Author of the article: Don Braid • Calgary Herald
Publishing date:Sep 07, 2021 •
The restless peace in the UCP caucus is over. The latest to blast his own premier is Airdrie-Cochrane MLA Peter Guthrie.
Guthrie’s biggest gripe is that Jason Kenney wasn’t nice to the unvaccinated.
He wrote on Facebook on Tuesday: “Last Friday the Government of Alberta announced restrictions, adopting a disparaging tone towards unvaccinated individuals.
“People refusing COVID-19 shots were painted as culpable for creating challenges to the health-care system.
“This type of communication from our leader feeds a narrative of anger and division which is unproductive in an already turbulent time.
“The $100 vaccine incentive has also created animosity within the constituency, and I am not in favor of the negative tone adopted by leadership.”
Kenney was quite kind to the unvaxxed, actually. He offered them $100 each to get the shots, irritating the majority of Albertans who did it for free.
But Guthrie’s thinking, common in the UCP caucus, is that we should all embrace each other in blissful harmony, with no one group demeaning another.
“If one believes that we should have these individual rights and we are indeed ‘in this together,’ then we should respect the decisions of our fellow constituents regardless of what those decisions may be,” the MLA wrote.
There’s very little embracing of the unvaccinated in the medical community. Nothing angers doctors and nurses more than devout anti-vaxxers who suddenly show up in hospital to fight for their lives.
“It feels like some people want to punch a hole in the life-rafts, while expecting health-care workers to keep bailing,” said Dr. Peter Brindley of the department of critical care medicine and other senior roles at the U of A.
“We have done our compassionate best not to shame, but it hasn’t worked,” he wrote in a blog post.
“We respect your ability to make choices, but choices come with consequences.
“I have witnessed too many people reject science right up until they reach the hospital doors, and then suddenly demand science ‘STAT’.”
Dr. Brindley worries about a growing loss of empathy among exhausted health workers, who see first-hand evidence that the fourth wave is caused by the unvaccinated.
Dr. Scott Malmberg, who just worked a 48-hour stretch in the Medicine Hat COVID ward, wrote on Facebook: “It is unequivocally negligent for eligible people to avoid a life-saving vaccine, then clog our hospitals . . .
“Please get vaccinated, take your $100 reward for being negligent, and give us our hospital back.”
MLA Guthrie’s criticism aligns him with Todd Loewen and Drew Barnes, who were kicked out of the UCP caucus for criticizing Kenney.
But does the premier dare to eject more people? How many more would follow voluntarily?
Debate on new measures continued in caucus last Thursday for at least three hours, and in cabinet committee for another two hours.
That was a clear sign of rekindled discontent. Some MLAs would prefer only the mildest measures, or none at all.
They dislike the subsidy and hate the very idea of a vaccine passport, which Guthrie says would “create a false sense of security for those who are vaccinated.”
The result of all that debate was just weird — a bounty reward for vaccination, to cover off rekindled hostility to masking.
On Tuesday there was no sign of an uptick in vaccinations, even with the incentives.
It’s early. The payoff could still work, but even in government there are doubts.
In June, Kenney was ecstatically saying the pandemic was as good as over and we’d have the greatest summer ever. People working on COVID were soon shifted to other duties.
Behind it all lay the fear of another caucus rebellion that could upend Kenney’s leadership.
That may be one way to hold a government together during a pandemic. It is no way to govern a province during a pandemic
Don Braid’s column appears regularly in the Herald
Twitter: @DonBraid
Facebook: Don Braid Politics
Dave Dormer
Published Tuesday, September 7, 2021
CALGARY -- A UCP MLA has penned an apology letter to constituents saying he is sorry the province imposed new health restrictions after he and others declared "Alberta was not only 'Open for Summer' but 'Open for Good.'"
Airdrie-Cochrane MLA Peter Guthrie also took aim at Premier Jason Kenney, accusing the province of taking a "disparaging and accusatory tone" toward those who choose not to be vaccinated.
Gutherie said he "truly believed," the province wouldn't have to re-impose COVID-19 health measures when he made the statements about Alberta being open, "yet here we are, weeks later, imposing restrictions on constituents again."
"I think most Albertans watched in trepidation over the last several weeks as patient numbers in hospitals, particularly ICUs, began to climb and vaccination rates stalled," the letter read in part.
"Increased anxiety from the public regarding the load on the healthcare system triggered discussions on mandatory vaccination, masks and vaccine passports. These contentious issues have created division in our community."
New rules imposed by the province call for masks to be worn in all indoor public settings and alcohol sales to end at 10 p.m. The province is also now offering $100 to Albertans who receive their first or second dose of vaccine until Oct. 14.
