So, Kenney’s decision to ease restrictions basically says that the @UCPCaucus is totes cool with 10 - 30 Albertans dying EACH DAY because that’s quite literally the price of doing business, apparently. #ableg

A THREAD

This is problematic for several reasons, obviously - not the least of which is the fact that the critical mass of pro-lifers in the @UCPCaucus are strangely silent on the issue. I thought all lives mattered? No? Cool. 2/x

Anyway, Kenney has put a lot of effort into setting up a false dichotomy between controlling the spread of COVID-19 and preserving the economy by allowing businesses to remain open. 3/x

He uses a number of rhetorical devices to convince Albertans that there’s no “third way.” He appeals to emotions by talking about the mental health toll that restrictions create, though he presents no data to support his claim. 4/x

He talks about “balance” which of course is a red herring because in a pandemic, there’s no such thing. There’s a great show of hand-wringing that’s designed to signal to his rural base that he has to play the role of the tough guy, even though it pains him greatly. 5/x

Anyway, Kenney and Shandro and Hinshaw’s whole charade is designed to conceal one basic fact, and that is that the @UCPCaucus is doing basically *nothing* to help people through this pandemic. 6/x

Aside from a few brief and poorly-executed knee-jerk initiatives in the early days of the pandemic (remember the drive-thru masks?), Albertans have enjoyed almost zero support from their provincial government over the past 11 months. 7/x

Why is that? Why has the @UCPCaucus utterly failed to help Albertans through this crisis? BECAUSE THERE’S NO MONEY! And why is there no money? Well, the first thing the UCP did when they came to power is to eviscerate Alberta’s revenue through tax breaks for large companies. 8/x

They also dumped billions in public money down the drain: think @KXL, the @CDNEnergyCentre, the Allan Inquiry, etc. We know this.

The upshot is that by the time the pandemic hit, the coffers were empty. 9/x

And that’s why Kenney is working so hard to create the impression that there’s nothing more he could do to help businesses, or to alleviate the stress and mental health crisis that he’s allegedly so worried about. 10/x

Imagine if Alberta had implemented an income support program, something like CERB, to help those who’d been laid off. What if there was money to help small businesses weather the storm? 11/x

And perhaps most importantly, what if there was an income support program that would allow parents to stay home, so that kids could attend school remotely? We know (even though the government continues to deny it) that schools are a major source of spread for COVID-19. 12/x

The government can’t publicly admit that schools are basically COVID Petri dishes, because then they’d have *do* something about it. But that would entail spending money to allow parents to stay at home, and as we know, the money’s all been spent on stupid stuff. 13/x

So, instead we’re stuck with half-assed measures where Kenney is trying to rob Peter to pay Paul, all while pretending that he has no choice in the matter. So we will continue to see cases rise and fall, and people will continue to die by the dozen each and every day. 14/x

Albertans have a right to life, and we have a right to demand better of our “leaders.” We need to call Kenney and the @UCPCaucus and @CMOH_Alberta on their bullshit and demand a stronger and more humane response to this crisis. 15/x

If people knew that they would not have to worry about having $$ for food, nor about their kids bringing the virus home from school, how much better would our collective mental health be?

I guess that’s all I got. Thanks for reading this far. END OF THREAD