Why we shouldn't believe Trudeau's Liberals are serious about dealing with the coronavirus
Episode Stats
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151.89488
Summary
Justin Trudeau announced new measures to combat the spread of coronavirus, but some of his cabinet ministers are lying about them. Ezra Levenshave the beef, and we have the evidence to prove it. Plus, why should others go to jail when you're the biggest carbon consumer?
Transcript
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Hey folks, are you feeling safer now when it comes to the coronavirus?
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I'll be talking about Justin Trudeau's newly announced measures.
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It's March 16, 2020, and you're watching The Ezra Levent Show.
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Why should others go to jail when you're the biggest carbon consumer I know?
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There's 8,500 customers here, and you won't give them an answer.
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The only thing I have to say to the government, the why I'm publishing, is because it's my bloody right to do so.
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It's perversely amusing to see how so many pundits in the left-leaning media party are applauding the prime minister
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and his assorted cabinet ministers, noting how they are saying all the right things when it comes to COVID-19 precautions.
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Well, they are saying all the right things, but as the saying goes, deeds speak.
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And when it comes to doing the right things, well, I'm kind of having a clarapeller moment right now.
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Earlier today, Justin Trudeau said that come Wednesday, the borders will be closed to non-Canadian citizens,
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with the exception of immediate family members, permanent residents, diplomats, air crews, and U.S. citizens.
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Do you think for one second that Roxham Road will now be closed to illegal migrants?
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Maybe it's time to visit that border crossing again.
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And anyway, immediate family members, well, that could be non-Canadians too, can't it?
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In fact, some cabinet ministers are actually lying about the supposed COVID-19 precautions.
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I'm sorry, there's just no way to sugarcoat that, folks.
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Take, for example, Bill Blair, who used to be Toronto's police chief.
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Now, Mr. Blair knows a lot about safety, especially when it comes to keeping himself safe.
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Did you know that Bill Blair doesn't actually live in his crime-ridden writing of Scarborough Southwest?
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Blair resides all the way across Hogtown and Forest Hill, one of the city's wealthiest and safest communities.
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Since the disease first began to spread in Hubei,
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Well, I'm sorry, but Blair is indeed lying about those added measures.
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And yes, I have the beef to back up that statement.
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Check out our January visit to Toronto's Pearson International Airport in January,
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in which we asked travellers arriving from China if they were being subjected to any extra screening.
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I'm just wondering, were you asked any special screening questions by security?
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When you were coming through customs, did they ask you if you had any coughing symptoms, fever, anything like that?
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No, actually, just asking how long have you been in China, which city.
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Oh, but through the machine, I asked about, are you coming to Wuhan before?
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When you went through customs, was there any kind of special screening?
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Did they ask you questions about fever or coughing?
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They just ask where you come from and that's it.
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And even though you came from China, they didn't do any kind of additional screening whatsoever.
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Yeah, I mean, they have a question on the machine, ask you, have you been to that city, have a fever?
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So, you didn't notice any kind of special screening out of the ordinary then?
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And then, more recently, we popped by Pearson to interview Iranians and Iranian Canadians flying into Toronto from the Middle East via London, England.
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And, shockingly, no enhanced screening and no mandatory quarantines, even though these people were flying in from the number two hotspot in the world when it comes to the number of patients who have died and are sick with COVID-19.
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But, hey, the feds, for whatever reason, they're prepared to roll the dice when it comes to public safety, it would seem.
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Suddenly, it would appear they are, oh, I don't know, fiscal conservatives when it comes to investing in the equipment that would screen people flying in from the world's hot zones.
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And, hey, if jet setters really, really promise, and I'm talking pinky square here, that they are going to self-quarantine for the recommended 14 days, well, who are we to question the honour system?
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And, do you get the feeling that the priority when it comes to dealing with this virus is to avoid anything that might be considered as being, well, you know, racist?
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After all, perceived nastiness might be worse than a deadly disease, according to the folks who are toiling away at the Ministry of Hurt Feelings.
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Check out this line item announced by the feds last week for fighting the COVID-19 virus.
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2.6 million in research funds will be spent on, quote,
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how to combat discrimination, racism, and social media misinformation, end quote.
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Oh, maybe this has something to do with those barbarians who are still referring to the virus by its original name, Wuhan flu.
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Well, Wuhan was the epicentre for this viral outbreak, but apparently saying so is now a big no-no.
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Gee, am I a bigot for referring to the 1919 pandemic as Spanish flu?
