Category: Sackville’s Memorial park

Thanks to Mr. Mario Dumont for his heartfelt appeal.

First, here is his French article published today in the Journal de Montréal:

https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2020/04/22/mourir-dans-lindignite

Second, here is an English translation:

“How can we explain the tragedy that strikes our elders? A society must have invested so much effort to offer the possibility of “Dying in dignity” to see so many of its elders experiencing the exact opposite.

A extreme example of a crisis environment is the Herron residence. There, as in several other CHSLDs [long-term care centres], elderly men and women experienced an almost inconceivable end of life. The arrival of COVID-19 having forced a large part of the staff to quarantine, some centres found themselves below the minimum.

How is it that so many of our elders die in unworthiness? First, it must be recognized that our system has failed to protect them. Our public health experts had carefully planned the containment of society and the preparation of the hospital system. But not seniors’ residences. These already fragile environments were quickly struck down by the virus.

Deficient care

In overwhelmed centres, we have seen seniors die in a period when nothing seemed guaranteed. The level of care is falling sharply, to the point of no longer being able to meet needs as basic as thirst and hunger. Yes, to the point of having to postpone the moment of changing the incontinence briefs. We don’t even talk about other normal hygiene care anymore.

Die dirty and die alone. It’s still the saddest of the sad. In this period when visits to seniors’ residences are prohibited, contact with families is also lacking. Some people knew all the news at the last minute: their loved one had COVID-19 and … had a few hours to live. Consequence: some seniors had an end of life that took place in a pathetic solitude.

The whole promise of the Dying in Dignity Commission seems to evaporate in several cases of death caused by the pandemic. The possibility of not dying in suffering and of living the last hours being surrounded by loved ones, all of this slips through our fingers.

To die alone

The government has made an exception for visits to people at the end of their lives. The crisis, which reigns in several establishments, limits the possibilities to a strict minimum. Could we do better? I would be curious to hear from the palliative care specialists.

To make mourning even more difficult for those close to the deceased, the recovery of the bodies and the other stages of the usual funeral process are disrupted. Due to the ban on assemblies, it is not possible to organize a funeral. It is not even legal for the children of a deceased elder to come together in order to cry or comfort one another.

When asked about the death of her father by a colleague from TVA Nouvelles, a disillusioned and resigned woman said: “He will be part of the COVID-19 statistics. “

A first Covid-19 woman from a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon is now hospitalized at the public Rafic Hariri hospital in Beirut.

In collaboration with the UNRWA (the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East), the Lebanese Ministry of Health sent a team of medical experts to carry tests.

According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, “the testing will focus on the woman’s relatives and people she has interacted with, as well as 50 others chosen arbitrarily inside the camp and its surroundings”.

Best wishes!

Here is the first France24 article in English:

https://www.france24.com/en/20200422-first-virus-case-in-lebanon-palestinian-refugee-camp-un

According to the UNRWA website (https://www.unrwa.org/where-we-work/lebanon): There are “47,075 registered Palestinian refugees in Lebanon (as of January 1, 2019), 12 refugee camps, 65 schools, with 36,960 students, including 5,254 Palestinian refugees from Syria, one Vocational and Technical Training Centre with about 900 students on two campuses, and 27 health centers”.

Lebanon also hosts over 1 million Syrian refugees, half of them are children.

Of note, Syrian children go to school in the Lebanese public system in the afternoon (Lebanese students leave school to go home at 2 PM):

http://webdoc.france24.com/lebanon-syria-war-displaced-children-school/

Obviously, everyone is confined now. Indeed, Lebanon has asked nurseries, schools, and universities to close since February 29, 2020.

Did Bambi use the word “everyone”? Not really… Now Lebanese protesters are back to streets…. But in car convoys. The pandemic occurred in the middle of a revolt, as a reminder.

Here is the second English France24 article on this topic:

https://www.france24.com/en/20200421-lebanese-protesters-back-on-the-streets-in-their-cars

People are gathering in cars, requested to ideally be with two passengers, wearing gloves and masks. In addition, people have been instructed not to leave their cars and to respect all the protective health measures, as per the Lebanese Ministry of Heath. For example, some of the measures include curfews after certain evening hours, curfews on Sundays, and driving cars according to odd/even license plates (one day odd numbers, the second day even numbers).

