Laying It Out: Why take baby steps when you can close your eyes and sprint?

By Medicine Hat News Opinion on May 29, 2021.

You’d think after getting it this wrong, this many times, Premier Jason Kenney would at least use a measured tone as he lays out a third aggressive reopening plan in a year.

But, I suppose when you’re crushin’ COVID spikes like a $7 lemonade on the midway, there’s no need to hold back. And so, when Kenney this week addressed the province – minus 2,206 Albertans (22 Hatters) who are dead from COVID – he was in a boastful mood as he provided details on the latest attempt at leaving this pandemic behind.

“The diligence and sacrifices of Albertans hasn’t just stopped the spike but crushed it,” Kenney said as he thanked citizens for doing their part.

Never mind the latest spike was his fault for reopening too soon in February as variants were taking off. And never mind several sacrifices thereafter were human lives, including another four from Medicine Hat whose families are changed forever.

COVID cases are falling, vaccination numbers are climbing and this province has a party to host. Kenney doesn’t have time to dwell on the whos or hows of the past, and he can’t be bothered with the ins and outs of this whole first dose, second dose hoopla.

He has a parade to attend.

After everything we’ve gone through, Albertans would probably be OK just knowing when we can have friends and family inside our homes again, but Kenney knows what we really need is the Calgary Stampede.

I mean, why stop at hosting a modest indoor gathering at home, when we can gather together at the greatest outdoor show on earth?

There is no question Calgary’s annual tourist vacuum is an economic driver for that city and the province as a whole, and there is no doubt we are all yearning for normal summer activity. A gigantic international but Alberta-branded party is going to sound to many like the perfect way to say goodbye to COVID and hello to the “best summer ever.”

Perhaps most Albertans know the premier is being overly hopeful about an event which won’t get an official go-ahead until vaccine numbers climb higher, but he did speak with at least some sensible reasoning for moving forward as a whole.

“The good news is that with the leading indicators coming down, with vaccine protection coming up, and with the tailwind of summer weather, we can confidently expect to see the pressure on our hospitals continue to come down,” Kenney said.

All of that is true – assuming you’re OK with hospital numbers being at least some measure above zero – and with vaccinations now on our side and in more arms every day, the number of people getting severely ill is going to fall. Seasonally warm weather and higher outdoor activity will also help, as they did last summer.

But while that might provide reason to dream of indoor dining, a gym workout or a dinner party, it seems a tad ambitious to imagine partying with tens of thousands of strangers in six weeks when every prior time we’ve raced back in we’ve had to retreat back out.

The fact Kenney ignores that past while collecting eggs in the Stampede basket says a lot about how he views COVID-19. A few weeks ago I wrote about the necessary efficacy rates for vaccines to effectively end the pandemic, and how 70% of the population with one jab is not enough to do that on its own.

That’s still true, as many are pointing out, and it’s not hard to imagine living with and vaccinating for this virus and others like it for a long time. But for months now I wondered (with a pretty credible hunch) whether Kenney would view vaccines as an all-out cure and completely end all public health measures once they were widely available.

Throughout the pandemic, even the premier has reached for basic humanity once the sound of ICUs filling up becomes too distracting. But, as a super Stampede summer suggests, once Albertans have had a chance to get the protection, that’s going to be it, COVID cases be damned.

Kenney has spent this week trying to pair together those of us who’ve cited vaccine rates and efficacy while urging governments to open slowly with those who think the vaccine itself is a dangerous hoax. In question period he literally accused the opposition of having an alliance with anti-vaxxers in an effort to prolong the pandemic and the restrictions that come with it.

This, of course, is typical blather from the king of it, and is so far removed from reality I’m surprised there isn’t a publicly funded inquiry about it.

Each time Kenney’s government moved us toward reopening it was done in an overaggressive, ill-advised manner that backfired completely, led to more death and left businesses and workers reeling from a rollercoaster of restriction. Those of us who urged the premier on multiple occasions to slow down, or to deal with rising cases, did so entirely in the interest of saving lives and getting out of this pandemic.

Kenney has screwed up the COVID response in myriad ways and government decisions have added to the death toll, made Alberta an international spectacle and turned 80% of the province against him. And yet he still has the smug nerve to stand in front of us and suggest we’re pro-pandemic if we don’t celebrate his latest plan.

Vaccines are a strong layer of protection that everyone needs to acquire, but until the overwhelming majority has two shots, that protection is underserved. No one who understands that is saying we shouldn’t have a reopening plan, nor are we saying we aren’t looking forward to a great summer.

It just means we should enjoy a few visits with grandma before risking it all so Kenney can look awkward in a cowboy hat at the world’s largest super-spreader event.