German election: 85,000 adults with disabilities can vote for the first time

Germany’s top court decided in their favor in 2019 that adults who have legal guardians should no longer be barred from taking part in elections. Now many of them will do so for the first time.



Hannah Kauschke will vote for the Bundestag for the first time in her life

Hannah Kauschke is excited about casting her vote — for the first time in her life, at the age of 30.

"I'm really looking forward to it," said Kauschke, adding "they really could have given people with disabilities in Germany more rights sooner. We have our own opinions."

For her, one of the most important topics that Germany needs to tackle is protecting the environment, especially after catastrophic floods struck the west of the country in July. Her biggest wish for the new government, she said, was "that they listen to us [with disabilities] and take us seriously."

Kauschke works stocking shelves and sorting products at an organic supermarket in Nuremberg. Her legal guardian is her mother, who checks in on her twice a week. In Germany, legal guardians may be required to be on hand from once a week to round the clock, and usually provide assistance for bureaucratic needs and household or financial organization.

There are special ballots for blind people in Germany

'Without inclusion, there is no democracy'

It took a concentrated effort on the part of activists and NGOs over the course of decades to get here.

"Politicians could have changed the law at any time," said Peer Brocke, spokesman for the organization Lebenshilfe, Germany's largest NGO advocating for people with disabilities. "It took filing a lawsuit to get where we are today."

Brocke explained that smaller parties, such as the environmentalist Greens and the communist Left Party, as well the center-left Social Democrats (SPD), had voiced their support for enfranchising all German adults. "But many in the CDU stopped it from happening. The SPD said they would put a measure forward before the election in 2013, but after they entered into a coalition with the CDU, they dropped it."

The CDU is Chancellor Angela Merkel's center-right Christian Democrats, and the reason for their resistance, Brocke said, was that "they assumed that adults with guardians couldn't form their own opinions. Or, they claimed, their postal vote could be manipulated." Which, Brocke says, would also apply to very old voters who use mail-in voting.

Jürgen Dusel, who advises the German government on disability policy, echoed Brocke's statements. He sees a culture of ableism also in the media and everyday society. "We heard the same arguments over and over, that some people with disabilities could not form their own opinions, or understand what was at stake...arguments no dissimilar to those used by opponent of granting women the right to vote 100 years ago."


Jürgen Dusel (l) advises the German government on disability policy

"People with disabilities are not a homogenous group," Dusel added, "and to bar some from voting is not only unfair, its unconstitutional. Without inclusion, there is no democracy."

Together with the Catholic charity Caritas, Lebenshilfe paid the legal fees of eight Germans with disabilities who sued the federal government for their right to vote. It then took Germany's top court six years to hear the case. But 2019 the eight plaintiffs finally won. Many celebrated by voting for the first time in European elections that came shortly after.

The new law affects tens of thousands of Germans — mostly with a range of learning disabilities, some also with physical impairments - such that they require a legal guardian, who had been barred from voting on a case-by-case basis.

"All you need is the will to vote and you deserve to do so, " said Brocke, observing that no one tests the political knowledge of other adult voters, or challenges people who cast their vote solely based on whether they like the look of someone.

A study from the University of Hamburg found that 6.2 million adults in Germany could not read or write properly — yet there have never been widespread calls to disenfranchise this group, the activists point out.

Brocke explained that a letter arrives six weeks before the election, letting every voter know that a vote is coming up and how to fill out their ballot, either at a polling place or via post. This explanation is available in simpler language for those who need it. Some may require additional assistance filling out their postal vote — but Brocke did not believe that left the system open to widespread manipulation, which would be a criminal offense: "Who would risk up to four years in jail for a single vote?" he asked.

Germany has a dark past when it comes to disability rights. The Nazi regime murdered nearly 300,000 people with disabilities, which, as Dusel pointed out, means Germans have a special responsibility not to "define people with disabilities by their perceived deficiencies."

Even today, the country lags far behind many of its allies. In the US, the UK, and France, for example, people under guardianship have long had the right to vote.

Moreover, it is violating its responsibilities as a signatory to a 2009 UN convention on the rights of those with disabilities

Germany still maintains an educational system that segregates many children with disabilities — something that was phased out in the US and UK decades ago. There is a documented history of prejudice against inclusion in German schools, and little political will to make inclusion a reality.

Kauschke said she found it "very unjust" that she was not allowed to vote in Germany's federal elections before now.

Africa Swine Fever: Is China downplaying another disease outbreak?

