Connect with us

Alberta

Lesson for Ottawa—don’t bite the hand that feeds you

Published

4 minute read

From the Fraser Institute

By Tegan Hill

The Alberta government has launched a campaign to inform Canadians about the negative impacts of the federal government’s cap on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the oil and gas sector, which exempts the other three-quarters of the economy that emit including transportation, buildings and heavy industry.

According to Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, the cap will “kill jobs” and lead to “economic and societal decline” for all Canadians—and she’s right. Any policy that damages Alberta’s economy comes with consequences for all of Canada.

Of course, this isn’t the first Trudeau policy to damage the sector. The list includes Bill C-69 (which imposes complex, uncertain and onerous review requirements on major energy projects), Bill C-48, (which bans large oil tankers off British Columbia’s northern coast and limits access to Asian markets), “clean fuel standard” regulations, numerous “net-zero” targets, and so on.

Again, while these policies disproportionately impact Albertans, they have consequences for all Canadians from coast to coast because of Alberta’s role in the federation. In our current system, Ottawa collects various taxes from Canadians across the country and then redistributes the money for programs including equalization and employment insurance.

For perspective, from 2007 to 2022 (the latest period of available data), Albertans contributed $244.6 billion more in taxes and other payments to the federal government than they received in federal spending—more than five times as much as British Columbians or Ontarians. The remaining seven provinces received more federal spending than they contributed to federal revenues. In other words, Albertans are by far the largest net contributor to Ottawa’s coffers.

Albertans’ large net contribution reflects the province’s comparatively young population (fewer retirees), higher rates of employment, higher average incomes and relatively strong economy.

Alberta’s relative economic strength isn’t new. From 1981 to 2022, the province had the highest annual average economic growth rate in Canada. In 2022, Alberta accounted for 17.9 per cent of Canada’s total economic growth despite being home to just 11.6 per cent of the country’s population. That same year, Alberta contributed nearly one in every five private-sector jobs created in Canada. In fact, Alberta was one of only two provinces (alongside Nova Scotia) where private-sector employment growth (including self-employment) exceeded government-sector employment growth over the last five years (2019 to 2023).

Alberta’s prosperity, which helps finance other provinces, may help explain why 56,245 more Canadian residents moved to Alberta than left it in 2022—a much higher net inflow than in any other province. For decades, Alberta has provided economic opportunities for Canadians from other provinces willing to relocate.

Albertans continue to contribute more to the federation than Canadians in other provinces due to Alberta’s relatively strong and prosperous economy. And Canadians benefit from the economic opportunities Alberta provides. With this in mind, the Trudeau government should stop imposing economically damaging policies on the province—as it costs not just Albertans but all Canadians.

Todayville is a digital media and technology company. We profile unique stories and events in our community. Register and promote your community event for free.

Follow Author

Alberta

Report commissioned by Alberta’s Smith calls for end to COVID shots for healthy minors

Published on

From LifeSiteNews

By Anthony Murdoch

A 269-page report commissioned by Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has recommended halting the use of the COVID vaccines in healthy children and teenagers.

A report commissioned by Alberta Premier Danielle Smith to investigate the previous administration’s handling of COVID-19 was released to the public late last week and included a recommendation to immediately halt the experimental jabs for healthy children and teenagers.

The Alberta COVID-19 Pandemic Data Review Task Force’s “COVID Pandemic Response” 269-page final report was released last Friday, recommending the halting of “the use of COVID-19 vaccines without full disclosure of their potential risks” as well as outright ending their use “for healthy children and teenagers as other jurisdictions have done,” mentioning countries like “Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, and the U.K.”

The report also called for “[f]urther research to establish the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines is necessary before widespread use in adults and children,” the establishment of “a website and/or call-in center for the vaccine injured in Alberta” as well as establishing a “mechanism for opting out of federal health policy until provincial due process has been satisfied.”

The task force also found that the COVID jabs were not “designed to halt transmission” and that there is a “lack of reliable data showing that the vaccines protect children from COVID-19.” 

“The Task Force found that the risk of severe COVID-19 infection or death is primarily associated with age, with the elderly being most at risk,” reads the report. 

“Children and teenagers have a very low risk of serious illness from COVID-19. COVID-19 vaccines were not designed to halt transmission and there is a lack of reliable data showing that the vaccines protect children from severe COVID-19.”  

The report was released with no fanfare nor mention from any Alberta government official, perhaps suggesting that officials do not want to draw attention to the report.

The report was compiled by a panel of physicians and others in the health services sector. It was headed by Dr. Gary Davidson, who served as the former chief of emergency medicine at the Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre. 

When it comes to the COVID shots, the task force found “deaths” and “injuries” related to the jabs. 

“The long-term safety of the vaccines is undetermined due to their rapid deployment and limited follow-up.” 

The review of the COVID jabs in Alberta found that careful assessment of “risks and benefits, transparency, and individual choice in decision-making are vital for any future pandemic response vaccination initiative.” 

It is worth noting that Alberta Health Services (AHS) is still promoting the COVID shots for babies as young as six months old.  

The report stated that its main goal was to examine the “quality, use, interpretation, and flow of information and data that informed Alberta’s pandemic response to COVID-19.”

Smith, who spoke out against COVID jab mandates early in her term as premier, gave the task force a sweeping mandate last year to look at whether the “right data” was obtained during COVID and to assess the “integrity, validity, reliability and quality of the data/information used to inform pandemic decisions” by members of AHS.

Smith took over from Jason Kenney as leader of the UCP and premier on October 11, 2022, after winning the leadership of the party. The UCP then won a general election in May 2023. Kenney was ousted due to low approval ratings and for reneging on promises not to lock Alberta down during COVID.  

After assuming her role as premier, Smith promptly fired the province’s top doctor, Deena Hinshaw, and the entire AHS board of directors, all of whom oversaw the implementation of COVID mandates.  

Under Kenney, thousands of nurses, doctors, and other healthcare and government workers lost their jobs for choosing to not get the jabs, leading Smith to say – only minutes after being sworn in – that over the past year the “unvaccinated” were the “most discriminated against” group of people in her lifetime.  

Thus far, Smith has not commented on the findings of the report.  

Report critical of provincial response to COVID, notes masks were not ‘effective’ 

The task force concluded that it found a “critical failure of Alberta’s health system,” sharing concerns about how information was shared and developed during the COVID pandemic.  

The report also noted that face masks, including both N95 and surgical masks, were not effective in stopping respiratory illness, and that there is a “weak evidence base for the effectiveness of continuous masking in preventing respiratory illnesses, including COVID-19.” 

“Alberta should acknowledge the absence of evidence showing continuous masking provides protection against respiratory illnesses, including COVID-19, and highlight the potential harms associated with masking,” reads the report. 

The report emphasized that the “choice to wear a mask should be a personal medical decision, guided by informed consent.” 

The report also criticized lockdown policies and Alberta’s medical regulatory colleges for not doing their “due diligence” when it came to looking at producing their own internal studies related to COVID.

LifeSiteNews has published an extensive amount of research on the dangers of the experimental COVID mRNA jabs, which include heart damage and blood clots.  

The mRNA shots have also been linked to a multitude of negative and often severe side effects in children and all have connections to cell lines derived from aborted babies.   

Continue Reading

Alberta

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

Published on

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.


COVID Chronicles is a reader-supported publication.

To receive posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Continue Reading

Trending

X