As published by TBOF Staff Writer, Alexander Brighton in the Western Standard here.
Like every part of our economy graced by the Liberal Government’s “Sunny Ways”, Canada’s travel industry has become an unmitigated disaster.
At the center of this escalating and globally embarrassing policy failure and civil liberties debacle is federal Transport Minister, Omar Alghabra. All of the COVID-19 travel restrictions by plane, train, or ship have been made unilaterally and exclusively by him and can only be ended by him.
Travelers need 3-to-4 times longer to clear checkpoints. Some 400,000 travel staff have left during the past two years. Air Canada has already cancelled nearly 10% of flights for June. Millions of unvaccinated Canadians cannot fly (even domestically – a restriction so draconian that only China and North Korea also impose it).
“A crisis situation”, says the Tourism Association of Canada. The Canadian Airports Council warns: “Canada must align with the international community and join the list of over 50 countries that have already removed vaccine mandates and COVID protocols”. WestJet’s CEO observes: “vaccines are not preventing the spreading of the virus…there is no more logic to maintain it [mandates]”.
The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) must be grinning ear to ear. They are representing former premier, the Honourable Brian Peckford against the Government for violating his Charter rights by mandating vaccination in order to travel. The first hearing is in September 2022.
Now, in addition to convincing the courts that Mr. Peckford’s interpretation of the Charter is wrong (mind you, he is the last surviving premier that actually signed the thing), government must also get the courts to ignore the travel industry proclaiming the COVID-19 mandates as unscientific, ineffective, and unnecessary.
The government, ever quick to wrap themselves in the flag of “the ScienceTM”, is also offside with the World Health Organization (WHO). In January 2022, the WHO strongly recommended against mandatory vaccination for international travel.
Like Moses, the Liberal government have descended from the Mount, tablets in hand, and steadfast in their belief that they and only they know what the real science is. The European Union? All the provinces and territories? Banks, airlines, universities? The WHO? Ignorant gentiles, all of them!
How did this happen? How did progressive-global-human-
Examining the air travel rules reveals Minister Alghabra’s complete and utter contempt for Canadians, parliament, and, surprisingly, even his cabinet colleagues.
The minister has used Section 6.41 of the Aeronautics Act to create “Interim Orders”, enabling him to modify or introduce any rules he deems necessary, but for a temporary period. A very temporary period: fourteen calendar days.
But if the limit is fourteen days, how are the travel restrictions still in force? Can they be extended?
Yes and no. Before the 14 days expire, the minister can try and convince their cabinet colleagues to extend the rules by Governor-in-Council. If they are successful, they must return to cabinet “as soon as possible” with a proposed regulation having the same effect.
Putting things into law means clear parameters regarding the travel restrictions’ expiration. This would curtail the minister’s autocratic power to dictate who gets to move within or leave their own country. The minister might also have to start explaining himself to his colleagues, or, even worse, Canadians themselves!
During the pandemic, the Liberals have plainly demonstrated that they will do anything to desperately hold on to power. What can be expected from the government that invoked martial law against peaceful protestors and seized the assets of their political opponents? After all, government insiders have been known to occasionally express a “certain admiration for basic dictatorship”
So, what’s going on? How are “temporary” restrictions introduced in June 2020 (October 2021 for mandatory vaccination) even still around?
Well, the minister’s apparent disdain for cabinet and Canadians is perhaps only outdone by his complete rejection of parliament.
Parliament created Section 6.41 as a flexible tool for governments to make temporary rules until legislators could respond appropriately.
Instead, the transport minister has subverted parliament’s intent by reintroducing the interim order sixty-four times. Since June 2020, every fourteen days, the transport minister deviously lets the previous interim order expire, and just copy and pastes a new one with the same purpose. Not once has Cabinet approved any of these interim orders.
No cabinet. No parliamentary committee. No Canadians. Just Minister Alghabra as the hall monitor in the sky.
Every fourteen days, the transport minister chooses to ignore the overwhelming evidence concerning the vaccines’ inability to stop infection and transmission, as well as continuing to be one of the only countries not recognizing natural immunity.
He ignores the WHO, provincial chief medical officers, Dr. Theresa Tam herself, and the rest of the civilized world. And now we know that for months he has also been ignoring the majority of his own Liberal caucus colleagues.
No accountability; no timelines; no debate. Only bullying, arrogance, and contempt.
That’s the Liberal government’s tried and true (political) scientific method.