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You know, it brings to mind the efforts by the uber-liberal York Region District School Board
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that to even refer to the geographic origin of this flu and to call for a quarantine of people is indeed racist in nature.
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Back in January, this board actually sent out a very condescending letter to parents condemning them
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for signing a petition asking the board to take proactive steps to curtail the virus.
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Well, folks, with the coronavirus spreading like proverbial wildfire,
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a petition went out recently in York Region signed by more than 10,000 parents of children going to York Region School Boards.
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It notes that with the incubation period being 14 days for the coronavirus,
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it might be prudent to have a quarantine period of 17 days for people returning from China
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Well, naturally, the York Region District School Board responded with implications
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A school board trustee and the director of education, Louise Cerisco,
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wrote what has to be a very condescending letter to parents.
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While the virus can be traced to a province in China,
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we have to be cautious that this is not to be seen as a Chinese virus.
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Those who are afflicted or are potential transmitters are not just people of Chinese origin.
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It doesn't say to quarantine Chinese people or Asian people.
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But, of course, the way the school board has interpreted this,
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it is, I suppose, white on Asian racism by those parents who are concerned about the safety of their children.
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Oh, by the way, if you look at many of the names on that petition,
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Chinese parents concerned for their kids' safety were signing that petition.
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So, gee, I guess in the eyes of the York Region District School Board,
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those of Chinese descent can be racist against those who are Chinese.
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Bottom line, how perversely ironic that it is the institutions in the private sector
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that are voluntarily being proactive in fighting the COVID-19 virus.
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I speak of all the professional major league sports leagues,
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from basketball and hockey to golf and auto racing,
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that have suspended their seasons at the cost of billions of dollars in lost revenues.
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I speak of the live theatres that are now dark,
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and the major tourist attractions ranging from aquariums and museums to theme parks
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Again, at a cost of billions and billions of dollars in lost revenues.
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But our federal government, oh no, to do the heavy lifting on this issue,
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and putting up fences at illegal border crossings
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Hey, public safety is supposed to be our prime directive,
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but if ensuring public safety comes across as, well, you know,
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then I guess if you are a member of the Justin Trudeau Liberals,
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then public safety is a tad overrated, isn't it?
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Well, as I like to call it, welcome to the new abnormal, folks.
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Everything seems to be closing down and being postponed and suspended.
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And it's kind of interesting to see how various leaders are reacting to the coronavirus, isn't it?
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We've just had Justin Trudeau's announcement earlier today.
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And of course, there was Premier Kenney weighing in on Alberta yesterday.
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And with more on this is our Alberta correspondent, Sheila Gunn-Reed.
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Now, first of all, can you inform people who aren't living in Alberta, Sheila,
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what exactly it was that Jason Kenney tackled in terms of his reaction to the COVID-19?
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So in Alberta here, we have daily press conferences.
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They're live streamed on YouTube, Facebook and to Twitter
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so that the information is getting out to the public as fast as possible.
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They're giving us a count every single day of what's happening.
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For example, on Friday, they announced that schools would not be closed.
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And as circumstances changed yesterday, so Sunday afternoon,
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the government did announce that schools would be closed.
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But also during that press conference, Jason Kenney said that he was frustrated,
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and I'm paraphrasing here, with the action of the federal government
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And so Jason Kenney released $500 million in emergency funding to our health care system.
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But he's also deploying provincial resources to the border and Alberta points of entry.
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During Jason Kenney's press conference, too, he did say that Alberta does have the ability
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to shut down international flights that are landing here.
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And he said that he wasn't willing to use that quite yet.
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But that was a tool that he expressed that Albertans have at their disposal.
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Unlike Bill Blair, the federal minister responsible for our border,
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Jason Kenney went down to the airport, to the Edmonton International Airport,
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to the international arrivals, to look for himself to see exactly what was happening
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when people are getting off of international flights.
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Now, Edmonton's not really an international hub, but it is, you know,
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where if people are landing in Vancouver from China,
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then this is how you just hop a domestic flight and you're here.
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So he went down to see the screening, and he was absolutely not satisfied with what he saw.
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And he said that he would be deploying provincial resources to the border.
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Also, in stark contrast to what Justin Trudeau has done,
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Justin Trudeau decided to cancel Parliament for five weeks.
