Finding humour in a pandemic
Category: Sackville’s Memorial park
Why should a politician apologize for having an opinion, regardless of that opinion?
A federal politician, a conservative MP (official opposition), dared to express an opposition-related opinion. Now, his party under the weak leadership of Mr. Andrew Scheer is questioning his comments about Dr. Tam and asking him to apologize. He was even accused of being racist, a classical accusation in todayâs society. Bambi knows something about this accusation for having been labelled racist herself ?. Same for her spouse, ironically for having said that it would be good to treat everyone equally. What a racist couple ?!:
In politics, as in in life, a citizen is supposed to have a brain in order to use it. Yes, using oneâs brain to think, confront ideas with others, make own mistakes, and to learn from the latter. Not use our brains just to repeat clichĂ©s of trendy opinions, without much thought.
On this blog, Bambi has constructively (at times maybe severely) criticized politicians, in Canada, in Lebanon, in Québec, in New Brunswick, in Sackville, etc. Specifically, she has allowed herself to write posts about the work of Mr. Trudeau, Ms. Hajdu, Dr. Tam. Concerning Mr. Trudeau, she allowed herself to express unfavourable (she has much to say here) as well as favourable comments (she has the decency to acknowledge/applaud the good work). She has also made jokes or sarcastic comments about Mr. Scheer more than a couple of times. As far as Lebanon is concerned, she has written several posts during the revolt and more recently. She even reported on the excellent work of the new Lebanese government concerning covid-19. One must know how to give to Cesar what belongs to Cesar, even when we are not fond of that Cesar.
Anyhow, what we have witnessed today is hypocrisy within the Conservative Party of Canada. As mentioned above, one of its MPs, called Mr. Derek Sloan, expressed concerns about Dr. Tamâs work. He wondered if she has been more loyal to the Chinese or to the World Health Organization (WHO)âs interests; the latter being âhijackedâ partly by China, partly by countries that China tries to invest in, namely some African countries, etc.
Now, Mr. Sloanâs party is asking him to apologize for having expressed his opinion. He seems to refuse to do so. At least, thus far, he seems to have the guts not to do so⊠because frankly, why should he apologize? We may agree with him or not. Why canât we leave it there? Why should we always censor and/or foster self-censorship?
Without having ever heard of this Mr. Derek Sloan in her life before, Bambi recalls having posted on this blog a thoughtful commentary by her friend Aline A. on Lebanon a few months ago (see below): In it, Aline A. literally used similar words to those used by this politician:
â⊠Add to this, how we as Lebanese, are sometimes like double agents, serving the interests of foreign countries more than our own. Perhaps some were tempted by this or that reward from this or that external force. They even changed their policies accordingly. This politician works for Iran. The other for Saudi Arabia. Yet another for the United States. Some even work for this and that at the same time.â:
Was Ms. Aline A. being âracistâ against Lebanese politicians? Of course, not ?. It is called voicing an opinion or having critical thinking. Something we are discouraging in Canada nowadays. We may agree with Aline or not. We may tell her: This is your opinion. We do not share it.
Same for this Mr. Sloan. We can tell him, this is your opinion, period.
In the past, politicians and some journalists labelled another federal politician, Mr. Maxime Bernier, âracistâ because his opinion differed on a certain topic. He finally was not re-elected. The irony is that his new party includes people from all sorts of ethnolinguistic or religious backgrounds. Some citizens voted for him (Bambi was one of them), because they saw in him the hope of a change of this mindset.
Anyhow, Bambi has news for those politicians who are asking this MP to apologize: She is not OK with their request of asking the Liberals to fire Dr. Tam, even if she was the first to criticize Dr. Tam, Ms. Hajdu, and Mr. Trudeau himself. She even joked that our PM should have not been re-elected in the first place ?. She is saying so, even if he makes good decisions from time to time. Even if Dr. Tam is fired, our issues will not be solved.
Indeed, Canada, and the rest of the world, need to learn from this tragic pandemic not to be commercially (perhaps even also ideologically for some of us?) too dependent on China. It is not normal that a large percentage of the worldâs medication and hospital safety supplies (e.g., for surgeries, etc.) are made in China.
