The final decision is coming Saturday from dear Premier Kenney. He's calling it, "a prudent decision based on the latest data." This should be interesting. I believe Alberta will proceed with the second phase of the province's reopening plan and it's a good step, again, as long as we're going off the data... y'know that factual stuff with numbers our Premier doesn't seem too familiar with?
Last Monday I returned to the office for the first time since September 2021 and noticed a change in attitude in my clients. From saying things like, "we'll get there if we work together," to being completely over it/tired//done with all things COVID-19. Just yesterday I went to the grocery store to pick up a few things I needed to make my husband a special birthday dinner (1 bag = 100$). There were quite a number of people already not wearing a mask in CO-OP. And the funny thing is CO-OP was one of the grocery stores who until now, took masking quite seriously. The tone has changed a lot in the last three weeks. Enter: #FreedomConvoy - a movement that involved a lot of Albertans. And they are angrier than and people I've ever seen.
I'd love to know "who" exactly the #FreedomConvoy is for. Is it just the baby boomers or the babies?
My own Mother has been aggressively vocal - saying things that don't make much sense (like, "I regret getting the vaccine at all") and posting shit on Facebook that she suddenly identifies with because like all of us, she's tired of the mandatory mask bylaws and the work-from-home. If I question her or begin to argue she becomes extremely defensive and it makes me feel as though I'm talking to a truck driver in support of the #FreedomConvoy. It's all pretty sad to me. Even though she was born after the baby boomer generation she's 100% on the bandwagon. Pretty sure she's not talking to me right now because I sent her a text the other day saying: for the love of God, take a break from Facebook please.
Growing up in a Conservative household in Alberta, exactly zero members of our immediate family made money in the O&G industry. Mom's Mom owned a hair salon and Grandpa drove a tow truck after his partner in a concrete business moved to Texas. According to my Mother, Trudeau is responsible for all damages to our economy - that is, Alberta's. She claims Premier Kenney has done the best he could throughout the pandemic, with the knowledge he had of #COVID19AB and yet our modeling was doomed from the second "wave." Not to mention the war he waged against Alberta's teachers and nurses at the start of the pandemic which led to an overwhelmed healthcare system. And not to mention he is under investigation STILL by the RCMP for how he was elected to his party. Mom has grown a specific hatred towards Trudeau and thinks Trudeau is punishing Alberta. Meanwhile for the last forty years, Conservatives have been making assloads of money in this province and investing sweet fuck all into any other industry. I heard Kenney this week announce a nearly two-billion-dollar investment into the Red Deer Hospital to distract from the fact he is STILL handing out money to fund new charter schools in Alberta when the public school has had a budget freeze for how long, again?
If you checked the type of news I consume, most of it would be leaning left. But when you have an extreme-right side of the political scale, like the hateful people honking their horns and declaring a #FreedomConvoy for the "rights of Canadians" it makes me wonder, exactly whose freedoms are you "fighting" for? Just because I'm more liberal than you doesn't mean to say I love Justin Trudeau. Sure, we can blame him for not shutting down the border sooner. Blame Trudeau because you couldn't vacation in the last two years. Travel abroad is a fucking luxury. You could have gone anyway because we weren't locked down. It might have cost you more time and money, but the point is you could have left.
So what is Phase 2 anyway? The biggest thing, which has a lot of Albertans angry is the mandatory indoor mask requirement - that will be gone. Indoor and outdoor gatherings will no longer have a limit and the mandatory work-from-home requirement will be lifted. I guess it includes removing any remaining requirements for schools as well. Oh, and also capacity limits on large venues - those will be gone. Again, lots baby boomers - sorry, babies, are so looking forward to all of this.
It's no coincidence the REP (Restrictions Exemption Program) ended over a week ago and more and more people started entering an indoor public place without a mask on. This is how Premier Kenney governs: he waits to see happens and then takes up the podium (always late, of course) to react. Earlier this month he did say Alberta would continue with the reopening plan by the end of February if COVID-19 hospitalizations were trending downward. I personally cannot even look at the man so I haven't been watching his last few press conferences. The man has no respect for anyone who doesn't drive a pickup truck.
Speaking of coincidence, this is probably the biggest one to date and so I must update...
Before I went into CO-OP I drove to Sobeys and found the channel letters gone from the front of the building. The windows and automatic doors were boarded up and it looked like a construction site. Sobeys CLOSED... I wonder how that happens. As I'm leaving the shopping complex I see this white Dodge pickup truck pull in and park in front of a cannabis dispensary. The first thing I notice when the driver gets out is he leaves the truck idling. Good for you man, giving no fucks about the environment! The second thing I noticed, of course how could I miss the classic bumper sticker Alberta's baby boomers love. Whoever made this is probably one of my customers but I really couldn't care less about that. The best part about all this is the dude is the picture perfect: middle-aged; 5ft 5inches tall.
Fuck You Trudeau, Thank You Very Much For The Legal Marijuana! Coincidence? No. Alberta is just an ironic province.