China might praise its own success in its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, but it remains quieter about its fight against a rampant African Swine Fever outbreak at home.



China is the world's top pork consumer

During a teleconference more than two years ago, Chinese Vice-Premier Hu Chunhua urged health authorities to step up efforts to rein in a growing outbreak despite initial "positive results," and suggested that "enhancing quarantine and monitoring" measures would help prevent the spread of the virus.

Hu's comments came before the discovery of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Instead, he was referring to a different, far deadlier disease: African Swine Fever (ASF) — an illness that affects pigs.

Chinese officials first identified ASF in 2018 in Liaoning, a coastal province in China's northeast. Unlike SARS-CoV-2, ASF does not threaten human health. The disease, however, is highly virulent in pigs and mortality rates approach 100%.

ASF is of particular concern in China, the world's top pork consumer and home to roughly half of the world's pigs. Given the country's enormous pig population, ASF could turn China into a significant reservoir of disease and pose a threat to China's neighbors in the region if it becomes endemic.

Threats to food security

This year, China reported 12 ASF cases to the OIE, the intergovernmental body that tracks animal diseases, down from a high of 105 in 2018. Except for a small bump in cases earlier this year, ASF numbers have consistently declined, according to official figures.

Some industry experts, however, believe that China may be obfuscating African Swine Fever's actual toll on hog herds by under-reporting infection numbers, and painting an artificially rosy picture.


The cost of pork in China is an economic bellwether. Tapping into China's strategic pork stockpile allowed Beijing to stabilize pork prices from a high last year, but ASF could still cause headaches of epic proportions.

A report by the Asian Development Bank estimated the outbreak's economic cost in China last year at $50 to $121 billion (€42.5 to €103 billion) with a minimum loss of 25-55% of Chinese pig herds since 2018. The report also said ASF threatens "increases in poverty, vulnerability, and food insecurity" and poses a "substantial" risk to climate change resilience and human health.

The burden disproportionately falls on smallholder pig farmers.
Food safety standards fall through the cracks

Measures such as vigilant herd monitoring and the culling of pigs that exhibit ASF symptoms could help to contain China's current outbreak. But containing ASF in China is not an easy task.

Smallholder pig farming, defined as backyard farms of 50 pigs or less, is an economic safety net or significant source of income for tens of millions of Chinese, and accounts for nearly a third of national pig production. But the practice may be driving China's ASF outbreak.

Many smallholder pig farmers rely at least in part on swill — food scraps and kitchen waste — to feed their hogs. While swill is an economical source of fodder, biosecurity or food safety standards are not always reinforced.

Consequently, swill is a particularly potent transmission vector for African Swine Fever.

If ASF is suspected locally, some farmers could sell off pigs before herds exhibit the disease, helping disseminate the lethal virus more widely throughout the country.

ASF vaccines 'years away'

Linda Dixon, an ASF expert at The Pirbright Institute, an infectious disease research group, said that due to the complexity of ASF, it has proven "very difficult to make a vaccine that's effective" against the disease.

Although there are several ongoing ASF vaccine trials, a commercialized vaccine is at best "one to two years away" if current prototypes prove safe and effective, she said.

Paul Sundberg, the Executive Director of the Swine Health Information Center, said there might even be vaccines in use in China that prevent some pigs from dying, but "cause low-level infection." Ultimately, these mystery vaccines make controlling the disease "more difficult."

 

Germany to shut controversial Gorleben nuclear waste facility

After serving for decades as a storage location for German radioactive nuclear waste, the government said it would close the Gorleben mine. Locals and environmental groups have protested against the facility for years.

  

Germany has been searching for a permanent spot to store its nuclear waste for decades

The Gorleben mine in the German state of Lower Saxony will close, the country's Environment Ministry announced on Friday.

The mine in the Wendland region became the center of a long-running controversy after it was proposed as a possible site for the disposal of radioactive nuclear waste.

"This ends the chapter on the Gorleben repository. I hope in Wendland wounds opened by the decades-long argument over Gorleben will now be able to heal," State Secretary at the Environment Ministry Jochen Flasbarth said.

The Gorleben mine controversy

Gorleben had been earmarked as a site for nuclear waste disposal almost 40 years ago.

But locals rejected the decision, arguing that the salt in the ground could weaken containment structures and cause radioactive leaks. The site became the focus of Germany's anti-nuclear movement with activists staging sit-in protests and blocking trains bringing containers of nuclear waste to the facility.

