Lawmakers allege 'secret' CIA spying on unwitting Americans

IMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES

Two US senators have raised concerns that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is again spying upon unwitting Americans.

The agency has "secretly" conducted warrantless surveillance through a newly disclosed programme, Senators Ron Wyden and Martin Heinrich alleged.

In a letter to intelligence officials, the two Democrats called for declassifying details of the programme.

Government data collection has been the subject of much controversy in the US.

Officially, the CIA and National Security Agency (NSA) have a foreign surveillance mission and domestic spying is prohibited by the CIA's 1947 charter.

But in 2013, a programme of data collection using extensive internet and phone surveillance by American intelligence was disclosed to the public by Edward Snowden, a CIA contractor-turned whistle-blower.

A Washington Post analysis of the Snowden leak found some 90% of those being monitored were ordinary Americans "caught in a net the National Security Agency had cast for somebody else".

Top officials had until then denied - and even lied under oath to Congress - that they were knowingly collecting such data.

The programme, known as Prism, was later ruled unlawful by a US court.

• How the US spy scandal unravelled
• NSA surveillance exposed by Snowden ruled unlawful
• US spies peer into the future - and it's not rosy

But a government watchdog last year disclosed two CIA data collection efforts that Senators Wyden and Heinrich now claim are likely to be again subjecting Americans to warrantless searches.

The CIA released a declassified report on one of the programmes on Thursday, but declined to declassify the other, citing the need to protect "sensitive tradecraft methods and operational sources".

But Mr Wyden, of Oregon, and Mr Heinrich, of New Mexico, said by failing to do so the agency was "undermin[ing] democratic oversight and pos[ing] risks to the long-term credibility of the Intelligence Community".

The senators, who sit on the Intelligence committee, said the public deserved to know "the nature and full extent" of the surveillance, which is all but certain to include records on Americans.

The still-classified programme operates under the authority of a Reagan-era executive order and is therefore "entirely outside the statutory framework that Congress and the public believe govern this collection," they said.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) non-profit said: "These reports raise serious questions about what information of ours the CIA is vacuuming up in bulk and how the agency exploits that information to spy on Americans".

The CIA has not formally responded to the senators' letter, but said it "recognises and takes very seriously our obligation to respect the privacy and civil liberties of US persons".

"CIA is committed to transparency consistent with our obligation to protect intelligence sources and methods," said Kristi Scott, the agency's privacy and civil liberties officer.

 

Declassified document accuses CIA of bulk collection of data on Americans

A heavily redacted letter claims the agency collects data without any judicial or congressional oversight

Seal of the Central Intelligence Agency at CIA headquarters in Langley, Va, April 13, 2016 © AP / Carolyn Kaster

Two US senators have accused the CIA of bulk collecting data on citizens following the release of documents disclosing the problems with how the agency searches and handles the information.

In their letter, sent on April 13, 2021, but partially disclosed on Thursday, Democratic Senators Ron Wyden of Oregon and Martin Heinrich of New Mexico asked CIA Director William J. Burns and US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines to declassify the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board’s (PCLOB) study into the CIA’s intelligence gathering on Americans under Executive Order 12333 – an order passed by Republican President Ronald Reagan in 1981, which expanded the power of intelligence agencies.

“During your confirmation processes, you expressed a commitment to greater transparency and an appreciation for how secret interpretations of law undermine democratic oversight and pose risks to the long-term credibility of the Intelligence Community,” the senators wrote, before adding that “the secret nature of the CIA’s activities described in the PCLOB report raise these very concerns.”

Wyden and Heinrich accused the CIA of acting “entirely outside the statutory framework that Congress and the public believe govern this collection, and without any of the judicial, congressional or even executive branch oversight that comes with FISA collection.”

This basic fact has been kept from the public and from Congress. Until the PCLOB report was delivered last month, the nature and full extent of the CIA’s collection was withheld even from the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence

The two senators also observed that despite Congress and the American public’s longstanding desire to “prohibit the warrantless collection of Americans’ records,” the CIA has “secretly conducted its own bulk program.”

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) claimed on Thursday that the newly declassified documents “reveal that the CIA has been secretly conducting massive surveillance programs that capture Americans’ private information,” and that the surveillance was conducted “without any court approval, and with few, if any, safeguards imposed by Congress to protect our civil liberties.”

These reports raise serious questions about what information of ours the CIA is vacuuming up in bulk and how the agency exploits that information to spy on Americans. This invasion of our privacy must stop

NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden called the accusations “huge,” writing, “This is the systematic construction of a surveillance state that will dominate the rest of our lives.”

“People brushing this off with ‘duh’ or ‘I’m not surprised’ should take this seriously: elections are months away. Vote out any politician who defends this in the slightest way,” Snowden added.

Homeless encampment near SoFi Stadium cleared away ahead of Super Bowl

Critics say local leaders are trying to hide the growing crisis of people living on the streets.

Feb. 11, 2022, 
By Guad Venegas

LOS ANGELES — Dawn Taki is among the tens of thousands of people who live on the streets of Los Angeles.

But her encampment under the 405 Freeway, where she had been staying for two years, was recently cleared in advance of Sunday’s Super Bowl at nearby SoFi Stadium.


“They just came and cleaned us out, took everything,” she said. “I know, because of the Super Bowl, they just push us aside because we’re homeless. That ain’t right.”

The cleanup was one of many that took place in Los Angeles County as the city prepares to host the matchup between the L.A. Rams and the Cincinnati Bengals. Some housing advocates say local leaders are trying to hide homelessness as they make little headway in easing the homelessness crisis.

The last count that took place, at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, recorded 66,000 homeless people in L.A. County, according to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. A new count set to begin this month is expected to result in a much larger number.

Madeline Devillers, a volunteer who advocates for more resources for homeless people, said the situation can seem overwhelming.

“There’s so many unhoused people living on the streets,” she said. “And it seems like an unfixable problem because there are so many people.”

Homeless tent dwellers Dawn and Ace speak with activist Madeline Devillers at a homeless encampment beneath a freeway overpass near SoFi Stadium on Jan. 26.

 Frederic J. Brown / AFP - Getty Images

Local and state officials are working to allocate billions of dollars in federal, state and local funding to arrange or build housing for homeless people. Through a project called Homekey, the state made 6,000 housing units available in its first phase and has projected to add another 55,000 over the next few years.

But the program’s last report indicates that less than 2,000 units have been made available in Los Angeles County. As the region struggles with growing homelessness, it’s also gearing up to host the 2028 Olympics.

In recent months, the city of Los Angeles has voted to make street camping illegal in more than 200 locations, while across the county, encampments like the one where Taki lived are getting cleared. Hers was less than two miles from SoFi Stadium, but another encampment next to it, yet out of sight from passersby, was left untouched.

Taki said the people who cleared them out did not offer any type of help when she and the others living under the freeway were told to leave.

“They didn’t offer us no vouchers,” she said. “No nothing.”

Caltrans, the state transportation agency that conducted the removal, said it was coordinating with local agencies to provide “outreach and support” for the people who were dislocated.

