Canada imposes travel sanctions on non-vaccinated, while creating new woke holiday

Thanks COVID, for helping make the world a more authoritarian place.  Even though my blog is primarily about U.S. politics, my interest in its founding principle extend beyond U.S. borders.  I'm unfortunately not an American. I'm Canadian, envious of the amount of freedom Americans still have relative to other countries.

Case in point, my own government has imposed travel restrictions for travelers entering Canada which recursively affects Canadian citizens.  Going down a rabbit hole on our federal website I came across these conditions for Canadians returning from a vacation to the U.S. or another country (which I will summarize below if you prefer to skip the details):

Pre-entry test requirements All travellers 5 years of age or older, regardless of citizenship, must provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test result. You don't require a test to fly within Canada.

There are no exemptions to pre-entry testing for fully vaccinated travellers.

If you're driving to land border crossing, you must take a test in the United States within 72 hours of your planned entry into Canada.

If you're flying to Canada, you must take a test within 72 hours of the scheduled departure time of your flight to Canada. Airlines will refuse boarding to travellers who are unable to provide a valid molecular test result.

If you have a connecting flight:

    -the test must be conducted within 72 hours of the scheduled departure time of your last direct flight to Canada

    -you may need to schedule the test in your transit city

All travellers must:

    -provide one of the accepted types of tests, not an antigen test

    -keep proof of your test results for the 14-day period that begins on the day you enter Canada

You must show proof of your test results even if you:

    -have tested negative for COVID-19 previous to the 72 hour period

    -have been vaccinated for COVID-19

    -recovered from COVID-19 and no longer test positive

    -recovered from COVID-19 and continue to test positive

At this time, travellers should have their test performed at a reputable laboratory or testing facility (i.e., one recognized by the local government or accredited by a third party, such as a professional organization or international standards organization).

...If a Canadian citizen, person registered under the Indian Act, or permanent resident does not provide proof of a valid molecular test result they:

    -will be allowed entry, but may be subject to a fine of up to $5,000 per day or face criminal prosecution

    -may also be required to go to a designated quarantine facility if they are symptomatic on arrival at the border, or do not have a suitable quarantine plan

In summary: you must get a test within 3 days prior to returning to Canada.  It must an "accepted" test.  You must keep the proof on you for 14 days. If you fail to meet the requirements upon return you will either be subject to quarantine or a fine of up to $5,000 per day.

That all seems perfectly reasonable excessive. They are making it nearly impossible to stay unvaccinated.  I don't trust the vaccines due to the lack of sufficient testing, so I was planning on waiting as long as possible to see if the long term side effects of RNA vaccines are a disaster in the real world testing environment.  But this makes me want to not get vaccinated at all out of spite for the authoritarian government. 

But hey, don't worry Canadians, you'll be placated with another holiday to forget about this intrusion on your freedoms because...

Meanwhile, the same ultra 'liberal' federal government which took away Remembrance Day as a statutory  federal holiday years ago is adding a new federal holiday shortly after Labor Day called the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation to honor indigenous survivors of residential schools.  Not to downplay the atrocities that happened at some schools, but why not combine it with Remembrance Day and honor anyone who lost their freedoms as well as those who fought to protect it for others?  To add insult to injury the name of the holiday is ridiculously Trudeau-esque. It's a woke-named holiday.  I have never been so unhappy about getting another day off work.

 

Obama succumbs to scruples

In case you forgot this one.

Recently I pointed out that president Obama had the nerve to demand Congress work through the holidays while he went on vacation for 17 days.  So did Mitt Romney (although I think I was first).  It turns out the president has succumbed to scruples or else he realized he just couldn't get away with the hypocrisy.

President Obama is not vacationing in Hawaii with his wife and children while the extension of the payroll tax holiday remains in limbo, and has warned GOP congressional leaders to stay in town as well.

Obama had planned to fly to Hawaii with his family on Dec. 17 and stay there through New Year’s.

After getting ripped by GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney over his vacation plans, Obama told Senate Democratic leaders Wednesday that he will stay in town until Congress finishes work on the payroll tax holiday, unemployment benefits and other issues.

Now, if only we could get him to get past the hypocrisy on this. It's actually the bigger issue.