While Premier Jason Kenney and cohort condescendingly offer empty platitudes to all of the people who have long ago been immunized in the hopes of putting this pandemic behind us, he turns around and bribes those who continue to refuse vaccines.
The lesson lost on our premier, is that desperately pleading and grovelling with deeply ideologically entrenched people is a colossal exercise in futility. History has taught us many times that a laissez-faire attitude and spineless appeasement are disastrous policies that in the long run serve only to spectacularly backfire and cause greater collective harm.
Barely a couple of months ago, Kenney infamously and prematurely declared the pandemic over just in time for the Calgary Stampede in the lead up to what he hailed as the Best Summer Ever in a transparent political charade to cater to his disgruntled base and shore up support.
Then, early in August, he went completely off the public radar for nearly an entire month as COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations surged, only coming out of hiding on Sept. 1 to appear on a scripted social media appearance where he unironically told people not to believe everything they see and hear on social media.
Faced with a mounting public health crisis as numbers of almost exclusively unvaccinated Albertans fill up ICU beds throughout the province, his government held a press conference earlier today (Friday, Sept. 3) to announce new temporary measures to curb the latest spike.
In predictable fashion, the premier appeared nearly 20 minutes late for the conference. Also joining him were his health minister, Tyler Shandro, Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw as well as CEO of Alberta Health Services Dr. Verna Yiu.
Kenney and Shandro stammered several times as they unconvincingly tried to weather scathing questions from reporters in an attempt to justify his government’s actions, or rather lack thereof.
But before answering any questions, Kenney and his staff attempted to convey the gravity of the situation, despite the premier dismissively demonizing critics who earlier this summer had expressed concerns that reopening too quickly would inevitably lead us into the precarious situation we now find ourselves in.
“COVID-19 is surging once again,” said Kenney, whose promises of the bestest summer of all time have come crashing down.
“The Delta variant of COVID-19 is causing concerning rises in hospitalizations in our province almost entirely among unvaccinated Albertans.”
The premier presented some talking points about how effective vaccinations are at providing protection against the virus, and claimed Alberta reached a great milestone with 70 per cent of eligible adults being fully immunized. Why that's a milestone when our province has among the lowest rates of vaccination in the country, is anyone's guess.
To give the man credit, that fact wasn't lost on him.
“The bad news, is that we still have 30 per cent of the eligible population without full vaccine protection. And the Delta variant is ripping its way through this group at an aggressive rate,” he said.
Illustrating the situation with numbers, he pointed out more than 80 per cent of patients in Alberta hospitals are not immunized, while more than 91 per cent clinging to life in intensive care units haven't been vaccinated.
“These numbers say it better than anybody ever could,” he said.
Attempting to legitimatize the UCP government's rush to recklessly reopen, a flagrantly political decision that led us directly to where we are today, Kenney said the Delta strain was declining prior to the lifting of restrictions on July 1.
He then proceeded to throw Hinshaw under the bus by saying the government's decisions were based on her analysis of available data at the time.
The premier even scolded those who refuse to get vaccinated.
“Their choices are now jeopardizing our health-care system,” he said, calling the latest wave a “crisis of the unvaccinated.”
But shortly after arguably laying the blame directly on their shoulders, he promised to reward them with a bribe.
“For the love of God, please get vaccinated now. And if you do, we will now pay you $100.”
Kenney said Alberta is the first province to offer a “personal monetary incentive,” which let's face it is little more than a pretty euphemism for bribing selfish people with a reward for their indignant behaviour.
To be fair, there are some Albertans who just wanted to wait until they felt comfortable enough about the science behind the vaccines. But they shouldn't be rewarded, either.
Shandro also made sure to toss Hinshaw under the bus, repeating the scripted talking point that the government innocently followed the chief medical officer's advice when Alberta was declared open for business.
Like Kenney, the health minister also laid the blame on the shoulders of those who haven't been immunized.
“The vaccines are not failing,” said Shandro. “There are still too many unvaccinated people. The Delta variant is moving through them faster than we expected.”
The health minister admitted that the Delta variant's surge started in early August. Yet, for several weeks, there was radio silence from the government, unless you count the occasional tweet as an adequate means to inform the public at large.
In the absence of anything resembling leadership, a group of physicians even took it upon themselves to try and inform the public.
Despite knowing full well Alberta was facing a serious increase driven by the more contagious Delta variant, the government still waited until Sept. 3 to actually deliver its first official public update in almost a month.
Kenney attempted to pass off his absence as a desperately needed break from the stress of the job. Last I checked, leaders — good ones at least — cancel vacations early during times of crisis.
Sir Winston Churchill, who the premier has previously waxed poetic about by quoting the late British Prime Minister as saying “The work of democracy does not end in a crisis,” was unlikely preoccupied by thoughts of taking a couple of weeks off to recharge his batteries during the Blitz, or any time throughout the war for that matter.
Meanwhile, how many health-care workers are suffering from burnout, with the added insult of facing salary cuts?
And while the mask mandate has been reintroduced in all public and work spaces, schools remain an exception.
“School boards will continue to set COVID management policies as they deem appropriate,” said Shandro.
“The provincial mask mandate, will not need to apply to schools,” the health minister said.
That decision frankly defies logic, but makes all the sense in the world as a calculated political strategy that once again caters and shamelessly appeases the far right fringe so the government can dismissively shrug its shoulders and wash its hands clean when people protest a school board that decides to have a mask mandate. Seeing as protestors have already harassed and intimidated health-care staff, this outcome seems all but unavoidable.
The health minister also said anyone who is even just "a little bit" sick should stay home. But neither he nor the premier mentioned anything whatsoever about what government supports will be in place to help workers and employers.
When asked by a reporter why the government is rewarding people who have refused to get vaccinated, Shandro stammered awkwardly as he searched for words, “We, um, looked at, uh, as I said, in, the, uh…what I said previously, is we’re looking at what the options are.”
Apparently, bribing people in Colorado had some measured success, so why not give it a shot, his unconvincing argument boiled down to.
The bribe is merely an “innovative” way to encourage people to get vaccinated. More like insulting to the rest of us. Besides, most of those they're trying to persuade will see the shameless offer as further proof the vaccine is a scam. Otherwise, why would anyone need to be paid to take it?
When further hammered on what kind of message the bribe sends to those who have been immunized, the premier actually said, apparently expecting to be believed, “I wish we didn’t have to do this. But this is not a time for moral judgments. It’s a time to get people vaccinated.”
Perhaps the premier could lecture those who label vaccinated Albertans as “sheep” about reserving moral judgements amid a pandemic.
And despite Alberta having had among Canada's slackest restrictions, he audaciously claimed the UCP government has done everything humanly possible, left not one single stone unturned.
Everything, that is, except for a vaccine passport and tougher measures that don't bend over backward to accommodate whatever remains of his base.
“We’re not going to forcibly jab people’s arms in this province,” he said.
Instead, the government will simply ask pretty please with a cherry on top, will those who haven't already been immunized finally get vaccinated and limit social interactions until they do.
As if the people who refuse to get vaccinated will listen to requests to limit their social interactions — they act proudly in violation of these measures.
And sadly, so long as the premier continues to be more concerned about backlash from the far right fringe portion of his base than the actual pandemic, Albertans can remain certain the road ahead remains a long one.
