not-well-studied/
Interesting how a bunch that hold themselves up as purveyors of FREEDOM, want to take away all kinds of choices that individuals have traditionally been making for ourselves. Next they’ll be deciding to ban contraception and whether or not we want to have children….hmmm, they are sounding more and more like the MAGA-t North bunch.
As soon as we can replace our lickspittle, bootlicking media with a professional media, worthwhile questions will be put to Ms. LaGrange and Premier Smith. Until that happens, we can expect media bullshit at an industrial scale.
Is it just me or does Min LaGrange resemble some kind of shaggy dog in that photo? Surely you could find something more flattering? And why ban just the Covid vaccine? If government acts as slowly as alleged, then why not go omnibus and ban all shots, discretionary surgeries, bandaids, seatbelts, the metric system and (of course) the CBC? Cheaper and faster.
I believe this photo is from the “Dani got highlights and I did, too” stage of Mini-me LaGrange’s style. They dress in the same color for events, too, at times.
I thought for sure the bangs covering one eye look that she favored for ages would have inspired conspiracy theorists, who have an opinion on that sort of thing and what it means, but I was wrong. Complete silence.
The best photo might be the one where Mini-me attended a press conference at a brewery and seemed to have trouble staying awake. I would call that one “authentic”, rather than flattering, though.
@YYC Lefty: I appreciate your sarcasm on your “omnibus” list, but can we please ditch commenting on people’s – especially women’s – appearances? Let’s focus on policy and execution, which are problematic enough, rather than superficial matters such as dress and hair styles. Thank you.
Thanks, Jerry. I will admit I gave some thought to spiking that comment. It was probably a mistake not to. DJC
Next thing you know those wild and crazy TBA/UCP guys and gals will be tuning in, turning on, and dropping out: “. . . so we can give equal time to “alternative scientific narratives.””
“Early Studies Suggest CBD May Help Prevent COVID-19”
https://covid19.nih.gov/news-and-stories/early-studies-suggest-cbd-may-help-prevent-covid19
I can confirm that copious amounts of THC did not prevent COVID.
As always, thoroughly and dispassionately knowing and understanding the details and disclaimers contained in the ‘fine print’, particularly and generally, is simply prudent due diligence. In this particular case,
“The researchers caution that CBD is not a replacement for vaccination, masking, and social distancing. If anything, they write, CBD would be used along with these measures to prevent breakthrough infections. The researchers also emphasize that the CBD used in their studies is different from the nonmedical products consumers might be familiar with. There is no evidence that taking over-the-counter CBD products can prevent or treat COVID-19 infection.”
On the flip side, what a long strange trip it’s going to be as more ‘hits from the TBA/UCP policy bong’ and their second hand effects, unfolding as negative spillovers, become fully realized (as a consequence of continually looking in the rear view mirror to understand both what is happening and what has happened, i.e. always reacting to what is preventable) , e.g., “Alberta Health Services letters tell COVID-19 long-haulers specialized long-COVID clinics are being shut down”.
A prudent forward looking gaze is being sacrificed in order to placate the special interests of a tantrum throwing self absorbed minority. It is simply political expediency writ large.
There’s been a number of early studies w/r/r cannabis and covid-19, pretty much all of them showing benefits. I am loathe to dig back through four years of reading on this topic but I recall one trial that showed a likelihood that THC potentially acts as a blocker for covid infection, by binding to the same receptor the virus targets, preventing it from completing its attack. My understanding of the CBD angle is to see if you can get the same benefits without the potential intoxicating effects. The long term goal I understand would be a spray or an inhaler that can automate the process and be distributed widely among the public.
Not for nothing “trusting the science” includes those folks doing valuable clinical studies on the effects of different preventions, treatments, and or medication for a novel disease we’ve lived with for roughly four years and know very little about. Simply because our betters have decided to let the disease rip with the minimal and solitary strategy of vaccination, doesn’t mean that’s the only option, or even the best strategy for containing the disease. Probably something to have in the back of your mind as those same betters dither on avian flu outbreaks all across the us.
