Thread by @JimboStanford

I'm gobsmacked by the interview just now on @cbcasithappens with the manager of Nashville North, a private nightclub on the Stampede grounds in Calgary. His explanation of their privatized health protection plan (allowed now Kenney has lifted all restrictions) was horrifying: ..2

* Club will operate at full capacity, no masks required
* Entrants must either show a facsimile of a COVID vaccination (just 1 shot required, not 2) or take a rapid COVID test
* Both of those are obviously very unreliable (efficacy of 1 shot against COVID variants is risky) ..3

* The manager boasted about being 1st venue in Cda to require COVID vaccination proof as condition of entry. This system will not do that, however. Any teenager knows it's easy to provide fake physical ID, let alone fake an image of a document on a phone ..4

* Manager deferred health judgments to a private health provider they have hired, who's "confident" this plan is safe, and will operate 4 booths to screen/test patrons.
* That private consultant has an obvious conflict of interest in allowing this dangerous venture to proceed ..5

* This amounts to a privatization of public health protection, and it can only end badly.
* It is the direct result of Kenney's desperate, politically-motivated rush to open Stampede and start the "best summer ever."
* Genuine public health guidance should not let this happen ..7

Important concluding context: As of today, Alberta still has more active COVID cases, and fewer administered vaccines, per 100,000 people than the Canadian avg. The fact that Alberta (and Nashville North) are "opening first" doesn't mean Alberta did better at stopping COVID ..8

What is DOES mean is that Alberta's government AND businesses are more willing to jeopardize public health for short-term political & financial gain. As a native Albertan who hopes to go back there during this "best summer ever", this is both appalling and frightening.