With the COVID-19 vaccination rollout in Canada going anything but smoothly or efficiently these days, the calls for the Trudeau Liberals to face a spring election over their handling of the pandemic crisis have become louder in recent days.
Whether Canadians should be sent to the polls when COVID continues to circulate in the community-at-large remains an open question.
While many countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom, have been able to move relatively quickly in vaccinating many of their citizens, people in Alberta and elsewhere in Canada have had to put up with promises of lots and lots of shots down the road.
Were it a matter of simple inconvenience or impatience, the current situation wouldn’t be so bad. Unfortunately, vaccinations or the lack thereof is quite literally a matter of life and death for some Canadians, particularly those most vulnerable.
For his part, Red Deer-Mountain View Conservative MP Earl Dreeshen, whose riding includes this district, says the federal government is failing Albertans and their fellow Canadians.
“One of the most disturbing consequences of the Liberal government’s confused, chaotic, and disorganized approach to the pandemic in general and to vaccine distribution has been the impact on individual lives,” said Dreeshen.
“The prime minister’s talking points really amount to this: We have secured the biggest portfolio of vaccines in the world, and not to worry. The truth is that Canadians are not interested in how many vaccines we could get. They are interested in how many vaccines we will get.”
On the other hand, the prime minister has time and again said things are well in hand and that the vaccination timelines set out by the government will be met.
Many people are rightly unhappy with the delays in getting Canadians vaccinated, especially when other countries are not facing similar holdups or excuses.
Whether the issue is important enough to warrant an unprecedented election at the height of a pandemic remains the biggest political question facing Canada today.
Dan Singleton is an editor with The Albertan.