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He wouldn't close the border, but he would give himself a five-week holiday from work
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Whereas in Alberta, Jason Kenney is shutting down everything else,
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But he said it's very important that politicians keep working and doing the business of government
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We can't be shutting down government and still allowing a thousand international travelers
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So it's really been a stark juxtaposition between what Jason Kenney's done
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And I think some of the pressure from provinces like Quebec and Alberta
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to take matters into their own hands sort of forced Justin Trudeau's hand today.
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And one of them, you know, our friend at the Toronto Sun, Joe Worthington,
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he had a bit of a scoop when he reported a few days ago that the casinos,
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were still open for business until yesterday afternoon.
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I think it was that exposure that, you know, pushed the government's hand to say
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But I noticed with a very brief internet search of Alberta casinos,
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they weren't even addressing the coronavirus concerns,
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unlike some of their competitors that said we're, you know,
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What is the jurisdictional issue there in terms of who holds the club
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Well, casinos are licensed by the provincial government.
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However, I think, so, I mean, it'd be pretty easy for the provincial government
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However, I think it might fall on the municipalities to make that sort of move.
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The casinos within Edmonton versus the casinos that are outside Edmonton city limits
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There's a whole bunch of jurisdictional issues when it comes to casinos,
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but I thought it was kind of interesting to see that there are restrictions
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with regard to how many people can be in attendance, you know,
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Some gatherings of over 50 people are being now.
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The government sort of doesn't want those happening.
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So I thought it was funny that the government specifically mentioned churches
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and places of worship and sort of discouraging people
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It's a stark indictment of the state of our society these days.
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I mean, they call that, you know, gambling lotteries,
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and I guess there's a reluctance on government to turn off the taps
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on the number of idiots that are betting the milk money,
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But, you know, this is one of the points I'm leading up to, Sheila.
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As we saw in the last week, for sure, major sports leagues
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like the NBA and NHL, Formula One, PGA shutting down,
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And I just think there's a real measure of hypocrisy
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when there's any government of any stripe which holds the hammer
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to shut things down, and they carry on as business as usual.
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Would you agree there's some shameful hypocrisy at play here?
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You see the federal government shutting things down
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like they're not sitting in the House of Commons,
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which, frankly, that's of benefit to Canadians.
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In Calgary, they declared a state of emergency last night
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They are closing down the municipal recreation centres
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But it is funny to see the reaction at the local level
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And then you see how the feds have completely dithered on this.
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Either people who have brought it into the country
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the government has done nothing to prevent COVID-19
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And now, at least in Alberta, we've got community spread.
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When now we can't even trace the cases back to the source,
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which means there are so many more cases out there
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when we saw what was beginning to happen in Italy,
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and when we see what's sort of unfolding now in Spain,
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Sheila, I don't think you're supposed to refer to Wuhan by name.
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That might be considered racist or culturally insensitive.
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And let's not forget, as I mentioned in my monologue,
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the federal government has donated $2.6 million
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in its anti-COVID budget in terms of stemming any kind of racism
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or insensitivity or misinformation when it comes to the virus.
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But here's the thing I want to ask you, Sheila.
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certainly lots of exemptions in terms of people
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Do you, for one second, believe that come Wednesday morning,
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there will be some kind of temporary fence erected
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Roxham Road should have been fenced up years ago.
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Roxham Road itself has caused a crisis in our immigration system.
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Now it could potentially cause a crisis in our healthcare system.
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the billions of dollars that have sort of been dumped
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into our immigration system to deal with illegal migration
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at these irregular boarding crossings years ago.
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given the exceptional circumstances of COVID-19,
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And even that won't move the needle on this issue, will it?
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If you want quality, publicly funded healthcare
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Today can never dream what tomorrow might bring.
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and like you have to be an expert to talk about it.
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Even if it wasn't designed as a biological weapon,
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it's certainly being used as a political weapon by China.
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I have to say, very, very senior Chinese diplomats
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and I say that because they withheld information,
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information, they arrested and silenced doctors
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they don't have a free press at the best of times.
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and it has killed thousands of people around the world,
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and the chutzpah for China to now make a big show
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and say, oh, we are great international citizens.
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but we're great citizens, unlike the United States,
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Anyways, I've been tweeting about this all weekend,
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and I've been traveling within Canada this weekend,
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And you can see what time the flights are landing,
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like South China Airlines Flight 123 or whatever.
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I myself came back through customs on Thursday,
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Would you really even want to touch that button?
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There was no one putting the little thermometer on you.
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There's thermometers that go right on your forehead
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announced there was greatly enhanced screening.
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Oh, and they gave you a handout in English or in French
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François Legault of Quebec did the same thing.