In an interview with CBC’s Power & Politics, Alghabra said the government is not interested in alternatives like rapid testing for unvaccinated truckers. He said truckers and the wider industry have had months to prepare for the new regulations and drivers must now get the shot or stop driving over the border.
h/t Mauser 98
Among the many unbridgeable divides between Americans is a completely antithetical view of mask wearing. On one side are those who wear masks almost everywhere outside their homes and who demand that others do so, including young children in class and on outdoor playgrounds, and 2-year-olds on airplanes.
The university city of Cottbus held one of 2,000 rallies across Germany on Monday, stoked by the far right
On Monday evening on the dot of 7pm people emerged from dimly lit side streets and gathered on the Oberkirchplatz square in Cottbus for what has become a weekly ritual in towns and cities across Germany: a protest against coronavirus protection measures.
The demonstrations have grown in strength as cases of the Omicron variant have surged, and in recent weeks a looming decision on bringing in a vaccine mandate has become the focus of protesters’ ire. More than 2,000 rallies were held nationwide on Monday, drawing tens of thousands of participants.
In Cottbus, a university city south-east of Berlin, a familiar pattern played out. Moments after the protest started, police declared over megaphone that it was illegal – the participants did not wear masks or physically distance from each other. Groups then broke away and began the Spaziergänge, walks that snake in a variety of directions and are designed to overwhelm any police response.
Neil Young has demanded that Spotify removes his music, due to vaccine misinformation spread by podcaster Joe Rogan on the streaming service.
“They can have Rogan or Young. Not both,” wrote the star in a letter to his management and record label.
Rogan has been criticised for airing vaccine-sceptical views, and promoting debunked claims about treating Covid-19 with the anti-parasite drug ivermectin.
Durham Regional Police say it’s investigating after being made aware of a video posted by one of its uniformed constables supporting a protest against anti-vaccine mandates being held by truckers across the country.
Many truck drivers have carried out Canada-wide rallies to protest vaccine mandates with big rigs set to arrive in Ottawa over the weekend. Setting off from Vancouver on Sunday, the so-called “Freedom Convoy” GoFundMe page has raised more the 3.5-million-dollars from donors.
I can’t for the life of me figure out what she said that was so “wrong.”
Ontario reports 64 new COVID-19 deaths; 4,008 patients hospitalized
It’s the two-year anniversary of the first documented COVID-19 case in Canada today, and there have been more than one million documented COVID-19 infections in the province in that time, with 11,068 confirmed deaths.
626 people are in ICU with #COVID19. 85% of patients admitted to the ICU were admitted for COVID-19 and 15% were admitted for other reasons but have tested positive for COVID-19.
There are 3,424 new cases of COVID-19.
— Christine Elliott (@celliottability) January 25, 2022
Majority of Canadians surveyed support fines for unvaccinated citizens: Nanos
The majority of Canadians either support or somewhat support a new health contribution or fine applied to those who remain unvaccinated against COVID-19, according to a new survey by Nanos Research.
Results of the survey commissioned by CTV News show that 40 per cent of respondents support the idea and another 20 per cent somewhat support it. Meanwhile, 29 per cent oppose it, eight per cent somewhat oppose it and four per cent remain unsure.
Conservative MPs fiercely opposed to the federal government’s new vaccine mandate for cross-border truckers have slammed what they call Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s “vaccine vendetta,” saying that the policy will disrupt the country’s supply chains.
PPC Leader Maxime Bernier is standing with truckers fighting the mandate. Meanwhile, ‘Conservative’ Leader Erin O’Toole refuses to weigh in on the issue, saying it’s not his place to support protesters.
Karen the Faucist lost her marbles at Defeat the Mandates DC today. SAD! pic.twitter.com/04p2wo1b5H
— New York Young Republican Club (@NYYRC) January 23, 2022
An estimated 35,000 people. many holding hand-made signs, showed up in Washington, D.C.. on Sunday for a “Defeat the Mandates” rally.
The peaceful protest, which started at the Washington Monument and culminated at the Lincoln Memorial, featured speakers such as mRNA inventor Dr. Robert Malone, Dr. Peter McCullough, other doctors in white lab coats (who are perhaps risking their careers), members of the clergy, and controversial activist and Fauci foe Robert Kennedy Jr.
Freedom rallies and the Truckers for Freedom Convoy both took place over the weekend, and saw tens of thousands of Canadians voicing their opposition to vaccine mandates, forced vaccines and other heavy-handed public health restrictions.
Attitudes are no longer about red states or blue states — it’s all down to class
In the US, the divide over Covid-19 restrictions is often cast as a matter of red versus blue states. Republican states like Florida have banned vaccine passports and school mask mandates, and have heavily restricted the ability of employers to mandate vaccination for their employees. In blue states, and especially in deep-blue cities like New York and Washington, D.C., mask mandates are the norm and patrons are required to show proof of vaccination to enter a bar, eat indoors at a restaurant, or go to a movie theatre or gym.
Protests are a dime a dozen. Heck they’re a dime a hundred. There’s a subset of people who go to protests more often than ordinary folks go to Tim Hortons. They’re an occupation for people who don’t have jobs. “Is it Tuesday, already?” (Checks calendar.) “Bay and Bloor blockade, 1 p.m. till media leave.”
It’s hard to imagine any government in Canada — the feds or any of the provinces — putting out a series of tips to help people get over their COVID-19 fears. After all, most of them seem to want to keep ramping up the fears.
COVID-19 contributed to the biggest annual reduction in life expectancy on record in Canada in 2020, the first year of the pandemic, Statistics Canada said in preliminary findings released on Monday.
While COVID was the third-leading cause of deaths in 2020, Statscan said the impact from the pandemic also likely contributed indirectly with a rise in deaths due to factors such as delayed medical procedures and increased drug-use.
As of Monday, big-box stores in Quebec require customers to show a vaccine passport, as the provincial government’s latest COVID-19 measure comes into effect.
In an attempt to convince holdouts to get vaccinated, the government has extended the vaccine passport to all all stores with surface areas of 1,500 square metres or more, with the exception of groceries and pharmacies.
