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Did you know that this is Freedom to Read Week? If not, I could hardly blame you. Local news is scarce, newspapers have shrunk drastically and communications from governments which are supposed to serve us have been sparse at best and shrouded in secrecy at worst. And I'm not even talking about matters that may legitimately need to be kept secret or confidential - I'm talking about stuff that affects us all and should be public knowledge.
Much of the country is supposedly in a re-opening phase, although not all public health authorities believe that this is being done in a sensible manner. My partner witters on about how doctors shouldn't publicly contradict each other, as if we'd all be more inclined to trust intelligent people who flock to unanimity. I can't speak for everyone, of course, but personally I'm more inclined to respect authorities who tell us up front what they DON'T know and how they are arriving at whatever informed conjectures they are making, as well as what they do know with a reasonable degree of certainty. Do any of us enjoy being patronized?
All countries, with good reason, are anxious to stem the flow of Covid-19, particularly the newer more contagious variants, across their borders. To accomplish this, quarantine measures will at times be necessary and I'd wager most people would be on board with this. So why all this cloak-and-dagger secrecy? Is that any way to gain public trust?
I found this article particularly disturbing: it tells of hapless passengers being whisked in cars with blacked out windows to unknown destinations to serve out their quarantine. Having their wrists slapped for daring to record any of their experiences or draw attention to unwarranted suffering and rights violations:
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/welcome-to-the-hotel-of-last-resort-a-government-run-quarantine-facility-where-you-really-dont-want-to-be/ar-BB1dJ2VO
And guess what? From today onwards, these passengers will have to fork out $2000 for the privilege. Surprisingly, many still seem to be quite willing to comply - except that the government is certainly not making it easy for travellers to do the right thing! The lis of government-approved hotels was only released some 72 hours before the ruling took effect and many were stuck on the phone for over 3 hours trying to make the required reservations. And these government-approved hotels, moreover, were told not to talk prices, even though many of these essential travellers are in pretty straitened financial circumstances! Here's another disturbing arcticle:
https://nationalpost.com/news/keep-the-price-quiet-all-you-need-to-know-about-government-authorized-hotels-for-mandatory-three-day-covid-stays?video_autoplay=true
It certainly leaves a bad taste in my mouth. But hey, at least I haven't lost my sense of taste or smell, so I probably don't have Covid-19!
Much of the country is supposedly in a re-opening phase, although not all public health authorities believe that this is being done in a sensible manner. My partner witters on about how doctors shouldn't publicly contradict each other, as if we'd all be more inclined to trust intelligent people who flock to unanimity. I can't speak for everyone, of course, but personally I'm more inclined to respect authorities who tell us up front what they DON'T know and how they are arriving at whatever informed conjectures they are making, as well as what they do know with a reasonable degree of certainty. Do any of us enjoy being patronized?
All countries, with good reason, are anxious to stem the flow of Covid-19, particularly the newer more contagious variants, across their borders. To accomplish this, quarantine measures will at times be necessary and I'd wager most people would be on board with this. So why all this cloak-and-dagger secrecy? Is that any way to gain public trust?
I found this article particularly disturbing: it tells of hapless passengers being whisked in cars with blacked out windows to unknown destinations to serve out their quarantine. Having their wrists slapped for daring to record any of their experiences or draw attention to unwarranted suffering and rights violations:
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/welcome-to-the-hotel-of-last-resort-a-government-run-quarantine-facility-where-you-really-dont-want-to-be/ar-BB1dJ2VO
And guess what? From today onwards, these passengers will have to fork out $2000 for the privilege. Surprisingly, many still seem to be quite willing to comply - except that the government is certainly not making it easy for travellers to do the right thing! The lis of government-approved hotels was only released some 72 hours before the ruling took effect and many were stuck on the phone for over 3 hours trying to make the required reservations. And these government-approved hotels, moreover, were told not to talk prices, even though many of these essential travellers are in pretty straitened financial circumstances! Here's another disturbing arcticle:
https://nationalpost.com/news/keep-the-price-quiet-all-you-need-to-know-about-government-authorized-hotels-for-mandatory-three-day-covid-stays?video_autoplay=true
It certainly leaves a bad taste in my mouth. But hey, at least I haven't lost my sense of taste or smell, so I probably don't have Covid-19!