Furthermore, regardless of China or Dr. Tam, the tragedy of our world is that inspiring politicians are rare to find. We rather see mediocre public servants, both Mr. Scheer and Mr. Trudeau are part of them, with all due respect to both. Why canât people, politicians or not, stand up for their values, have independent opinions, refrain from accusing others of being traitors (or racists!), just for having a different opinion.
Dr. Tam (Canada) and Dr. Ammar (Lebanon) are counterparts, sitting on the same WHO health emergencies committee. Yet their initial response to the covid-19 pandemic differed, with 0 to Ottawa versus 1 to Beirut
The WHO Committee in question is called the âIndependent Oversight and Advisory Committee for the WHO Health Emergencies Programmeâ:
https://www.who.int/about/who_reform/emergency-capacities/oversight-committee/en/
As a reminder, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the covid-19 crisis a pandemic only on March 12, 2020!
Bambi has expressed her earlier frustration regarding this delay, that may have prevented countries from preparing well:
Anyhow, Bambi got interested in comparing the responses of Dr. Tam and Dr. Ammar, both Directors of Public Health agencies in their respective countries, Canada and Lebanon.
Just for the record, Canada seems to have unhealthy ties with China (alignment to a large extent). Well, Lebanon has comparable unhealthy ties, but with Iran. Yet, despite some initial delay in closing its airport and land border with Syria (likely for political or military reasons), the Lebanese Government learned fast that we cannot waste much time in pandemics. Up to now at least, It has been doing an excellent job in protecting citizens (i.e., outstanding compared to the initial response of Canada!).
Again for the record, we are talking about a tiny bankrupt country on the verge of collapse. Their politicians may be corrupt when it comes to money⊠but they seem to be competent, knowing how to be as âcovidwiseâ as possible.
Now, the Ministers of Health, Ms. Hajdu (Canada) and Dr. Hassan (Lebanon) are both relatively new to their positions. However, Hajdu was sworn in earlier, in November 2019 (http://www.netnewsledger.com/2019/11/21/patty-hajdu-sworn-in-as-minister-of-health/). As for Dr. Hassan, he took the responsibility of his Ministry of Health on January 23, 2020, as per the Lebanese Ministry of Health Twitter account. Just as reminder, the Lebanese government was formed end of December, 2019 when Bambi was visiting Beirut in the middle of a revolt (i.e., after three months of revolt, without a government).
First, here is a picture of Dr. Ammar (the Dr. Tam of Lebanon, so to speak):
To begin with, and as a reminder, on January 26, our own Dr. Tam tweeted the following:
Here is what the Honourable Hajdu, our Minister of Heath repeated on the same day:
Well, on the exact same day… or rather night (January 26 to after midnight of January 27, 2020), look where the Lebanese Minister was! He was at the Beirut airport in person checking on the medical operation of screening patients, their temperature and testing in case of symptoms. Bambi knows the time from a video posted on that governmental Twitter account. She took a screenshot of it. Below, we can read in Arabic: “What is Dr. Hassan doing at the Beirut airport after midnight“?
Does Canada have any excuse for its slow and careless response, with our borders or masks, etc.? Masks that it did not stockpile, as it was supposed to. Masks that it shipped to China in the middle of a pandemic. Well, no, at least according to Bambi.
This being said, did Canada improve after the fiasco of its initial response? Yes thankfully, especially on the economic front (despite miscoordination with provinces at times). It also ended up closing the US border (now oddly, it is already ready to open it to illegal migrants coming to Québec). Thankfully, overall, Mr. Trudeau and his team took good decisions to support Canadian businesses and citizens. For that, they should be commended. However, for their initial response, Bambi is sorry to say that tiny bankrupt Lebanon managed to beat them. Not very glorious, especially that we could have learned lessons from the SARS crisis. Doing worse than a tiny bankrupt country⊠Frankly, is this something to be proud of, as Canadians?
To conclude this post, if you are curious to know why did Bambi do all the timeline comparisons, here is why: 1. She LOVES Canada and wants us to do better; 2. It breaks her heart to see many deaths in our country; 3. She is very sad to see fellow citizens impacted by the tragic economic crisis; and… 4. last but not least, she came across the following documentary (see below) that intrigued her, to say the least. Indeed, if the 400-page document of briefings that is cited is accurate, she learned that Dr. Tam may have ignored internal advice from people from her own Ministry twice. One briefing even cited credible sources, namely the American CDC and from the UK.