Of course, the corruption theme remains central in this pacific and respectful movement. Sadly and not surprisingly, the economic crisis, already dramatic before the pandemic, has worsened (some experts are even reporting that the unemployment rate has reached 50% ☹).

Luckily, the Lebanese army has been distributing free food to confined people in need. This is a very appreciated initiative! As well, like before the pandemic, private organizations and individuals have been as generous as ever. Actually, many volunteers have been infected with the coronavirus.

Regardless of all the solidarity, the sad reality is that the situation is unbearable. Indeed, one of the protesters, a retired man from the army, mentioned that his actual salary is equivalent to US$100… per month. This is just one citizen. One example.

Tragically, for many Lebanese citizens already living in extreme poverty, the question is as simple as follows: What is worst to die from, the coronavirus or hunger?

With this question, Bambi will stop here… Below are some recent (yesterday night) and slightly older (last week?) pictures from Lebanon.

As usual, Mr. Trudeau’s first reaction was to avoid answering the question of a journalist (in French). The latter insisted by telling him:  You did not answer my question, Mr. Trudeau, so I will repeat it again. Well, Mr. Trudeau surprised Bambi by providing a direct answer at the end of his second reply. He said: “Companies using tax havens will still be eligible for the wage subsidy, as the money goes to payroll and workers”.

Bambi agrees with Mr. Trudeau on this issue for the following reasons:

First, how would we know who is paying taxes or not for sure?

Second, why should we punish the employees if their bosses use tax havens or reduces their taxes in different ways?

Third, isn’t it too much to endorse the words of the TV Italian famous broadcaster, Mr. Fabio Fazio (https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-companies-tax-havens-banned-denmark-poland-bailout-2020-4?utmSource=twitter&utmContent=referral&utmTerm=topbar&referrer=twitter): “It has become evident that those who do not pay their taxes are not only guilty of a crime, but of murder: if the beds and the respirators are not there they are partly to blame”?

Of note, Pope Francis applauded Mr. Fazio for the above statement: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-pope/pope-says-italy-tax-dodgers-bear-partial-blame-for-virus-health-care-crisis-idUSKBN21524R

Well, on this one, Bambi thinks that Mr. Trudeau is right. Pope Francis is wrong.

To begin with, here is Mr. Brian Lilley’s article published today in the Toronto Sun entitled “Trudeau gives China a pass then targets gun owners”:

LILLEY: Trudeau gives China a pass, then targets gun owners

Mmm… with such an article, we can perhaps guess that Mr. Lilley or his newspaper are not counting on bailout from the federal government ?.

Ok, more seriously, this article is a sharp analysis of what happened yesterday.

Mr. Trudeau has the art of using dramatic language and tone.

Yesterday, our PM spoke about the tragedy in Nova Scotia and expressed kind and compassionate words to everyone affected by this senseless tragedy. He also reassured our NS neighbours that they will not be forgotten, getting the needed help. For this, thank you and bravo.

However, what Mr. Lilley is focusing on is how Mr. Trudeau used “the present moment” to move a political agenda, namely his wish to pass a legislation that would affect legal (or licensed) firearms owners. This would be about 2 million Canadians, as reported by Mr. Lilley.

Ironically, Bambi can suspect that many of these affected licensed people would be from Nova Scotia itself (farmers, hunters, trappers, perhaps recreational users, etc.). Will targeting them effectively target future criminals? Can’t people use a car or a knife to commit crimes, as it has been done in Toronto and in Montreal?

Anyhow, this is not the topic here and it is not her expertise (although she has an opinion about guns, for having experienced civil war). The topic of this post is China or rather Mr. Trudeau’s attitude toward it.

Anyhow, to come back to Mr. Lilley’s article, his points are relevant: Is this the time to talk about this, Mr. Trudeau, when we are still in the immediate after-shock of the carnage? Indeed, the grieving RCMP did not complete its investigation yet. So, why are you in a rush to build a political momentum with our tragedy?

Plus, most importantly here, as Mr. Lilley sarcastically wrote, what a contrast with your attitude toward China, whose carelessness has caused the death of so many people in Canada and around the world.

How sad that you keep dismissing the journalists’ questions about China. When you do reply, you say that it is not the time for finger-pointing; we will assess different countries’ responses to the pandemic later, etc.