The encampment “needed to be cleared due to a fire safety issue ... ” Caltrans said.

The mayor of Inglewood, where SoFi Stadium is, insisted that the cleanups had nothing to do with the Super Bowl.

“This is something that occurs year in and year out,” Mayor James Butts said. “So this one, it was just time for this one.”

Jass Singh, who runs a business next to the freeway, said that he’s glad the camp was cleared, but that he doesn’t think it will help in the long run.

“They do because people are going to come from out of town,” he said of Super Bowl visitors. “Is going to be busy here. Look nice. That’s why.”

Yet for local residents, the problem is real. A survey recently conducted by a coalition of civic leaders found that voters are angry and frustrated that leaders have failed to do much about the crisis.

“We’re focusing so much on building housing that can be made so much profit from it,” Devillers said, “but what we really need is low-income housing."

MAGA Nation Is Fighting a Race War

Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-QAnon/CrossFit) is lying about white folks being denied COVID treatment. The reason is terrifying.

February 11, 2022 by Tim Wise


Stop calling it a culture war. That’s not what this is.

And nothing about it is civil, either.

This is a race war, at least in the minds of MAGA nation.

How else can we understand the recent statement by Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Cracker Barrel) that only people with “non-white skin” can receive monoclonal antibody treatment for COVID?

Of course, it’s untrue, yet she has delivered this lie without the slightest bit of shame or misgiving.

Before examining the disinformation about COVID “affirmative action,” though, let’s place the accusation in context because only there can such a blatant falsehood begin to make sense.

Consider it alongside the last several years of right-wing commentary and the leading flashpoints of contemporary conservative discourse.
MAGA conservatism thrives on white grievance

What are the things about which the right has made the most noise as of late?
Black football players taking a knee to protest racial injustice;
Black Lives Matter being a movement of “anti-white terrorists” and America haters;
Immigrants from Mexico and various “shithole” countries coming to the U.S. and “taking our jobs” (as opposed to immigrants from places like Norway, which Donald Trump said we need more of);
China using unfair trade practices or deliberately giving us all COVID as part of some devious scheme for world domination;
Crime going up, especially in cities, with a steady focus on violence in Black-identified places like Chicago;
Evidence-free allegations of voter fraud in large Black areas like Atlanta, Detroit, Milwaukee, and Philadelphia, or votes by undocumented immigrants flipping states for Joe Biden; and, finally,
School textbooks that tell the truth about racism in American history, or any efforts to promote diversity, equity, or inclusion in schools — now all attacked as “Critical Race Theory” and anti-white bigotry.

Ask yourself: what do all these things have in common?

They all involve perceived threats or slights by persons of color towards America generally or whites in particular.

This is the Alpha and Omega of the MAGA movement — white racial resentment and grievance.

That’s all it’s ever been.

Which is why the only real predictor of who took part in the J6 insurrection wasn’t being a Republican or conservative. Instead, it was whether one lived in a community that had seen its white share of the population decline since 2015. That was the only factor consistently correlated with attendance at the Capitol siege — living in a place where you felt your sense of hegemony slipping.

All the right has done for the last few years is push buttons of white racial resentment and grievance…

But because white grievance wasn’t sufficient to re-elect Trump, those for whom it is their sole currency have ramped it up, as with the claims by Greene (R-Steve Bannon’s Colon), about anti-viral treatment for COVID only being available to Black and brown folks.

The implication is that Biden and the Democrats want white people to die and are buying off people of color with meds to secure their votes.

As with allegations of Latino voter fraud, COVID as an Asian bioweapon, brown-skinned Muslims hoping to impose Sharia law, or BLM coming to burn the suburbs, MTG’s claims about antibody treatment are undiluted horseshit.

And horseshit is something Greene (R-Ivermectin) knows a lot about.
What does the FDA’s COVID treatment guidance say about race?

So what are the facts about the Biden administration’s position on COVID treatment? According to a recent FDA guidance, persons with mild to moderate COVID who are at high risk for progression to more severe symptoms can qualify for emergency use of Sotrovimab — an especially effective antibody treatment for Omicron.

And along with key medical indicators, the FDA stipulates that race or ethnic identity can also be considered a high-risk factor to qualify for priority treatment.

Along these lines, New York, Minnesota and Utah have added race and ethnicity to the risk factors they will consider, suggesting they will target those who are not white for such treatments.

But this doesn’t mean that only persons of color can get such therapies.

Any white person whose health status puts them at high risk — those who are older, obese, have kidney disease, diabetes, or cardiovascular disease, among other conditions — would also qualify for the high-risk designation, and thus, emergency use of limited anti-virals.

Persons of color qualify for high-risk status because systemic racism and economic inequity have left their communities with disproportionate co-morbidities, elevating their risk of death from COVID. Indeed, this is why they have died at much higher rates than whites throughout the pandemic.

Because of worse health status, even without adding race to the high-risk medical factors, Black and brown folks would disproportionately benefit from any policy steering treatment to those in high-risk categories.

So, one might ask, why explicitly add race to the mix? Why not just apply the high-risk medical factors across the board in a colorblind way?

It’s a reasonable question, but one with an incredibly simple answer: namely, black and brown folks are disproportionately likely to go undiagnosed and untreated for severe health conditions. Whether because of bias or less access to good preventative care, this means persons of color with such conditions are far less likely than white people to realize they have them.

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So, adding race and ethnic identity to the list of risk factors maximizes the chance of getting treatment to the most vulnerable, which is always a key goal of public health policy.

But contrary to Greene’s claim, white people who fall into high-risk groups will be able to access monoclonal antibodies and anti-virals just as readily as anyone else.

There is no medical affirmative action here — just treatment based on actual risk.

And seriously, what kind of racial preference would this be, anyway? To reap its benefits, you first have to contract a virus that might kill you.

It’s like when Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh both claimed Obamacare was reparations for slavery. What kind of reparations requires you to get sick first to get paid?


None of it makes sense, but that’s what MTG and the rest of the modern right-wing would have everyone believe.

Because it’s a great way to make white people angry at Black and brown folks for “taking” something from them once again — to cast themselves as victims.

Not, mind you, victims of the conspiratorial, science-allergic dumbshittery peddled by people like Greene (R-The Rhinestone Mine), but of Black people and the white Democrats who supposedly pander to them.
Racial scapegoating: the perfect political distraction

It would be nice to think such blatant nonsense from the likes of MTG would fail to land and that voters could see such tactics for what they are.

But sadly, this kind of thing has a long history.

Influential white folks convincing less powerful white folks to think their enemies are Black and brown is the oldest play in the playbook of American politics, going back to the colonial period.

It’s tried and true when you want to distract the masses from the fact that you have no real plan to make their lives better.

Racial resentment is a reliable pivot when you have no solutions for economic insecurity, inadequate health care coverage, and unaffordable higher education.

So you cut taxes on the rich while feeding the rest a pity party, convincing them the reason their wallets are lighter isn’t that the distribution of wealth has been skewed to white people who are richer than they are, but because those people — as in, the non-white — are getting all the goodies.

