Discussions

For anyone following on Twitter, need to be very mindful of the very real possibility of bots/questionable accounts right now.  
 
Attaching an example of one that’s highly likely one. Account with a very random username. Has one follower. Quick hit emotional post, even worked in the flag emoji for good measure.  
 
I’ve seen other cases from the other side of the fence where an emotional hot button image of Police was shared across many accounts identically with the same accompanying text in separate English and French accounts word for word (not a retweet). Seems there are some with an active interest at stirring up both sides of this.  
 
Just something to keep in mind when slugging through the social media weeds. There’s a lot of info to be learned, but have to be extra mindful of what the source is and that there are clearly actors that want you extra emotional (about government?) no matter what perspective you come at this all from. 

Province did give dates. Please read.  
 
We absolutely can't all agree that Federal gov dropped the ball on all of what you mention, the comment seems more interested in anti-gov sentiment than seeking constrictive solutions from a non-partisan perspective. Just about all pandemic-related decisions that have affected yours and my daily lives including restrictions and vaccine passport requirements have been made at the provincial level. Have you raised your concerns with them?  
 
As far as what the Fed gov does have in its jurisdiction, every gov on the planet will have made some mis-steps but I've appreciated the fact and science-based approach that they've maintained over the past two years and very much respect the firmness they continue to show here on the science around Covid. I'm sure some in the anti-vax/anti-restriction crowd won't have appreciated some of the measures that they have had to be responsible for to set an example on the importance of vaccines.  
 
The hiding talking point that’s been floated in convoy-ish circles is about a week old. PM has since been out in house of commons and done another press conference. Just not engaging directly with organizers who frankly have done nothing to show they can be maturely engaged with on a foundation of fact and science that any discussion about Covid has to be based on (see any live stream from on the ground in Windsor). I wouldn't be surprised to learn afterwords that there are more reasons still on why there's nothing to be gained by being in a room with these individuals.  
 
I'd be interested in what form of diplomacy you feel will end this in a pinch. Very debatable as far as if this is even about Covid measures any more versus an anti-gov/anti-Trudeau thing, but if the demand is to end all mandates and public health officials in provinces say that that unnecessarily risks lives it's just not something that federal gov could move on if it even had that ability. Remember that mandates are specific to provinces making their own decisions based on the reality of the virus in their borders and the state of their own medical systems to keep up with hospitalizations and ICU needs. It's not up to Prime Minister to over-rule the provinces' medical experts and their own decision-makers who will be making decisions based on guidance from those medical experts.  
 
A lot going on right now. In the middle of it all, I find it important to keep focused on the fact that the Omicron wave does look like it will soften in the weeks ahead, that it looks like later next month we’ll soon see the closest to normal we’ve had in two years, that we’re so fortunate to live in a democracy that allows us each the chance to cast a vote every four years to play our equal part in determining the direction of this great country that’s made up of 37M happiness seekers that all have way more in common than we have wedge issues that some would like to take advantage of to divide us during the handful of decades we get on this planet.

New poll (story link below) shows about 64% or about 2 out of 3 of Canadians support use of the military to help clear out Ottawa protesters. The same 64% view what's going on as a threat to democracy.  
 
Support for the protesters is down to just 20% or 1 in 5 people. Similar poll question from another research firm quite a bit earlier in this had support in the low 30s:  
https://toronto.citynews.ca/2022/02/12/two-thirds-of-canadians-support-military-force-to-end-ottawa-protests-poll/

Sort of going back to my comments yesterday re more then meets the eye. This goes back to Wednesday, but one of the more thorough, candid, fact-focused reads I’ve come across on the complicated dynamic of what’s being dealt with in Ottawa, the different groups in the city, how a more extreme seemingly anti-democratic element appears to be using the more visible protesters you see for a sort of cover and some of the things that are having to be balanced in acting:  
https://theline.substack.com/p/dispatch-from-the-ottawa-front-sloly 

On policing, was announced last night that a command centre was being established between Ottawa Police, RCMP and OPP: https://www.ottawapolice.ca/Modules/News/index.aspx?newsId=bed085e8-7c29-4b03-beb5-85862d682fd4&lang=en 

FarmerGeorge said "Fact is these protests or blockades are a tiny handful of people purposely disrupting the lives of others. A peaceful walk through the city is a peaceful protest , this protest was never intended to be peaceful. It was obvious at the outset that these protesters were planning blockades with their vehicles and it should have been stopped at its outset. Those vehicles should be never have been allowed to get near Ottawa let alone into its centre in the first place. Their success emboldened others to create further blockades elsewhere.  
If this democratic country can’t stop or deal with a small handful of people ruining everyone else’s lives and businesses than we have a security problem that needs to be addressed, quickly and with force.  "
 
 
Farmer George. What do you think has been going on for the past 2 years peoples life’s and businesses have been ruined.

