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Alberta

Updated: Cpl Courtney McKinley is first female soldier from 41 Signal Regiment to deploy from Red Deer in four decades

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Cpl McKinley and other soldiers

Correction:  Cpl McKinley is the first female soldier from “41 Signal Regiment (2 Sqn)” in Red Deer to deploy overseas. There have been as many as 5 female soldiers from Red Deer that have deployed since 1979/80. In the original version of this article I incorrectly stated that Cpl McKinley was the first female to deploy in 4 decades. She is the first female “signaller” to deploy in that time. My apology.

What follows is the original article, updated for accuracy.

As we go about our busy lives in Red Deer, rarely do we think of the soldiers that work, live, and train in our city.  The reality is that we have a growing group of soldiers here, members of 41 Signal Regiment (2 sqn) and 78th Field Battery, a unit of the 20th Field Artillery Regiment.

Given our lack of knowledge at what goes on inside Cormack Armoury and the military in general, it’s fair to say many of us wouldn’t realize that it’s very rare for a female soldier from Red Deer to deploy on an international operation. Forty years ago this past month Cheryl Bolander, Connie Kaastrup, Karen Russel, Bev Scott and Joan Verbonic returned from deployment to Germany. In the ensuing years, there have been as many as 5 deployments of female soldiers from the city.

Those numbers were bolstered recently when Cpl Courtney McKinley Of 41 Signal Regiment took up the call and volunteered for  deployment to Latvia in July 2019 for six months.  McKinley returned recently to resume her studies in political science at the U of A.

Operation Reassurance in Latvia is part of NATO’s assurance and deterrence measures ained to reinforce NATO’s collective defence and shows the strength of solidarity of our Allied forces.

The CAF support to NATO helps make Central and Eastern Europe more secure and stable. It also shows that the CAF is a professional force that is ready for any task.

I got together recently with Cpl McKinley to talk about her unique experience.

The interview appears below, lightly edited for brevity.

How long have you been a member of the Armed Forces and what led you down that path?

McKinley:  I’ve been a member for about 3 years.  I grew up in Wainwright, and as you know, that’s a military town. It really influenced me and I’ve always thought it was a really cool thing for people to do, and I appreciated it myself, and it’s proven to lead me into some very cool experiences. 

What was your role there and why did you want to do deploy?

McKinley: Well, Canada has been deploying an increasing amount of troops to Latvia the past several years as part of NATO’s Enhanced Forward Prescence in the Balkins with Canada being the Framework Nation for Latvia so many of my colleagues from the Regiment and from the Brigade in general had previously deployed and I heard alot of positive feedback.  It’s not a combat tour, but it’s more of an exercise-based mission and it really allows members to hone in on the roles of their trade and really become professional soldiers.  As a Reservist, it allowed me to take my theoretical knowledge and apply it to real world situations. What led me to deploy is I wanted to put my training to a practical use to become a better soldier in the future.

What was your role? 

McKinley: Being a Signaller in the Canadian Army means that you are responsible for establishing all types of communications systems.  Further you need to be able to track what is going on in the battle and relay that information from the elements in the field back up to the Commanders.  You are responsible for everything regarding communications in a military situation. 

What did you learn from soldiers from other countries? 

McKinley: We worked with militaries from approximately 9 different countries.  When you form an international NATO battle group, it’s an amazing dynamic because all of these different militaries are expert in some things, but not necessarily everything, Canada included.  We were all able to learn from each other and bring that knowledge back to our countries and now work with our peers to advance our own skills. Montenegro for instance, is a very small country and their troops are getting some pretty extensive training on how NATO operates as a whole, and Montenegro, being the newest member of the alliance, is gaining significant knowledge and experience.  In my case, I don’t think I’m exceptional, but I did have the flexibility in my life, and was readily available, and I really wanted to do it. 

What did this experience do for you personally? 

McKinley: I guess I gained the knowledge of how other countries perceive Canada and our fighting force. And the ability to make friends with people who do not speak a common language using google translater.  And learning that everyone has the same problems and challenges.  One example would be, when you supply a mass amount of equipment to a group like this, there are problems – with your leadership, officers, and just personal things.  One thing that really stood out for me was at Christmas.  We were all away from home, it was the end of the mission, we were all tired of being away, but being able to spend time with our peers and newly-found friends was pretty awesome.

You’re studying Political Science at the U of A.  Do you intend to continue with your military career and does your education align with this? 

McKinley: I have no plan to leave my military life.  Me studying politics plays more into the nature of my curiousity in the world around me and my interest in the military, and why I wanted to deploy in the first place. 

What would you say to an employer about why a reservist would be a great asset to their company or organization?