Besides gun issues, Bambi had wished you would have at least also addressed mental health issues, especially in times of massive job losses, collective grief and fear, increased domestic tensions/violence, etc.

Anyhow, let’s move now to Mr. Facal’s article. It is sarcastic in a different way ?:

First, here is his French article published today in the Journal de Montréal, to begin with. It is entitled “Erectile dysfunction” [“Dysfonction erectile”]

https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2020/04/21/dysfonction-erectile

Second, here is an English translation:

“Rest assured, gentlemen, I’m not saying that one of the consequences of COVID-19, if you catch it, is that you will be flaccid forever.

Let’s review China’s behaviour for a moment.

China first silenced the whistleblowers and denied the onset of the virus, then downplayed its severity, wasting precious time that the world could have spent preparing for.

China then lied about its death toll, argued that everything would have been worse for the planet if it had not been so fabulous, and then suggested that the virus may have been a foreign plot.

Tragicomic

There remains dessert.

China is now pointing at the slightest criticism, continues to conceal, lectures the world saying that it is necessary to rise above petty politics … and reopens the public market from which the disaster started.

Shall I continue or stop? A digestif after dessert?

However, in this tragedy, I see comic, or rather tragicomic, dawn.

The tragicomic is the reaction of Western leaders. Angry, they say they are going to hold China to account, that it will not be the same.

Trump says of the pandemic, “It could have been stopped in China and it was not.” “And now the whole world is suffering because of this.”

Macron says that we must no longer be “naive”.

France foreign minister said, “We want to be respected as China wants to be respected.”

Other leaders have toughened the tone. We roll up our sleeves to show our biceps to Beijing.

Our cute or handsome Justin [in French Canadian, “beau Justin”] says that his fear is the increase in discrimination against Chinese Canadians.

Don’t tell me you didn’t see it coming, this one …

All of this is pathetic.

China is restraining itself from laughing at our leaders.

For China, Trump is a clown with the psychology of a spoiled child, fascinated by dictatorships, convinced that he can solve everything with a telephone conversation.

For China, the European Union is a “thing”, which cannot be discredited any more since it no longer has any credibility left.

For China, Macron is a beautiful suave talker, whose natural inclination is to flee conflicts.

For China, Trudeau is a Macron with two differences.

Macron speaks French, while Justin speaks bilingual, and Macron has read more than two books in his life.

Local

Today we are paying the price for having, in the name of limitless capitalism, ceded to China all our leverage to increase our profits or save a few pennies.

We should, if we can afford it, buy as much local products as possible.

Our leaders let this collective dispossession take place.

They are toughening the tone now, but what will they do for real when the time comes to draw conclusions against China?

My prediction? Re-read the title of the column.”

Yes, in the middle of a Covid-19 pandemic, our neighbouring province of Nova Scotia is mourning following a senseless carnage (https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/18-dead-plus-the-shooter-in-nova-scotia-rampage-1.4903398).

Sadly, 18 victims+ lost their lives ☹, including devoted community members like an RCMP police officer (+ a mother), two nurses (one serving elderly people), two correction officers, a teacher, family of three, and many more (still identified):

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/mass-killing-shooting-victims-remembered-1.5538032

Bambi is speechless… like all of us.

She joins her heart to all the grieving families, local community members, sister province, Atlantic Canada, and our whole country!

If she may, she would like to dedicate a song to everyone touched by this senseless tragedy, and especially to those who lost their lives.

This beautiful French song, written in 1967 by Mr. Pierre Delanoë for Mr. Michel Fugain, tells us how much life is short… even in 100 years, we will not have enough time to fully live, love, and dream.

So, imagine, when our life ends SO abruptly like that…

Anyhow, below you can find an English translation of the lyrics, followed by a link to the song entitled “I will not have time” [“Je n’aurai pas le temps”].
No time
Same
While running
Faster than the wind
Faster than time
Same
Flying
I will not have time
No time
To visit
All the vastness
From such a big universe
Even in a hundred years
I will not have time
To do everything
I open my heart wide
I love with all my eyes
It’s not enough
For so many hearts
And so many flowers
Thousands of days
It’s way too short
It’s way too short
And
To love
As one must love
When we really love
Same
In a hundred years
I will not have time
No time
I will not have time
No time”

This being said, Bambi would like to end this post on a positive note. Thank you again, Mr. Mike George (Ben’s dad), from Soaring Families, for your thoughtful piece of wisdom about life “before & after Covid-19”.