Guthrie says he is vaccinated and believes vaccines are an effective way of protecting Albertans, but he also supports the right of an individual to choose.
"Last Friday, the Government of Alberta announced restrictions adopting a disparaging and accusatory tone toward unvaccinated individuals," the letter read.
"People refusing COVID-19 shots were painted as culpable for creating challenges to the healthcare system. This type of communication from our leader feeds a narrative of anger and division which is unproductive in an already turbulent time. The $100 vaccine incentive has also created animosity within the constituency and I am not in favour of the negative tone adopted by leadership."
Guthrie also accused the province of shifting its position on vaccine passports, which Kenney has said several times would not be used in Alberta.
"During last week's announcement it was also revealed to me that the province will be introducing a QR code for Albertans to use as proof of vaccination for organizations choosing to introduce a so-called 'vaccine passport,'" he wrote.
"Such a move suggests that the government's position on this practise is shifting. Various public opinions exist on the use of vaccine passports, but I am not convinced it is a good practise for domestic use as it not only limits access to services and isolates individuals, it also provides a false sense of security for those who are vaccinated."
CTV Calgary has reached out to Kenney's office for comment.
Guthrie declined comment, saying the letter stands for itself.
Alberta MLA accuses government of 'disparaging' the unvaccinated
Peter Guthrie says 'negative tone' of premier's recent speech feeds 'anger and division'
An Alberta MLA who criticized his colleagues for breaking ranks with Jason Kenney's government has himself taken aim at its new policy on masks and vaccinations.
Peter Guthrie, the United Conservative Party MLA for Airdrie-Cochrane, which hugs the north and west edges of Calgary, said Tuesday that the provincial government's recent announcement about renewed mask mandates and incentives for vaccinations adopted a "disparaging and accusatory tone" toward the unvaccinated.
"People refusing COVID-19 shots were painted as culpable for creating challenges to the health-care system," he wrote in a letter to constituents posted to his social media.
Kenney on Friday said the large number of unvaccinated people in Alberta was causing problems, as cases of the delta variant rip through that population.
"I wish we didn't have to do this, but this is not a time for moral judgments," the premier said, as he announced a $100 incentive for those receiving first or second doses of a COVID-19 vaccine.
"We still have 30 per cent of the eligible population without full vaccine protection — that is to say, without two doses. And the delta variant is ripping its way through this group at an aggressive rate."
Guthrie did not offer specific examples from the premier's speech, but said that the "negative tone adopted by leadership" feeds "a narrative of anger and division."
He also argued against vaccine passports and apologized to constituents for supporting the government's promise earlier this year that the province was "open for good."
Earlier this year Guthrie criticized 16 of his fellow UCP MLAs after they wrote a letter objecting to the government's return to pandemic restrictions in April.
WATCH | Alberta health-care workers say they're frustrated with COVID-19 response:
CBC News has reached out to the premier's office, and to Health Minister Tyler Shandro, for comment on Guthrie's letter.
Guthrie's office declined an interview request and said they would let the letter speak for itself.
Alberta currently leads the country in daily new COVID-19 cases and active cases. On Monday the province reported 4,903 new cases over past four days, and 17 more deaths.
Letter 'confusing'
It's unclear what Guthrie thinks should happen to stem the tide of hospitalizations.
"It was confusing," said Duane Bratt, a professor of political science at Mount Royal University in Calgary, when asked about the letter.
"He talks about the importance of vaccination and then criticized the premier for criticizing the unvaccinated. Well, the stats back up what Kenney said. You know, the vast majority of those hospitalized in the ICU for COVID are unvaccinated. This is a crisis of the unvaccinated."
Bratt argues the letter could indicate a broader sentiment in caucus and explain why the government was unable or unwilling to bring in a more forceful measures like a vaccine passport.
Guthrie said in his letter that he is vaccinated but supports "the rights of individuals to choose for themselves."
He argues that creating division is unproductive and says the province should focus on incentivizing Albertans to get vaccinated, while also accusing it of sowing division for offering $100.
Guthrie's proposals, presented in the letter, involve wage incentives for health-care employees, "increased use of rural facilities and the possible utilization of temporary private services" to deal with the crush of new cases.
"The degradation of our public health system and the inability to react to an evolving situation is the issue at hand, not accusing individuals who are unvaccinated," he wrote.
Bratt said that kind of logic is faulty.
"That would be like saying we've got a whole bunch of people in hospital because of drunk driving, but let's not blame the drunk drivers," he said.
With files from Colleen Underwood
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