They’re getting the jobs, the housing subsidies, the college slots, the welfare payments, the “Obama phones,” or whatever.

As I said, it’s on page one of the playbook, but however long it’s been around, modern conservatives of the Trumpian variety have perfected it.

And so we end up with people like Greene (R-That Truck Stop Diner on I–24, You Know the One) dialing it up yet again, knowing that if history is any guide, the rubes will fall for it.

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And they will, unless we call it out for what it is, directly and frontally.

It is the David Duke-ification of the Republican Party.

America has two choices in this race war: white nationalism or multiracial democracy.

There is no door three.

Choose.

—

This post was previously published on Tim Wise’s blog.

Christian revival at U.S. school prompts student walkout

Leah Willingham
The Associated Press Staff
Published Wednesday, February 9, 2022


In this image taken from cell photo video, evangelical preacher Nik Walker of Nik Walker Ministries, second left, talks to high school kids during assembly at the Huntington High School Feb. 2, 2022, Huntington, West Virginia. (Cameron Mays via AP)

HUNTINGTON, W.VA. -- Between calculus and European history classes at a West Virginia public high school, 16-year-old Cameron Mays and his classmates were told by their teacher to go to an evangelical Christian revival assembly.

When students arrived at the event in the school's auditorium, they were instructed to close their eyes and raise their arms in prayer, Mays said. The teens were asked to give their lives over to Jesus to find purpose and salvation. Those who did not follow the Bible would go to hell when they died, they were told.

The Huntington High School junior sent a text to his father.

"Is this legal?" he asked.

The answer, according to the U.S. Constitution, is no. In fact, the separation of church and state is one of the country's founding basic tenets, noted Huntington High School senior Max Nibert.

"Just to see that defamed and ignored in such a blatant way, it's disheartening," he said.

Nibert and other Huntington students staged a walkout during their homeroom period Wednesday to protest the assembly. More than 100 students left their classrooms chanting, "Separate the church and state" and, "My faith, my choice."

School security turned away reporters who tried to cover the demonstration.

"I don't think any kind of religious official should be hosted in a taxpayer-funded building with the express purpose of trying to convince minors to become baptized after school hours," Nibert said. During the walkout, he held a sign reading, "My rights are non-negotiable."

More than 1,000 students attend Huntington High. The mini revival took place last week during COMPASS, a daily, "noninstructional" break in the schedule during which students can study for tests, work on college prep or listen to guest speakers, said Cabell County Schools spokesperson Jedd Flowers.

Flowers said the event was voluntary, organized by the school's chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. He said there was supposed to be a signup sheet for students, but two teachers mistakenly brought their entire class.

"It's unfortunate that it happened," Flowers said. "We don't believe it will ever happen again."

But in this community of fewer than 50,000 people in southwestern West Virginia, the controversy has ignited a broader conversation about whether religious services -- voluntary or not -- should be allowed during school hours at all. A group of parents, the American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia and other organizations say the answer to this question is also no. They say such events are a clear violation of students' civil rights.

"It is inappropriate and unconstitutional for the District to offer religious leaders unique access to preach and proselytize students during school hours on school property," Freedom From Religion Foundation, a nonprofit that promotes the separation of church and state, wrote in a letter to the school district. The district cannot "allow its schools to be used as recruiting grounds for churches," the letter reads.

Last week's assembly at Huntington High featured a sermon from 25-year-old evangelical preacher Nik Walker of Nik Walker Ministries, who has been leading revivals in the Huntington area for more than two weeks.

During the assemblies, students and their families are encouraged to join evening services at the nearby Christ Temple Church. More than 450 people, including 200 students, have been baptized at the church, according to Walker, who said he was scheduled to go to another public school and nearby Marshall University soon.

Bethany Felinton said her Jewish son was one of the students forced to attend the assembly at Huntington High. She said that when he asked to leave, the teacher told him their classroom door was locked and he couldn't go. He sat back down in his seat, uncomfortable. Felinton said he felt he couldn't disobey his teacher.

"It's a completely unfair and unacceptable situation to put a teenager in," she said. "I'm not knocking their faith, but there's a time and place for everything -- and in public schools, during the school day, is not the time and place."

Mays' father, Herman Mays, agrees.

"They can't just play this game of, you know, `We're going to choose this time as wiggle room, this gray area where we believe we can insert a church service,"' he said.

Walker said he has never contacted a school about coming to speak; it's always the students who reach out to his ministry, he said.

"We don't even have to knock on the door," he said. "The students, they receive hope here (at Christ Temple Church) and then they want to bring hope to their school or to their classmates."

Walker, originally from the small town of Mullens, West Virginia, has been traveling the state since he was 17 hosting church meetings at schools. He said he came to Huntington on Jan. 23 with plans to leave three days later but saw a need he felt compelled to address.

Walker said he sees a lot of "hopelessness" in the Huntington area: students struggling with addiction, anxiety and depression.

"When you see regions like this, then you really know they need the Lord," he said, drinking a cup of hot tea with honey to soothe his throat after a couple of hours of preaching.

Tolsia High School freshman Mckenzie Cassell said she was excited for Walker to come to speak to her and her peers. She attends Christ Temple Church, where she said she is now seeing a lot more young people since Walker started his work in the schools.

"It's awesome to see a lot of young kids coming," she said.

Cassell's guardian, Cindy Cassell said it's been powerful to see someone make such an impression on young people in town.

"The kids want it and they're ready for change in the right direction," she said.

During Wednesday's walkout, Nibert passed around a petition for students to sign that he plans to deliver to the Cabell County Board of Education. The petition asks that the board apologize to families for what happened and discipline the teachers who mandated that students go to the assembly. It also calls for the review or creation of a board policy pertaining to religion or religiously motivated speakers in schools. Around 75 students signed.

"I have never been prouder of a group of my peers than I am right now," Nibert said, speaking into a megaphone during the protest. "When ordinary citizens find their circumstances to be unfair, they change them. And that's exactly what we're doing today."

UCP VS COVID=

Central Alberta town's emergency department temporarily closed for nearly two years

Stephen David Cook - 

cbc.ca

Yesterday 


One day in October last year, 65-year-old Marg Shott suddenly felt sick.

Not knowing how serious it was, she went to the local Hardisty Health Centre but passed out on the bench. She later learned an ambulance was called, taking her 30 minutes away to Killam, Alta., for treatment.

A STARS helicopter then took Shott to Edmonton — about 200 kilometres northwest of Hardisty — where she had major surgery for an aortic tear in her heart.

"I'm just lucky. Really, really lucky that I'm here," she said.

Shott couldn't be treated in her hometown of Hardisty as the emergency department has been closed there for nearly two years.

Alberta Health Services announced in April 2020 it would shut it down as the province prepared for a surge in COVID-19 cases.

There have been many temporary emergency department closures since the pandemic began, most lasting for a few days or less. Twenty-two months in, Hardisty's closure is by far the longest.

Staffing issues have kept the doors shut as resources are focused on the local long-term care facility.


© Trevor Wilson/CBCMarg Shott is fed up with the emergency department's long closure.

