protest

Saturday May 8, 2021

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday May 8, 2021

What’s really behind Ontario’s anti-lockdown groups that stand up for small businesses

The websites and social media accounts of prominent COVID-19 anti-lockdown groups in Ontario will offer visitors a similar experience: powerful messages, heartfelt testimonials and a sense of solidarity.

April 8, 2021

Many of these groups position themselves as allies to small businesses that are struggling to stay afloat amid the lockdowns imposed by the Ontario government.

But in addition to protesting government-imposed lockdowns, these groups tend to have a general “flavour to anti-government and anti-public health messages,” which can be dangerous, University of Toronto professor Roy Gillis said. Gillis leads a research team studying misinformation related to COVID-19.

Gillis said, often, anti-lockdown groups will have hidden political agendas they are trying to accomplish and will use information that may contain “a kernel of truth” to play into people’s fears and beliefs and convince them that government groups and public health officials are trying to limit their rights and control them. 

“Particularly in pandemic situations when there’s a lot of fear, when there’s a lot of mistrust, when people are looking for someone to blame, to hold somebody accountable, these groups, these beliefs become easy targets,” Gillis added.

The Line Canada, is one example of many Canada-wide groups that protest the lockdown in Ontario. Despite The Line’s insistence that it is not affiliated with the anti-vaccine or antimask movements, the group’s social media accounts regularly share these types of messages. 

August 7, 2020

In one recent post to Twitter, the group implies that vaccines — not the virus — is what is causing increases in COVID-19 cases and deaths.

The post refers to a BBC article about Chile’s COVID-19 case numbers rising, despite the country’s successful vaccine rollout plan. The story’s sources state a number of likely causes, including SARS-CoV-2 variants and health authorities’ decision to loosen restrictions too early. 

There is no mention in the article that the vaccine is responsible for cases or deaths. As stated by Health Canada, “the vaccines cannot give you COVID-19 because they don’t contain the virus that causes it.”

Anatoliy Gruzd, the director of research at Ryerson Social Media Lab, who is also leading a COVID-19 Misinformation Rapid Response Project, said another factor that contributes to people’s likeliness to believe misinformation is uncertainty created by government officials on certain topics. 

He cited the example of medical experts and government officials being initially skeptical about mask wearing, prior to deeming it effective and eventually mandating it.

As a result, “any new messages on that topic will be looked at with some suspicion by certain groups who generally do not trust government guidelines anyway.”

July 18, 2020

This suspicion is demonstrated in antimask content posted by Action4Canada, another group that protests COVID-19 measures in Ontario and across Canada.

In an email statement, Action4Canada’s founder Tanya Gaw said, “we provide evidence and fact-based material from experts around the world.”

On the group’s page about masks, the group posts a quote and link from the CDC that connects to a study that used data from 1946 to July 27, 2018 to conclude that researchers “found no significant reduction in influenza transmission with the use of face masks.”

This study was not related to COVID-19.

More recent reports from CDC, which are not included on Action4Canada’s website, back the use of face masks in preventing the spread of COVID-19.

Gruzd said though it may appear that groups protesting government measures and lockdowns are backed by many people, they are rather supported by a small but vocal minority of like-minded people. (Brampton Guardian) 

 

Saturday July 18, 2020

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday July 18, 2020

Why has there been no public information campaign about face masks?

May 6, 2020

On 24 July it becomes compulsory to wear face masks in shops and supermarkets in England. What determines how we can expect such measures to play out? Largely, three things: how confident we can be in the available evidence, the size of the estimated effect among a compliant population, and the degree of compliance.

While a lot of attention has focused – rightly – on the first two of these, the third is equally important. Compliance not only encompasses questions of whether there is adherence to the guidance, but also the quality of the adherence. It is instructive, then, to compare the case of face masks with that of another very recent public health intervention: the recommendation of handwashing to stop the spread of Covid-19.

Handwashing is simple for most people. It is relatively cheap, and the means required to comply with the request – soap, running water – were largely already available in March, when advice on doing so began. While prior knowledge on handwashing existed, public health campaigns emphasised how best to do so, with simple messaging – “sing Happy Birthday twice” – combined with regular social media and TV campaigns providing more detailed advice.

