Do we have what it takes to see us through this?

As I write this, the federal government’s vaccine procurement plan is on rocky ground. Behind schedule in obtaining vaccines, and trust is fading as to whether or not we’ll by sufficiently vaccinated by September is creeping into the national consciousness. Provincially, we are still grappling to get a fix on the second wave. Numbers are starting to come down but not after much hand wringing and incompetency on part of our provincial governments. On the ground, people are organising mass violations of COVID-19 policy.

At the beginning of this pandemic, comparisons were made to the need to mobilise our country on an effort comparable to the Second World War. In order to defeat this virus, we would need to manufacture and coordinate our efforts akin to how the greatest generation came together to defeat Nazism. Looking at ourselves now, I wonder if we would have the same fortitude to do so today. It seems our leaders are making bad calls all throughout every level of government. Which leads to misinformation and mistrust in guidelines put forward.

People remember the shots of Premier Ford and Deputy PM Chrystia Freeland shaking hands as new besties. Where is this cooperation today? Instead we are reduced to failures of policies, on part of the federal and provincial governments. Rather than come together to keep Canadians alive, we are reduced to finger pointing and diversion. Don’t look at our failures, the other guys are much worse.

Perhaps this is a typical Canadian response to a problem. It all goes well, until it doesn’t. Then its avoid the problem at all costs. In the meantime, thousands of our fellow Canadians have died from COVID-19 and it seems no one is really prepared to do what is necessary to prevent the next thousand from dying.

At this point, I’m not really interested in who’s to blame and who should bear penance. I want solutions. I want the Premiers and the Prime Minister to come together again and put forward a comprehensive strategy to keep Canadians alive. How are we obtaining the needed vaccines? And how are we going to keep everyone safe until herd immunity is achieved? These are big questions to answer. The answers are dependent on cooperation and the putting aside of egos and political ambitions. Unfortunately, it’s becoming clear that this isn’t the Canadian way.

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