"It just made me angry, like we got so much here that needs that emergency department," said Shott, who sent a letter to government officials and the media after her close call.

"We got all the oilfield, we got farming, we got people that need that so bad."

Alberta Legislatures grounds flooded with people supporting Ottawa trucker convoy

Hardisty, Alta., has a population of around 500 people. It's a key point on Enbridge's Line 3 pipeline and home to a sprawling tank farm that stores millions of barrels of crude oil.

Fay Bronson, president of the Hardisty Social Club, said the emergency closure impacts everyone in the town and the surrounding community.


© Trevor Wilson/CBCFay Bronson says the closure has caused anxiety for local seniors.

Seniors are especially vulnerable, she said.

"Five days a week they meet here for coffee," Bronson said outside the town drop-in centre, just across from the Parkland Manor for seniors.

"And I keep thinking I sure hope nobody has a stroke or anybody has a fall or anything like this."

Bronson said she feels her rural community is being neglected. She wants the emergency department restored and she wants the government to offer nurses full-time positions.
Recruitment challenges

Mayor Wayne Jackson, elected this fall, said the ER is the number one issue for town council and an important part of attracting business and residents.

"We don't want to lose that ER forever," he said. "Losing that ER is a town killer, especially in rural Alberta."

Jackson said the town is working with AHS to find ways to attract staff, like offering affordable housing or advertising the town's amenities.

Last week, eight nursing positions for the health centre were posted online, one for full-time work.

Spokesperson Kerry Williamson said in an email AHS has over the past several months extended advertising for positions, worked with talent acquisition teams to expand recruitment, and increased the availability of permanent part-time and full-time roles.

"Recruitment challenges are not unique to Hardisty, but we have not – and will not – cease in our efforts to resolve them," Williamson said.

AHS is also working with partners like the Rural Health Professions Action Plan to explore other recruitment or collaboration opportunities, he said. Work to secure contracted agency staff is also underway but demand is high across the province.

Jackson said AHS seems to be doing the best they can, adding that the town has heard assurances there is no plan to close the ER permanently.

Alberta could see fewer teachers come next fall

A new survey suggests the number of Alberta teachers planning to leave the profession for another job next year has more than doubled.

A summary of a pandemic pulse survey from the Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) conducted at the end of November suggests more than 37 per cent of respondents reported they probably won’t be teaching in Alberta next year.

Compared to an annual member opinion survey done last March, the number of teachers planning to retire was similar, at 16 per cent. Still, the percentage who said they are leaving for another job has doubled, increasing to 14 per cent. Seven per cent said they plan to go to a different province to teach elsewhere.

In an interview Tuesday, ATA President Jason Schilling said the numbers reflect what he’s already heard from teachers, some of whom plan to retire early because they are being asked to do more with the bare minimum, which is, “stretching everything.”

“They feel like this government doesn’t care about them, and they feel like this government doesn’t support the work that they’re doing in the middle of a pandemic,” said Schilling, adding the percentage of teachers who continue to feel high levels of exhaustion, stress, and anxiety after two years of the pandemic is worrisome.

Ninety-two per cent of respondents reported exhaustion, while 88 per cent reported high stress. The ATA said its survey provides a representative sample of more than 1,300 teachers and school leaders, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 per cent 19 times out of 20.

Katherine Stavropoulos, press secretary to Education Minister Adriana LaGrange, questioned the validity of the survey’s findings in a statement Tuesday, Jan 25, 2022, noting it represents only 2.8 per cent of the province’s 46,000 teachers. However, she said the ministry recognizes the past two years of the pandemic have been challenging.

“We continue to explore options to attract and retain teachers and teacher leaders to Alberta schools and look forward to sharing more information when it is available,” said Stavropoulos.

At a news conference Tuesday, Jan 25, NDP education critic Sarah Hoffman blamed the survey results on the UCP government’s refusal to give schools the resources they need.

Sue Bell, a recently retired Edmonton principal and teacher who worked in schools for almost 30 years, said she felt forced to leave the job to preserve her own physical and mental health at the NDP news conference.

“The breaking point began last year around September 20 or so when we had to take on the job of contact tracing at schools because, from that point on, I did not have a day off until we went online in December. I was on call 24 hours a day — no switching off, no downtime,” said Bell.

Jaxon McGinn, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Sunny South News

SCOTLAND

Face masks in high schools: Nicola Sturgeon warned by EIS

By John-Paul Holden

10th February

High school pupils will be able to take off their masks in classrooms at the end of the month.

Union bosses have warned that the relaxation of Covid-related face mask requirements in high schools is happening too quickly.

The change, announced on Thursday by Nicola Sturgeon, means pupils and teachers will no longer need to wear coverings in secondary classrooms from the end of this month.

It will come into effect from February 28, when all schools have returned following the half-term break. The First Minister has described the move as a "further step in allowing children and young people a return to a more normal experience in school after many, many months of sacrifice".

But leaders at the EIS, Scotland's largest teaching union, said current requirements should be retained throughout the winter period and until the end of March.

Face coverings will still be needed in other communal, indoor areas within high schools. However, Ms Sturgeon stressed this would be kept under "regular review".

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has already announced that the last domestic restrictions in England - including the legal requirement to self-isolate if you test positive - will likely be lifted later this month, "a full month early".

The First Minister said the requirement for face coverings in classrooms was being relaxed following the latest advice from an expert group, which considered the matter on Tuesday.

READ MORE: Classroom 'door chopping' - 'No mention' in Covid guidance

Ms Sturgeon, who announced the change at the start of First Minister's Questions at Holyrood, said the move would "reduce barriers to communication in the classroom and reduce any wellbeing impacts which arise from the use of face coverings". She added that it had been made possible by "reducing case rates" for coronavirus in secondary school-aged children, as well as the decrease in hospital admission rates among all ages.

However, EIS leaders have expressed concern. Larry Flanagan, general secretary, said: “The majority of EIS members supported the retention of face coverings until we were through the winter period so we would have preferred the end of March rather than the end of February for this change to happen.

“Having said that, it is important that both pupils and staff have the right to continue to wear face coverings if they wish and, in some cases, where there is a heightened vulnerability in play, face coverings may still be required.”

Mr Flanagan added: “There has been a slight drop in infection levels within schools but they remain high – over 4,000 staff are off school for Covid related reasons and more than 20,000 pupils.

“Enforcing the remaining mitigations, therefore, around ventilation and face coverings in communal areas, remains critical to school safety.”

EIS general secretary Larry Flanagan has concerns.

Parent campaigners said they were strongly supportive of the change. Jo Bisset, organiser for UFTScotland, said: “Although it’s taken far too long to get to this position, parents will none-the-less be relieved at the news.

“It’s important we use this milestone to commit never to force children to wear masks in class again. The impact on them was notable, and severe for those with learning disabilities and other disadvantages.

“Children and parents alike will hope this is the beginning of the end of the misery they’ve endured for the past two years.

"It's been a long road, but parents who have fought so hard and so long for this decision should pat themselves on the back."

