Edmonton Journal -Thursday's letters:
Smith oblivious to realities faced by minorities
Clearly, our new premier is out of touch with the current realities faced by Alberta’s minorities. Her naive, untrue and flippant comments on discrimination and anti-Canada comments are a frightening distraction. A pathetic attempt to curry favour from a small minority of equally selfish Albertans that refuse to vaccinate.
On Sunday May 8, 2022 the City of Edmonton officially proclaimed May 10, 2022 as the National Day of Action Against Anti-Asian Racism. A group walked from city hall to Pacific Rim Mall in Chinatown, where members of the community rallied to share experiences and impacts of racism, hate and discrimination.© Larry Wong
A simple Internet search tells us that many of those refusers led the charge in discriminating. In 2021, hate-motivated crimes targeting religion jumped 67 per cent, those targeting sexual orientation climbed 64 per cent and those targeting race or ethnicity rose six per cent. Facts and realities are lost on Smith.
Another quick search finds that Muslim women, Indigenous peoples, people of colour, GLBTQ community, the Jewish community continue to be the most discriminated against. Alberta’s population of about 4.5 million is less than 12 per cent of Canada’s population. The majority of our families have roots in other parts of the world, making the majority of Albertans a part of a minority group.
Smith’s silly ideas of leadership to focus on division and not on inflation, health care and education assure her place in history of the shortest term of any Alberta premier ever.
Murray Billett, Edmonton
On Sunday May 8, 2022 the City of Edmonton officially proclaimed May 10, 2022 as the National Day of Action Against Anti-Asian Racism. A group walked from city hall to Pacific Rim Mall in Chinatown, where members of the community rallied to share experiences and impacts of racism, hate and discrimination.© Larry Wong
A simple Internet search tells us that many of those refusers led the charge in discriminating. In 2021, hate-motivated crimes targeting religion jumped 67 per cent, those targeting sexual orientation climbed 64 per cent and those targeting race or ethnicity rose six per cent. Facts and realities are lost on Smith.
Another quick search finds that Muslim women, Indigenous peoples, people of colour, GLBTQ community, the Jewish community continue to be the most discriminated against. Alberta’s population of about 4.5 million is less than 12 per cent of Canada’s population. The majority of our families have roots in other parts of the world, making the majority of Albertans a part of a minority group.
Smith’s silly ideas of leadership to focus on division and not on inflation, health care and education assure her place in history of the shortest term of any Alberta premier ever.
Murray Billett, Edmonton
Smith trying to scapegoat Hinshaw
I am absolutely disgusted at Danielle Smith’s decision to fire Deena Hinshaw, though not surprised. I was extremely worried she’d be the one the Conservatives would wind up placing as their leader as they have lost their way as the leading party for Albertans.
We now have this group of people who don’t believe in medical science, follow conspiracy theories, wish to disrupt rules of law, ignore provincial and federal regulations and acts to go their own way. Kenney was bad, but good Lord, she’s 10 times worse. Any body of people who decide that they know better than the medical profession when it comes to keeping people safe during a pandemic scares me. Trump did that to Dr. Fauci in the States and effectively muzzled him, leading to the deaths of countless more people who didn’t need to die.
Smith is trying to make Hinshaw our scapegoat here in Alberta. Shame, shame on her.
Sharon Flemming, Edmonton
Trump-ish talk will doom conservatism
Danielle Smith says unvaccinated people have suffered greater discrimination than those based on race, gender, sexuality and other. Really?
I wonder if Premier Smith has the intestinal fortitude to preach that rubbish to a Jew whose home was vandalized with anti-Semitic graffiti? What about a woman who earns far less than her male co-workers despite doing exactly the same job, a Black man who is routinely pulled over
several times a year while driving his car by police officers who racially profile, a Muslim who is pulled out of the line every time they go to the airport and harassed by Islamophobic customs agents, an Aboriginal survivor of residential schools, or a gay teenager who endures daily bullying at high school?
I predict that Smith and Pierre Poilievre will be the electoral ruin of Canadian conservatism with their right-wing, Donald Trump-style rhetoric.