McKinley: I would say that throughout my time in the reserves, what I have learned is alot of practical skills.  And that goes from how to work with people from different nationalities, down to vehicle mechanics, and how those all play into a working environment.  In the military you are taking policy put in place by NATO, really taking political theory and applying it right down to maintaining the equipment needed to make sure that mission succeeds.  As a troop on the ground you’re part of the gears that are actually working to a successful mission and feel like I’ve seen all levels of that in my brief military career. The values you see in the military would be working together on a team and working towards a common goal with that team.  It’s not about the individual.  That’s probably the biggest lesson I’ve learned from my military career that can transcend into my civilian work.  And trusting in leadership to take you where you need to be in order to be successful. 

The military has made diversity a priority over the past few years.  What would you say to someone, a female particularly, who is considering a career in the forces? 

McKinley: It’s important for them to know that all members of the army are treated equally and are all held to the same standard.  I can only speak for myself, and in my experience, yes it is a male-dominated field but I’ve never felt at any point that I was less than because I was a woman, and I guess I’d encourage them to join if they’re students or looking for practical skills development.  You will have the same expectations if you are a man or a woman, and I’ve never experienced any objectification in my threee years.  I’d encourage women to experience for themselves and listen to the experiences of women who have been in the forces.  I think women are starting to realize that the military is very much a field for women as well. 

Cpl Courtney McKinley, 41 Signal Regiment, Canadian Army Reserve

Background:

In June 2017, the CAF deployed about 540 Canadian Army members to Latvia. They are leading a NATO battlegroup comprising military members from several nations, including:

  • Albania
  • Canada
  • Czech Republic
  • Italy
  • Montenegro
  • Poland
  • Slovakia
  • Slovenia
  • Spain

This battlegroup works as part of the Latvian Land Forces Infantry Brigade. It is based at Camp Adazi, Latvia.

Mission timeline

  • April 29, 2014 – the CAF sent its first CF-188 Hornet Air Task Force to Europe. Since then, the CAF had periodically sent air task forces to Central and Eastern Europe.
  • May 3, 2014 – the CAF sent a Land Task Force to Central and Eastern Europe, based in Poland.
  • May 13, 2014 – the CAF sent a Maritime Task Force of one frigate to Central and Eastern Europe.
  • June 19, 2017 – Canadian-led NATO enhanced Forward Presence battlegroup Latvia was stood up during a ceremony at Camp Adazi, Latvia.
  • August 17, 2017 – The Land Task Force in Poland completed its final deployment.
  • July 10, 2018 – The Prime Minister of Canada announced the renewal of Canada’s contribution to NATO’s enhanced Forward Presence until March 2023. The CAF will also increase the number of members deployed to Latvia from 455 to 540.

Past Deployments

CAF members have continuously supported NATO assurance and deterrence measures since 2014.

  • To date, seven different ships have contributed to this operation; three of them have deployed twice.
  • From May 2014 to August 2017, over 1000 soldiers deployed in eight rotations to Europe. Based at Drawsko Pomosrkie Training Area, Poland, they regularly took part in exercises with allies and partners.
  • The CAF has sent an air task force to three different countries: Romania (four times), Iceland, and Lithuania.

If you’ve enjoyed this article, please share it.  Here’s a link to a documentary from 2017 that highlights Alberta soldiers who have deployed overseas.

Hon Lt Col Lloyd Lewis

Lloyd Lewis is Honorary Lt. Colonel of 41 Signal Regiment and serves on the Board of the AB Chapter of the CFLC. He is President of Todayville, a digital media company based in Alberta.

 

 

 

President Todayville Inc., Honorary Colonel 41 Signal Regiment, Board Member Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Arts Award Foundation, Director Canadian Forces Liaison Council (Alberta) musician, photographer, former VP/GM CTV Edmonton.

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Alberta

The Government of Alberta’s Report on Their COVID-19 Pandemic Response: Bryam Bridle

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From COVID Chronicles

By Dr. Byram W. Bridle 
Dr. Bridle is an Associate Professor of Viral Immunology in the Department of Pathobiology at the University of Guelph.

It confirms big problems with public health and provides a roadmap for how to do it right the next time around; let justice and healing begin.

The Government of Alberta has released a report following an investigation into the province’s response to the declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The announcement can be found in this X post from, Eric Bouchard, a member of Alberta’s legislative assembly.

The report itself can be found here.

This is a report that is well-worth reading from beginning to end. The government identified numerous major problems with the handling of the pandemic response by Alberta Health Services. It is important to note that the current government in Alberta is not responsible for how the province responded to COVID-19. That responsibility falls upon the shoulders of the previous government. Thankfully, the current government is interested in knowing the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. They also believe in being transparent with the public that they serve.