READ MORE: Tutoring for pupils 'non-existent'

Stand By Me Scotland co-organiser Ruth Harley, who is also a teacher, said: “While we of course welcome today’s announcement, we are also angry that it took so long for this day to come.

"We also intend to keep raising funds until the days of masks in schools are completely over. Masks have no place in our schools, and must never, ever return."

She added: “Over the past 16 months, face masks in schools have disadvantaged young people with hearing difficulties and learning support needs such as autism, and made school life uncomfortable and unpleasant for thousands of children.

"Parents of these children won’t forgive the First Minister for this, and voters will remember what she has done when it comes to the local elections in May.”

Covid: Pressure on schools higher than ever, union says

South Gloucestershire branch secretary Lee Everson said pressure on schools was now higher than ever

Covid pressure on schools is higher than ever due to staff and pupil absences, a teaching union has said.

The National Education Union said the situation was now at its worst and every school was "walking a tightrope".

He said while there had been no full closures, year groups were being sent home due to staff shortages.

"It feels like the pressure is higher than it's ever been," South Gloucestershire secretary Lee Everson said.

He said that no headteacher wants to be in a position where they need to shut a school, but staffing capacities were being stretched, with not enough staff on site to supervise pupils.

"The idea that things are getting back to normal has simply not happened. It's at its worst in schools currently," Mr Everson said.

"We need to understand the pandemic has become concentrated around schools, because of the nature of the buildings, the nature of the environment and where the young people are at in terms of their stage in the vaccination process."


Bradley Stoke Community School headteacher Steve Moir said he never knows how many staff will be available each day

Schools across the West Country said they were facing significant disruption, with e-learning and learning from home being used to cope with staff absences.

Bradley Stoke Community School headteacher Steve Moir said they always have remote learning plans on stand by.

He said: "One of the main challenges is that we don't know how many staff are going to be in or out every single day, so we have to plan for the worst case scenario.

"We have got approximately 80 staff. Some of those are part-time and we've had almost 20 staff off on some occasions."

Pupils at the South Gloucestershire school said the situation was "frustrating" and they have missed one-to-one support from being in the classroom.

Isobel said: "I find it quite frustrating because I'm missing out on learning and then when I come back into school I've missed out on a huge chunk of what we're working on."

Kids won’t be wearing masks in Alberta starting Monday and I’m terrified

Heather Marcoux - Today's Parent - Yesterday 

This morning I walked my first grader to school and watched as they took off their toque at the door, slipped the loops of their mask over their little ears, and disappeared into the school.

But starting Monday, kids in Alberta won’t have to wear masks in schools, not even the flimsy, paper-thin ones recently provided by the province. I never expected this disappointing government to pony up N95s for our kids, but I also didn’t expect it to just discontinue COVID precautions at a time when paediatric hospitalizations continue to climb.

In the span of 30 days, the Alberta government went from promising free masks for school children to telling kids that masks are unnecessary. During that same time period, paediatric hospitalizations increased.

The reality of the COVID crisis didn’t change over the last month, but the denials of reality got louder and more extreme.

While my six-year-old was getting their second vaccination, adults were throwing a tantrum at the Coutts border crossing. While my six-year-old was missing out on birthday parties, extremists were partying in Ottawa. While my six-year-old was reading in their classroom (which I have never been allowed to visit, due to COVID), protesters entered another school, yelling about masks and freedom until RCMP officers removed them.

As tensions rose, Alberta’s education minister, Adriana LaGrange, came out of hiding long enough to tweet that “schools are not an appropriate place to protest public health measures,” but within days of that tweet, protesters got what they wanted. The education minister barred school divisions from enforcing their own mask mandates.

Even as paediatric hospitalizations continue to climb in Alberta, even as our emergency departments are stretched far beyond capacity, Alberta’s government is giving in to people because they are loud and scary.

This terrifies me. What will these groups, this melting pot of white supremacists, anti-vaxxers, QAnon believers and so-called “working-class Canadians” demand next?

As a parent, I know that giving in to tantrums or threats teaches children that hurting others is a great way to get what they want. On the surface, it seems like the United Conservative government doesn’t understand that rewarding bad behaviour will only encourage more bad behaviour, but I think they do know that and some of them would love to see more disruptive demands for power.

Jason Kenney has lost control of his caucus. He’s sat by while some of his MLAs have flaunted health measures and supported protests aligned with alt-right, white supremacist ideologies, protests that we know would not be tolerated if the faces behind the steering wheels weren’t white.

The groups protesting at schools, at Coutts and in Ottawa don’t just want COVID safety stopped. They want control. And they’re getting it.

Don’t talk to me about freedom while taking my child’s away

Removing the masks may be just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to caving to extremists, and that scares me the most—more than COVID, even, if I’m being honest.

I actually think the chances of my child contracting COVID are low. At six years old, my kiddo has a pretty good immune system and is old enough to be double vaccinated. Most of their closest friends are also double vaccinated. I can’t know how many of their classmates are, though, and that keeps me up at night.

So does worrying about my nephew (who is still too young to be vaccinated), our older, immunocompromised loved ones, and those with disabilities. What if my child goes to school unmasked, and comes home with COVID? What if we give it to someone and they die? We’ve only recently started seeing people and doing things again, and now we have to choose between school and our loved ones—again.

My child has given up so much over the course of this pandemic. They’ve started doing this thing where they refer to pre-pandemic life as “my childhood.”

They’ll point out the car window and say, “that’s the building where I played soccer in my childhood!” or (the more heartbreaking) “Mom, I miss my childhood.”

“Yes, but you’re six,” I tell them. “You’re still experiencing your childhood,” I say before my eyes well up too much to keep looking in the rearview mirror.

We gave up so much when others wouldn’t. I’m terrified that they’re going to take school from us, too.

Learning to live with COVID

In Premier Kenney’s own words, “now is the time to begin learning to live with COVID.” But the thing is, we were already learning to live with it, finally, because we were able to protect ourselves through things like mask mandates and the proof-of-vaccine program that ended this week.

Because of that program, I recently started taking my child back to the indoor swimming pool for the first time in years, comforted by the knowledge that adults in the pool had either presented proof of vaccination or proof of a negative test at the door. Can we risk swimming, now that it’s a free-for-all? How do I tell my child that their freedom, their safety, their chance to resume childhood, was taken away because some grownups honked their horns a lot?

Do I send my child to school on Monday? I don’t know. I just know that I’m scared.

Critics say removal of student mask mandate in Alberta schools premature, playing politics

Some Edmonton parents say they are shocked, baffled and angry that the Alberta government is eliminating mask mandates in schools.


© Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press

The Alberta government is ending mask mandates in K-12 schools as of Monday, Feb. 14, 2022.

Janet French - Wednesday

When the restriction ends next Monday, Alberta's education minister says school boards will also lack the authority to adopt their own masking rules – a change from last year.

The Tuesday announcement prompted calls from parents, teachers and Edmonton's public school board to release the evidence that informed the decision as Alberta COVID-19 hospitalizations hover near record highs.