I’m sure some people reading haven’t been following the far-right talking points through everything that’s going on South of the border over these past half dozen years, but this post here is an example of that same kind of thing here in trying to create room for an argument that doesn't really make a lot of factual sense with a false equivalency. There is no logical comparison to be made here to governments making critical public health decisions informed by public health experts to protect us and our medical system.  
 
You can learn more about false equivalence arguments at https://www.logicallyfallacious.com/logicalfallacies/False-Equivalence

For the last two years I’ve followed the health care rules done everything possible to limit the spread and got vaccinated wore my mask. I’ve lost loved ones over the last 2 years due of old age not being able to spend that last minutes with them. Seen my daughter miss out on activities. Seen elderly people not be able to go to the local coffee shop for their daily bu!!$hit sessions. Heard of businesses having to let people go and try and figure out how to keep the utilities paid. So if that’s not ruining lives or businesses then I don’t know what is.

I'm sorry to hear that. The sacrifices we've made and are still making in the interest of wider society and the wider medical system have most definitely been significant. As Covid eventually does go down in history, the tradeoffs that have been necessary will most definitely be a part of pandemic that none of us wish were necessary. Still no equivalency and still no reasonable argument to be made that's tied to mandates and medically-backed decisions around them from folks that know more than you or I the impact they have on limiting what Covid is capable of doing.  
 
Ten pages in and still haven't seen one person sympathetic to this protest (either the front-line protests we see a lot of images or any more extreme elements within) make even a sliver of a reasonable argument why when measures are scheduled to be off on March 15 we should be seeing people locally who are supportive of this occupation/protest to end them just these few weeks earlier and taking risks to our medical system that medical experts in public health are clear would put us at risk in ways we can't be. Manitoba's ICUs are still extremely over-burdened and hospitalization numbers are still higher than any previous pandemic wave. With new admissions coming down meaningfully over these past couple weeks the trend does look to be toward that burden coming down a lot in the weeks ahead... hence why measures are set to be off by March 15.  

After two years of conspiracy theories and the enabling false info in cirulation on social media, there are all kinds of pieces of misinformation out there that I know some people believe confidently and find re-enforcement in in circles of like-minded people... but most of us choose to believe that those with the medical expertise in this province to advise on these decisions are who should be guiding us to what life eventually looks like with less Omicron. 
 
Wishing you the best in happiness and health. It's looking very likely to be a very different Spring than we've seen since 2019 and I really look forward to the chance to experience something a little closer to normal while still being respectful of those around me as our family makes our own choices on what ways we gradually ease out of measures after March 15 and into Spring. 

While on the topic of fallacies we’re seeing to try to advance factually shaky positions, also need to be on the lookout for cherry picking fallacies where a person cites one or two counter-examples to a wider topic and hopes to come across as having established a wider point on that topic than they really have.  Social media has been a mess of this sorta stuff for two years on COVID, health and now protest discussions and have seen it try to creep onto here too. 

Theres quite a bit more at:  
https://www.developgoodhabits.com/cherry-picking/

Lot of focus and talk about Ottawa for obvious reasons. Meanwhile looks like we’re seeing impact at home from the blockade here:  

We are hearing from hospitals that the blockade at the border is holding up hospital supplies, including TPN for underweight babies. Highways are provincial & illegal blockades are NOT covered by the Charter. Stop coddling & enforce the law.  @HStefansonMB @MLAGoertzen #mbpoli pic.twitter.com/8Fw3iCMMq0

— Dougald Lamont (@DougaldLamont) February 13, 2022

CTV story gives a good factual examine at current state including the mess last night of deal/no deal/deal and the strange attempt to use as a blanket attack on media (attempts to under-cut media’s necessary-in-a-democracy fact-telling have become increasingly concerning throughout this):  
https://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/mobile/ottawa-mayor-says-truckers-have-agreed-to-leave-residential-neighbourhoods-1.5779428  
 
Organizers continue to say that they stay until all mandates are ended. Same basic questions that sympathizers to this continue to avoid:  
 
-What is the point of protesting for mandates to end when most provinces have already made it clear that that’s coming, including Manitoba where they’ve given March 15 as a date with other changes at specific points in between?  
 