Protesters often slowed the delivery of trains bringing Germany's radioactive waste to Gorleben

In the fall of 2020, Germany's Federal Company for Radioactive Waste Disposal (BGE) announced that large parts of Germany met the geological criteria for a nuclear repository but the Gorleben salt dome — the site of the mine ­ — was not among them.

The mine was then removed from the list of potential permanent sites for nuclear waste disposal last year due to geological concerns.

Prior to this decision, the mine had been largely at a standstill since 2013. Almost all the equipment and machinery at the mine have been removed.

BGE, a federally owned company, will be responsible for the decommissioning of the mine, the Environment Ministry said.

The Gorleben mine in Lower Saxony was taken off the list of potential permanent waste storage facilities

Germany's nuclear waste problem

Germany is seeking a safe place to store 1,900 containers of radioactive waste. The containers make up only 5% of the country's nuclear waste but 99% of its radioactivity, according to BGE chairman Stefan Studt.

BGE has named 90 areas around the country as potential places for permanent waste disposal.

The sites are currently being vetted taking into account a number of factors, including population density.

The company says it needs to find a location by 2031 and hopes to begin storing containers of radioactive waste at the site by 2050.

kmm/sms (dpa, AFP)

 

Bangkok’s taxi graveyard garden: Covid-hit cabbies turn to growing vegetables

Issued on: 17/09/2021 - 

Video by:

FRANCE 24

One Bangkok taxi company has found an innovative way to make ends meet amid the Covid-19 pandemic. With many drivers put out of work by lockdowns and restrictions and their cars left idle, they have transformed a taxi graveyard into a burgeoning vegetable garden to feed employees.

 

Former Liberal MP Sohi aspires to be Edmonton’s next mayor

By Jeff Labine. Published on Sep 3, 2021 3:46pm

Edmonton mayoral candidate Amarjeet Sohi, a former Liberal MP, outside a coffee shop on Aug. 26 (Jeff Labine/iPolitics)

Amarjeet Sohi doesn’t miss federal politics.

The 57-year-old former bus driver is one of 10 candidates vying to succeed Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson in the municipal election on Oct. 18.

Sohi served two terms as a city councillor after getting elected for the first time in 2007.

In 2015, he won as the Liberal candidate for Edmonton—Mill Woods. He played a key role in Justin Trudeau’s government by taking on the portfolios of Infrastructure and Communities, and Natural Resources.

Sohi would only serve one term in the House of Commons after losing to Conservative MP Tim Uppal in 2019.

Sohi said little about his next political move until last May, when he announced his mayoral campaign.

With a federal election underway, Sohi said his sights are set solely on Edmonton.

“I honestly don’t miss being part of partisan politics,” he told iPolitics. “I really enjoyed working as a member of Parliament, as a minister, … but I did not enjoy the lifestyle of going back and forth (to Ottawa) and travelling throughout the country.”

Sohi’s return to municipal politics comes during significant changes in both Edmonton and Calgary.

Iveson and Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi, both seen as progressive mayors, won’t be running again. Iveson made his decision public in November last year, and Nenshi made his intentions known in April.

The mayors of Alberta’s largest cities often butted heads with Jason Kenney’s provincial government.

A significant point of contention was the United Conservative Party’s decision to reduce Edmonton and Calgary’s base funding of $500 million per year, which is split between the two, by $45 million, thus ending years of negotiations to give the two cities more say in how they spend their money, according to a CBC report.

“We had no sense that the city-charter fiscal framework was going to be ripped up today,” Iveson told reporters afterward.

When asked how he’d handle the situation, Sohi said he’d start by making sure Edmontonians understand what’s at stake.

“If city-infrastructure funding is being cut back, that means you’re going to see cracks in roads, traffic is going to see gridlock, transit systems will not be expanded,” he said. “Those are the kinds of conversations I want to have with Edmontonians and the province. (I want to) find commonalities around those issues.”

If elected, Sohi said he’d try to collaborate with all the city’s partners, including the provincial government.

Indigenous resistance has cut U.S. and Canada's annual emissions

A new study shows indigenous resistance cut emissions by at least 25%.

“From an Indigenous perspective, when we are confronting the climate crisis we are inherently confronting the systems of colonization and white supremacy as well,” said Dallas Goldtooth of Indigenous Environmental Network. “In order to do that, you have to reevaluate how you relate to the world around you and define what your obligations are to the world around you. It’s more than just stopping fracking development and pipelines and it’s more than just developing clean energy, it’s about actually fundamentally changing how we see the world itself.”
https://grist.org/.../indigenous-resistance-has-cut-u-s.../

GRIST.ORG

 THE DECOLONIZED TAROT PROJECT

The Magician card.