April 9, 2020

Wearing a face mask is a more complex and costly act, and less familiar. People will face various difficulties in complying. Assuming that any positive effect of making masks mandatory exists, it is vital that these benefits are maximised and any potential downsides mitigated. This raises many additional questions. What sort of masks should be worn? How should they be worn? How often can they be worn? How often do they need to be cleaned? Is it more important to emphasise mask-wearing for certain groups? Might it be sensible to not recommend mask-wearing for others?

Life in a Pandemic

All this means at least two things: first, we need a public information campaign that helps widespread, effective compliance. This must not say simply “wear a mask”, or bury the answers to these questions on a government website; it should make the guidance highly visible and clear to understand. The World Health Organization has produced infographics and films that provide a good template.

Second, compliance needs to be possible for everyone. This crisis, and actions taken to mitigate it, has already had a devastating financial impact on many people. The price in a supermarket for a disposable face mask is about 70p: that cost has to be multiplied by the number of daily trips on public transport where masks are already mandatory – and, in one week’s time, will be multiplied by the number of visits to a shop or supermarket. While fabric masks are available, they need to be washed regularly – the WHO says at least once a day – adding more costs. Face masks are already being given away for free at some Network Rail-operated train stations: this could be rolled out more broadly, to other public transport hubs and at supermarkets. (The Guardian) 



 

Friday June 26, 2020

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay – Friday June 26, 2020

‘Defund the police’ movement hits semantics roadblock

Activists calling to “defund the police” are encountering early opposition to their slogan, with some supporters saying it’s confusing and others worrying the overall goal could be misinterpreted.

June 10, 2020

The phrase, which has become a rallying cry among some advocates during the George Floyd protests, broadly refers to cutting funds for law enforcement and redirecting them toward social programs, particularly those focused on crime prevention and alternative forms of public safety.

The slogan became an easy target for President Trump and other Republicans who have seized on the wording in an attempt to paint Democrats as supporting lawless communities. However, top Democrats, including presumptive presidential nominee Joe Biden and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.), quickly distanced themselves from the phrase.

“The slogan may be misleading without interpretation,” Rev. Al Sharpton said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” this past week, adding that he understood the phrase to be more about deep-rooted reform efforts.

“I don’t think anyone other than the far extremes are saying we don’t want any kind of policing at all,” he said.

But the need to explain the meaning behind the wording comes with its own set of critics.

June 18, 2015

“If you’re explaining, you’re losing, and there’s a lot of explaining going on,” Meghan McCain, a right-leaning commentator said on ABC’s “The View.”

“If you mean reform, say reform. If you mean defund, say defund. People are confused,” she added.

Evan Nierman, the CEO and founder of crisis communications PR firm Red Banyan, said the message has its pros and cons.

“The plus for them is that it’s a phrase that’s a call to action, it’s something tangible that they can demand. Rather than just saying ‘equal rights for all’ or ‘justice for all,’ we want this concrete thing,” he said.

But long-term, Nierman said he didn’t think it was a good slogan.

“It may be good at prompting a conversation, but the language is so extreme that it alienates. If they came up with something that more accurately portrays the policy, it might get more public support,” he said.

Some prominent activists and political leaders have pushed back on the idea that a grassroots slogan should be changed so that it has broader appeal.

“Lots of DC insiders are criticizing frontline activists over political feasibility and saying they need a new slogan. But poll-tested slogans and electoral feasibility is not the activists’ job. Their job is to organize support and transform public opinion, which they are doing,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) tweeted.

“And by the way, the fact that ppl are scrambling to repackage this whole conversation to make it palatable for largely affluent, white suburban ‘swing’ voters again points to how much more electoral & structural power these communities have relative to others,” she added. (The Hill) 

 

Thursday March 12, 2020

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday March 12, 2020

As virus outbreak spreads, schools face a dilemma

When the new coronavirus surfaced at Saint Raphael Academy after a school group returned from a trip to Italy, officials decided to close the Rhode Island Catholic high school for two weeks.

February 4, 2020

Instead of cancelling classes, the school in Pawtucket instituted “virtual days” where students are expected to work from home, check for assignments through an online portal and occasionally chat with teachers.

A few miles away, a public charter school also closed after a teacher who attended the same Italy trip awaited test results. But at Achievement First, the two days off were treated like snow days — no special assignments and no expectation that kids keep up their schoolwork.

