WHEN BELL IS AT HIS BEST; SNARKY
Bell: Kenney sidekick Shandro gets COVID questions, serves word saladAuthor of the article: Rick Bell
Publishing date: Sep 10, 2021
I’m too confused to be gobsmacked.
On Thursday I tell Tyler Shandro, Kenney’s health head honcho, I’m confused.
It’s my turn for a question.
Others have asked questions and gotten nowhere. I give it a shot knowing there’s a good chance of sinking in the same Kenney government quicksand.
I tell Shandro I will make it really, really, really simple.
First shot. How much longer does he think the current COVID-19 wave will continue going up?
How bad does he believe it will get?
What measures are Kenney, Shandro and the rest of the UCP crew prepared to put in place if things get much worse?
What things are they ruling in, ruling out, still considering, not considering?
What about government-mandated vaccine passports as in other provinces?
You know, where your proof of vaccination is on your phone or on a card and if you’re not fully vaccinated then you can’t go to certain places like bars and restaurants. All bars and restaurants.
The passport is intended to get people’s attention and get more of the unvaccinated motivated to roll up their sleeves.
Also, what about closing businesses? Is that a possibility?
What is on the table? What is off the table?
Shandro’s chance to be clear to all Albertans no matter where you stand.
He stickhandles. I take that back. He doesn’t stickhandle.
There is a skill to stickhandling. People say: “Boy, they can really stickhandle!”
No one in their right mind gives Shandro kudos for this meandering mess.
Shandro says no jurisdiction has been able to predict the future. You don’t say. But they still act.
He says we might hit the peak of the COVID wave in the coming weeks.
Then he puts on what he calls his asterisk.
We continue to see the unvaccinated continue to interact with each other.
“To be able to guess those folks and their behaviour does make it a little difficult for us to pin down.”
That’s why newshounds are asking about government vaccine passports.
The answer? The short answer. The long answer, you don’t want to see.
“We’re looking at the further situation,” says Shandro.
“Looking at where we do see the further spread among the geographically and demographically for us to be able to continue to make sure we have the system capacity in our hospitals we need to have.”
You read it right.
I had another question but I had to go back and give the first one another try.
“With all due respect, it’s hard to figure out your answers. It’s hard to get an answer,” I tell Shandro.
“People are upset. They want to have an idea of what the government’s plan is and they’d like to know: Are certain things still on the table or are they definitely off the table?”
I ask again about vaccine passports, closing businesses. Possibility, no possibility?
“There’s a lot of people listening here who are in business. Are you prepared to close businesses again? I think I’m being pretty direct.”
Shandro asks how certain can we be of the future and it’s hard to say 100% we know the answer. They’ll keep us posted.
So did Nero as Rome burned.
Other newshounds hold Shandro’s feet to the fire.
He tells them they have great questions but then adds there is no easy answer and gives a non-answer answer.
Some of these so-called answers are head-shaking. Shandro actually thinks telling the unvaccinated they shouldn’t hang out indoors in big groups is doing something.
He talks about the government looking at evidence but it is not at all clear what he means as he rambles, connecting dots clear only to him.
He’s asked about making political decisions on COVID and says the biggest criticism of Kenney’s outfit is they have not been making decisions political enough.
Really?
One answer starts going down a rabbit hole when Shandro asks a reporter what definition of vaccine passport she is using when he knows damn well what she’s talking about. He goes on about other definitions and the answer gets lost in the ether.
Dr. Deena Hinshaw, the top public health doc, does kind of admit the Best Summer Ever plan … er … didn’t pan out.
But then the doc talks about young liquored-up people in the bars as a source of spreading COVID justifying the 10 p.m. bar closing time without mentioning you could just keep the unvaccinated party crowd out and operate normally.
By the way, the question I didn’t ask Shandro.
Does he really understand many Albertans are angry? Does he think Albertans have a point in being angry?
I can only imagine what he would have said.