-If organizers continue to stick to demanding all restrictions are removed and there’s zero percent chance of all mandates ending even sooner than that before the provinces in conjunction with their own medical experts assess that that’s safe, what does diplomacy look like?

Just an example of what’s out there.  
Got a voicemail this weekend from someone that seemed to fall within the harder core sympathizers with what we’ve seen these past couple weeks. 
 
In the midst of a quite emotional rant I was told that I shouldn’t be posting links to mainstream media sources like Global and CBC (which along with CTV of course are very important as a cross-section of fact-tellers… perhaps now more than ever). The part that confused me a little was that the threat was that he was going to report me for investigation to the Brandon Sun.  
 
Re the poll posted on Saturday that had 64% of Canadians against the convoy/protests and only 20% support he wanted it known that it was false because he didn’t vote in it. That’s of course not how these polls work.  A lot of effort generally goes into seeking responses from a cross-section that's a reasonable representation of the population. Sure it's not perfect down to the fraction of a percentage point but they're usually a decent representation of wider sentiment. If something doesn't seem right, absolutely seek out another poll conducted within objective bounds. In this case it's not all the inconsistent with the poll a couple weeks ago that cited low 30 percent support, and a lot has happened since then. 
 
I’ve got broad shoulders (metaphorically at least ) and feel I have a pretty decent perspective of what’s going on, but what was so striking and telling of what we’re dealing with here was the authority and confidence with which he spoke on topics that he clearly hadn’t had occasion to consider all angles of.  
It’s sad to see these kinds of narratives sneaking more and more onto our side of the border and to see organizers connected to this convoy seemingly increasingly feeding it as noted below:  
 

Meanwhile, the organizers are now making overt threats to journalists. pic.twitter.com/gusRbqBFZj

— Justin Ling (@Justin_Ling) February 14, 2022

 
 
Media plays a key accountability role in a democracy. Throughout history when someone or some group would like to act without accountability (be it overtly or intuitively) there have been instances where undermining media is an important part of that. This is why its concerning to see this kind of broad media vilification. Extra concerning when we also see a lot of undermining of government, police and medical expertise going on at the same time.  
 
I don’t know what percentage of the 20% actually believe the more extreme and far-fetched anti-media stuff out there, but I’m confident that your average person understands that just like people in all walks of life individuals who work in media will make mistakes. Part of what makes everything work and keeps everything in balance is that we have many reputable sources to keep each other in balance and the thought that it’s part of some collaborative wide agenda is just not possible.  
 
The next time you see someone angrily go off that *all* media who write things you don’t agree with are bad, please consider stepping back and asking yourself how possible it could be the all journalists with varying backgrounds, expertise, priorities and experience from all outlets who often are in competition with each other are all somehow in alignment on some kind of nefarious agenda.

Just with what I do I've crossed paths with many in the profession over the years. Some I see eye-to-eye with, others not so much. Suspect I could say the same about astronauts and janitors and that they'd say the same about website dudes. Please consider the human element and that these are ultimately just human beings like you and me who are just doing their job. What possibly could be the common motive of such an agenda and how could each and every one not see what such a nefarious agenda would mean for the country.  

 
We should absolutely ask questions and should absolutely not take everything said as gospel but it’s a ginormous leap from asking questions of individuals to undermining an entire profession.

Federal gov has invoked the Emergencies Act to create a path towards resolving what we're seeing:  
https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/trudeau-makes-history-invokes-emergencies-act-to-deal-with-trucker-protests-1.5780283  
 
On the topic of polls, another poll from an extremely reputable source.  
Angus Reid has 72% of Canadians saying "it's time for protesters to go home now, they have made their point" versus just 22% that say "Stay in Ottawa and other protest sites until their demands are met."  

 
Especially interesting is the breakdown by political party where even 53% who voted Conservative last election say it's time to go home vs 39% that say they should stay.  
 
https://angusreid.org/trudeau-convoy-trucker-protest-vaccine-mandates-covid-19/