One of my biggest concerns from the report is identified in the opening letter where it states, “Our quest for answers was impeded by barriers, including reluctance from key stakeholders to engage with the Task Force’s mandate“. Shame on those involved with developing and implementing COVID-19 policies that failed to cooperate with officials from a sitting government that launched this investigation for the wellbeing of the public. The lack of transparency from whomever these key stakeholders are is unacceptable.

What I appreciate most about the report is that it is constructively critical, providing a path forward, that includes refocusing the mandate of public health services back onto the public as the primary clientele, as opposed to acting in the service of pharmaceutical companies. It serves as a blueprint to guide future responses. The path forward is based largely on traditional best practices that were established by truly following the science and forged in the successful management of historical outbreaks. It is highly reminiscent of the national pandemic response plans that existed in 2020; the ones that were supposed to be implemented for COVID-19 but that were thrown out within days of the pandemic being declared.

I can’t help but wonder how many lives could have been saved, how many hospitalizations could have been prevented, and how much healthier our population and current economies would be if this far more appropriate, science-based plan would have been implemented back in 2020.

This report from the Government of Alberta provides a precedent for the world as overwhelming numbers of people wake up and realize the need for massive reforms within public health.

Further, the report validates many of the concerns that a lot of people had about the response to COVID-19. The totality of evidence highlights how egregious it was to have vilified critical thinkers who simply wanted to engage in robust discussions out of genuine concerns for others and not fall victim to propaganda. Firing people who didn’t want to be coerced into having experimental medical interventions and debatable policies thrust upon them, de-licensing and disciplining independent-thinking health care professionals, and censoring experts under the nefarious disguise of ‘combating misinformation’ and ‘fact checking’; THEY WERE ALL EGREGIOUS WRONGS.

There should be fallout from a damning report like this. The gross mismanagement of COVID-19 has created a huge hot mess. The path forward starts with acknowledging this. Then we need to plot a course to navigate through this mess and thoroughly clean it up. These are essential if there is ever to be healing for all those that were victimized by power brokers that blindly followed propaganda and bought into the hatred and divisive tactics that were passionately modelled by the prime minister on down.

Building on this report, I am honoured to have been invited to speak at an upcoming event in Alberta. It is An Injection of Truth: Healing Humanity.

My talk will dovetail with this report from the Government of Alberta. The event is going to focus on the four pillars of healing. My presentation will start with ripping off the scab and exposing lies from public health agencies that contributed to a myriad of problems within the pandemic response. It will transition into providing some practical recommendations with respect to where we go from here.

Please consider posting your thoughts about this report in the comments section. Do you agree with aspects? Disagree with others? Were criticisms too light or too harsh? Were key issues missed? What do you think about the ideas for moving forward? This is opportunity to provide feedback. You have a sitting government that is showing a willingness to listen to all parties and perspectives. I will share feedback with the Members of the Legislative Assembly that I will be meeting in Alberta on March 3rd.


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Alberta

The Davidson Report critiquing the Government of Alberta’s COVID-19 pandemic response finally released: Dr David Speicher

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Courageous Truth

Scientific facts, personal views and life’s journey

By Dr David Speicher

The Dr. Gary Davidson report has finally been released by the Government of Alberta and confirms big problems with public health and provides a roadmap for managing future pandemics.

Nearly six months after Dr. Gary Davidson’s report was submitted to Premier Danielle Smith, it was publicly released quietly by the Government of Alberta on their website.

The only public statement about the report was on Eric Bouchard’s X account: “Dr. Gary Davidson’s report brings Alberta one step closer to the truth. https://open.alberta.ca/publications/albertas-covid-19-pandemic-response”. Eric followed up by saying “Alberta now has a tremendous opportunity to right many of the wrongs that took place over the last few years. We must work together to heal humanity and to earn back the trust of all Albertans.” and “I am committed to working with Albertans to ensure that the historical pain caused by the response to COVID-19 does not repeat. Thank you, Dr. Davidson, for your incredible work to get this report out. I look forward to hearing Dr. Davidson live on March 3, 2025.”

Purpose:

On November 14, 2022, the Premier of Alberta established a Task Force under the Health Quality Council of Alberta to examine the quality, use, interpretation, and flow of information and data that informed Alberta’s pandemic response to COVID-19 and provide recommendations on how to better manage a future pandemic.

