The flood, the economy and Omicron

by Maj (ret'd) CORNELIU E. CHISU, CD, PMSC, FEC, CET, P. Eng. Former Member of Parliament Pickering-Scarborough East I am afraid that we are going into an uncharted future in the world, especially in Canada. We are confronted with a flood emergency in British Columbia, frightening inflation across Canada, and a revival of the pandemic under a new name; Omicron. The flood in British Columbia is creating a lot of hardship for the people living there. It is a tragedy of enormous proportions. The causes are highly questionable and the effects could have been mitigated by some competent engineering maneuvers. While we are contemplating climate engineer by lowering global greenhouse gas emissions, we are neglecting proven engineering solutions through incompetent leadership. Even in the unlikely event that we succeed in reducing GHG emissions, it won't prevent flooding in B.C. or countless other extreme weather events in our lifetimes. Let us look at the flooding in BC in some detail. For example, who thought that having 300,000 people live on a flood plain, including a reclaimed lake, was acceptable? Yet successive governments and their immediate advisors in the public service have allowed this in British Columbia. Today's tragic situation would never have arisen had common sense and professionalism prevailed. Unfortunately, these seem to be lost commodities in today's world, and as a result, people suffer immensely. Such reckless construction on floodplains that are perpetually vulnerable to storm surges, yet allowed by several levels of government greedy for tax revenues must stop immediately. Sensible planning, tougher building codes, replacing aging sewer and water mains, upgrading water pumping stations, and improving drainage systems, are all sensible engineering solutions we can use to adapt to weather emergencies. This kind of preparedness would prevent B.C.-like flooding tragedies, whether caused by nature, or made more severe by human activity. More importantly, the contracts for doing such vital infrastructure work have to be awarded by governments to competent contractors, not the lowest bidders with the best political connections. Let's stop the flow of hot air spewed in endless promises made by bubble politicians and their lackeys sponging off the public purse. Leaches eager to fly into never-ending UN climate gabfests on private jets and lecturing the rest of us plebes to consume less. The general population must wake up to see this nonsense for what it is, and put an end to these wasteful and unproductive photo-ops. The airy-fairy pursuits generated by climate change hysteria must be seen as such and traded for more feasible engineering solutions. Pursuing solar and wind-powered solutions at all costs, while viscerally opposing adaptation, opposing nuclear power (which doesn't emit greenhouse gases), opposing natural gas (the cleanest fossil fuel), opposing hydro power (dams drown trees and destroy the local environment) are neither productive, sustainable, nor sensible solutions, and must change right now. We would do far better to concentrate on the real needs of our citizens. There are people in leadership positions today, who live in a fantasy world. Their dream is to return to a predominantly agrarian and pre-industrial society lead by a neo Marxist ideology. In plain English, we would all be shepherds herding our sheep, after the necessary number of us are killed by the madness of attempting to use inefficient and unreliable wind and solar energy to power modern, industrialized countries like our own. Wake up and smell the coffee, people. Considering the state of our economy, we see a more concerning future. Inflation is at a twenty year high, with every indication of spinning out of control. Consumer confidence in Canada is at its lowest point since May, according to the Conference Board of Canada. In general, people are wary of inflation, are holding off on major purchases, and saving their money as their worries about future job prospects increase. Trade relations with the United States in key economic sectors for Canada such as the automotive industry and the energy sector are also concerning. Our two countries are even at odds over potatoes, after a fungal disease halted shipments of the crop from Prince Edward Island. They don't seem to be resolved and if this trend continues it will be a nasty blow to the Canadian economy, generating substantial job losses. In naming the newest Covid-19 mutant Omicron, the World Health Organisation (WHO), seems to have skipped the letter Xi in the Greek alphabet, even though this variant comes right after the Delta variant. This deliberate omission was perpetrated not to offend President Xi of China, one presumes. So the new hysteria is on and brewing. Five cases of the Omicron COVID-19 mutant have been confirmed in Canada to date. Then Prime Minister Trudeau declared: "Obviously, we're watching very, very closely the situation with Omicron. We know that, even though Canada has very strong border measures now - we need vaccinations to come to Canada, we need pre-departure tests, we do testing on arrival. There may be more we need to do and we'll be looking at it very carefully." The usual suspects, like Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam declared with confidence that this new virus, Omicron, could "signify a potential for increased transmissibility of the virus." She added: "Mutations to this area of the virus may impact our body's natural immunity as well as potentially reduce immunity offered by vaccines." So the government has gone into panic mode with new restriction for peoples' movement on the horizon; new limitations on personal freedom, maybe new lockdowns and the rest of the known repertoire. Incoming air travellers from all countries except the United States will be required to take COVID-19 tests when arriving in Canada, the federal government has announced. The tests will be required of all travellers, regardless of their vaccination status, Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said recently. The requirement will also apply to Canadian citizens and permanent residents. Incoming travellers will have to self-isolate until they receive results of their test. Duclos said the new testing requirement will go into effect "as quickly and as much as possible over the next few days." While the government and medical profession concentrate on Covid -19 related issues they seem to be ignoring that the pandemic took a staggering toll on the health of Canadians, even those who didn't contact the virus. With delayed surgeries and procedures costing thousands of lives and continuing to ravage people's health, is anybody paying attention? Can we as a society sustain the flood of further restrictions and incompetent leadership coming our way? Are we ready to be carded on a whim? Show me your papers!