Liam Duc Looi, Okotoks
Nelson: UCP Must Abandon COVID War To Retain Power
Opinion by Chris Nelson, For The Calgary Herald -
It’s often said generals invariably fight the previous war. Politicians often make that same mistake, too.
It's time for some UCP members to move onwards from a focus on COVID, past pandemic restrictions and vaccinations, writes Chris Nelson.
Probably many of those people still question some rules and strictures surrounding that whole COVID campaign, maybe even their own decision to get vaccinated, considering how goalposts constantly moved regarding effectiveness against ever-evolving viral strains.
Nobody could be that daft, could they? Don’t rule it out.
This current kumbaya pause amongst the various Tory factions might only last until the party’s AGM, due in Edmonton next week.
Take Back Alberta, an influential group taking much credit for getting Smith elected, now wants to control the UCP board. The Edmonton gathering provides that opportunity.
The group’s founder, David Parker, said if the move was successful, then it would allow them to decide who runs as an MLA candidate and how party funds are spent. That’s real political power, for those keeping score.
Of course, its major goals include halting future vaccine mandates and stopping future lockdowns.
Inflation, pipeline access, educational shortcomings, exploding substance abuse and so forth don’t get a mention. The seemingly endless COVID campaign, marching in circles under that flowing banner of freedom, is all that matters.
Well, it will be a march ending in electoral oblivion. Danielle Smith knows this, but these are the folk that brought her to the dance. Will she jettison them now?
Hey, she abandoned her supporters before .
Opinion by Chris Nelson, For The Calgary Herald -
It’s often said generals invariably fight the previous war. Politicians often make that same mistake, too.
It's time for some UCP members to move onwards from a focus on COVID, past pandemic restrictions and vaccinations, writes Chris Nelson.
© Provided by Calgary Herald
So, the question today is whether the fragility of our current provincial government can triumph if insisting upon making our recent collective pandemic response a major part of its upcoming election campaign.
Maybe it’s me, but when those dreary numbers of how many Albertans were dead, sick or infected finally stopped being announced every day, it was a blessed relief.
Confucius was right; living in interesting times is indeed a curse. And, let’s face it; our collective global fight against COVID 19 became a social, medical and political experiment involving a larger slice of humanity than any previous event in history. Yep, interesting barely covers it.
These days, statistics show we’re approaching 13 billion vaccinations administered, with more than two-thirds of the world’s population receiving at least one jab.
But, as we know too well, details of that mammoth logistical success barely scratch the surface of how this pandemic affected us. Yes, it’s still here, but if for no other reason than our mental health, discussing COVID in the past tense is hugely restorative.
Yet, it appears certain the current United Conservative Party, under Premier Danielle Smith, won’t let the issue slumber. There are too many party members who consider what was done in the name of COVID cause for an existential fight to ever allow retreat from this dreary battlefield.
The war — with its mask mandates, vaccine requirements and social gathering restrictions — will be refought, regurgitated and relived ad nauseam. It has become, to some, a reason to be.
Smith’s acceptance speech was, for the most part, an appeal to unity and a magnanimous reach-out to her Tory opponents and the rest of Canada — except when it came to the COVID call-to-arms.
“We will not be told what to put in our bodies in order to work or to travel,” she declared. It was but a single sentence yet raised the loudest cheer of the evening. The fight is far from over in a sizable section of the current UCP membership.
So, the question today is whether the fragility of our current provincial government can triumph if insisting upon making our recent collective pandemic response a major part of its upcoming election campaign.
Maybe it’s me, but when those dreary numbers of how many Albertans were dead, sick or infected finally stopped being announced every day, it was a blessed relief.
Confucius was right; living in interesting times is indeed a curse. And, let’s face it; our collective global fight against COVID 19 became a social, medical and political experiment involving a larger slice of humanity than any previous event in history. Yep, interesting barely covers it.
These days, statistics show we’re approaching 13 billion vaccinations administered, with more than two-thirds of the world’s population receiving at least one jab.