Card: Magician

Artist Reina iris

Art direction thiha

Country Myanmar

Zawgyi

Zawgyi are legendary semi-immortal beings believed to be both mystics and alchemists. They figure prominently in the mythology and folklore of the Myanmar people. The word is believed to be derived from the Indian word “yogi” and similarly the Zawgyi is credited with many supernatural talents.

The reason for their red appearance is attributed to mercury; from the anatomy of an ordinary human being, they transformed into a Zawgyi. As a Zawgyi, they are believed to have 5 supernatural powers – the ability to fly, travel beneath the earth and oceans, perform various forms of divination, necromancy and resurrection as well.

Legend have them living alone in an invisible mythical forest set deep in Himalaya Mountains. Here, the Zawgi forage herbs for magical purposes. After an ardous and extensive search, they obtain the mythical Philosopher's stone and thus gain the status of  Zawgyi.

To satisfy their desires, it is said that by touching the Nariphon (Tuyaung Fruit Trees) with their magical wands, they are able to bring to life illusory females" (Thuyaung-mèý) as these trees will bear female-shaped fruits. They spend their lives searching for various herbs to treat pain, suffering, illness, and other forms of ailments brought on by magical spells.

The magic wands are used primarily to grind the medicinal herbs and roots, although these wands also double up as walking sticks, especially in negotiating very rugged footpaths.

The Zawgyi Dance reproduces many aspects of the legend; the red clothing, the magical wand, the journey through the forest among other significant characteristics.

RowenCreator

September 17, 2021https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/seamstarot/seams-tarot-3/

BERNIE SANDERS ENDORSES NDP

 

RETWEET

Wall Street Journal's Facebook Files series prompts comparisons to Big Tobacco


Analysis by Brian Stelter, CNN Business

WSJ: Facebook knows Instagram is toxic for teen girls

New York (CNN)All week long, The Wall Street Journal's "Facebook Files" series has invited comparisons of the social media platform to tobacco companies.
The Journal relied on internal company documents it obtained to show Facebook (FB) knows, "in acute detail," about the problems with its platforms. The assorted harms to users are well-documented. But, in the words of the Journal, Facebook "hasn't fixed" the flaws.
So: Social platforms are addictive and often harmful. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat, told the Journal "Facebook seems to be taking a page from the textbook of Big Tobacco — targeting teens with potentially dangerous products while masking the science in public."
U.S. Rep. Ken Buck, a Republican, tweeted "Big Tech has become the new Big Tobacco. Facebook is lying about how their product harms teens."

The series matters because it comes with evidence."Time and again, the documents show, Facebook's researchers have identified the platform's ill effects," the Journal says. "Time and again, despite congressional hearings, its own pledges and numerous media exposés, the company didn't fix them. The documents offer perhaps the clearest picture thus far of how broadly Facebook's problems are known inside the company, up to the chief executive himself."

Regarding the company's CEO, Friday's story had his name in the headline: "How Facebook Hobbled Mark Zuckerberg's Bid to Get America Vaccinated."

Here's where to get caught up on the entire series.

This was a very big week for the Journal. Is there more reporting work to do? Definitely. My sense is the series has given the newsroom a jolt of inspiration, and this may not be the Journal's last word on the Facebook Files.

Facebook's new response

The company's response to the five-part series was measured during the workweek. Facebook could have deployed spokespeople and surrogates onto TV shows, for example, but it did not. I noticed Joe Scarborough on MSNBC saying "Facebook reminds me of big tobacco," because "they know their product is damaging to people."

There was no rebuttal from the company on his show.

But on Saturday, Facebook vice president of global affairs Nick Clegg issued a seven-paragraph blog post, objecting to some parts of the Journal series.

"At the heart of this series is an allegation that is just plain false: that Facebook conducts research and then systematically and willfully ignores it if the findings are inconvenient for the company. This impugns the motives and hard work of thousands of researchers, policy experts and engineers at Facebook who strive to improve the quality of our products, and to understand their wider (positive and negative) impact," Clegg said.

Clegg deplored what he called the "impugning" of Facebook's motives. Perhaps responding to some observers' concerns the company will stop doing internal research since some of it was leaked to the Journal, Clegg said, "We will continue to invest in research into these serious and complex issues. We will continue to ask ourselves the hard questions. And we will continue to improve our products and services as a result."

He also seemed to address the comparisons of Facebook to Big Tobacco. "The truth is that research into the impact social media has on people is still relatively nascent and evolving, and social media itself is changing rapidly," he said.