Edmonton parent Eddy Kent says he believes the decision was driven by politics, as the premier wanted to be seen taking a significant step.

"The kids, I think, have just been offered up as a sacrifice because the premier thinks that these children won't be as affected," Kent said.

Mask requirements for children have become deeply divisive, prompting protests in some rural schools, and driving parents to plead with school boards to axe the requirement.

Public health experts say it is one of several effective strategies to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.

More than a dozen members of the United Conservative Party caucus have long been pushing Premier Jason Kenney for less intrusive public health measures. Kenney, whose popularity has slumped in public opinion polls, faces a party leadership review on April 9.

Some other provinces are also loosening restrictions, including Saskatchewan, where school masking will become optional at the end of February.

McKenzie Kibler, an issues manager for the health minister, said in a statement the seven-day averages of COVID-19 test positivity rates are dropping, and wastewater surveillance shows a decrease in virus levels in most regions of the province.

He said health restrictions can have an adverse effect on children.

"Given the very low threat that COVID-19 poses to the health of children it is no longer justifiable to continue to disrupt and restrict the normal lives of kids," Kibler wrote.

Critics say ditching the mask mandate ignores lower vaccination rates among school-age children, and that children can transmit it to people who are more vulnerable.

As of Tuesday, 46 per cent of children aged 5 to 11 had received one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and nearly 19 per cent of children in that age group had received two doses. Children under five cannot be immunized.

Edmonton parent Nicola Doherty said she was shocked to hear the mask announcement on the same day Alberta reported 13 more COVID-19-related deaths.

Doherty has three children, aged 12, 14 and 16.

She said the government is sending mixed messages by shipping 16.5 million masks to every student in the province, then, days after they arrived, announcing they're no longer needed.

"It's so soon," Doherty said. "And why? Why now?"

Her 12-year-old daughter still plans to wear a mask to school, she said.

Doherty worries it will lead to her kids missing more school, and their parents missing more work.

Kent, who has a 13-year-old son and 10-year-old daughter, said he doesn't know how to justify the change to his kids.

Kent says removing mask mandates from a demographic with low vaccination rates is illogical.

His kids are worried about whether their friends will be wearing masks, and whether those choices will cause social tensions.
School boards surprised by move

Edmonton public school board chair Trisha Estabrooks said Wednesday trustees were blindsided by the news.

"This is too much change, too quickly, and again – no consultation with school boards," she said.

Some families who chose to shift their children back to in-person classes with restrictions in place may feel wronged, she said.

Edmonton public will continue to encourage students to wear masks, she said.

Darren Mazutinec, superintendent of Westwind school division in southern Alberta, said there are no pandemic approaches that can please everyone.

"Whether you mask or unmask, our schools are safe havens," Mazutinec said. "We want our students in schools learning with their teachers, and if they're comfortable wearing a mask? Perfect. Wear a mask."

Alberta Teachers' Association president Jason Schilling said with a provincial COVID-19 test positivity rate still at 32 per cent and limitations on who can be tested, the government's move is premature."

He said Omicron is still causing staff shortages in school and the system needs more time to recover.

Mixed feelings for schools after Kenney’s announcement

The provincial government announced Tuesday students aged 12 and under will no longer be required to wear face masks in schools beginning Feb. 14. Local school superintendents report mixed reactions to the announcement, but are not surprised by it.

“We were expecting pretty quick adjustment to the restrictions and measures that were in place,” Mark Davidson, Medicine Hat Public School Division superintendent, told the News. “The government had been signalling as much for the last couple of weeks.”

Dwayne Zarichny, superintendent for the Medicine Hat Catholic Board of Education, told the News he and his staff were also unsurprised by the announcement.

“Certainly other provinces are moving in that direction in tandem with Alberta, so I don’t think we found it surprising.” Zarichny said. “Listening to the data presented last night and which informed the government’s decision seems to make sense these next steps are being taken. And so, it’s a matter of practice our jurisdiction follow the direction that’s given by the chief medical officer of health. If she’s confident that we’ve moved into an endemic stage and they don’t believe the mask is necessary, then we’re confident in her judgment.”

Not all individuals connected to schools share that confidence, however. Davidson confirmed to the News, he has received mixed feedback from individuals, some happy masking will no longer be required and others who expressed concern, specifically in regards to student health and possible increased transmission.

“I think the challenging part is we’ve been – for two years – working under the premise that all of the measures we’ve had in place were effective in protecting one another from COVID, so there’s a level of concern or reluctance among many because this was a dramatic shift away from what we’ve been doing for so long,” Davidson said. “There’s also people who are not sure it’s the right thing (but) are also happy things are loosening up. We all have complicated sets of opinions and motivations in our lives and I think everybody I talk to has mixed emotions, and has had mixed emotions, at every step of the pandemic.”

Following the premier’s announcement, many Albertans expressed views on the changes to public health measures online.

One teacher reached out to the Alberta Teacher’s Association on Twitter inquiring about the safety of schools once mandatory masking was removed. The tweet read: “Can the ATA help teachers navigate being forced into unsafe workplaces? Steps have been taken to actively make schools less safe after the 14th. Do we have any rights or freedoms regarding a safe work/learning environment?”

ATA vice-president Greg Carabine responded to the tweet and stated the ATA’s Teacher Employment Services would be consulting with legal representatives.

Kenney then tweeted a picture of the exchange with a caption which read, “Disturbing to see the teachers union thinks unmasked kids create ‘an unsafe workplace,’ and is threatening legal action to force kids to wear masks indefinitely. Almost all Alberta teachers are triple vaccinated. Treat kids like kids, not ‘unsafe’ vectors of transmission.”

When asked about the premier’s response during a Wednesday press conference, ATA president Jason Schilling stated, “I find his remarks are equally as disturbing. There’s a lot of tension, stress and anxiety out there right now. I heard from teachers who’ve been harassed … principals who’ve been threatened. I’ve heard from individuals anxious about what is going on in schools. And to have the premier target two individuals in this way, specifically in his tweet, and to throw it back into the face of teachers, after just saying in a press conference that we need to come together, we need to work together to overcome what is happening in COVID, and then to turn around and target teachers this way is despicable behaviour … We should be working together.”

In the same press conference, Schilling encouraged Alberta’s government to slow the removal of public health measures in schools.

“Teachers – like most Albertans – are tired of the pandemic, but they’re also worried about the speed at which the government announced the removal of the one protection that was available to all students in all grades; masking,” Schilling said. “A return to a normal school setting is something everyone is hoping for, however we do not want a hasty decision to put us a step backwards in just a few weeks.”

While students younger than 12 will no longer be required to wear masks in schools, they are welcome to do so if they wish. Both of Medicine Hat’s school divisions will provide masks, using those supplied by the province’s government earlier in 2022.

KENDALL KING, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Medicine Hat News

Political pressure grows for end to protests as Ottawa warns of weekend surge

Jordan Press and Laura Osman
Publishing date: Feb 10, 2022

Truck drivers and their supporters gather to block the streets as part of a convoy of truck protesters against COVID-19 mandates, in Ottawa, Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2022.