Of note, this same documentary referred to Dr. Tamâs tweet of January 26, 2020 (see above). After hearing about it, Bambi had the fun idea of doing her own search, just to double-check the information. She also thought of searching to see where Lebanon was at that exact time, especially that Drs. Tam and Ammar are colleagues who are involved with the same WHO committee :).
What’s next for Lebanon, which has been sliding into turmoil for the second consecutive day?
Covid-19: Bravo to NB & thank you Mr. Higgs
According to the CBC article below, “New Brunswick bans temporary foreign workers to curb COVID-19 risk”:
It takes wisdom and courage to say no (to Ottawa) when it would be logical to do so, to protect the NB population during a deadly pandemic.
This temporary ban is meant to keep our good record of low cases and zero deaths related to Covid-19. Why take the risk of changing these good statistics, after having worked hard to keep them under control by taking wise decisions (fast lockout of senior nursing home, fast closure of borders, tracking symptoms and/or relations of travellers, informing people who travelled on an airplane with a known case, closing schools/campuses fast, etc.)?
The needs of our farmers can be easily filled with volunteering work by our younger people (e.g., maybe students or others, with a little bonus, if we can afford it, like richer provinces such as Québec; if not, as a volunteering work to help each other).
Related to this, it is reassuring to hear that the province will “shift some of the 1,500 foreign workers already in the province to fill gaps at his farm and others”, as NB Premier said.
May this pandemic be behind us, so we can come back to our normal welcoming traditions with our much needed summer foreign workers, with our relatives from other provinces, and with our international tourists or students, etc.
Green is truly the new red… no, it is not the red of the liberals
From a recent Warktimes article, we learned that our Green MLA, Ms. Megan Mitton is saying that Covid-19 shows need for guaranteed income: https://cutt.ly/7yd3sSh
Indeed, we can read in the article above: âNow more than ever there is a need to de-couple labour from income and ensure that everyoneâs basic needs are met through a Guaranteed Liveable Incomeâ Mitton, who represents the provincial riding of Memramcook-Tantramar, said Tuesday night during an hour-long Green Party panel discussion on Facebook.”
If this is not communism, what it is then?
Indeed, Mr. Karl Marx said the following: “From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs“.
Is this the solution Ms. Mitton? And if so, from where, would the “Guaranteed Liveable Income” come from? Does money grow on trees? Not to Bambi’s knowledge. This money will come from our taxes and/or public dept.
Related to this? Wouldn’t it be wiser to teach people to fish instead of giving them a fish?
Why do we need to make people so dependent on governments for a living?
Perhaps it would be more efficient for our governments to create winning conditions for entrepreneurs instead of killing their ambitions with handouts?
Anyhow, to conclude this post, Ms. Mitton’s idea is not new and not specific to the Green Party of NB. It has been advocated years ago by similar parties in Ottawa (Green Party of Canada) and QuĂ©bec (QuĂ©bec Solidaire):
https://www.greenparty.ca/en/backgrounder/2014-06-12/guaranteed-liveable-income
Bambi had wished to be the âdeerâ that Mr. Johnson thought he hit. Sadly, even this wishful thinking cannot bring Brady Francis back to life
Sadly, this TRAGEDY occurred in New Brunswick in 2018. Brady, a youth of 22-years old died after having been hit by a car:
Bambiâs heart goes to Bradyâs parents, extended family, and friends.
After a lengthy hit-and-run trial, Judge Denise Leblanc âhas found Maurice Johnson not guilty in the death of Brady Francis that happened two years agoâ.
“I am not convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that Johnson knowingly hit a person,” she said whilst taking over two hours to read her decision to the court.
The details are in this article: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/maurice-johnson-verdict-brady-francis-1.5547219
It is absolutely heart-breaking to read about the words Bradyâs mom, saying she âfelt let down by the Canadian justice systemâ⊠“I’m so angry, hurt, lost ⊠let down,” to use her own words. “Why did I have faith in this[?]”.
In the same vein, the Elsipogtog First Nation Chief Aaron Sock said immediately after the verdict: “There’s no justice for First Nations people in Canada”.
