AUGUST 14, 2021
Joe Wipond left the McDougall Center in downtown Calgary on Wednesday around 1 p.m., after leading a rally against Alberta’s plans to close COVID-19 testing centers, contact tracing and isolation requirements. He headed east, away from the dull crowd, to be set up in a quiet spot for the TV interview. The police chased.
Dr. Wipond, an emergency room physician, has emerged as one of the most prominent critics of Premier Jason Kenny. In late July, the physician became the de facto leader of daily rallies against the United Conservative Party’s handling of the pandemic. In Calgary, protesters have gathered outside McDougall, a provincial government building; In Edmonton, he has generally rallied in the legislature.
UCP activists portray Dr. Vipond as a shill for the NDP. Anti-maskers and vaccine conspiracy theorists call him a snake oil salesman, a fascist, and a fraud. Protesters show up every day, trying to drive out Dr. Vipond and his supporters. When they get too close, a beefy friend casually steps in between him and the doctor.
Continuous demonstrations are not part of Alberta’s political culture. The daily rallies mark a new level of frustration with Mr Kenny’s government, with newcomers chanting alongside union veterans with political activism. And Alberta’s growing distaste for the UCP could extend beyond provincial politics if disgruntled voters take out their grievances on Canada’s Conservative Party candidates in the next federal election, which is expected in September.
As Dr. Wipond left McDougall with his unofficial bodyguard and TV reporter, a Calgary Police Service officer jumped on a bike to track him down. The officer followed from afar, as all three prepared for the interview.
When a counter-protester passed by, the officer spoke on his radio and another CPS member showed up. The pair moved to a place close to Dr. Wipond, where they could quickly meet between the doctor and his critic, who was talking on a megaphone a few feet away. He let the respondent do his job.
On Friday, Dr. Vipond and others like him declared a partial victory. The province’s chief medical officer of health, Dina Hinshaw, delayed the closure of testing centres, and said those who test positive for COVID-19 should continue to isolate. Contact tracing, however, will still be wound up.
Dr Hinshaw said the latest decision was based on examining data from the United States, where states with low vaccination rates have seen an increase in children’s hospital admissions. Asked whether Friday’s turnaround was an acknowledgment that people like Dr. Wipond are right, Ms. Hinshaw addressed political tensions in the province.
“One of the most important things that has happened during the pandemic is the polarization and the difficulty of having a respectful dialogue between differences,” he told reporters. “And I believe that, with very complex and even wicked problems like COVID-19, we do well to hold onto positions rather than recognize that we have common interests. Service is not available.”
He said he was not perfect. But neither, Dr. Hinshaw said, are those who have different views on what the province should do
“It’s important that we open up space for respectful dialogue, and to share perspectives, to be able to have that discussion,” she said.
With the backing of the government, the organizers of the rally have canceled plans to hold demonstrations this weekend. However, the political fallout will continue. Mr Kenny was a top lieutenant under former Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and voters associate him closely with the federal Conservative Party.
Morgan Turrigan was a regular at McDougall rallies, and has said that she is new to this type of activism. She comes from a family of devoted conservatives and belongs to the Conservative Party of Canada. That membership fee, she said, was the only political donation she had ever made.
Ms Turrigan said she votes based on policy rather than ideological allegiance, but her anger at the UCP will determine how she votes in federal elections.
“I will not vote for the opposition in this election because of what Alberta is doing,” she said.
Before Alberta’s reversal, she contacted federal Conservative lawmakers to inform them she would not vote for Conservatives unless they tried to persuade their provincial counterparts to reconsider their COVID-19 strategy.
“It’s affecting my vote, because I can’t believe they don’t stand to say: ‘Hey provincial guys, stop doing this,'” she said.
It will take years for conservative parties to win him back, and others in his social circle feel the same way, she said.
Mark Lehman is another newcomer to the activist scene. He is a retired businessman. That said, performing makes them uncomfortable. But he attended McDougall rallies because he thought UCP was putting lives at risk.
“I thought it was time for people like me – who are probably not uncommon – to be there. To offer support,” Mr. Lehmann said. He is a longtime conservative, and supported the UCP in the last election. But, he added: “Never again.”
Dan Furst, a corporate attorney in Calgary, attended McDougall rallies when he could fit them into his schedule. He said he had previously worked in political activism, but he is more comfortable writing letters.
About attending rallies, he said, “I don’t like doing that.” “It always seems that the ghost of violence is never far away.”
Kenney needs to own decision after Alberta
slows lifting of COVID-19 measures: MRU
professor
By Kirby Bourne 630CHED
Posted August 13, 2021 
WATCH: While it’s Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s chief medical officer of health, who makes the recommendations about COVID-19 protocols, the final decisions are made by the premier and his cabinet. Tom Vernon takes a look at that process and reaction to recent decisions
After Premier Jason Kenney was nowhere to be found at a news conference announcing Alberta will not be moving forward yet with the lifting of some COVID-19 measures, one political commentator is calling on him to step up and own his decisions.
“If he wants to look like he’s a leader, which seems to be his desire, then he should be taking responsibility for his good decisions as well as the ones that need to be modified or changed,” Lori Williams, an associate professor at Mount Royal University’s faculty of policy studies, said.
READ MORE: Alberta keeping COVID-19 measures for another six weeks
On Friday morning, Alberta’s chief medical officer of health announced the province would be delaying the lifting of remaining COVID-19 measures, including testing, tracing and isolation requirements.
“We are not going backwards. We are pausing to monitor and assess before taking a step forward,” Dr. Deena Hinshaw said in a news conference.
“If monitoring confirms our original expectations that a rise in cases will not lead to high levels of (hospitalizations) and we do not see evidence of increased risk for severe disease for children, we will proceed with implementing the next set of changes after Sept. 27.”
