Thoughts on BC Politics and More

Our government’s dealings with China are flat-out bizarre. We have a Chinese executive of the Huawei technology giant, Meng Wanzhou, under house arrest for extradition to the US for trial on fraud charges there. House arrest? For a foreign national? It seems odd that Ms Wanzhou owns not one but two multi-million-dollar mansions in Vancouver. Her aircraft allegedly landed in Vancouver to refuel on rout to Mexico when she was arrested. Now she is under house arrest, but hires her own body guards (at her cost) to keep watch over her while she is under detention. That is highly unusual. Why has Ms. Wanzhou’s security detain not taken her to the airfield and sent her off to freedom in a private jet? Why are Canadian security people not keeping watch over her? Could it be that it is in China’s interests to keep Ms. Wanzhou under very soft arrest conditions as a bargaining chip? Ms. Wanzhou’s company builds 5G internet network routers it wants to sell to our government. The Huawei r...

On Saturday, we shared the following post from regular commentator John Feldsted; “ The world will not stay ‘on pause’ awaiting a coronavirus vaccine ... there are better solution ”.   A regular reader of the blog posts, David Gibson, had his own thoughts on the situation, and John’s commentary, which he agreed to let me share with you ... That was a very dismal message. Complain, complain, complain. Remember that this is Canadians' first time around. We're ALL new to this. Pandemics aren't new, but this one came fast, and we are ALL doing our best. You write: " We are weary of the continual bickering, posturing, promises and ongoing failures to put the interests and welfare of Canada and Canadians first in our governance considerations ." There are many, many Canadians who agree with you. Millions, in fact. Every bit as weary and frustrated as you. Well then, do something about it instead of just moaning and groaning on the sidelines. ...

Politicians talk about a “new normal” following the relaxing of coronavirus regulations. There will be a “new normal” – for governments. We are weary of the continual bickering, posturing, promises and ongoing failures to put the interests and welfare of Canada and Canadians first in our governance considerations. Canadians were doing well caring for themselves, in spite of government meddling, and will do well caring for themselves as the coronavirus crisis passes. Our governments have no tools with which to eradicate or eliminate coronavirus. It is not the only uncontrolled virus we have to combat. The world will not stay “on pause” awaiting a coronavirus vaccine. There are better solutions. Government inaction was replaced with overreaction. Shutting down our economy and all social interactions was drastic and has serious financial repercussions. This aspect of the fallout was not given proper consideration when the decisions to shut down was made....

Re-opening the economy will take time We are all wondering when we will be able to fully return to normal business operations. In order for that to happen, we need to know more about how the virus works and assist with worldwide efforts to develop a vaccine that is safe and effective. Last week, the federal government announced $1.1 billion toward this goal. In the meantime, face masks and physical distancing will be common, and large gatherings are discouraged. Those most at risk from the virus will still be asked to spend as much time at home as possible. We’ll also have to wait for key benchmarks to be met. From lifting border and travel restrictions, to when essential industries will get back up and running, as these answers are rolled out, I will be sure to keep you informed every step of the way. CLICK HERE for up-to-date info on programs and funding --------------------- Working together ... and sewing the curve ...

As a beautiful sunset rests on a glorious day, music from one world together plays in the background. Swans and Canada Geese are still on the lawn gobbling up what food they can find. Dozens of ducks fly in for a landing on the small area of lake that is now ice free. For them, nothing has changed, but for the rest of us, the world is a different place that nobody has ever seen before. The critical health impacts of a pandemic. The unknown of how it will develop. People’s livelihoods disrupted. Line ups to enter a grocery store and shelves not nearly as stocked as we are used to. Love ones isolated, not being able to reach out and be comforted. Fear, uncertainty and isolation are taking a toll on everyone. I have spoken with so many whose small business has been significantly impacted. Many are coming to the realization that their life’s work may not survive this. So many ask me, when we will return to normal? What will normal be? Nobody knows for ...

The media has created a fervour over the mathematical models that allegedly help governments predict the future of Coronavirus infections in the general population. Mathematical modelling has limited use and value. We need to understand is that the data available on Coronavirus (COVID-19) infections in Canada is far too small for statistical reliability. The data available for the whole world is useless due to variables in how nations responded to Coronavirus infections. There is no commonality in steps taken to combat virus spread and no similarity in the age demographics of world nations, so the numbers you see on the daily tracking of world infections are not useful in developing a model of infection rates that can be relied on. Mathematical models of the future spread of Coronavirus are better than nothing, but not a whole lot better.  Mathematical models must include assumptions on virus spreads, and various factors involved. As they are used in projections, a small ...

The current state of affairs makes some very important points First, we have been given an object lesson in just how puny our geopolitical systems are. The UN (Useless Nations) dithered and pontificated and pretended that its announcement that we are dealing with a pandemic was significant. Sorry to throw cold water on the cluster of idiots at the UN but a synonym for ‘pandemic’ is ‘widespread’. As soon as we had a half-dozen nations with Coronavirus victims, we had a pandemic. The UN belatedly voiced the obvious. Second , a key role of the UN is to bring affected nation together to create a reasoned approach to a communicable infection that we need to pool our resources to combat. Epic fail. We did not put our best brains to work on a common problem. Like it or not, the first word nations, the industrial giants, the nations the UN despises and is desperately trying to bring to bring to heel will develop the vaccine, the antidote that will save the world (again). Third ,...

The COVID-19 crisis will not be over soon (a few months to several years!), and it will be prohibitively expensive. No politician has all the answers and none can realistically provide a quick fix. Those are realities, and we must find ways to adapt to them. As to duration of the COVID-19 crisis, there seems to be 4 alternative timelines and tracks: 1. MAYBE A FEW MONTHS ► NEW TREATMENT DRUGS are developed to treat actual infections. There seem to be a number of them close to, or actually in, human testing. Will still be issues of cost and access; 2. MAYBE A FEW MONTHS ► JUST “ RUNS its COURSE ” . With containment measures, cases seem to be “plateauing” in China (if one can believe the data). As with some previous pandemics, maybe in time (hopefully no more than 4 or 5 months) it just fizzles out (with the help of containment and treatment measures). 3. MAYBE 18 MONTHS ► a NEW VACCINE is brought to market. There are a number of options in th...