This does NOT include those folks trying to minimize the covid-19 pandemic, the millions of people who died, and the collective trauma we all lived through as a result. Those people, who are fundamentally unserious , need to put down their phones and go outside; and be THANKFUL they are not among the dead, or the infirm; living with long covid.
God help us all if the UCP up-ends any more of Alberta’s public health policies and practice. I would trust a Grade 7 class over these paranoid, conspiracy-driven dunderheads to set vaccine policy. I notice there are no updates coming from the office of our Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Mark Joffe. Does the man really exist? Alberta Health still has recommendations about Covid vaccines, including for children, thank goodness, but for how long? Will all references to Covid-19 be obliterated with WhiteOut? Is this Calgary-Lougheed MLA going to replace Adriana LaGrange as Health Minister? I wouldn’t put it past Smith. Look who’s passed regulations allowing grizzly hunting? Our Minister of Parks! Whom, you would think would want to further protections for this endangered species. But, he happens to have an outfitting company, so …
Alberta is Bizzarro-land. Nuts.
I’m sure he really exists and that Alberta is paying him very, very well for his existence.
Dr Joffe has a cross appointment with Alberta Health Services. My guess is he’s way too busy with the government’s dismantling of AHS to do his side hustle as CMOH.
It looks like Canadians living in Alberta might have to move to Canada if they want things that Canadians take for granted, like vaccinations.
For the UCP, it’s only one step further to eliminating all vaccinations, especially for children. Take Alberta Backwards to the days when children died of diphtheria, measles, whooping cough, etc. That’s why families had many children in the old days: to increase the chances of some surviving to adulthood. Of course, this new public health approach would mean birthing more children. Perhaps feeding those excess mouths could be made easier with youth employment schemes, like sending the wee babes to work in the newly-created rare earth mineral mines on the eastern slopes of the Rockies. They can’t all be used car salesmen flogging old gas guzzlers once the Chinese EVs flood the market, can they?
Creating problems with problematic solutions is what the UCP do best. If Canadians living in Alberta won’t voluntarily increase the stock of heirs and spares, the UCP government won’t sit idly by. They’ll take away reproductive choice or increase immigration or both. Make Fount of Life programs great again?
The simple solution would be to follow actual science and encourage vaccinations and other measures to ensure a healthy populace, including children. In other words, take no action, cause no harm. But instead we have a premier who brags about low vaccination rates and makes strange comments about Soylent Green. Someone once said, “A young healthy child well nursed, is, at a year old, a most delicious nourishing and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled; and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricassee, or a ragout.” It wasn’t the Alberta premier of anyone in the UCP, at least not yet, or not in public.
A fringe minority will decide the fate of the vast majority, unless the vast majority takes a stand.
At some point I expect to see Joe Rogan invited to Alberta to lead a commission on vaccines, vaccination policies, and the beneficial effects of Ayahuasca-fueled vision quests. At this point, horoscopes may become the new means of personality analysis and medical diagnosis. It’s a brave new world folks.
I recall a comment a personal trainer made to me about the growing popularity of something he called “Woo Thinking”. The definition of that is exactly what you think it is … someone sees something new and shiny and immediately says, “Woo!” Now that the crazy seems to be dominating everywhere and rationality, for the most part, doesn’t exist in public discourse anymore, we can expect a lot of crazy to insane notions gaining considerable merit. And this came from the Evangelicals, of course. The one faith where all its tenets are build on one conspiracy after another.
“[My] win would be the shots are removed”. Mr Bouchard’s inarticulateness notwithstanding, this seems pretty clear to me: he is advocating for the abolition, or perhaps just the defunding, of COVID vaccination in Alberta. This is dangerously foolhardy.
Jerry: Agree. The issue, I think though, is not so much what Mr. Bouchard wants, as what he thinks Ms. LaGrange has agreed to. With this crowd, literally anything is possible. I just think we deserve to know what. DJC
I’d say that Danielle Smith has sold her soul to the lunatic fringe, but then that’s where her heart is.
don’t care about her soul or heart. I’m interested in if her brain is still working properly and accepts science as a real and necessary thing which in turn helps keep us alive and healthy.