While Education Minister Adriana LaGrange was on hand to outline the steps the province will be taking to protect students when they go back to school in September, the premier was not at the news conference. Nor was he at the news conference announcing the government would be lifting those measures.
“He’s trying to put some distance from it because he doesn’t want the political blowback,” Williams said. “In essence, it looks like he wants to get the credit for being a leader and ahead of everybody else, but he doesn’t want any of the criticism that has gone with that.”
When the province announced Alberta would stop testing, contact tracing and isolation requirements, feedback was swift from within the province, the country and even around the world, Williams said.
In Alberta, daily protests at the legislature in Edmonton and MacDougall Centre in Calgary began and grew larger day by day.
READ MORE: Albertans protest ending mandatory COVID-19 isolation, masking and testing changes
The government rolling back those decisions was likely directly linked to those protests as well as the other blowback, Williams said.
“There’s been a whole lot of momentum built to criticize the government now and I don’t think it would be very difficult to get those protests going again if there’s another measure taken by the government that’s unpopular.”
The decision to pause the lifting of those measures was made Thursday night at an emergency cabinet meeting and at the advice of Hinshaw.
NDP health critic David Shepherd spoke to reporters after Hinshaw’s announcement Friday morning. He also said Kenney is trying to distance himself from the conversation, hoping that “Albertans memories are going to be short.”
Shepherd called on Kenney to step up and own the decision, while also continuing to ensure Albertans, businesses and schools get the support they need to continue to deal with COVID-19.
“Instead we see them ducking and hiding and bobbing and weaving because they don’t want to deal with potential political fallout with potentially some of their far-right base, potentially with some of their own caucus, as we saw this spring.”
READ MORE: Kenney says UCP needs to be ‘on the same team’ after vote to oust dissenters
Former UCP caucus members and current independent MLAs Drew Barnes and Todd Loewen released a joint statement Friday morning, saying this announcement is “at least the third time the premier has broken his word to Albertans when it comes to pandemic management.”
“At this point there is no reason for any Albertan to trust this premier when it comes to pandemic policy,” they said.
During the news conference Friday, LaGrange and Hinshaw were asked about the political ramifications of the changes.
“(Hinshaw) brought forward further recommendations, again we’re following the science and the advice of our chief medical officer of health. She has served us really, really well and we thank her for her dedicated service to Albertans,” LaGrange said.
Alberta return-to-school plan says public health, schools don't need to share COVID case info
Alberta Health Services will not inform school authorities of individual cases of COVID-19 at school
New guidelines for Alberta schools will greatly reduce the flow of information between educators and public health authorities about COVID-19 cases.
The five-page guidance document released Friday says that Alberta Health Services (AHS) won't tell schools when a student or staff member has tested positive for the illness, and that schools aware of positive cases don't have to tell AHS.
No one who works in or attends a school needs to share a positive test result with school administrators, though they are still advised to isolate.
The recommendations follow Alberta's decision to phase out contact tracing in most settings and are a marked change from how schools managed COVID-19 cases during the last school year.
Cases will not scuttle classes, Hinshaw says
At a news conference Friday morning, Alberta's chief medical officer of health, Dr. Deena Hinshaw, also said classes will no longer have to be sent home to isolate, even if the school is aware of a COVID-19 case.
"We recognize that intervention, which I believe was necessary last year prior to widespread vaccine availability, is highly disruptive and causes significant harm," Hinshaw said.
The plan was unveiled as daily COVID-19 cases increase in the province, with 582 new diagnoses reported on Friday.
With no provincial school mask mandate included, except on school buses until Sept. 27, Education Minister Adriana LaGrange told school boards it's up to them to take any additional measures they think are necessary in their communities.
Hours later, Edmonton Public Schools revealed all students from kindergarten to Grade 12 and staff will be expected to keep masking this school year.
With children under 12 ineligible for a vaccine and just slightly more than half of 12- to 19-year-olds vaccinated in the province, board chair Trisha Estabrooks said it is the safe and prudent choice.
"Ideally, we want kids in classes learning with their peers, learning face to face with their teachers," she said. "If we have this measure that will lessen the disruption in our classrooms and keep kids and staff as safe as possible, why wouldn't we do this?"
At a special public school board meeting Friday afternoon, superintendent Darrel Robertson said he hopes the mandatory masking will encourage more families to choose in-person learning this fall.
Both Edmonton public and Catholic schools extended their deadline for families to make that choice until Aug. 19 at 4 p.m. MT.
Edmonton Catholic Schools said it plans to release its back-to-school plan on Monday.
Critics say return anything but normal
At the news conference, LaGrange heralded the return to classrooms as "normal," saying students can look forward to field trips, team sports, school clubs and celebrations such as graduation ceremonies.
"It was hard for me to hear that everything is going to be going back to normal," said Roxanne Weyermann, an Edmonton teacher who has three young children. Her oldest child will start kindergarten next month.
She wanted to see mandatory masking and distancing rules stay in place across the province — at least until children can be vaccinated. She worries children who voluntarily wear masks could be stigmatized.
The Alberta Teachers' Association was pleased to see an in-school vaccination program beginning in junior and senior high schools on Sept. 7.
But president Jason Schilling said waiting until more than 10 per cent of the school population is absent with an illness before calling AHS, as the guidance recommends, is a "recipe for disaster." In a large urban high school, it could mean waiting until more than 200 people are sick.
The Opposition NDP slammed the United Conservative Party government's plans. Health critic David Shepherd said with the end to contact tracing, and paring back of testing after Sept. 27, the government is withholding information parents and school administrators need to make informed decisions about their children's health.
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