From the earliest days of the COVID-19 pandemic reaching beyond the propaganda swamps of Wuhan, politicians have parroted a single slogan meant to generate a sense of social solidarity; “We’re all in this together.”.Most of us have known better all along. Governments rarely share the same plights as they force on their subjects and citizens..Anti-gun politicians are regularly surrounded by large squads of trained, heavily armed body guards..Anti-fossil fuel politicians regularly fly to international confabs in exotic locations to discuss how to make it more expensive for other people to enjoy the same luxury, even with their own money..So when politicians began shuttering the economy and locking people down, we shouldn’t have been so naive as to expect those in charge to really be “in this together” with the rest of us. A more realistic expectation would have been, “all of you are in this together”..Politicians that shut down the economy were sheltered by the nature of the job from being laid off or having their pay cut. Small business owners that are forcibly shut down by police sent on the politicians’ behalf are “in this together”. The employees laid off or having their hours cut are “in this together”..But those ultimately giving the orders are, well, still working. Unfortunately..The most extreme order given by governments yet – making it is illegal to see one’s family at Christmas – was not a request for sacrifice; it was an order to sacrifice. Some ultimately made that sacrifice, but as I’ve written in this space previously, it is likely that many – or most – chose to ignore the government’s decree this time..But while people huddled behind closed curtains with their families on Christmas to avoid being fined; while people were charged for attending peaceful protests; while people were assaulted and threatened with being tasered by police for playing hockey; while people are having their businesses and livelihoods destroyed; while people were told to cancel their non-essential travel for vacations; and while people had their most basic liberties violated; a significant number of the lockdown-politicians were flouting the rules that they themselves made..It began in Ontario, where the PC Finance Minister Rod Philips was discovered to be on vacation in the Caribbean island paradise of St. Bart’s. While Ontarians suffer under a draconian lockdown, a key senior minister responsible for the lockdown was soaking up the sun, in defiance of the government’s own plea to not engage in any non-essential travel..“We’re all in this together”..To make things worse, he posted a video of himself on Christmas giving the misleading impression that he was at home, safely locked-down in Ontario..The minister admirably took responsibility but was nonetheless sacked from cabinet by Ontario Premier Doug Ford. Ford had known about it well before it became public but acted only once it became a political scandal..At the same time, a Liberal Member of the Quebec National Assembly was forced to fly home early from Barbados, but appears to have faced no consequences..In Alberta, suspicion began turning into a hunt for lockdown-happy MLAs and ministers who aren’t taking their own medicine..Alberta Agriculture Minister Devin Dreeshen raised some eyebrows when he posted a video on Instagram of him standing on a frozen lake making some skating ice, geo-tagged from St. Bart’s. It was all apparently a joke at the expense of then Ontario Finance Minister Rod Philips..But the joke was soon on Dreeshen’s own party..His colleauge Pat Rehn, UCP MLA for Lesser Slave Lake, posted a happy Christmas photo of himself in a warm Mexican cave. To his credit, he wasn’t trying to cover anything up. He just saw nothing wrong with locking down his constituents before jetting off on some non-essential travel. No geo-tag necessary..For good measure, Rehn was sure to post on his social media account a message to locked-down Albertans; “Stay home. Stay safe.”.At about the same time as Rehn’s reminder that “we’re all in this together”, UCP Municipal Affairs Minister Tracey Allard was discovered to have spent her Christmas in beautiful Hawaii. Allard is also the minister responsible for vaccine distribution in Alberta and is a key decision-maker in the lockdown..She refused to answer repeated calls, emails and texts from the media. Confirmation only came from “another source” according to the CBC. In Edmonton, this normally means an internal party rival..In fact, no ministers or MLAs were responding to calls about their holiday travel plans. Repeated calls from Western Standard reporters were ignored by various ministers and MLAs. Likely, because the Premier’s Office didn’t yet know how many of its ministers, MLAs, and staffers were breaking their own guidelines..And as it turns out, more than a few senior UCP government staffers were also travelling abroad, including Kenney’s own chief of staff, a position that wields more power than most cabinet ministers..To address the growing political firestorm from left and right, Kenney held a press conference on New Years Day. Refusing to take questions from Western Standard reporters (a standing order, we believe), Kenney said that nobody would be fired. Just that he should be been clearer with his team that they should obey their own guidelines..He hopes that that will be the end of it..The Canadian Taxpayers Federation took the opportunity to point out that two years into their mandate, the UCP still hasn’t delivered on their promise to give Albertans the right to recall their MLAs, and that needless to say, there are probably more than a few Albertans wishing that they had that right about now..The lockdown has failed. Not just because the reasoning behind lockdowns is faulty, but because governments have not been honest about it, and do not feel that the pain they are inflicting on others should be shared by themselves..A large segment of the government in Alberta and in other provinces imposing punishing lockdowns on their people – that they themselves do not feel bound to follow – will only heat the anti-lockdown sentiment from a simmer to a boil..Derek Fildebrandt is the Publisher of the Western Standard.,.dfildebrandt@westernstandardonline.com
