You should be concerned

There are many reasons that I can think of to say that the current Liberal government leadership is failing the Canadian people. Besides treating the government coffers as their own personal expense account with unlimited funds, and a printing press to back it up, they have totally dropped the ball on the protection of Canadians from the current pandemic.

A simple search of the World Health Organization (WHO) data collection site on the internet provides everyone with easy access to clear evidence of this. (I just don’t understand why no media source in Canada, or anywhere, has put it in clear terms for us to see exactly what is happening)

I admit that I am frustrated by the lack of access to proven vaccines in Canada. Not just for myself, but also for my 94 year old mother who has been fortunate enough to have a sound mind and capable body and still lives on her own. As of today, she has not been notified of a date when she might be able to be vaccinated which will probably save her life. Canada is a very rich country, certainly not third world, and we arrogantly compare ourselves to the less educated, gun happy neighbours to the south, as being a model of progressive democratic liberal thinking. Admittedly the US has not instilled any sense of confidence in their own rationality by its own elected representatives prior to November 2020, but Canada has nothing to brag about.

On the most important subject of Canada’s procurement of enough vaccine to protect even a 94 year old lady who lives in the beautiful British Columbia lower mainland, the Trudeau government has totally dropped the ball. Compared to the US, we are allowing our people to die horrible deaths each and every day, before their time. Maybe they have lived long enough and should really clear out some space, but why is it our government’s incompetence that puts them at risk.

The government of Canada’s Health Information Database shows that up to February 13th 2021, Canada has vaccinated 972,407 people with at least one dose of a vaccine, roughly 2.56% of our population. The late starting US on the other hand has already vaccinated 15.43% of their population up to the same date. I know that the US has more medical research professionals and a bigger cheque book, but we have had at least a year of advanced notice about the seriousness of this problem. The former US government was not even taking the situation seriously until substantially later than Canada. Their number of infections and deaths show their lack of concern. What did we do with all this extra time. Not enough.

To put it in terms that we all need to think about, had Canada been procuring enough vaccine and an ability to domestically manufacture one early on, we should have at least been able to keep up with the late starting US. If we had been able to give at least one dose to Canadians at the same rate as the US, we would have vaccinated 4,892,000 more people than we have.

How does that affect us? At our current infection rate of about 2.15% of the population, 105,000 fewer cases might have been reported in Canada to February 13. At our current Covid-19 mortality rate of 2.57% of those infected, that means that about 2,703 people would not have died prematurely could still be with us. Then there are those that have had to suffer from a painful decease that may have long lasting effects of which we are unaware. And it doesn’t stop there. The number of extra Covid-19 deaths in Canada is growing at the rate of over 100 people per day faster than it should have been.

I am proud to be a Canadian. I think we are blessed with the best country in the world for many reasons. I just don’t understand why we are not angry enough to point out the obvious failures of the Liberal Leadership, and hold them accountable. So far the Canadian press has been reluctant to do so. I guess billions of tax payer dollars buys a lot of closed lips.

Scott Tupper