FB disinformation doesn't happen in a vacuum

Journal reporter Jeff Horwitz, who has earned many plaudits this week, tweeted Friday "some Facebook folks have told me we should pay more attention to how the interplay between social media and cable TV news affected the public discussion of Covid vaccines, including on the company's platforms." He agreed with that assessment, he said.

Former Twitter and Facebook executive Nu Wexler said he also concurred: "If we're measuring reach/engagement of health misinfo on FB, we need a way to compare it to Hannity's nightly audience or the impact of a governor/senator saying the same things IRL."

Further reading and listening

-- "There's a lot to unpack" from the "Facebook Files," CNN's Allison Morrow writes. "But one thing that stands out is just how blatantly Facebook's problems are documented, using the kind of simple, observational prose not often found in internal communications at multinational corporations."
-- Washington Post columnist Will Oremus says he sees a pattern emerging: "Facebook keeps researching its own harms -- and burying the findings."

-- Friday's "Files" story describes a gathering of Facebook leadership in and around its Menlo Park HQ early this month at which "the tone from some participants was, 'We created the machine and we can't control the machine,' one of the people said."

-- David Kirkpatrick, who wrote a "generally positive" (his words) book about FB a decade ago, says "the Journal series may bespeak a major shift, even for those who are jaded and expect little other than evasion and apathy from this shockingly-powerful company. The articles suggest it may start to be seen widely as an outlaw enterprise."

-- The Atlantic's Derek Thompson says the Journal series underscores that social media is "attention alcohol:" Like booze, he says, "social media seems to offer an intoxicating cocktail of dopamine, disorientation, and, for some, dependency."

-- On Monday the Journal will hold a live Q&A with several reporters about the "Facebook Files" findings. There is also a companion podcast series on Spotify.

A version of this article first appeared in the "Reliable Sources" newsletter. You can sign up for free right here.

Moving from fringe to 4th place, PPC complicates the Conservatives' path to power

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The rise of Maxime Bernier's party could cost the Conservatives some seats, polls suggest

John Paul Tasker · CBC News · Posted: Sep 14, 2021 

Conservative leadership candidate Erin O'Toole, left, speaks as Maxime Bernier listens during the Conservative leadership debate in Saskatoon, Wednesday, November 9, 2016. (Liam Richards/Canadian Press)

At a recent campaign event, Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole couldn't quite bring himself to say the name of the man who could end up thwarting his shot at power.

People's Party of Canada (PPC) Leader Maxime Bernier has gone from leading a small fringe group with tepid support to heading up a right-wing party that, according to the CBC Poll Tracker, could have the fourth-highest share of the vote on Sept. 20.

After the last election campaign, a CBC News analysis showed that — even with its rather dismal level of support — the PPC likely cost the Conservatives seven seats in the House of Commons by splitting the vote (six seats went to the Liberals, one to the NDP). With polls suggesting PPC support is now well above the 1.6 per cent of the vote it got last time, its impact could be even greater in 2021.

When asked by CBC News recently what he plans to do to blunt Bernier's momentum and prevent a vote-splitting scenario that could hand Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau another term, O'Toole didn't say much — and never mentioned Bernier by name.

O'Toole was asked three questions about the former Conservative cabinet minister-turned PPC leader at a Sunday press conference and ducked every one of them.

"I remind Canadians, if you're tired of a Liberal government that's constantly in scandal, corrupt at its core with Mr. Trudeau's constant ethics investigations, there's one team and one leader that can replace him — Canada's Conservatives," O'Toole finally said when pressed.

His party's campaign material insists Canadians only have four choices in this election. "If you don't care about creating Canadian jobs and standing up to the Chinese Communist Party, you have three parties to choose from. If you do, you only have one choice – Canada's Conservatives," reads a recent press release.

While polls suggest some PPC support is coming from first-time or infrequent voters, there's no question the PPC is drawing at least some support from former Conservative voters.

"The Conservative party is no longer a conservative party," Craig Mostat, an-ex Conservative supporter of the PPC from Edmonton, told CBC News.

"They are bending over backwards to do everything the Liberals are doing," he said, referring to the party's more moderate brand of conservatism under O'Toole.

An outgoing Conservative MP, David Yurdiga, is backing Bernier and Shawn McDonald, the local PPC candidate in his Fort McMurray, Alta. riding.

"We're the true conservatives. We're bringing people home," McDonald told the conservative online media outlet True North.