As more schools across the United States close their doors because of the coronavirus, they are confronted with a dilemma in weighing whether to shut down and move classes online, which could leave behind the many students who don’t have computers, home internet access or parents with flexible work schedules. As the closures accelerate, children at some schools, like Saint Raphael, will be able to continue some form of learning, while children at schools with fewer technological or other resources, may simply miss out.

September 3, 2013

The deep technological and wealth gap that exists nationwide between poor and affluent students has made the coronavirus outbreak even more challenging for school officials, who are wrestling with not only health and safety decisions but also questions about the ethics of school closures.

These deliberations have been playing out in schools all around the country during the outbreak, from urban districts in New York, Seattle and Los Angeles to rural ones in Nebraska and Pennsylvania.

“If we shut down for a week or two weeks, and some of the kids can do it but some can’t, what do you do?” said Edward Albert, executive director of the Pennsylvania Association of Rural and Small Schools. “There are some places that don’t even have phone service.”

Although widespread closures are a new development in the United States, they are already a reality in nations that have been hit harder by the virus. The United Nations’ education agency, UNESCO, says nearly 300 million children in 22 countries on three continents were being affected by school closures last week. In response, it has begun supporting online learning programs. (PBS) 

Meanwhile, Ontario’s elementary teachers are set to resume contract talks with the government on Wednesday, but they’re warning that if bargaining doesn’t produce an agreement, the union will resume job action after March break. (CBC)


 

Thursday February 13, 2020

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday February 13, 2020

Rule of law must prevail in gas pipeline dispute

A common misconception about the blockades and protests disrupting business and travel across Canada this week is that they are taking place with the support of the majority of Indigenous people. Obviously, some people — Indigenous and non-Indigenous — support Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs in their efforts to stop the construction of the Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline.

February 6, 2020

But to suggest that the chiefs, or their supporters across the country, speak on behalf of Indigenous people in general is misguided.

Consider the situation among members of the Witset First Nation in the area of the pipeline.

All 20 elected band councils along the pipeline route have signed benefit agreements with Coastal GasLink and support the pipeline. Some of the communities held referendums that showed majority support. But, the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs who oppose the pipeline say those councils were established by the Indian Act and only have authority over reserve lands.

CBC’s “As It Happens” interviewed Wet’suwet’en resident Bonnie George who said, in part: “There’s quite a bit of support for this project. But people are afraid to speak up because, in the past few years, people that (have) spoken up were either ostracized … ridiculed, bullied, harassed, threatened, and being called a traitor — a sellout … People are afraid to speak up.”

April 23, 2006

Another resident, Philip Tait, told Global News: “Right now, this is probably got to be one of the biggest job creations in the province here, and we want to be part of it,” he said. “The hereditary chiefs’ office, they don’t speak for the whole clan.”

And yet, here we are. The chiefs’ protest has become a cause celebre across the country, with supporters blockading roads and railways, disrupting service. Some of the consequences are merely inconveniences, but others have serious economic impact. The lack of propane delivery, for example, threatens agricultural businesses that rely on it to heat barns during winter.

The pipeline project has met all environmental requirements. It has all the requisite approvals. It has the official support of Indigenous communities along the route.

And it has the potential to serve an important purpose, aside from the obvious one that it moves liquid natural gas from point A (Dawson Creek) to Point B (Kitimat).

Pipeline cartoons

The natural gas moved through the pipeline will end up at a huge complex in Kitimat. From there, LNG will be moved by ship to markets around the world. Some of those markets will include large nations like China and India that still produce a great deal of their needed energy by burning coal. LNG, while not perfect, is much less harmful to the environment as coal energy. So the LNG that comes from the $6-billion, 670-kilometre Coastal GasLink pipeline has the potential to make a significant impact on reducing greenhouse gas emissions in developing countries.

But for that to work, the gas has to get from its source to market. And the best, safest, way to do that is by pipeline.

Given that construction has all official approvals to proceed, governments were left with little choice but to issue injunctions demanding protesters leave the area. When they refused, RCMP removed and arrested some. RCMP were operating under the rule of law, just as police in other jurisdictions, including Ontario, are doing by following legal direction to remove blockades on rail lines, ports and roadways.

Negotiations with the chiefs are continuing, as they should. But the rule of law must be observed, across Canada. That’s of paramount national importance. (Hamilton Spectator Editorial)