CHP
Commentary

​In this New Age of COVID, we are all learning not to take anything for granted. Like freedom, for instance. Like restaurant meals. Like being able to run out and buy N95 masks or disposable rubber gloves. When we see precious supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE) being mismanaged, it rankles us. And it should.

I was a touch upset when word came out a few months ago that Telus is planning to use Huawei for their 5G network. It meant that I had to do some research to find out what it meant. I knew there was widespread public opposition to Huawei’s involvement. What was that about? As a non-techie person, I was being forced to try to comprehend the “mother-ship” in the sky that talks to my cell phone.

​The COVID-19 crisis has focused world attention like nothing in our memory. It’s been called a war, a pandemic, a plague, an economic disaster, and an excuse for power-grabs by governments around the world. There have been deaths, dislocations of economies and disruptions of political processes.

​COVID-19 has killed at least 39 people in Canada so far. If we can assume the same rates as 2018 (PDF), abortion has killed well over 200*. Not just this month, or even this week; over 200 each day. How many deaths are acceptable?

Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures—but crises are temporary and so the solutions should also be temporary. Emergencies such as wars and pandemics are times when we must accept some new limits on our liberties, but these limits ought not last any longer than absolutely necessary!

​COVID-19 has gripped our attention like nothing else in recent years. Hockey games are cancelled, foreign flights reduced to a trickle. Children are riding their bikes or binge-watching videos instead of congregating in classrooms. Some businesses are conducting their business online or have either shut down or reduced public access. Even many churches are temporarily shuttered. Some are streaming their services instead of gathering in their sanctuaries.

As has been amply demonstrated by the extensive impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on workers and families, Canadians need a backup plan to compensate for income interruptions due to illness or job loss. The problem with the current Canada Pension Plan (CPP) arrangement is that a large pool of funds, contributed by working Canadians and their employers, sits out of reach until retirement.

​The mistake is often made of thinking that we are the first and only generation, the holders of all worthwhile knowledge! The wisdom of previous ages is deemed inadequate for the challenges of today. Yet, if we look to political advice given in the 16th century by political strategist Niccolò Machiavelli, we see that political chicaneries have long been practiced by the ruling class…in the past and still today.

In the US, one candidate for the Democratic nomination for President, Bernie Sanders, has put the word “socialism” on everybody’s lips. His talk of free post-secondary education, cancellation of existing college debt, universal healthcare and higher minimum wages has struck a nerve with many young people who have never lived in a socialist utopia like Venezuela, Cuba or the Peoples’ Republic of China. Of course, he calls his version “democratic socialism” but the results are always the same.

​What does it take to separate the social conservatives from the faux (fake) conservatives? Who is on which side in the Conservative leadership race? MP Cathay Wagantall is bravely putting out a test for all Conservatives, one that will hopefully get Canadians talking about the abortion free-for-all that is happening in Canada today.

​A couple of months ago, people discussing China were focused on her rise as the world’s burgeoning super-power. Over a relatively short period of time, she has grown to be the world’s largest exporter of goods and the 2nd-largest importer. She was known to be building (and presumably still is building) a world-class navy; she was busy creating islands in the South China Sea for new ports for her ships and staging-grounds from which she could project strength and defend her possessions.

​After dallying around Africa and Europe for a week while Canada’s railroads were being shut down by an assortment of political activists across the country and pipeline protestors in northern BC, Prime Minister Trudeau finally headed home, saying he wanted a “quick and peaceful” solution to the impasse.