Life is SO unfair⊠Sadly, there is nothing, not even a guilty verdict, that would have brought Brady back. It cannot also bring immediate closure and healing to all those hearts who have loved him.
This NB tragedy makes Bambi think of her familyâs neighbours in Beirut. They lost their two sons in two different car tragedies. In both cases, the deceased boy was hanging out with the same friend. Of course, not his fault. It was just fate. The family moved on with their lives, despite the initial shock and anger.
In Bradyâs hit-and-run death whilst waiting for a lift (perhaps from his parents?), there is no word that can be said or written to describe the cruelty of the sad story.
Mr. Johnson maintained his version of a deer, thinking he hit one. Forensic evidence was also missing to make the Judge convinced âbeyond a reasonable doubtâ that this man âknowingly hit a personâ.
In this judgment, it is clear for Bambi that the ethno-linguistic background of the young victim was not related to the outcome of this trial. In other terms, the historic facts and reality of abuses and colonization toward our first nations are irrelevant here⊠despite the disappointment and anger of loved ones.
Justice should be served equally to all citizens, even when they happen to be from this or that vulnerable group in our society.
Bambi could have misunderstood the CBC article. However, it seems to her that the RCMP police worked hard to prove their guilt hypothesis.
Despite this, and despite a societal public opinion of sympathy toward first nations, Judge Leblanc seemed to have meticulously analyzed all the evidence at her hand. It takes much courage on behalf of a judge to come to a verdict based on evidence (or lack of?), and not on politics.
Of course, our legal system is far from being perfect, especially perhaps in NB, but it remains the best âimpartialâ process humans can have to obtain a resemblance of justice.
As a citizen self-representing, Bambiâ spouse experienced the imperfect NB legal system. His experience brought to his/our attention serious issues/gaps. However, despite this bad story, not a single minute passed by where him or Bambi thought that his saga with our town and, by extension with the NB or Canadian legal system, was due to his different heritage (culture, including language/religion, etc.).
To conclude this post, may Bradyâs memory be eternal⊠May his mom and dad manage to find enough peace to be able to go to sleep tonight, despite their sadness and disappointment.
Another Canadian politician, this time our federal Minister of Middle Class Prosperity & Associate Minister of Finance, dresses up as a veiled woman
Mmm., Bambi thought Mr. Trudeau was the expert of dressing up (being a skilled drama teacher/actor before becoming a PM). It turns out that his Minister, the honourable Mona Fortier, is also into it. Just like the former Premier of Alberta (Ms. Rachel Notley, NDP party), see further below the earlier post from Bambi.
If you are interested in watching the video of Ms. Fortier , you can check her Twitter or Facebook page. Her official title is as follows: « Min. Middle Class Prosperity & Associate Min. of Finance | Min. de la ProspĂ©ritĂ© de la classe moyenne et min. associĂ©e des Finances – DĂ©putĂ©e/MP Ottawa-Vanier» :
https://pm.gc.ca/en/cabinet/honourable-mona-fortier
Bambi is convinced that her Ramadan message is meant to be kind. She thanks her for her thoughtfulness⊠but the video it is not only somehow insulting. It is also stupid, sorry to be that direct âč.
By wanting to be highly âinclusiveâ Ms. Fortier forgot that there is no such a thing, as one woman, to begin with. So, imagine one Muslim woman! Indeed, some are observant. Others not. Those who observe Ramadan are also diverse: Some are veiled, others are not. Some freely chose to be veiled (especially when they are adults). Others, many others, are forced to be veiled. Surely without wanting to, Ms. Fortier is not only excluding these women, she may be putting them in danger, without knowing it.
From a French-Canadian liberal politician, Bambi would have expected more intellectual refinement. She is disappointed.
Once again, she is worried about Canada. We are collectively being too ridiculous. Don’t you see it too?
Readersâ comments to a CBC article entitled â’Was it perfect? No’: Theresa Tam discusses Canada’s early pandemic responseâ
First of all, here is the CBC article in question:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/theresa-tam-could-have-acted-sooner-1.5546819
The interview is conducted by Ms. Barton. Well, the latter and Dr. Tam may have two points in common: (1) Each of them is skilled in her field, one as a Canadian journalist, the other as a medical federal bureaucrat BUT (2) Sadly, despite any talent, both of them appear to be sucking up a bit too much to their big boss, the government, likely to remain employed. Anyhow, can we blame them for wanting to keep a position in uncertain times? No, for sure. However, as communication and health authority national figures, they have a responsibility to act a bit more professionally with the Canadian public, without insulting people’s intelligence (see below).
