No one has a moral obligation to obey COVID-19 lockdown orders. Therefore civilly disobeying them is justified
Lockdown orders are not justified. There is, consequently, no moral obligation to obey them. Let me explain. In the wake of SARS and H1N1, Public Health Canada drafted the Pandemic Influenza Preparedness guideline (CPIP). Although we failed to meaningfully operationalize this guideline it nevertheless maintains that, “when considering restrictive measures, it is important to balance…
Nova Scotia is envied for its commitment to the environment. But it must also more aggressively encourage resources and startups
The Nova Scotia Liberal Party has chosen a new leader so it’s important to think about the policy priorities of the province’s new premier, Iain Rankin. Although an election doesn’t need to be held until spring 2022, Elections Nova Scotia is already preparing for one as early as April 1 of this year. The premier…
The pandemic has plunged the West into a state of fear, with more people willing to accept greater government interference
In his first days in office, President Joe Biden rescinded a Donald Trump-era order that restricted the United States government’s use of diversity training to examine issues around race and gender bias, and systemic racism. In doing so, he will be advancing radical and divisive racial politics that have plagued his Democratic Party and popular…
Any appearance of conflicts of interest must be eliminated
By Joel Lexchin, Lisa Bero, Marc-Andre Gagnon, Quinn Grundy and Barbara Mintzes COVID-19 vaccines are starting to come into Canada again and hopefully there won’t be any further interruptions. Public acceptance of vaccines will depend on how confident people are that the best decisions have been made about which vaccines to purchase. If it looks…
“Misinformation is a dire, imminent threat to the lives of all Canadians"
How do you respond to a deluge of COVID fake news on social media? If you ask Timothy Caulfield, he would say fight back with a tsunami of irrefutable science. That’s just what he and other notable influencers are doing with a new social media campaign called #ScienceUpFirst. So far, it seems to be working, with…
Are politicians following the data or their pride?
When the British government revealed the existence of a new strain of COVID-19 just before Christmas, it proved an effective way for the prime minister to enforce strict Tier 4 lockdown measures on much of the south of England with minimal fuss. It also very quickly isolated the United Kingdom from the rest of the…
Rates of depression, anxiety were 10 times higher for people with end-stage kidney disease even before the pandemic started
Alberta’s 3,000 kidney failure patients who are on dialysis are being asked to report on their mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. “When we talk about people who are highly vulnerable for COVID-19, that includes people living with kidney failure,” said lead researcher Kara Schick-Makaroff, associate professor in the Faculty of Nursing. “They are often older adults…
Wastewater samples from manholes near long-term care facilities being tested to detect the presence of SARS-CoV-2
University of Alberta medical scientists are teaming up with public health officials, Edmonton’s drainage utility company and other collaborators to develop an early warning system for COVID-19 outbreaks in long-term care homes. On Jan. 4, EPCOR began taking twice-weekly wastewater samples from manholes located at 10 Edmonton long-term care facilities, which are then tested by U of…
Quarantining the healthy, while failing to properly protect the most vulnerable, never made sense
By David Redman and Brian Giesbrecht Frontier Centre for Public Policy Vaccinations are happening and lockdowns will finally end. Politicians, and a supportive media, will tell us that their lockdown policies saved us. But before accepting that claim, should we not take a close look at others who did things differently? The public will be…
What governments have done in response to COVID-19 has been remarkably injurious to humanity’s general health
Recent pronouncements by the World Health Organization (WHO) suggest its view of COVID-19 is evolving from a pandemic threat that’s novel and spreading to an endemic threat that has established itself as just another new contestant in the vast ecosystem of organisms that interact periodically with humans. This suggests a need to change strategy. After…
Lockdown orders are not justified. There is, consequently, no moral obligation to obey them. Let me explain. In the wake of SARS and H1N1, Public Health Canada drafted the Pandemic Influenza Preparedness guideline (CPIP). Although we failed to meaningfully operationalize this guideline it nevertheless maintains that, “when considering restrictive measures, it is important to balance…