“Lunatic Fringe / You are the Premier”
Just when people thought the UCP had reached rock bottom, they find a new low. Personally, none of this surprises me. This is the same government that lifted mask precautions in hospitals no less. What’s next? They will ban masking in public soon and fine those who want to protect themselves against the plague rats (anti-vaxxers, adnti-maskers) who walk among us. The UCP is a death cult.
Goodness gracious, the UCP and it’s MLAs remind me of a mental institution where the nuts chase the squirrels.
Between Alberta dropping of long-term covid aid, the Olympics spreader event claiming its’ share of covid victims and this post , Ima pretty much sure I will be curtailing my attendance at the local
Fair Days spreader weekend.
I am so old I remember when science and medicine used to be trump cards in policy conversations and the “welfare” of the community didn’t tangent into an argument about Chinese communism and the Scandinavian welfare states
Can someone please organize an intervention for Adriana LaGrange? She was obviously brain dead when appointed, so further medication likely won’t help in any way! Preston Manning needs embalming as well so maybe bundle him with her/it when you order citizen medicine for them via our new “Dr. Nick” healthcare system. So much for what the UCP could, but won’t do to improve the lives of Albertans! A zombie force of atavistic loons is what they’re supporting as policy advisors? That’s our government? Ok then! https://youtu.be/W5R_jNLyPNw?t=1
The UCP are very dangerous to the well being of Albertans, and even to Canaddians. I’m pretty sure that plenty of lawsuits against the UCP are going to happen, because their stupid policy decisions will backfire.
It does seem like the MLA is agreeing with the podcast host’s stop the shots comment. So one does wonder what he was pushing for in all his multiple lengthy conversations with the Health Minister.
If he can’t or won’t elaborate then the Health Minister should. Either way, someone has some splainin’ to do.
I can see it now, local drug dealers will be asking, coke, fent., or a covid shot. If they were to go ahead with banning COVID shots what happens if you have them sent to you or you go out of province for them or doctors and other health care workers set up “safe injection” sites. I can see it now instead of people coming in to have their hard drugs tested and consumed, they’ll be coming in with their “illegal” covid shots.
No coivd shots, well it would keep the population down and thus there would be no need to build more schools, hospitals, etc. When ever people start to talk like these people in Alberta my concern is the kids, who if they are very young won’t know what is going on, have no voice, and could die.
So a third of Jasper burnt down, forest fires raging in the province and now there is some sort of talk about possibly eliminating COVID vaccines. gee what could be the next threat to life and limb, oh I know one of the maga influenced and semi brain dead is going to suggest they use the Not withstanding clause and pass laws which prohibit choice. I guess we could move to N.Z. . Well Russia threatened to nuke the Netherlands so that’s out and the war between various groups and Israel rules that out as a place to move to.
Perhaps some of these misinformed fools believe its o.k. if people die because they’ll go to heaven or some other make believe place. I have noted some of the anti vaccers seem to belong to protestant churches.
The lawyers of Alberta might want to get their COVID shots updated and get ready for a lot of work when citizens start suing the province. I’ve always known Alberta was a little different and back in the day it was referred to as Texas North but this is just a bit to crazy. I thought Canada was one of the sane country.
Yes, it might be good if the press were to ask the Minister of Health about these matters.
‘Loose lips sink ships’
We can only hope!
Somehow I do not believe that Eric Bouchard is destined for political greatness in the Danielle Smith Government.
The back pedalling by Smith and Legrange should be interesting in view of the upcoming UMPGM.
I am perplexed by the long-lasting resentment that persists in the anti-mask, anti-vaccine crowd. What do they hope to gain by re-legislating the Covid pandemic at this point? It is almost as if they fear another pandemic is just around the corner, which is not an unreasonable fear, I guess. But that would imply they actually trust some of the science about viruses and disease, which other aspects of their behaviour suggest they don’t.
Anyway I can’t help but feel there are more profitable ways the right wingers could invest their energies in terms of bringing about the type of society they seem to want.
The UCP doesn’t care who gets harmed by their utterly foolish beliefs and policies. It shows.