 PHOTO BY SPENCER PLATT /Getty Images
Article content

OTTAWA — Pressure has mounted on both sides of the border, and across the political aisle in Canada, for protesters blockading key crossings with the U.S. and others encamped by Parliament Hill to go home, or for officials to move them out of the way.

Political patience with the protesters has run thin as vehicles choke the flow of goods at border crossings, including at Coutts, Alta., Emerson, Man., and the busy Windsor-Detroit Ambassador Bridge.

The Canadian Trucking Alliance said Thursday the industry would pay a heavy price for the border actions. It called on governments to end the current blockades and provide a plan to prevent them from happening again.

Political support for the protesters seemed to evaporate as well, as the interim Conservative leader, who two weeks ago suggested her party do everything to make the demonstrations the prime minister’s problem, reversed course and cut her party’s support.

Speaking to the House of Commons, Candice Bergen called on protesters to go home and end activity that she said was hurting the country’s economic rebound from COVID-19.

“Take down all of the blockades. Protest peacefully and legally, but it’s time to remove the barricades and the trucks for the sake of the economy,” Bergen said.

South of the border, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in a written statement urged federal, provincial and local authorities in Canada to immediately end the blockades that threaten her state’s economy. She did so hours before a Michigan congresswoman, Elissa Slotkin, warned of similar protests in the future the longer Canadian authorities let the situation persist.

Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said the RCMP is sending reinforcements to Ottawa and Windsor.

Canadian ministers to protesters Go home

Several key Canadian government ministers delivered a pointed message to anti-mandate protesters who continue to paralyze downtown Ottawa and block traffic at key U.S.-Canada border crossings Go home they urged. Feb. 9...

The latter city was granted intervener status Thursday in an application for an injunction that would stop protesters blocking Canada-bound traffic at the Ambassador Bridge crossing. An Ontario Supreme Court justice was set to hear submissions Friday.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his government was working with municipal leaders and the Ford government in Ontario to put an end to barricades that were “hurting communities across the country.

“We’re going to continue to do what’s necessary to end these barricades,” Trudeau told reporters on his way into the House of Commons.

But the protests showed no signs of letting up.

Speaking to a crowd gathered by Parliament Hill, protester Bethan Nodwell urged the crowd to hold the line downtown until reinforcements arrive this weekend.

“We’re blocking the airports. We’re blocking borders. We are blocking it all. We are not going to retreat,” she said into the microphone.

The situation in Ottawa, which has spurred similar actions nationally and abroad, continued to dominate debate even as political fissures have formed inside the Liberal caucus and Official Opposition over the handling of the protests and public health measures.

The House of Commons foreign affairs committee was scheduled to meet Thursday where the NDP planned to seek unanimous consent to invite U.S. Ambassador David Cohen to testify. The New Democrats want to hear from him about American funding of the protest in Ottawa through online donations, which they say is an attack on Canada’s democracy.

The so-called Freedom Convoy rolled in to Ottawa two weeks ago, ostensibly to protest federal vaccination mandates for truckers, but it has also demanded an end to all COVID-19 restrictions and some in the group have called for the government to be dissolved.

Ottawa police said Thursday that a dozen trucks left an area outside the downtown core after negotiations with protesters who have used the parking lot there as a staging and logistics ground.

Ten more trucks left streets near Parliament Hill, and another vehicle was towed for obstructing traffic as police look to reduce the footprint of the protesters’ occupation of downtown Ottawa.

There are now about 400 vehicles left in the core.

Demonstrators with large trucks have been warned by police that if they block streets they could be charged with mischief to property, or have their vehicles and other property seized and possibly forfeited. Police also warned that charges or convictions might mean being barred from travelling to the United States.

On Thursday afternoon, police said they had made three more arrests since Tuesday, bringing the total number of arrests to 25. An investigation is also underway after demonstrators refused to stop for an officer and hit a police cruiser near downtown, though police said no one was injured.

Speaking to reporters Thursday afternoon, Ottawa police Chief Peter Sloly warned anyone considering coming to the capital on the weekend to think twice about entering the city and said they’ll be met by a beefed-up police presence.

Sloly also said he expected an imminent announcement from upper levels of government about the city’s request for 1,800 additional officers to bolster the local force.

— 

With files from Mike Blanchfield, Stephanie Taylor, Mia Rabson and Justin Tang in Ottawa and Nicole Thompson in Toronto

Trudeau calls on all parties to denounce ‘illegal’ trucker occupations, blockades

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau held a meeting with leaders of opposition parties Thursday evening, where he said he briefed them on the latest developments of the trucker convoy protests and blockades.

Conservatives reverse course on support, call for end to convoy blockades

In a statement on Twitter, Trudeau said he stressed how important it is for every party to "denounce these illegal acts — and to call for an end to these blockades."

Video: Trucker protests: Aerial footage of protest causing delays on Ambassador Bridge

The teleconference meeting occurred between Trudeau, Opposition Leader and interim Conservative Leader Candice Bergen, Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, sources confirmed to Global News.

Trudeau also said he spoke with the mayor of Windsor, Ont., Drew Dilkens, before the meeting to talk about the trucker blockade at the Ambassador Bridge, the busiest border crossing for the U.S. and Canada.

Trudeau said the federal government is "committed" to helping Dilkens and Ontario "get the situation under control," but did not provide details of how.

"It is causing real harm to workers and economies on both sides of the border," Trudeau said.

Ottawa police say ‘flood’ of false 911 calls came ‘significantly’ from U.S. sources

U.S. officials on Thursday urged Trudeau and the federal government to use federal powers to end the blockade, while Windsor police said that "additional resources" have been deployed from "outside jurisdictions" to help support a peaceful resolution to the blockade.

Blockades have also been established in Coutts, Alta., and Emerson, Man.

Trudeau said he also convened an Incident Response Group meeting with ministers and officials earlier in the day.

Read more:
‘Snowball effect’: Canada’s trucker convoy sparks anti-mandate protests globally

In a statement after the meeting with Trudeau, Singh said that the Prime Minister has "spent more time looking for excuses than providing solutions" to the ongoing protests and occupation in Ottawa that is on its 14th day.

"Canadians have been missing national leadership during this crisis," Singh said. "They're tired of jurisdictional excuses, they just want this to stop."

Singh said he called on Trudeau in the meeting to "act urgently" to end the convoy and to work on a plan to get Canadians out of the COVID-19 pandemic that is nearing two years long.

He also encouraged Trudeau to follow in the footsteps of Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who got an injunction Thursday to freeze millions of dollars in funds raised from the convoy's GiveSendGo fundraiser. Singh wants Trudeau to "follow suit and do the same."

Read more:
Ontario freezes funds from GiveSendGo trucker convoy fundraiser

Bergen thanked Trudeau for holding the meeting in a tweet.

"I continue to call on him to take action to bring this to an end peacefully and quickly," she said.

Earlier Thursday, she had told the House of Commons that it is now time for protesters to "take down the barriers."

“To all of you who are taking part in the protests, I believe the time has come to take down the barricades, stop the disruptive action, and come together. The economy you want to see reopened is hurting," she said.