Last but not least, here are a few of the NUMEROUS comments to the article that Bambi selected to share with you. She is not sure if she should smile or cry to the contrast between this article and the citizensâ comments. Because she likes to laugh, she will just smile, hoping you do have a sense of humour too ?:
âWas it perfect? No – it wasn’t even good. Sharon Harrison
âWe didnât expect perfect, but we deserved betterâ. Stephen Parker
âNot taking any responsibility for her slow response and then making excuses. We deserve betterâ. Glen Goertzen
âThis is one of a series of articles designed to try to make us believe the Federal government did an awesome job. It tries to tell us some of our concerns about what the government did not do or did too late were really not critical. Other stories like this will emergeâ. Liberal CYA, Jean CachĂ©
â…’Was it perfect? No’……….” About the only thing that Tam has correctly stated thus farâ. Jay Shirazi
âWhy do we need to pay someone $350k a year to just relay messages from WHO?â Abe Fukumaya
âCanada’s Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam told CBC News that simply shutting the border to travellers from China and other COVID-19 hotspots earlier wouldn’t have stopped the virus from coming in from other countriesâ â If so then why is the border closed now??? Continues to make little sense. Dunstable Kolbe
âOn Jan 29, when Tam rejected calls for a ban on travellers from China saying âracism, discrimination and stigmatizing language are unacceptable and very hurtful,â it was clearly not based on science, but rather political interference from the PMO, who was more concerned about Chinaâs support for their pointless UN seat than protecting Canadian lives.â Peter While
âOne big question mark regarding our top doctor was her insistence of not requiring people returning from [Huban] province to self isolate after returning to Canada lest a certain segment of our population become stigmatized. That sounds a lot more political than anything scientific.â Anthony Kennedy
âThe key word in her statements is “we”. Tam and Trudeau got it wrong enough times that they should both step down from their positions, aka resign!â Health Ward
âIt is her JOB to know how a novel virus spreads. No hindsight needed. She failed many many many Canadian families.â Tish Lapierre
âChina, the WHO, and Dr. Tam will all have many questions to answer when this is all over.â Rory Cain
DW: “Angry protesters in Lebanon defy coronavirus lockdown”
Bambi came across this short documentary about Lebanon by the Deutsche Welle (see below). The situation is Lebanon worrisome, to say the least.
Without understanding the complicated internal politics, it would be safe to say that public corruption is everyone’s fault in Lebanon, period (like the slogan of the revolt). This is regardless of a particular name or face. Indeed, corruption in Lebanon is so deeply rooted, that is no longer at a political, confessional, or institutional (= group) level. It is rather at an individual level, as Bambi understood from a conversation with a loved one describing her country’s tragedy.
This being said, decent people exist in life too (they are the silent majority!), one must not forget. They exist among public servants too, and we do need more of them in our world, today more than ever.
To come back to Lebanon, its financial saga, that began on October 17, 2019, is not just due to corruption per se. It may have also been due to mismanagement of public funds and/or over-investment of certain sectors of the economy only (e.g., services, including banking, etc.) or overspending. Richer countries may also have a public debt problem, like Japan. No one is immune… Canada, included.
Lately, the Lebanese pound (or Lira) “fell in value to more than 3,000 to the US dollar” (https://www.reuters.com/article/lebanon-crisis-pound/update-2-lebanese-banks-set-rate-of-3000-pounds-dlr-for-withdrawals-from-dollar-accounts-sources-idUSL5N2CF1YP). To put things into perspective, the $3000 was $6 in 1984 (in the middle of a civil war). It was $2 in 1970s. What is shocking is that food prices are skyrocketing, without any government oversight, it seems. What do Lebanese citizens have to do to survive now? “Eat each other”, as Bambi’s dad sarcastically said :(?
Anyhow, here is the DW video. As you can see, hopeless Lebanese citizens forgot about their fear of the coronavirus and the lockdown, they are on the streets again.
