By Sniffles
There was a time last year when Canadians lectured Americans on social media about how they needed to get their COVID act together. We agreed. We needed a new sheriff in town — and we got one. Now, as a Presidential administration that understands logistics is getting shots in American arms, it's Canada that's struggling. Big time.
This makes us very sad, because we want to go back to Canada as soon as possible. But it seems that the problem this time lies on the northern side of the border.
We thought Quebec was doing poorly until we saw what was going on in Ontario. We'll never understand why Ontarians tend to electorally indulge fat white men named Ford — either as Mayor of Toronto (Rob) or as Premier of the province (Doug) — but this is clearly a bad habit that they need to stop.
COVID cases are spiking, and a new lockdown looms after Ford, who was positively DeSantis-y in his pandemic approach before, has now decided he needs to restrict outdoor gatherings, halt nonessential construction, forbid large religious gatherings, and — GASP! — close the border with Quebec. This is what happens when you refuse to lead on masks and social distancing: Fate comes back to bite you.
After some initial glitches, Ottawa has been working its ass off trying to get more COVID vaccine, signing a deal with Pfizer for millions of doses. But as in the United States, the vaccination effort in Canada is only as effective as its provincial (state) governments. And while Francois Legault in Quebec is no great shakes, he's been positively brilliant compared to Doug Ford. (For the moment, Quebec's vaccine rollout is nosing out Ontario's by about four percentage points — a significant difference considering that Quebec is notorious for being contrarian about anything and everything.)
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has offered Ford the services of the Canadian Red Cross to ramp up Ontario vaccination sites. But Ford has turned that down. Did he say no because he didn't want to appear like he, as a Conservative premier, was cooperating with the Liberal government for the good of the people? In other words, is he acting like a Republican? We cats HISS.
No comments:
Post a Comment