Thread by @DonaldWelsh16

Provocative and articulate thoughts from our small business community asking Canadians "Where are your values?" Indeed, values, economy, family and health all intersect within the C19 response. Have we struck a balance? 1/

https://twitter.com/GoodsandProvis/status/1366099001406345218

The answer is a resounding "no". A walk through a shattered urban landscape and twitter discussions of force isolation and anal swabbing of children tells you this train left the tracks a very long time ago. Who is responsible? 2/

Let start with our ever bewildering public health community. A cascade of poor decisions fueled by an incorrect viral assessment, an amoral value system, stunning hubris and ideas that should never see the light of day. A terrible combination. 3/

Then politicians who allowed an undisciplined public health community to run amok, destroying everything they touch and blaming others for their mistakes. Our political class, of course, thinks everything is fine as long as the polls tell them so. 4/

And then there is us, the people who put far too much faith in our "experts" and "politicians". It seems our gullibility has no bounds and we will give up everything for the illusion of safety. It is btw an illusion. 5/

History teaches us that these debacles end when money dries up and people tell the "experts" to stop. Vaccines might be the narrative but make no mistake, its a populous with pitch folks and the absence of a magic money tree that ends these debacles. 6/

It will be up to people to put their lives back together and the costs are incalculable. It's also upon the people to ensure that this blundering mess never happens again. So let's prioritize a few requests. 7/

1) A full public inquiry at the provincial and federal level. If malfeasance is uncovered, civil and criminal proceedings should ensue.

2) High profile resignations should be considered, particularly in light of the scale and depth of societal damage. 8/

3) The public health community should be removed from pandemic planning permanently. And....

4) We should develop a professional emergency response agency whose mandate includes pandemic responses. 9/

The final request is key. Canada is a trillion dollar, highly integrated economy and our current lemonade stand operation isn't up to the task. It's time to put the wheels in motion and fix what is so desperately wrong. End.