MLA wants more info on closures, critiques vaccine rate

By ALEX McCUAIG Special to the News on May 11, 2021.

As new COVID-19 public health measures come into effect, the city’s MLA for Cypress-Medicine Hat is calling the unrest in the province “disturbing” after a weekend of high-profile arrests.

But Drew Barnes says he supports vaccination as a way to combat the virus and believes COVID is spread by person-to-person contact. And what he says Albertans now need is justification for closing businesses and is calling for evidence to show that shuttering patios and fitness facilities will reduce COVID transmission.

The outspoken UCP MLA is calling on governments to “do everything they can to streamline the vaccination process,” and says Alberta has done a good job in getting long-term care residents and frontline medical staff fully vaccinated.

But he was critical of the speed in which the country is getting fully vaccinated, highlighting that Americans have received both shots at a rate much higher than their Canadian counterparts.

According to recent data from both countries, about three per cent of Canadians have received both doses, while one in three are now fully vaccinated in the U.S.

About 45 per cent of Americans have had at least the first dose, while 33 per cent of Canadians have now had theirs. Last week, for the first time, Canada surpassed the U.S. for per-capita daily doses.

Regarding the current public health measures, Barnes says, “these restrictions weren’t designed for 15 months,” and lamenting the negative effects it’s had on the province.

He added that when it comes to public heath measures, “compliance works best when it’s done willingly.”

Barnes’ fellow city MLA, Brooks-Medicine Hat’s Michaela Glasgo, told the News last week she is also backing the drive to get Albertans vaccinated as a way to combat the pandemic.

But while the city’s two MLAs are using outlets such as the News to communicate their positions on the COVID pandemic, one of their UCP caucus colleagues took to Facebook to slam media when it comes to the pandemic.

In a Facebook post responding to a comment on the social media platform, Justice Minister Kaycee Madu said Albertans need to do everything they can to prevent the provincial health system from being overwhelmed.

Doing so would create a public panic once Albertans see their fellow citizens gasping for breathe (sic) in makeshift and field hospitals, Madu posted.

“I don’t think it will be responsible to simply wait to have a disaster on our hands,” stated Madu. “That’s what the NDP, the media and the federal Liberals were looking for and want.”

Ministry spokesperson Blaise Boehmer did not respond to requests seeking clarification from Madu on which specific media outlets the minister is referring to.

But Boehmer did double down on the minister’s comments in a copy and paste statement sent to a number of news organizations, adding, “the minister won’t apologize for stating the obvious.”

16
-15