Thread by @vexedalex

as i sit here listening to the honking on elgin in the heart of ottawa, i'm thinking about something that doesn't get talked about at all:

increasingly, restrictions & mandates are more about squeezing more compliance out of the already compliant to make up for non-compliant.

although the non-compliant make up ~10% of the population, in a country of millions, 10% is a lot of people - only a couple hundred are needed to disrupt entire urban centres. now that we're entering year 3, i'm seeing more resignation from people who've followed all the rules.

at this point of the pandemic, we've reached maximum saturation of people willing to wear masks, get vaccinated, follow rules, etc. yes - thousands are still getting vaccinated every day, but the vast majority are boosters/already vaccinated. the unvaccinated remain steadfast.

now we have people occupying my city, angry at trudeau, when most of the blame should be laid at provincial leaders who put in place incoherent, half-assed measures that increased harm and extended these lockdowns and restrictions far longer than most other countries.

kenney, ford, legault - come from a long line of "fiscal conservatives" who love "finding efficiencies" (code for not funding critical serviceslike healthcare). the pandemic has given these guys so much cover - the healthcare system was strained before covid was even a thing.

instead of addressing the chronic underfunding of healthcare, their preferred method is bringing in more restrictions on people who are already following the rules - rules which have exhausted their benefits and are now strictly in "diminishing returns" territory.

we're in this mess because of cowardly political leadership - primarily at the provincial level - leadership that's more intent in trying to worm through an imaginery middle ground that doesn't exist and haven't learned a single fucking lesson in over 2 years.

this rant has been brought you by 8 days of non-stop honking and extremist right-wing nutjobs who refuse to accept the consequences of their political choices.