Canadian taxpayers are ponying up $850,000 to purchase behaviour modification advertising targeting “Snowbirds.”.The digital-based ad campaign warns those Canadians somehow not already aware about the perils of travelling abroad during the COVID-19 pandemic..One video posted on Facebook and Twitter shows a desolate senior in a hospital bed accompanied by sombre background music. A caption at the bottom of the screen reiterates the now widely publicized and generally understood fact: “Older Canadians are at a higher risk of developing complications related to COVID-19.”.The $850-million message aligns with other publicly available (free) sources of information; including the Center for Disease Control (CDC), the World Health Organization (WHO), and our own Health Canada (PHAC) – which currently issues a Level 3 travel advisory:.“The Public Health Agency of Canada is continuing to advise travellers to avoid all non-essential travel outside of Canada. The Public Health Agency of Canada is advising extra caution if you must travel to the United Kingdom (UK) or South Africa. Variants of the virus causing COVID-19 are under investigation in these countries. The Public Health Agency of Canada is closely monitoring the situation and working with its international partners including the WHO to better understand this variant, its impacts, and the possibility of international spread.”.The government launched the ad campaign in November “on various digital platforms” and travel websites “to reach multiple target audiences,” Global Affairs Canada spokesperson Jason Kung said in an email..The campaign will run until March 2021 during peak travel times, reported CBC News. .Many Canadian snowbirds leave for points south earlier than November..“I think they missed the boat with that one. Most people who come to this area of Baja [Mexico] are coming down in October,” said Lorraine Douglas of Osoyoos, B.C. On Oct. 24, she and her husband flew to San Jose del Cabo, Mexico, where they own a condo. The flight was full, she told CBC..The Canadian Snowbird Association advised their 100,000 members on November 23: “Canada and the United States officially extended the restrictions on non-essential travel at the land border until December 21, 2020. With surging COVID-19 case numbers in both countries, the land border closure will likely extend well into next year. Despite the land border closure, Canadian travellers are still permitted to travel by air to the United States for non-essential reasons.”.This puzzling loophole exists because the U.S. government only applied the border restrictions to land and ferry ports of entry..U.S. Customs and Border Protection indicates 244,244 Canadians have flown to the US since October. .The WHO does not recommend COVID-19 lockdown restrictions..WHO Special Envoy on Covid-19 Dr David Nabarro has issued a plea to world leaders: “We really do appeal to all world leaders: stop using lockdown as your primary control method.”.Economic stress is one of the reasons..The latest Liberal spend on advertising ads almost $1 million to the rapidly mushrooming $1.2 trillion national taxpayer burden..Ken Grafton is the Western Standards Ottawa Bureau Chief. He can be reached at kgrafton@westernstandardonline.com
Canadian taxpayers are ponying up $850,000 to purchase behaviour modification advertising targeting “Snowbirds.”.The digital-based ad campaign warns those Canadians somehow not already aware about the perils of travelling abroad during the COVID-19 pandemic..One video posted on Facebook and Twitter shows a desolate senior in a hospital bed accompanied by sombre background music. A caption at the bottom of the screen reiterates the now widely publicized and generally understood fact: “Older Canadians are at a higher risk of developing complications related to COVID-19.”.The $850-million message aligns with other publicly available (free) sources of information; including the Center for Disease Control (CDC), the World Health Organization (WHO), and our own Health Canada (PHAC) – which currently issues a Level 3 travel advisory:.“The Public Health Agency of Canada is continuing to advise travellers to avoid all non-essential travel outside of Canada. The Public Health Agency of Canada is advising extra caution if you must travel to the United Kingdom (UK) or South Africa. Variants of the virus causing COVID-19 are under investigation in these countries. The Public Health Agency of Canada is closely monitoring the situation and working with its international partners including the WHO to better understand this variant, its impacts, and the possibility of international spread.”.The government launched the ad campaign in November “on various digital platforms” and travel websites “to reach multiple target audiences,” Global Affairs Canada spokesperson Jason Kung said in an email..The campaign will run until March 2021 during peak travel times, reported CBC News. .Many Canadian snowbirds leave for points south earlier than November..“I think they missed the boat with that one. Most people who come to this area of Baja [Mexico] are coming down in October,” said Lorraine Douglas of Osoyoos, B.C. On Oct. 24, she and her husband flew to San Jose del Cabo, Mexico, where they own a condo. The flight was full, she told CBC..The Canadian Snowbird Association advised their 100,000 members on November 23: “Canada and the United States officially extended the restrictions on non-essential travel at the land border until December 21, 2020. With surging COVID-19 case numbers in both countries, the land border closure will likely extend well into next year. Despite the land border closure, Canadian travellers are still permitted to travel by air to the United States for non-essential reasons.”.This puzzling loophole exists because the U.S. government only applied the border restrictions to land and ferry ports of entry..U.S. Customs and Border Protection indicates 244,244 Canadians have flown to the US since October. .The WHO does not recommend COVID-19 lockdown restrictions..WHO Special Envoy on Covid-19 Dr David Nabarro has issued a plea to world leaders: “We really do appeal to all world leaders: stop using lockdown as your primary control method.”.Economic stress is one of the reasons..The latest Liberal spend on advertising ads almost $1 million to the rapidly mushrooming $1.2 trillion national taxpayer burden..Ken Grafton is the Western Standards Ottawa Bureau Chief. He can be reached at kgrafton@westernstandardonline.com