But, as we know too well, details of that mammoth logistical success barely scratch the surface of how this pandemic affected us. Yes, it’s still here, but if for no other reason than our mental health, discussing COVID in the past tense is hugely restorative.
Yet, it appears certain the current United Conservative Party, under Premier Danielle Smith, won’t let the issue slumber. There are too many party members who consider what was done in the name of COVID cause for an existential fight to ever allow retreat from this dreary battlefield.
The war — with its mask mandates, vaccine requirements and social gathering restrictions — will be refought, regurgitated and relived ad nauseam. It has become, to some, a reason to be.
Smith’s acceptance speech was, for the most part, an appeal to unity and a magnanimous reach-out to her Tory opponents and the rest of Canada — except when it came to the COVID call-to-arms.
“We will not be told what to put in our bodies in order to work or to travel,” she declared. It was but a single sentence yet raised the loudest cheer of the evening. The fight is far from over in a sizable section of the current UCP membership.
But 91 per cent of Albertans of voting age are vaccinated to some degree, while in the two major cities those numbers are even higher. In upper northeast Calgary those receiving at least one jab stands at an astonishing 100 per cent.
Probably many of those people still question some rules and strictures surrounding that whole COVID campaign, maybe even their own decision to get vaccinated, considering how goalposts constantly moved regarding effectiveness against ever-evolving viral strains.
Nevertheless, people indeed rolled up their sleeves — more than three and a half million Albertans made that choice — for what they considered both a personal and societal good. Therefore, to infer they were somehow dupes or simple-minded sheep by doing so would be a stunningly stupid strategy for any political party seeking office.
Nobody could be that daft, could they? Don’t rule it out.
This current kumbaya pause amongst the various Tory factions might only last until the party’s AGM, due in Edmonton next week.
Take Back Alberta, an influential group taking much credit for getting Smith elected, now wants to control the UCP board. The Edmonton gathering provides that opportunity.
The group’s founder, David Parker, said if the move was successful, then it would allow them to decide who runs as an MLA candidate and how party funds are spent. That’s real political power, for those keeping score.
Of course, its major goals include halting future vaccine mandates and stopping future lockdowns.
Inflation, pipeline access, educational shortcomings, exploding substance abuse and so forth don’t get a mention. The seemingly endless COVID campaign, marching in circles under that flowing banner of freedom, is all that matters.
Well, it will be a march ending in electoral oblivion. Danielle Smith knows this, but these are the folk that brought her to the dance. Will she jettison them now?
Hey, she abandoned her supporters before .
Chris Nelson is a regular columnist for the Calgary Herald.
Canadians condemn Alberta premier: ‘Has Danielle Smith ever met an Indigenous person, Black person, Brown person?’
Abhya Adlakha
·Editor, Yahoo News Canada
Wed, October 12, 2022
Danielle Smith, sworn in Tuesday as Alberta's new premier, has drawn the ire of Canadian doctors and residents with her comments on unvaccinated Canadians. A day after being sworn in, Smith pledged to amend the Alberta Human Rights Act, said she will change the health system within three months and alter the provincial human rights law to protect those who choose not to get vaccinated.
"(The unvaccinated) have been the most discriminated-against group that I’ve ever witnessed in my lifetime,” Smith told reporters.
Smith says Alberta won't have any vaccine mandates, which will help attract more employees to the province.
Moreover, she has warned Albertans of upcoming rapid changes to the management health care team in the province. She has already decided to replace Alberta's chief medical officer of health, Dr. Deena Hinshaw, and recruit a new team of advisors in public health.
I don’t think I’ve ever experienced a situation in my lifetime where a person was fired from their job or not allowed to watch their kids play hockey or not allowed to go visit a loved one in long-term care or hospital, not allowed to get on a plane to either go across the country to see family or even travel across the border. We are not going to create a segregated society on the basis of a medical choice.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith
Her statement on the ongoing discrimination being faced by several unvaccinated groups was received negatively by doctors, medical professionals, and several residents of Canada. After a massive backlash, the premier tracked back her comments in a statement.
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