Some pollsters — notably those using more anonymous collection methods, like interactive voice response (IVR) — show higher levels of PPC support than those firms using live telephone agents or an online forum to survey the public on their voting choices.

While the country's major polling firms can't agree on just how much support the PPC enjoys, it's clear that the party is much more of a force now than it was in the 2019 campaign

"There's definitely a lot more people jumping on the PPC train even compared to two months ago. It's definitely getting bigger," said Rodolpho Menjivar, an infrequent Alberta voter who has voted Liberal in the past but plans to pick the PPC this time.

"People are looking for another option because they don't like what everyone else is doing."

• With one week to go before election day, here's what to watch in the final stretch 

• Are the Conservatives worried about the People's Party of Canada — or should they be?

• Protests at Trudeau rallies an evolution of far-right ideology, says expert

Philippe Fournier, a polls analyst with 338Canada, said the PPC's strength could spell trouble for the Conservatives in close races in Prairie cities like Calgary, Edmonton and Winnipeg. In 2019, the party only narrowly won seats like Manitoba's Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley and Alberta's Edmonton Centre over the Liberals.

"The PPC could get more votes than the Bloc Quebecois in this election, which was unfathomable only one year ago," Fournier said. "We can say with confidence that many of their supporters used to vote Conservative."

Failure to launch — then a sudden resurgence

Bernier's dramatic break from the Conservative party in 2018 was a troubling development for some Conservative operatives who feared a fractured right-centre vote would guarantee Liberal victories for years to come.

At the time, however, most Conservative insiders — especially those who knew him from his time as a Harper-era cabinet minister — were dismissive of Bernier's potential political impact.

They feared a splintered vote but they didn't think Bernier was well-equipped to get a new party off the ground and compete meaningfully in enough ridings to make much of a difference.

The PPC's poor showing in 2019 — Bernier lost the Beauce seat he'd held for years — bolstered the naysayers.

But the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a political realignment, breathing new life into a party that looked all but dead.

Public health measures like lockdowns slowed the spread of the virus — and likely saved lives — but they also prompted anger and frustration among some Canadians who saw their livelihoods destroyed as economic and social life ground to a halt.

The PPC becomes the no-lockdowns party

The federal Conservative Party and some of its provincial counterparts, like the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party, were generally deferential to public health officials who called for restrictions — a sensible position during a pandemic but one that also generated backlash from people who bristle at limits on their freedoms.

The PPC welcomed those voters with open arms. A party promising a radically smaller government with fewer regulations was suddenly embraced by people who saw government as an oppressive force.

Bernier, a libertarian who has long railed against government overreach, became a champion of the "no more lockdowns" crowd, routinely appearing at well-attended protests against these restrictions.

Anti-lockdown and anti-mask protesters take part in a rally outside the Alberta Legislature in Edmonton on Monday, April 12, 2021. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press)

Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau's push for a vaccine mandate for federal public servants and the travelling public has also given Bernier another cause as he warns of what he calls Canada's descent into "tyranny."

"We are the only national political party against vaccine passports. We believe in freedom of choice — everyone must be able to decide for themselves," Bernier said a recent rally.

O'Toole is opposed to Trudeau's proposed vaccine mandate but has said he'd let provinces introduce their own vaccine passport programs.

Bernier's pitch to voters also includes a plan to "defund" the CBC, balance the budget quickly, cut all foreign aid, "say no to the UN" — a body he calls "a dysfunctional organization" — and pull out of the Paris climate accord.

"More and more people are coming on our side. You can count on us," Bernier said.

But it's Bernier's strident opposition to the idea of vaccine passports — credentials people vaccinated against COVID-19 can show to businesses to make everyday activities safer — that attracted Menjivar.

"The particular thing I like about them is that they're a no to vaccine passports and mask mandates. I don't believe in mandatory stuff forced on people and not being able to go places if I don't have a vaccine," he said.

"People just want to be left alone and not be called the bad guy for not getting their vaccine. We just want to live and be able to do everything we did two years ago."

Fournier said the polls suggest it's Bernier's anti-vaccination passport rhetoric driving the party's rise.

"We know from polls before the election that anti-vaxxers were about eight to 10 per cent of the Canadian population," Fournier said. "He is taking his message to new heights to appeal to these people.

"And if he goes from 1.6 per cent in 2019 to seven or eight or more per cent in this election, it would be an incredible achievement."

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

John Paul Tasker

Parliamentary Bureau

J.P. Tasker is a senior writer in the CBC's parliamentary bureau in Ottawa. He can be reached at john.tasker@cbc.ca.