A new generation of preachers is following in William Penn's footsteps by defending our constitutional freedoms
For the defiant act of holding church services despite public health orders, Alberta pastors James Coates, Tim Stephens and Art Pawlowski were arrested and jailed. Some, including those within the faith, think the pastors should acquiesce to the government edicts. These people forget that it was similar defiance by devout Quaker William Penn that established…
The role of government in a democracy isn’t to create barriers to free choice
As parts of the world begin to turn the corner with COVID-19, the discussion related to mandatory COVID-19 vaccine passports has started to intensify. A vaccine passport is a document that confirms an individual’s full immunization against COVID-19. It will contain a proper record of the COVID-19 vaccine doses that a person received and may…
As with every aspect of the pandemic-postponed Olympics, the virus will cast a long shadow on how people are fed
The Tokyo Olympic Games are finally upon us. Most of the attention will be given to the athletes, the sports, the empty stands and, of course, COVID-19. But every Olympics brings the gigantic task of feeding an entire village of high-performing humans from all over the world. In Tokyo, that means organizers need to feed…
Decentralization of supply management led to better results
Vaccines are seen as the key to ending the COVID-19 crisis. But creating a vaccine is one thing; having enough of it for the population is another. Here comes the problem of supply management. From the beginning of the crisis, many pharmacy laboratories worldwide tried to develop a vaccine against the virus. Some of them…
All eyes are focused on Saudi Arabia. Will it continue to single-handedly maintain stability in the markets?
Uncertainty has overtaken the crude oil markets again for several reasons. Since March, crude oil markets have mostly been ascending. But prices declined last week by a greater margin than any time in the last four-plus months. And the resurgence of COVID-19 in many parts of the world is clouding the near-term future of oil.…
The plight of global millions fleeing persecution goes unnoticed while our attention is fixed on the pandemic
They are the wretched of the earth (to use Haitian writer Franz Fanon’s phrase), the world’s homeless wanderers. Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, stated recently in his official Twitter account that, during the past year when the pandemic put much of the world on hold, 82.4 million people were forced to flee their…
Vaccination passports will restrict the rights of a minority of people to access services
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson revealed in May that he would establish an agreement on creating a universal vaccine passport system with the G7 countries – including Canada. He told CBC News that nations require “agreements” on “COVID status certification and the rest.” Johnson was referring to how travel and passports will work as the…
Common anti-inflammatory drugs could offer safer treatment than current options to help stop worst outcomes due to hyperinflammation
A University of Alberta pharmacologist is encouraging the trial of common anti-inflammatory medications such as aspirin to treat the most harmful outcomes of COVID-19. Most people infected with SARS-CoV-2 recover without serious symptoms, reported Ayman El-Kadi, professor in the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, in a recently published academic paper. However, some patients develop inflammation in the…
Relaxing measures at the border could serve as an indication that vaccination efforts are working
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has made no secret about his belief that every Canadian should get vaccinated. “I just want to get back to normal,” he said in May, insisting that the path back to normality was to ensure that everybody, including the “crusty old uncle who resists” or a “friend who’s skeptical,” take a…
We need to cut red tape so we can respond efficiently during times of crisis
The pandemic took many countries – governments and their citizens – by surprise. Many weren’t prepared to face such a crisis. Initially, most Western countries refused to panic and wanted to manage the situation like another flu epidemic. But the outbreaks in hospitals and other medical facilities in many countries led to chaos, forcing governments…
It’s time provincial premiers return to evidence-based policy and govern in alignment with our constitutional freedoms
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe recently urged his citizens to get vaccinated in a three-minute plea filled with dubious claims and faulty logic. It’s irksome that any executive assistant or speechwriter got paid to compose such nonsense. Moe said: “Those who have chosen to not get vaccinated, you will continue to be at risk of not…
If we continue to value Canadian lives more than we value Congolese or Yemini lives, we put our well-being at risk
It’s certainly a relief to see COVID-19 restrictions eased and life returning to normal as more and more Canadians get vaccinated. The vaccines we have won’t provide 100 per cent immunity but should be sufficient to prevent further outbreaks. We’re told that soon travel restrictions and social distancing will be a thing of the past.…
Even many vaccinated people continue to live in fear. It’s bizarre
Great events in history usually have one picture that manages to capture their essence. The iconic photo of the American troops planting the flag on Iwo Jima does it for the Second World War, and the disturbing picture of the naked little girl running for her life from napalm perfectly captures the horror of the…
People have worked themselves into a frenzy because they haven’t been able to get a hair cut
What intellectual, hard-hitting and politically-charged topic are we tackling in this week’s column? My hair! That’s an unusual choice. How did it make the (ahem) final cut? Read on, brave and curious souls, and ye shall find out. Many Ontario-based businesses have been closed the past six months during COVID-19. In Toronto, this has included…
The after-effects of India’s lethargic COVID-19 response has resulted in a social fracture
China first reported the detection of an unknown strain of virus in Wuhan to the World Health Organization (WHO) on Dec. 31, 2019. That event changed the world. Eleven million residents of Wuhan city were placed under an unprecedented quarantine. Soon thereafter, Italy quarantined around 16 million people in the country’s Lombardy region. Within days,…
For the defiant act of holding church services despite public health orders, Alberta pastors James Coates, Tim Stephens and Art Pawlowski were arrested and jailed. Some, including those within the faith, think the pastors should acquiesce to the government edicts. These people forget that it was similar defiance by devout Quaker William Penn that established…
