Well, here we go again. I'm probably older than many on this board, and I've been watching this flu vaccine thing roll out for years. It's almost always more likely that we'll have a shortage than a surplus.
Minister Aglukkaq's comment last week that "Canadians who don't get vaccinated against swine flu are needlessly putting themselves and others at risk"? If that was true then, who's putting them at risk now?
I am disappointed and disgusted with the government's handling of this matter -- as I am their handling of so many other matters lately. It seems that Minister Aglukkaq, in her zeal to encourage people to get immunized, saw nothing wrong with stigmatizing those of us who make the choice not to get vaccinated as lepers, a danger to all we encounter. It seems to have blown up in her face since, with the shortage, the majority of people are now in that category, although not by choice. What will people who feel that unvaccinated people are a threat do now that they know that so many people can't get vaccinated, and perhaps not they themselves? Will they shop more? Will they go out to eat? Will they take in a movie? Will they see an escort or get a massage? Um... yeah. Hyperbolic scaremongering works really well for our economic situation too, eh?
The same thing happened with the handling of the economy. I don't think the government could have held off the recession and job losses, but I do think they could have lessened the impact if they'd shot straight with us right from the start. Prime Minister Harper was insisting that we weren't in a recession long after it was obvious to any intelligent person that we were. And almost immediately, his government and the Bank of Canada began telling us that we were in recovery. (I swear, if I see one more photo of Mark Carney's face plastered with a shit-eating grin, I'm going to hurl.) They massage the markets a little, and come up with their three consecutive quarters of growth, and pronounce the recession over. Their definition of 'recession' and Clinton's definition of 'sex with that woman' have a lot in common, it seems. For those of us whose reality depends on jobs and business activity, the recession is not over.
It seems that our government thinks we're sheep that must be herded, through scare tactics and too-good-to-be-true promises, than that we are intelligent people, capable of making rational decisions, given solid information. It seems that they want to construct a vision for us. It's like that line from "Chicago": "Who are you gonna believe, baby? Me? Or your own eyes?"
We need to start electing people who respect and trust us.
(Disclaimer: I say "the government" and I'm no fan of the Harper administration, but at this time, I'm not sure anyone else could or would do better. My references to the government are aimed at those who seem to gravitate to such positions of power these days and their approach to dealing with the public. My comments are not in any way meant to be partisan.)