Publishing date: Sep 10, 2021
Health Minister Tyler Shandro announces the province's new COVID restrictions at McDougall Centre in Calgary on Friday, September 3, 2021. Azin Ghaffari/Postmedia
I’m too confused to be gobsmacked.
On Thursday I tell Tyler Shandro, Kenney’s health head honcho, I’m confused.
It’s my turn for a question.
Others have asked questions and gotten nowhere. I give it a shot knowing there’s a good chance of sinking in the same Kenney government quicksand.
I tell Shandro I will make it really, really, really simple.
First shot. How much longer does he think the current COVID-19 wave will continue going up?
How bad does he believe it will get?
What measures are Kenney, Shandro and the rest of the UCP crew prepared to put in place if things get much worse?
What things are they ruling in, ruling out, still considering, not considering?
What about government-mandated vaccine passports as in other provinces?
You know, where your proof of vaccination is on your phone or on a card and if you’re not fully vaccinated then you can’t go to certain places like bars and restaurants. All bars and restaurants.
The passport is intended to get people’s attention and get more of the unvaccinated motivated to roll up their sleeves.
Also, what about closing businesses? Is that a possibility?
What is on the table? What is off the table?
Shandro’s chance to be clear to all Albertans no matter where you stand.
He stickhandles. I take that back. He doesn’t stickhandle.
There is a skill to stickhandling. People say: “Boy, they can really stickhandle!”
No one in their right mind gives Shandro kudos for this meandering mess.
Shandro says no jurisdiction has been able to predict the future. You don’t say. But they still act.
He says we might hit the peak of the COVID wave in the coming weeks.
Then he puts on what he calls his asterisk.
We continue to see the unvaccinated continue to interact with each other.
“To be able to guess those folks and their behaviour does make it a little difficult for us to pin down.”
That’s why newshounds are asking about government vaccine passports.
The answer? The short answer. The long answer, you don’t want to see.
“We’re looking at the further situation,” says Shandro.
“Looking at where we do see the further spread among the geographically and demographically for us to be able to continue to make sure we have the system capacity in our hospitals we need to have.”
You read it right.
I had another question but I had to go back and give the first one another try.
“With all due respect, it’s hard to figure out your answers. It’s hard to get an answer,” I tell Shandro.
“People are upset. They want to have an idea of what the government’s plan is and they’d like to know: Are certain things still on the table or are they definitely off the table?”
I ask again about vaccine passports, closing businesses. Possibility, no possibility?
“There’s a lot of people listening here who are in business. Are you prepared to close businesses again? I think I’m being pretty direct.”
Shandro asks how certain can we be of the future and it’s hard to say 100% we know the answer. They’ll keep us posted.
So did Nero as Rome burned.
Other newshounds hold Shandro’s feet to the fire.
He tells them they have great questions but then adds there is no easy answer and gives a non-answer answer.
Some of these so-called answers are head-shaking. Shandro actually thinks telling the unvaccinated they shouldn’t hang out indoors in big groups is doing something.
He talks about the government looking at evidence but it is not at all clear what he means as he rambles, connecting dots clear only to him.
He’s asked about making political decisions on COVID and says the biggest criticism of Kenney’s outfit is they have not been making decisions political enough.
Really?
One answer starts going down a rabbit hole when Shandro asks a reporter what definition of vaccine passport she is using when he knows damn well what she’s talking about. He goes on about other definitions and the answer gets lost in the ether.
Dr. Deena Hinshaw, the top public health doc, does kind of admit the Best Summer Ever plan … er … didn’t pan out.
But then the doc talks about young liquored-up people in the bars as a source of spreading COVID justifying the 10 p.m. bar closing time without mentioning you could just keep the unvaccinated party crowd out and operate normally.
By the way, the question I didn’t ask Shandro.
Does he really understand many Albertans are angry? Does he think Albertans have a point in being angry?
I can only imagine what he would have said.
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