It is unfortunate that politics has taken over development of policy dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic.
The two Prairie provinces — Alberta and Saskatchewan — have the highest rate of infections in Canada and the lowest rates of vaccinated residents.
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney steadfastly refuses, as of this writing, to take actions restricting gatherings and containing spread of the virus. His Saskatchewan right wing brother, Premier Scott Moe, follows him like a new puppy.
Yet the heath care systems in both provinces are collapsing.
Surgeries are being postponed to accommodate the ever increasing numbers of COVID patents. ICUs are full. Nurses are quitting, burned out from mandatory overtime and the feelings of hopelessness as COVID cases and deaths climb and climb.
Doctors are exhausted. How is this state of affairs humane or efficient?
Months go these two premiers hailed frontline health care workers as heroes for taking risks by attending to COVID 19 patients.
Now these premiers are throwing those heroes under the bus, choosing wealth creation over health creation.
To try and hide the implications of their policies they refuse to make public statistical modelling numbers showing how bad the fourth wave of corona virus will be.
Added to their stubborn policy is the refusal of medical assistance from the federal government. One wonders how much of that refusal is based on a hatred of the current federal prime minister, given their previous behaviour,
The inaction of these premiers almost guarantees we will experience waves of the virus for years to come.
We are lucky so far that no new powerful variant has mutated from the existing ones.
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Some readers have accused me of misinterpreting the Bible in the Sept. 22 Trading Thoughts column by referring to the passage in Romans that is sometimes interpreted as God helps those who help themselves.
The column didn’t say that was the true interpretation. It said, “There is a passage in Romans in the Bible which is interpreted as God helps those who help themselves.’’
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City council has voted to demolish the little used, little known Coteau Street East bridge over the CNR tracks.
The bridge offers a second access to the former Canadian Bible College with an interesting view overlooking Maryland Park, the Moose Jaw River and the river valley.
Pleas to keep the bridge for pedestrian use only were ignored. The lever used by the city administration to get the demolition order was a cost sharing promise by the CNR on the $150,000 expense, with a hint the CNR may not be willing to cost share in future.
Two questions arise.
Why was no action taken by the city to save the bridge 12 years ago when a report suggesting action was made to council? Residents in 2009 asked council to keep the bridge for pedestrian use only.
Is this a administration move to needlessly rid the city of a remotely potential future liability?
Ron Walter can be reached at ronjoy@sasktel.net
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the position of this publication.
