ENCOURAGING GOVERNMENT MESSAGE

I’ve been critical a lot over the last two years and haven’t been shy about stating my displeasure in governments and health officials so it’s only fair I say something when I’m happy with them too and yesterday was a day where I was pleasantly surprised with what I saw and heard from Scott Moe and Saqib Shahab.

I think it’s worth noting that as far as Canada goes, Saskatchewan has always been the best place to live.  There have never been curfews or outdoor mask mandates or some of the other completely off-the-wall crazy, nonsensical, and unjustifiable policies that we’ve seen in other jurisdictions but I also felt that just because the rest of the provinces deserve an F on their handling of this, we shouldn’t pat Saskatchewan on the back just because they’d grade a D.  There is still a lot wrong with what this provincial government has done and there remains a lot wrong (namely the vaccine passports, mask mandates, and employing the covid cops to go around and harass businesses).

Every time I see on social media that a press conference is going to be held, I get a bit of anxiety and I try really hard not to watch because it just makes me mad listening to a pack of lies for an hour or so.  However, I tuned in for a bit once the presser was in progress for half an hour and I couldn’t help but get a sense of relief to see there were no further measures being implemented and the panic button wasn’t being pressed over skyrocketing ‘case’ numbers.

In fact, a quote that is now circulating on social media from Moe gives me a great deal of optimism (although I refuse to trust him after some of the stunts he’s pulled over the last year or so) as long as he doesn’t veer from his own words.  “We can’t keep our kids out of school forever.  We can’t lock down our communities and our events and businesses forever.  We have to figure out how to use these tools effectively and keep Covid at a level where it doesn’t overwhelm our hospitals.  There are some things we can do as individuals, such as continue to wear our mask indoors and get vaccinated.  

Vaccinations have proven to be very effective at reducing hospitalizations and symptoms.  When you go out with a group of people, run a test on yourself.  This can be very effective.  Ultimately, our cases are going to increase.  We’ve seen this in every other part of the world where Omicron is present but we have the tools to live with this.”

Moe pointed out that other provinces have brought in stricter measures but cases are still on the way up exponentially.  So what good would hammering the Western Hockey League with attendance caps of 500 do?

In other words, Moe is pushing personal responsibility and while that is precisely what I’ve been wanting to hear from a leader for two years now, it is also exactly the worst thing he could have said to people who insist on needing a government order to keep them in the basement.

Case counts are going to go up.  Way up.  Hospital numbers are also going to creep back up to some degree.  What needs to happen now is Moe has to continue to stand in the line of fire from the media and screaming radicals who are scared of becoming irrelevant if Covid comes to an end.  Covid has always come and gone in waves regardless of public health order.  One thing that was mentioned yesterday and it wasn’t given nearly the attention that it should have gotten is that Saskatchewan was hit much harder than other provinces with the Delta wave.  Other provinces are now being hit with both Delta and Omicron, while Saskatchewan appears to be dealing almost entirely with Omicron.  

There has been a lot I’ve never understood about this, including why people need the government to tell them what to do in order to stay safe.  If you feel threatened by going outside and being amongst a group of people, stay home.  There can be no safer mechanism than that and you don’t need a health tyrant or a politician to tell you this.  Who and what is forcing you to go to a restaurant, gym, hockey game, etc if you feel at risk?  Besides, everyone is in a mask and as we’ve seen from a lot of people during this, masks are the single biggest religious symbol that pro-Covid lockdowners rely upon for ‘safety’ even though I have always maintained if someone was up front about having Covid but went out in public with a mask on, we’d see very quickly that there isn’t a whole lot of confidence in masks.

Left wing media in attendance at the presser yesterday showed themselves to be nothing short of a disgrace.  They’ve been pro-lockdown from day one and, frankly, I can’t figure out why.  When I was full-time in this industry, I can tell you those who worked in sales had their noses into programming on a regular basis to ensure nothing was said that may discourage a potential business from buying ads.  

Just about every government decision for the last two years has been anti-business.  Canada has lost over 700,000 jobs in the private sector because of government orders and here we have a media wanting tougher measures that throw even more people out of work despite loads of evidence since March 2020 that these restrictions haven’t done anything other than crush human spirit and create even more health problems as spin-offs from fighting Covid.

I can’t tell businesses what to do, but if I was making advertising decisions for companies affected by government orders there is no way (newspaper especially) these mainstream outfits would get another dime.  Pay them to produce lies that can shut down my business if they sway enough people?  I’m not sure all that many are paying attention anyway.  Joe Rogan had 40-million people listen to his show with Dr. Peter McCullough earlier this month.  By contrast, top Fox News host Tucker Carlson generates 4-million viewers on a nightly basis.  Audiences have transitioned from radio, tv, and newspaper and are consuming ‘new’ media.  The numbers bear this out and if you want to maximize your advertising dollars, my suggestion is to find these ‘new’ media outfits and allot accordingly.  I also happen to know a good ‘sign salesman’ if anyone is interested.

Twenty-five years ago, people waited for the newspaper to be delivered and then would read it before work while having a morning coffee.  How many are doing that today?  Heck, I can go back fifteen or so years and tell you newspapers couldn’t even find people to deliver their papers on time to those still wanting it.  That inability alone sent many to alternate sources of getting information so who are you really reaching as an advertiser by having a quarter page ad every day?  I can only speak for myself, but it’s been years since I’ve read an actual hard copy of ANY newspaper.  

The only way for the Saskatchewan Government to know whether or not people are happy is to tell them.  We are always quick to get mad and criticize but then when we are happy with something, we tend to say nothing.  Left wing lunatics and people who love being at home while not missing a paycheque are nervous right now that it may soon be time to actually work.  They are going to go into overdrive screaming for the government to mandate them to be in isolation with a mask on.  So it’s imperative – if you are happy and encouraged with what you heard yesterday to also let the government know.  

I, for one, was surprised and happy.  What needs to happen now is no more press conferences until January 31st.  That’s when the vaccine passport, which is already beyond ridiculous to still have in place, needs to be rescinded.  If you want to go with masks a while longer just to appease the perpetually scared then so be it.  But, the next step in this process has to continue to move towards normality and while I’m hopeful, I am still quite mistrustful.  Nevertheless, that was a good press conference yesterday.