Once again, Bambi enjoyed listening to your comforting words. In addition to your advice, she learned that soon you will become a grandfather. Bravo/Congrats ?!

To conclude, Bambi hopes you/your family will find the video helpful. Below, she added the website of Soaring Families, which assists “families impacted by a serious health condition or disability”.

https://www.soaringfamilies.com/

Bambi came across these Euronews interesting article and video:

The article is entitled “Coronavirus in Sweden: ‘It’s a myth that life is going on as normal,’ says Swedish government”

https://www.euronews.com/2020/04/17/coronavirus-in-sweden-it-s-a-myth-that-life-is-going-on-as-normal-says-swedish-government

The video is entitled “Coronavirus in Europe: Is it a myth that life is going on as normal in Sweden?”

The article above, published today, ends with the following Swedish data:

“As of Friday (April 17) Sweden has reported more than 12,500 cases of COVID-19 – half of them in the past 14 days only – with more than 1,300 deaths, according to the European Centre for Disease and Prevention Control (ECDC)”.

According to a Naharnet article (April 19, 2020), the Wuhan lab director denies virus link: http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/271176-director-of-wuhan-lab-denies-virus-link .

At the very end of the same article about this denial, we can read: “This week authorities in the city admitted mistakes in counting its death toll and abruptly raised the figure by 50 percent.”

To confirm this HUGE increase in figures, Bambi consulted other sources. She found several articles, including one by the BBC, CNN, and even the CBC:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-52321529

https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/17/asia/china-wuhan-coronavirus-death-toll-intl-hnk/index.html

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/wuhan-health-officials-raise-death-toll-linked-to-covid-19-by-50-1.5535543

Of course, accurately counting mortality during a pandemic is challenging for several reasons described in the article below from France 24, perhaps well summarized in this tweet from France’s health authorities (https://www.france24.com/en/20200401-nursing-homes-in-europe-struggle-with-pandemic-s-uncounted-dead):

“France’s leadership has admitted the number of deaths from coronavirus is not accurate because it only reflects people who died in hospitals, excluding people, especially old people, who died either at home or in retirement homes (where the pandemic is taking the lives of many)”.

Sometimes, errors can happen in crises like wars or even without crises. Of course, this can happen in all countries. Bambi recalls having read numerous articles about this phenomenon. For instance, during one of the rounds of wars in Lebanon, one adolescent girl was wrongly declared dead (massacre). She woke up after some time in the morgue.

However, to come back to China, one must recall that this country (i.e., a dictatorship, as a reminder) has acted like Russia with Chernobyl, hiding the tragedy from the rest of the world. Who knows? Perhaps in the hope of addressing it silently… but, obviously, it failed and we all are where we are at now.

Bambi’s problem is not China per se, as China is true to itself. It has been like that before the pandemic.

Bambi’s issue is with our own Minister of Heath, Ms. Hajdu, who declared that she has “confidence on those public health officials working so closely on this issue since late December-Early January”.

Furthermore, as reported by an earlier post by Bambi, she replied to a question from a reporter asking “… whether the WHO’s data could be relied upon if China’s isn’t accurate”:

 “Your question is feeding into conspiracy theories that many people have been perpetuating on the Internet”.

GOLDSTEIN: Patty Hajdu’s China Syndrome

Mmm, Bambi now wonders whether Ms. Hajdu will take a closer look at the Chinese data and if her answer will still be the same as the above. Perhaps with further time, and with any new legislation about misinformation, there will be no journalist who would dare to ask such a question to Ms. Hajdu.

Perhaps Ms. Hajdu can consult Australian peers, such as Foreign Minister Marise Payne, who is calling for an independent investigation into “China’s early response to the outbreak in Wuhan, the city where COVID-19 emerged late last year”.

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/australia-calls-for-independent-probe-into-global-covid-19-12656596

According to the article Channel News Asia above, “Payne said Australia shared similar concerns to the United States, whose President Donald Trump has accused the WHO of “mismanaging” the crisis and covering up the seriousness of China’s outbreak before it spread”.

