Saturday, August 28, 2021

Election Follies and Funnies #9

Well wasn't this a day? 

Canada was rocked by the news that the Trudeau campaign has to cancel one of its Ontario rallies because the anti-vaxxer mob was putting Trudeau and Liberal candidates into danger. Trudeau's response: This rings true to me: And this was also quite a story -- a grieving father, whose son was shot down in Iran on flight PS752 last winter, stops Trudeau to ask him to do more to bring Iran to justice:
Trudeau listened about the unfulfilled promise amid a campaign where he is making new promises to voters. Animated, Zarei pressed his point. 
Finally, Trudeau reached out and hugged Zarei, speaking in his ear and promising anew to do everything possible to get justice for the victims, doing so in a small pocket inside a crush of security, journalists and onlookers as the Liberal leader hit the hustings. 
"I hear now he's talking from (the) bottom of his heart to go for justice for the families," Zarei said afterwards, wearing a small button on his chest bearing his son's face and name. 
"That's why I kept calling. And I believe him (that) he is going to do the justice for the people."

  Here's a fascinating chart and tweet thread from economist David Macdonald comparing the $10-a-day child care plan from the Liberals with the tax credit plan from the Conservatives: Canadians are starting to talk more about climate change issues during this campaign, and they're noticing that the Conservatives don't actually have much of a plan:
 Finally, we can all be proud of the outstanding job done by Canadian forces in rescuing 3,700 people from Kabul, and also in assisting the Americans and other NATO forces in rescuing more. Here is part of that story, as told in the August 26 technical briefing statement by General Wayne Eyre, Acting Chief of the Defence Staff, Canadian Armed Forces 
 ...this Operation was carried out under intense – and often misinformed – public scrutiny and criticism.
For obvious reasons, operational details of what we were doing had to be kept quiet. 
So into that silence some people interjected their own narratives, without any real knowledge of the facts, adding to the confusion. 
But the truth is very different. 
Even though Kabul airport has left us heartbreaking stories, in the days to come you will also hear the stories of heroism of the people who took part in the operation, because those stories must be heard.
You’ll hear the stories about how the dedication, determination, and compassion – how the heroism of our Canadian troops saved and changed thousands of lives. 
You’ll hear about the CAF members who cared for a new mother and the baby she’d given birth to approximately 15 hours before boarding a flight, making sure she and the infant made it to safety. 
You will hear about the little Afghan girl who followed a military policewoman to board one of our flights. She asked her father: How can a woman be a police officer? He explained that in Canada, women can be police officers. Looking up at the soldier, the girl said she would like to be a police officer when she was growing up. 
You’ll hear about the little Afghan boy, who so admired one of our soldiers that he wouldn’t leave his side as the soldier carried out his work during an evacuation flight… And how that soldier cared for the boy, who was about the same age as his own son waiting for him to return safely home to Canada. 
The events of recent weeks have, not surprisingly, caused many to ask of our past involvement in Afghanistan: Was it worth it? My personal answer is time will tell. 
We made a made a difference in thousands of lives while we were there. 
And every one of those lives counts as a win. We’ll see if that is enough.
The Syrian refugees welcomed into Canada six years ago have made outstanding contributions to their new country, and I have no doubt the Afghan refugees and other Afghan immigrants now on their way will turn out to be just as important to Canada's future.
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3 comments:

DBK said...

Canada has anti-vaxxers too? I thought it was just crazies in the US. We don't get much Canada news, I'm afraid. I'm not a good enough person to meet the madness with compassion. Every time I hear about yet another anti-vaxxer dying from Covid, I smile. Evolution in action, you see.

8:45 pm
Cathie from Canada said...

Yes, I understand the impulse. I don't think Covid is going away any time soon, and the anti-vaxers will go even crazier the longer it lasts.

9:54 pm
DBK said...

Actually, to my amusement, they are dying from the Delta variant. I'm not a good enough person to be sympathetic to their illness and death. I feel badly for children who are unable to get vaccinated and who get sick/die, but not to adults who have had every opportunity to get the vaccine and refuse it. I don't feel any sympathy if they have been misinformed by radio talk show personalities and such because they had every opportunity to hear what doctors have to say and choe to get their medical advice from fringe types and lunatics. Covid is evolution in action.

9:26 am

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