The political angle of H1N1...Libs accuse Tories of causing deaths

[transplant99]

Sigh. Of all the things to really try and not score political points on, one would think this would be at the top of the list.

Same nonsense is starting up in the US as well. Republicans blaming Democrats.

Its all hogwash and it has to be stopped as it addresses nothing and polarizes even worse.

Liberal MP Bob Rae made the accusations yesterday in the Commons, where he said government delays in ordering and rolling out the vaccine has "cost and will cost lives."

"There are people who unfortunately have succumbed to the disease," Rae said.

"I think it's a reasonable thing to say that if they'd had the vaccine, it's quite possible their lives could have been saved. That's a harsh truth."

I wonder if Rae includes the maasive amount of people that simply dont want to get the vaccination in his hyperbole?

Layton even wouldn't go there...

NDP Leader Jack Layton described the charge as the sort of "hyperbole" he wasn't prepared to "throw around" just to score political points.

"This is a very large undertaking here. We've never tried anything quite this size on such a rapid timeline," Layton said.

"I'm not sure that it would have been necessarily feasible" to have got it out sooner.

But he did have to get at least a Dipper angle in there!!

Layton said the federal government needs to tell the provinces and municipalities responsible for vaccinating people to hire more staff, rent more premises and buy more equipment

.

Anyhow....just a stupid thing to be politicizing right now.

http://www.calgarysun.com/news/canad...77311-sun.html

[FlamesAddiction]

The paranoia that Bob RAe is spouting seems to be consistant with this board and probably society in general.

[mykalberta]

Didnt the vaccine start rolling earlier than expected?

Thank goodness Bob Rae isnt from anywhere west of Ontario - that would be a truly embarrassing. I wonder if Harper came out and said H1N1 was a national emergency instead of calmly trying to deal with the issue if the Libs would have said that?

[COGENT]

A pretty ridiculous thing for Bob Rae to say considering all the back and forth going on between doctors about how safe this vaccine is. Making such a strong stand on something he really doesn't know about is dangerous.

As much as Jack Layton bothers me, I think his statement "the federal government needs to tell the provinces and municipalities responsible for vaccinating people to hire more staff, rent more premises and buy more equipment" is a good one and is very true.

[Komskies]

Legitimate question:

Couldn't they just distribute the vaccines to family doctors across the country and have them administer it instead? Or is there something I'm missing here?

[Knut]

Originally Posted by Komskies

Legitimate question:

Couldn't they just distribute the vaccines to family doctors across the country and have them administer it instead? Or is there something I'm missing here?

That would clog the offices of the family doctors, preventing anyone else, with other ailments, from getting the attention they need.

[COGENT]

Originally Posted by Komskies

Legitimate question:

Couldn't they just distribute the vaccines to family doctors across the country and have them administer it instead? Or is there something I'm missing here?

Well I don't know about doctors but in the states they have trained the pharmacists to administer it. I think having the clinics and something like the pharmacists doing it would help a lot.

[kermitology]

And this is why the common person hates politicians. Complete garbage that only serves to attempt to paint another party in a poor light regardless of the reality of the situation.

Bob Rae should be ashamed.

[octothorp]

Harper's original appearance of non-commitment to getting a vaccine was a huge gaff, but overall I think the pandemic has been handled really well by the federal government. If there's a failing on the national level, it's that the rhetoric is whipping people into a panic that's overwhelming local services when only high-risk individuals should be going now.

[Slava]

This is kind of a spot where you're going to look bad either way for the opposition I think. Its pretty clear that with the wait times to get the vaccine that it should've been done more efficiently, so you want to criticize that (and really should as an opposition party). But at the same time its the largest program of its kind in Canadian history, so naturally there are kinks in the system.

Basically you can't win here.

[Dion]

[CaptainCrunch]

Well the Libs have to do something, they're well on the way to becoming a Kim Campbellesque disastor in the making.

This probably isn't something that they should have tried though. But Bob Rae is really somebody that you don't want at the forefront of your party.

[Bobblehead]

1) Stop politicizing the issue. The idea to consider calling an election was a bad one, and this idea is a bad one, too. The Liberals have some seriously bad people making some decisions.

2) The vaccine also came out really quick. I think it is safe, but people against the vaccine are already using the compressed timelines to scare people. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

3) The final distribution is a provincial issue, not federal.


I'm pretty hard on the CPC, but I think they have done a fine job so far on this issue. Is it perfect? No, but given the situation I think there is very little that can be done different.

And Bob Rae has always been a brutal politician, no matter what party colours he decides to wear today.

[The Goon]

This is what Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition has to do - oppose. The exact same scenario would be playing out if the Liberals were in power and the Conservatives were the opposition.

It is seemingly unnecessary with this particular issue, but that's the Canadian political system for you.

[kermitology]

What really grinds on me is that these guys are so interested in being opposition to regain power than they are in actually doing anything for the country.

Some people will say that a minority government is a great thing for Canada because it doesn't allow the Conservatives to have free reign to do whatever they want. Yeah, maybe.. except that it's turned into bipartisanship from all sides and the government becomes the most ineffective thing you could imagine with one side stalling anything started by the other side just because it's presented by the other side.

I want to publicly flog all of these politicians.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by The Goon

This is what Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition has to do - oppose. The exact same scenario would be playing out if the Liberals were in power and the Conservatives were the opposition.

It is seemingly unnecessary with this particular issue, but that's the Canadian political system for you.

Completely disagree, this isn't opposing, this is stupidity by the Liberal's, its crass, its in bad taste, if this is being the opposition then the Liberals have done a fine job of hiring functionally ######ed individuals. But I guess Bob Rae will fit right into the Heidy Fry (or however her name is spelled) we are moron club who love to hear our voices.

Opposing means bringing in a alternate viewpoint, or an alternate suggestion or strategy.

this is equivalent to a back yard debate where I'm doing something with my car.

neighbour - "What your doing is stupid"

Me - "Really, what should I be doing"

Neighbour - "I have no idea but I'm hoping your wife thinks I'm hot for calling you stupid. you big stupid head"

Me - "You're a complete idiot, you have no idea of what your talking about next door neighbour Bob Rae"

My wife - "Who was that idiot that you were wasting time with"

Me - "I don't know but he has no fricken clue"

[Rerun]

This is just so over the top by the Liberals. I didn't have a lot of respect for them before but they have now reached a new low.

[The Goon]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

Opposing means bringing in a alternate viewpoint, or an alternate suggestion or strategy.

You're absolutely correct.

The Liberals are doing their job as opposition by opposing. I didn't say they were doing it well.

I'm sure there's hundreds of similar examples through Canadian political history, and that's what makes the system so frustrating.

[Rerun]

Originally Posted by Slava

This is kind of a spot where you're going to look bad either way for the opposition I think. Its pretty clear that with the wait times to get the vaccine that it should've been done more efficiently, so you want to criticize that (and really should as an opposition party). But at the same time its the largest program of its kind in Canadian history, so naturally there are kinks in the system.

Basically you can't win here.

Thats a provincial matter. The federal government has no control over that. How can you justify criticizing someone for something that is totally out of their hands?

<bites tongue.... wants to call someone a nasty name.... bites tongue again>

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by The Goon

You're absolutely correct.

The Liberals are doing their job as opposition by opposing. I didn't say they were doing it well.

I'm sure there's hundreds of similar examples through Canadian political history, and that's what makes the system so frustrating.

The Liberal's would be doing a good job of being a opposition party if they bought value to the table.

In terms of bringing value to the table the NDP has been far better.

Ignatieff has been a real failure as a Liberal leader thus far.