Bambi also shares Mr. Trump’s concerns. Even if he has orange hair, he can be right sometimes. On this one, he is right. On this one, Ms. Hajdu is wrong.

This being said, Bambi has wished to see a wiser Mr. Trump in the circumstances (but this is too much to ask for, given his personality ?). Perhaps the USA should not rush into cutting funding to the WHO at this critical time, that is in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the WHO badly needs a serious reform.

To conclude this post, we do not need to be world leaders or reporters to understand that the WHO seems to have been hijacked by China. For example, as Bambi posted on April 5, 2020 (in the middle of this Covid-19 tragedy!), China has been appointed to the UNHRC panel. Does that make any sense? Mind you, it shares this responsibility with other dictatorships or other authoritarian countries, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar, etc. Once again, are these wise choices?

After Saudi Arabia (in 2019), the UN appointed China to its “Human Rights Panel” (in April 3, 2020). Are these wise choices?

This five-star hotel survived a long and devastating civil war.

It became even a symbol of peace. Indeed, it was a sort of tribune longing for peace in the middle of the barbaric civil war, welcoming politicians during endless crisis talks. Thus, this closure is symbolically moving…

Here is the website of the Le Bristol in Beirut, Lebanon:

https://www.lebristolbeirut.com/

According to the Daily Star (April 18, 2020), “Prince Albert of Monaco, Princess Soraya of Iran and famous Syrian poet Nizar Kabbani, who was a regular at the hotel, are some of the well-known figures who chose Le Bristol during their visits to Lebanon”:

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebanon-News/2020/Apr-18/504578-famed-hotel-le-bristol-closes-after-69-years.ashx

Below, you can find a promotional video of the hotel. Best wishes to its soon-to-be former staff… In a normal country, we would have been reassured to know that these “laid-off employees will receive pensions according to the Ministry of Labor standards”. However, Lebanon is far from being the norm (thank goodness for other countries). When received, these employees’ pensions will be paid in Lebanese pounds. The latter has been in a scary free fall, even before the Covid-19 pandemic.

To conclude this post, knowing the tenacity of the Lebanese people, this business will perhaps revive one day? Who knows?

Best wishes to all the businesses of the world, smaller and larger ones, in poorer and richer countries.

Mr. Trudeau’s Tweet from today:

First, this “Charter of Rights and Freedom” was never signed by the province of Québec (it was rather imposed on it).

Mind you, Québec had its own Charter, adopted seven years earlier that this charter. How many Canadians know this? For the record, you can read an old article by Ms. Josée Legault in the Journal de Montréal from 2017:

https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2017/04/18/la-charte-oubliee

An English translation below (thanks Google Translate :)):

https://translate.google.ca/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.journaldemontreal.com%2F2017%2F04%2F18%2Fla-charte-oubliee

Second, Mr. Trudeau…. “Rights and Freedom”? Did Bambi hear the last word well: “Freedom”, right?

Below is an earlier post with her thoughts written in the form of an open letter to Mr. Dominic Leblanc: In the name of our Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom, please do not let Covid-19 be a political opportunity to curtail freedom of expression!

More than ever our journalists need that freedom of expression (many may have to look for new jobs after the pandemic crisis?). For our own sanity and for the sake of democracy in our world, everyone needs it. Yes, we need it for us Canadians… and we also need it in order to keep giving hope to other nations living under dictatorships. Can we please keep being a beacon of freedom and hope to the rest of the world, Mr. Trudeau?

An open letter to our honourable Dominic Leblanc

His real name is Mr. Daniel Bevilacqua. His artistic name is Christophe.

This great French singer died yesterday at age 74, likely from emphysema (a lung condition that leads to shortness of breath). In the media, some journalists talked about Covid-19. However, his spouse did not mention the latter in her official press releases.

Regardless, as they say in Arabic, “the causes of death differ, but death is the same”.

https://www.france24.com/en/20200417-france-chanson-christophe-daniel-bevilacqua-singer-obituary-aline-les-mots-bleus

https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1694729/christophe-chanteur-mort-daniel-bevilacqua

Well, Christophe is gone but his heritage will be eternal. Thank you!

Bambi’s favourite song is “Aline”, a melody that has rocked her teenage years in Lebanon. She often listens to this song whilst driving.

Through this post, she would like to pay tribute to Christophe by dedicating his beautiful song to her friend Aline!