This report critiques the Government of Alberta’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic between 2020 and 2022. The report addresses 9 areas: governance and flow of information, regulatory bodies (e.g. the role of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta), modelling, non-pharmaceutical interventions, masking, testing, infection-acquired immunity, vaccines, and therapeutics. The task force attempted to remain neutral and examine information on both sides of the narrative. However, there was a “fundamental lack of transparency and willingness to reveal information and discuss decisions and actions taken by AHS during the pandemic.” and the task force found that there was “a lack of willingness on the part of AHS officials to cooperate with the Task Force in our requests for data and information.” [Pg 40-41]

Chapter 6: Testing

As a molecular virologist with expertise in the detection and surveillance of infectious diseases, the task force asked me to provide information and guidance on PCR, rapid antigen testing (RAT), and serological testing for SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 during the pandemic. The report provides excellent background and the methods used to test people for SARS-CoV-2.

Unfortunately, I continue to see misinformation spread about the reliability of the PCR test, including the number of cycles and “97% false-positives”. Therefore, I will be providing a deep dive into the PCR test over the coming weeks, including presenting insight on one legal case where I served as an expert witness that asked whether or not a PCR test for COVID is a “genetic test” according to the Ontario labour code. I would be happy to answer any questions that people may have.

From The Davidson Report, I would like to highlight two key issues. The first is the classification of a COVID case being determined by a PCR-positive test result driving a “casedemic” rather than a “pandemic” and the second is regarding the millions of dollars wasted on unused PCR reagents and RATs.

It is important to note the following recommendations made regarding testing (P174):

  1. RT-PCR represents an excellent high-sensitivity test to aid in accurate diagnoses of symptomatic people – if they are used for the intended purpose and at optimal Ct values (vs. Ct values at “high positive” cut-offs).
  2. Rapid tests with reasonable accuracy should not be used for screening the general population but could be used as an additional diagnostic tool, where clinically indicated.
  3. We recommend that future pandemic responses prioritize minimizing severe disease and mortality over extensive case detection. Specifically, Alberta should focus on developing a screening tool to help estimate individual risk. This approach will optimize resource use by directing testing capacity, which can be appropriately directed by evidence-based practices, such as testing symptomatic individuals, those whose management may be influenced by test results, and for specific surveillance scenarios.
  4. We recommend that levels of immunity be gauged using a multi-antibody serological and/or mucosal assay that accounts for both pre-existing immunity as well as the presence of immune cells with the potential for cross-protection.
  5. All tests should also be professionally administered and sufficiently sensitive to detect low antibody levels while sufficiently specific to distinguish between target and non-target antibodies. This also applies to laboratory tests used to identify specific respiratory viruses. Individual risk estimates can then be used to inform individual needs for protection either through the use of personal protective measures and/or vaccination.
  6. Without being linked to a set of standardized clinical criteria, we recommend against the use of PCR tests as the sole criteria for a case definition. A confirmed case should include a pre-determined profile of signs and/or symptoms AND a positive test for the infection of concern PLUS any relevant patient history and confirmed epidemiological information.
  7. Ensure that local surveillance data are used and interpreted when determining strategy and policy.

Final Thoughts

Regarding the report, I think that it is a very well-written critique of the Government of Alberta’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it is not a final conclusive report. This is a good start to opening the door for some important deep governmental discussions that need to happen, including diving deeper into the harms caused by the COVID-19 modRNA vaccines, like the DNA contamination and the presence of the SV40 promoter-enhancer nuclear localization sequences, the vast number of vaccine-injured people, and the increased risk of turbo cancer. While I am disappointed that the Government of Alberta, namely Premier Smith, tried to bury this report by sitting on it for six months and quietly releasing the report without a proper press conference on the week of the USA inauguration I am relieved to see that the report was finally made public. The government’s attempt to bury the report shows that this is indeed a damning report and the government’s response could have been much better. However, I hope that this report will bring about government transparency and begin that well-needed conversation so that our society can indeed heal.

Healing Humanity is the theme of the next An Injection of Truth happening on March 3, 2025 in Calgary, Alberta. During the event I will be sharing on the numerous ways the COVID-19 vaccines can potentially cause harm and what can be done to heal from those harms. I will share the stage with several other prominent scientists.

  • Dr. Byram Bridle who has also shared his insights on The Davidson Report and will be “exposing lies from public health agencies that contributed to a myriad of problems within the pandemic response.”
  • Dr. Gary Davidson will be presenting on the contents the report by the Alberta COVID-19 Pandemic Data Review Task Force.
  • Dr. Denis Rancourt will provide a deep dive into the all-cause mortality.
  • Dr. David Martin will definitely be a presenter that no one will want to miss.

In closing, I encourage everyone to read through The Davidson Report and post your thoughts on the report in the comments section. What did you like or disagree with? What would you like to see different next time? I would be happy to take your comments to Calgary in March 2025. I also hope that this will be one of many governmental task forces that take a deep dive into the governmental response to the pandemic. We desperately need one for each province and at the federal level.

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