“I believe this is not what you want to do.”

Read more:
Conservatives’ Candice Bergen urges trucker convoy: ‘Take down the barricades’

Opposition leaders had asked Trudeau to convene a meeting earlier on Thursday during question period to discuss the federal response to blockades at key border crossings and to the occupation in Ottawa.

Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly said Thursday that the more resources law enforcement has from the provincial and federal governments, the quicker the demonstration will come to an end.

“More resources, more reinforcements means more results,” Sloly said.

Justin Trudeau Assembled An Incident Response Group To Get The Freedom Convoy 'Under Control'

With the Freedom Convoy still in Ottawa and border blockades happening in multiple locations, Justin Trudeau has assembled a team to help work towards getting the situation "under control."

On February 10, it was announced in a statement that the prime minister convened the Incident Response Group about the ongoing demonstrations.

He was joined by ministers and senior officials who are actively engaging with both provincial and municipal governments in Canada.

They are also assessing the requirements and helping to deploy the federal resources that are necessary to help local governments "get the situation under control."

Trudeau, the ministers and the officials said that they have "serious concern" about what they called illegal blockades and occupations and emphasized that they're determined to see them end quickly.

When it comes to the Freedom Convoy in Ottawa, the group said they're committed to providing federal resources to help enforcement.

The ministers and officials told the prime minister about efforts being made with their provincial and municipal counterparts, especially with the Government of Ontario to restore access to the Ambassador Bridge, which connects Windsor to Detroit.

The statement said the bridge and other ports of entry that are being blocked are vital trade routes and "the illegal blockades are resulting in real harm to jobs and our economies on both sides of the border."

Ministers and officials have been in close contact with representatives and officials from the U.S. "to align efforts to resolve this situation."

Trudeau and the ministers said they'll continue to work closely with local governments and authorities to respond with "whatever it takes" to help provinces and municipalities end the blockades and "bring the situation under control."

Just a day before the Incident Response Group was assembled, Trudeau spoke with Ontario Premier Doug Ford about what's happening and they united against the freedom convoy and the border blockades.

While the group is working with American officials, some MPs recently called out the attorney general of Texas for his comments about the Freedom Convoy GoFundMe page getting shut down.

Convoy protests creating political nightmare for Liberals and Conservatives

alike

OTTAWA — Toronto Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith says he agrees with his colleague Joël Lightbound that "divisive" rhetoric about getting vaccinated has to end, even if he is not fully onside with everything the Quebec Liberal MP said.

There have been obvious divisions within the Conservative caucus for months about vaccine mandates, COVID-19 restrictions and, in the last two weeks, whether or how to support the ongoing convoy demonstration paralyzing downtown Ottawa and now blocking multiple border crossings.

But some divisions are now emerging within the Liberal caucus and some MPs are calling for a shift in tone and direction from the government.

Lightbound, a Quebec City MP who spent the four years before the last election as a parliamentary secretary in health, finance and public safety, publicly chastised Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Tuesday for politicizing the pandemic and mandating vaccines in a bid to win votes from Canadians during the last election.

Erskine-Smith said in an interview he too was worried about “tone and rhetoric” coming from the government that appeared to lump together everyone with doubts about mandates or vaccines.

“We don’t have to vilify those who disagree with us on that front," he said. "And nor should people vilify people who are supportive of mandates."

"There are many people with legitimate questions and concerns and even where we disagree and (think they) may be misinformed I think we need to meet folks with compassion wherever possible."

The convoy occupying Ottawa and barricading borders is a complex group, with some there solely to protest against government restrictions and vaccine mandates they deem as a fundamental affront to civil liberties. But others have more nefarious purposes, including those displaying white supremacist symbols, and some of the lead organizers are calling for the democratically elected government to be overthrown.

Trudeau has refused to negotiate with anyone involved, and in the lead-up to the convoy's arrival in Ottawa said they were "a fringe minority with unacceptable views."

He and most of his cabinet have repeatedly said the only way forward is for people to get vaccinated to save both their lives and the lives of others, and insisted the vast majority of Canadians got vaccinated and clearly agree.

Lightbound expressed disgust at the displays of hatred and racism among the protesters on Parliament Hill but said he would not demonize all of them for wanting what more and more Canadians do: a more balanced approach to responding to COVID-19 that doesn't involve lockdowns and business and school closures that challenge both mental health and economic prosperity.

Erskine-Smith said he thought Lightbound had confused what restrictions the federal government was responsible for — decisions on closing businesses and schools, limits on public gatherings, mask mandates and vaccine passports for most daily activities including sporting events, concerts or eating in restaurants all fall to the provinces.

Ottawa is in charge only of vaccine mandates and COVID-19 testing requirements at the border, and vaccine mandates for federally regulated industries. Those are things Erskine-Smith said do need to be re-evaluated, but that those conversations have to be divorced from the “lawlessness” happening outside Parliament.

“We don’t cater to mob rule, we listen to public health experts," he said. "The blockades have certainly made it harder to have a rational conversation and in some cases address restrictions."

Thunder Bay Liberal MP Marcus Powlowski said the same thing Wednesday and Toronto Liberal John McKay agreed.

"You have to be thinking about what can be done to ease people’s lives," he said.

"The risk analysis should be done by people who know what they are talking about: not politicians, not truckers, not Nazi-flag-waving nutters, but epidemiologists."

On Wednesday fellow Quebec Liberal MP Yves Robillard told The Hill Times he agreed with everything Lightbound said and that he was not alone. Robillard has not responded to a request for an interview from The Canadian Press.

Several Liberals are however of the mind that Lightbound is making things worse by speaking out, confusing Canadians about evidence and restrictions, and providing fodder to the Conservatives and the protesters outside.

"It's not good timing," Seniors Minister Kamal Khera said Wednesday. "I don't agree with the way he went about it."

Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller said the disagreements should have been kept within the caucus.

"Everyone is entitled to their views and when it’s a team sport it’s something you do in private," said Miller. "He had expressed those views within caucus but to go out there and say that, that is something that we will discuss in private in caucus and afford him the respect that perhaps wasn’t accorded to us."

On Thursday, Erskine-Smith said on Twitter that he also thought the timing of Lightbound's remarks "was particularly challenging," given what is happening in Ottawa and elsewhere.

"The law should be enforced immediately, and we should not embolden further attacks on the rule of law," he wrote.

Winnipeg Liberal Jim Carr, a former cabinet minister, said he is confident "caucus is solid" regardless of the events of this week. But Carr said he is getting "tons of calls" from constituents about the protests, which expanded to Winnipeg last weekend.

"People are very emotional about it," he said. "They just want it to end."

Many Canadians are expressing frustration at the lack of a clear plan from any level of government to end the protests. On Monday, the city of Ottawa pointed fingers at the federal government, the provincial government pointed fingers at the city of Ottawa and the federal government pointed fingers at the province.

Carr said that has to stop.

"People aren't fixated on jurisdiction," he said. "They want a peaceful resolution."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 10, 2022.

Mia Rabson and Marie Woolf, The Canadian Press