So long as government issues flip-flopping travel policies, people will make plans despite the pandemic
Most travel chatter focuses on the ‘new norm.’ Whether it is proof of vaccination, masking requirements, travel restrictions or negative PCR tests, are we actually seeing a new norm in terms of travel? Based on the number of airline passengers passing through Calgary International Airport (YYC) and Edmonton International Airport (YEG), it appears air travel…
How one student found her voice as an advocate for patients and other nurses
Cool air blew from above, nearly as bracing as the antiseptic smell of chlorhexidine that wafted through the operating room. The surgeon bent over a completely still older man, carefully inserting a small wire into an artery in the patient’s groin, searching for the path to repair an aneurysm. It was the first time Hanna…
The pandemic clearly taught us that Canada’s health-care system needs to reform
Indigenous communities across Canada should learn from an Alberta First Nation that’s establishing a private health clinic to provide services that will reduce the pressure on the public system. The Alberta government recently approved a plan by the Enoch Cree Nation, close to Edmonton, to build a private clinic specializing in hip and knee surgeries.…
How we decide to proceed will reveal much about our national character
While our series is fictional, the principle objective is non-fictional – to explore the likelihood that sooner or later, Canadians will demand a full-scale investigation into the management of the COVID crisis by our federal government. This is the final commentary in our series. When the new parliament met early in September 2023, the Speech…
Canadians need a comprehensive, fair inquiry into the federal government’s COVID-19 response
Over the last two years, Canadians have been told to “trust the science” without raising a question. Despite reasonable concerns, the evidence from Pfizer’s and Moderna’s randomized controlled trials (RCT) showed that for every 103 deaths in the vaccinated group there were 100 deaths in the unvaccinated group. The claim that the vaccine is 95…
Researchers who used AI to analyze keywords on Twitter say people were more resilient than anticipated
Researchers who analyzed language related to depression on social media during the pandemic say the data suggest people learned to cope as the waves wore on. University of Alberta researcher Alona Fyshe and her collaborators at the University of Western Ontario hypothesized that depression-related language would spike during each wave of COVID-19. But their study shows…
The federal government strongly condemned for its actions
While our series is fictional, the principle objective is non-fictional – to explore the likelihood that sooner or later, Canadians will demand a full-scale investigation into the management of the COVID crisis by our federal government. The final, two-volume Report of the COVID Commission was completed in early June of 2023. Time and space limitations…
Operational and funding costs are huge: $548M in 2019 (before COVID-19) and $597M in 2021
Investment managers and investors should often ask: If I didn’t already own this stock, would I buy it today? By any criteria, Via Rail, a federal Crown corporation, is not a good investment – even under unrealistically favourable assumptions. The federal government should rigorously examine this charitably-designated ‘enterprise,’ then aim it toward one of two…
His fictional story may have the best ideas anyone has had about assessing COVID impacts
A hallmark of Albert Einstein’s career was his use of thought experiments or “Gedankenexperiment” as a fundamental tool for understanding physical issues and elucidating his scientific concepts. These thought experiments employed his incredible imagination and took diverse forms. As a boy, Einstein mentally chased beams of light. For special relativity, he conceived moving trains and…
Conservative activists set impossible standards for politicians and abandon them when they're not met
For more than three decades, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney has been one of the leading political figures in Canada’s conservative movement. The 53-year-old headed the Canadian Taxpayers Federation in the 1990s and has been a strong advocate for low taxes, limited government and fiscal responsibility ever since. He served as a Reform Party, Canadian Alliance…
Most travel chatter focuses on the ‘new norm.’ Whether it is proof of vaccination, masking requirements, travel restrictions or negative PCR tests, are we actually seeing a new norm in terms of travel? Based on the number of airline passengers passing through Calgary International Airport (YYC) and Edmonton International Airport (YEG), it appears air travel…
