I can't agree more
The Carolina Hurricanes opened their National Hockey Leage playoff series Monday in front of 12,000 raucus fans at the RBC Centre in Raleigh, North Carolina. Once dubbed “the loudest house in the NHL,” it was once again echoing to the noise of fans cheering on their team.
The Toronto Maple Leafs will take to the ice Tuesday to a much different atmosphere. Though canned noise and pre-recorded cheers will avoid the sombre sound of sticks and pucks echoing through deserted halls, the Leafs will face off against the Montreal Canadiens — the first playoff confrontation between two historic rivals in 42 years — in front of empty seats and artificial enthusiasm.
Canadians have paid a heavy price for a year of botched leadership as governments at every level struggled to get a grasp on the COVID crisis. Federal and provincial authorities alike have shown themselves far better at excuses and vapid pronouncements than in adopting appropriate measures to slow the spread of the virus and protect the endangered. It’s no excuse that other countries have shown little greater aptitude: third rate is third rate, regardless of where it lives.
We deserve better, and as vaccines bring us closer to the end of the tunnel, it is time for Ottawa, the provinces and the territories to up their game. Now is the time to begin preparing reopening plans that will return the country as quickly as possible to as close a semblance of normality as can be managed in a society scarred by months of setbacks.
For a country that likes to see itself as optimistic, Canada is an enormously cautious and risk averse place. That being the case, there is a great danger our civic leaders will opt for an extended, painful and life-numbing re-entry despite all the lessons we’ve learned about safe and effective ways of dealing with the virus.
Florida, assailed for its refusal to bow to the most extremist proponents of mass lockdowns, recorded 1,976 new cases on Monday, about even on a per capita basis with Ontario. But whereas Florida Governor Ron DeSantis suspended all local emergency mandates a week ago and went so far as to pledge to pardon anyone convicted of breaking COVID protocols, Ontarians remain hunkered in their homes under an emergency order that bars leaving for any but a small handful of reasons.
That so many openly flaunt the order shows how low respect has fallen for our elected leadership. If federal and provincial authorities hope to regain any of their lost credibility they should toss aside the political and ideological bickering that has impeded efforts to such a great degree, and put their backs into a re-opening plan that involves the maximum amount of freedom at the minimum level of intrusiveness needed to maintain a healthy environment.
We know that restaurants, bars, beauty salons, retail outlets and thousands of other businesses can operate safely under appropriate conditions. We know that the vast majority of Canadians respect the law and can be counted on to act responsibly. We know that children can go to school, that fans can watch sporting events, that families can gather and the elderly enjoy visits. We are not yet at the level of vaccination that would allow the doors to be thrown open and the pandemic declared over, but we are quickly approaching a point where many of the most egregious restrictions can be loosened or lifted. And people expect them to be.
There is little evidence Canada’s leaders understand this. The best Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is willing to venture is “a slightly better summer” than last year, and only if 75 per cent of the population has received at least one dose, followed by a “two-dose fall,” leaving millions wondering if Canada will even begin to resemble its old self before snow flies again.
The United Kingdom lifted the shackles on its weary population after fully vaccinating 30 per cent of them. European countries, many of which rivalled Canada for their mishandling of the crisis, are to meet this week to finalise a plan to allow entry to fully vaccinated people without quarantine or COVID testing. “Green lists” are being assembled of countries allowed entry, including Australia and New Zealand but not Canada. The prime minister won’t even guess as to when our longest and most important border, the one with the U.S., might re-open.
It’s not good enough. Canadians have been repeatedly let down over a miserable 15 months. Turn off the noise machines in NHL arenas and you get a sense of the feeling in the country itself: where there should be the excitement of summer you get only the silence of disappointment.
National Post
The Carolina Hurricanes opened their National Hockey Leage playoff series Monday in front of 12,000 raucus fans at the RBC Centre in Raleigh, North Carolina. Once dubbed “the loudest house in the NHL,” it was once again echoing to the noise of fans cheering on their team.
The Toronto Maple Leafs will take to the ice Tuesday to a much different atmosphere. Though canned noise and pre-recorded cheers will avoid the sombre sound of sticks and pucks echoing through deserted halls, the Leafs will face off against the Montreal Canadiens — the first playoff confrontation between two historic rivals in 42 years — in front of empty seats and artificial enthusiasm.
Canadians have paid a heavy price for a year of botched leadership as governments at every level struggled to get a grasp on the COVID crisis. Federal and provincial authorities alike have shown themselves far better at excuses and vapid pronouncements than in adopting appropriate measures to slow the spread of the virus and protect the endangered. It’s no excuse that other countries have shown little greater aptitude: third rate is third rate, regardless of where it lives.
We deserve better, and as vaccines bring us closer to the end of the tunnel, it is time for Ottawa, the provinces and the territories to up their game. Now is the time to begin preparing reopening plans that will return the country as quickly as possible to as close a semblance of normality as can be managed in a society scarred by months of setbacks.
For a country that likes to see itself as optimistic, Canada is an enormously cautious and risk averse place. That being the case, there is a great danger our civic leaders will opt for an extended, painful and life-numbing re-entry despite all the lessons we’ve learned about safe and effective ways of dealing with the virus.
- 'Unjustified fears': When COVID-19 anxiety stops making sense
- A quicker path to normal: U.K. reopens at 30% vaccinated while Canada waits for 75%
Florida, assailed for its refusal to bow to the most extremist proponents of mass lockdowns, recorded 1,976 new cases on Monday, about even on a per capita basis with Ontario. But whereas Florida Governor Ron DeSantis suspended all local emergency mandates a week ago and went so far as to pledge to pardon anyone convicted of breaking COVID protocols, Ontarians remain hunkered in their homes under an emergency order that bars leaving for any but a small handful of reasons.
That so many openly flaunt the order shows how low respect has fallen for our elected leadership. If federal and provincial authorities hope to regain any of their lost credibility they should toss aside the political and ideological bickering that has impeded efforts to such a great degree, and put their backs into a re-opening plan that involves the maximum amount of freedom at the minimum level of intrusiveness needed to maintain a healthy environment.
We know that restaurants, bars, beauty salons, retail outlets and thousands of other businesses can operate safely under appropriate conditions. We know that the vast majority of Canadians respect the law and can be counted on to act responsibly. We know that children can go to school, that fans can watch sporting events, that families can gather and the elderly enjoy visits. We are not yet at the level of vaccination that would allow the doors to be thrown open and the pandemic declared over, but we are quickly approaching a point where many of the most egregious restrictions can be loosened or lifted. And people expect them to be.
There is little evidence Canada’s leaders understand this. The best Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is willing to venture is “a slightly better summer” than last year, and only if 75 per cent of the population has received at least one dose, followed by a “two-dose fall,” leaving millions wondering if Canada will even begin to resemble its old self before snow flies again.
The United Kingdom lifted the shackles on its weary population after fully vaccinating 30 per cent of them. European countries, many of which rivalled Canada for their mishandling of the crisis, are to meet this week to finalise a plan to allow entry to fully vaccinated people without quarantine or COVID testing. “Green lists” are being assembled of countries allowed entry, including Australia and New Zealand but not Canada. The prime minister won’t even guess as to when our longest and most important border, the one with the U.S., might re-open.
It’s not good enough. Canadians have been repeatedly let down over a miserable 15 months. Turn off the noise machines in NHL arenas and you get a sense of the feeling in the country itself: where there should be the excitement of summer you get only the silence of disappointment.
National Post
