Hot Takes – Feb 24, 2021
My take on some of today's hottest headlines.
1. A tale of two ambulances. Paramedics in Peel Region – just west of Toronto – have now been vaccinated against COVID-19 and are beginning to give vaccinations to others, beginning with those as yet unvaccinated in Long Term Care homes. Contrast this with the sad sack effort of neighboring Toronto Paramedic Service where a very public spat erupted a few months back between weak management and overzealous union bosses. Management couldn’t figure out a way to immunize paramedics on duty (uhh… they can inject themselves, surely?) and fat cat union leaders saw this only as an opportunity to grab more pay for their members – insisting each paramedic be paid extra to get the jab. Peel: 1. Toronto: 0.
2. First “meeting” between Biden, Trudeau goes smoothly. As expected, the first (virtual) meeting between PM Justin Trudeau and new US president Joe Biden went according to script. The two men – and a platoon of their aides – met by video conference on Tuesday: Biden and his senior aides at a cabinet table in Washington, Trudeau and his posse chilling out on comfy chairs waiting-room style. Unsurprisingly, the topic of Canada’s two Michaels came up and, equally unshockingly, the president agreed to help secure their freedom from China if he can.
The two “progressive” leaders also agreed to cooperate on their Quixotic campaign to tilt with windmills and develop a “continental” plan to fight climate change. Expect many more summits, meetings, historic signings with souvenir pens and T-shirts in the months to come.
It remains to be seen what kind of president Joe Biden will be for the people of the USA. But, it seems likely he will be a great president for the rest of the world. He’s a return to establishment norms – which may not help many inside the US – but which are much welcomed by world leaders simply for their predictability. Biden will maintain traditions and respect international etiquette. His first call and visit, even if virtual, were to Canada. That’s a reasonably well-established tradition among his recent predecessors. Not so with Trump, who gleefully spat upon customs and courtesy – making himself a hero to millions of Americans who can’t stand the hypocrisy of five forks at a dinner setting while too many of their family and friends go hungry.
Biden, though, will say exactly what he is expected to say – which is to agree and support and encourage his international allies – and do exactly what he is expected to do – which is little or nothing at all.
3. When will you be vaccinated? Ontario health minister Christine Elliott says you’ll know “soon” when you’ll be able to get vaccinated against COVID-19. She did not say how soon. Perhaps, soon, she’ll let us know when she’ll let us know. This, after, the province fumbled the vaccination file again by suggesting family doctors would have the answer. They do not. Calling into question the quality of the province’s distribution plan. Again.
I have confidence in Ontario’s Vaccine Distribution Czar General Rick Hillier. Less so, in the ability of multiple federal and provincial ministries, private vaccine makers, logistics companies, 34 local health units, dozens of media-manic doctors and countless preening municipal leaders, to make this happen.
As a resident of Toronto, I am positively horrified at the prospect of this city’s Medical Officer of Hunch and her 2,000 minions trying to make this work. They’ve done flu shot programs before, so should be able to do this. But, their performance so far in this pandemic has been nothing short of failure. I hope they can turn that around in the fourth quarter.
4. Ottawa’s symbolic shaming of China cut deep in Beijing. Although Monday’s vote to declare China’s treatment of its minority Muslim Uighur population a genocide was purely symbolic. Symbols matter in international politics. They especially matter when it comes to China’s thin-skinned egomaniacal leaders. China’s Communist Party brooks zero dissent at home and moves to stifle it wherever it appears within reach. Their intelligence agencies are hyperactive in Canada, organizing expatriate Chinese and their sympathetic political supporters to denounce freedom in Hong Kong and any suggestion China may not be our best friend ever.
The reaction to Ottawa’s vote was quick and sharp. The CCP ambassador in Ottawa took to the air waves immediately to denounce Canada and threaten immediate, if vague, retaliation against our bad manners. The Bullies in Beijing directed their media puppets to damn Canada’s misbehaviour. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson called the motion “a pure lie to smear China.” Papers pointed to China’s global “good citizenship,” highlighting the amount of foreign debt the nation holds.
China’s strongmen are egotists who are terrified of being shamed in front of their oppressed masses. Canada’s symbolic motion cut them deeply. Let’s keep doing so.
5. Poor intelligence caused Capitol Hill disaster. Top security officials told a congressional committee investigating the January 6 attack on Capitol Hill that “a clear lack of accurate and complete intelligence” led to the disastrous and ineffective security response. It was “not poor planning,” they said. At a time when then-president Donald Trump issues most of his policy announcements on Twitter, it’s shocking to learn the CIA, FBI, Homeland Security, Capitol Hill Police, and thousands of other law enforcement agencies in the U.S. didn’t have access to social media. Which pretty much streamed the planning and execution of the attack in real time.
But, maybe these highly-experience professionals are right. Maybe they did lack intelligence
6. 19-year old TikTok star Zoe LaVerne is pregnant.Turns out, there’s a young woman named Zoe LaVerne who is 19 and pregnant. She also has a TikTok account. The things I learn reading the news.
7. QUESTION OF THE DAY: How’s your marriage/relationship right now?This story in The Toronto Sun reports the divorce business has never been busier – citing unique pandemic related stresses such as lockdown, work from home, home schooling, job loss, stay-home orders, etc. Which has me wondering How is your relationship going? Has the pandemic made your live-in relationship(s) better or worse? Let me know in the comments!