The Trudeau government's 5 worst coronavirus blunders

There has been a lot of misinformation and uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus pandemic and just how a government should go about handling it. Certain countries have obviously done a better job at managing the spread of COVID-19 better than others, but where does Canada fall in this regard?

As of Tuesday, Canada ranks 13th worldwide for most confirmed cases of COVID-19. When it comes to COVID-19 deaths, Canada ranks 11th highest, on the world stage.

Countries like Italy and Iran took a hard hit by the virus as it seemed to spread there quickly after being transmitted outside of China. Canada was fortunate enough to have not been caught off guard the way that Italy and other countries that were first to get it were. The Trudeau government was able to learn from the mistakes of other governments. Which is why it is all the more frustrating that the blunders that our administration has made, had to happen at all.

1. No Secure Borders

Despite several other countries realizing that the spread of COVID-19 would be best halted by stopping all non-essential travel and closing their borders, Canada took some time understanding this basic concept. Federal Health Minister Patty Hajdu said that not only would tightening borders help slow the spread, she implied that it could actually be more damaging, “We see that in some of the countries who have the worst expression (of COVID-19), who had the tightest borders,” said Hajdu in early February. Had the borders been closed then, the Canadian death toll would almost certainly be much lower today.

2. No Quarantine For Travellers Returning From China  

Once it was established that Wuhan was the epicentre of the virus, it only seemed like second nature that anybody Canadian or otherwise who was returning from that city would be quarantined. The Trudeau administration was aware of this as well, however they only asked those returning to voluntarily self isolate, releasing a memo claiming the government did not have the resources to implement such a quarantine and that there was already anecdotal evidence that Canadians would voluntarily comply, in hindsight, many did not.

“Canadians may question a voluntary approach since there is no ability to enforce or ensure compliance ... However, there is anecdotal evidence that individuals who have returned from Hubei are already self-isolating. We could expect that most individuals would be compliant, given concern and anxiety associated with the coronavirus.” read the memo.

3. Trusting The WHO With Full Impunity  

People have been critical of the WHO's relationship to the truth since the beginning of the pandemic, with many claiming that their relationship with China can sometimes get in the way of the facts. When the disease was first announced to be a global-wide pandemic, Director-General Tedros Adhanom praised China's handling of the spread, despite the quarantine measures that they had been implementing were highly controversial and had never before been seen in modern times. During the same speech, Tedors was also very critical of countries that had allowing flights from China which was curious, since it seemed to fall in line with more mild quarantine measures.

There was also the major issue with the WHO telling people not to wear masks due to a shortage of supply and that no evidence suggesting it could be beneficial. "There is no specific evidence to suggest that the wearing of masks by the mass population has any potential benefit. In fact, there's some evidence to suggest the opposite in the misuse of wearing a mask properly or fitting it properly," said Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHO health emergencies program in late March.

It took independent medical officials to stand-up and tell people that the transmission of a respiratory illness could in fact be prevented by wearing a face mask. Wearing a face masks is now not only encouraged but mandatory in many city's public places.

Just in case anyone was unsure about whether or not the WHO is willing to carry water for China: Here is a clip of a reporter asking Canadian doctor Bruce Aylward, who lead a WHO mission in Wuhan, China, how he thought Taiwan has handled the pandemic. Taiwan, views itself to be its own nation, independent of China, whereas China claims that Taiwan is a state of the Republic of China, a highly contentious issue, even for those who would rather not get involved.

4. A Non-Essential Road Trip to Lake Harrington

The prime minister gave what his base might call a powerful speech, the one often referred to as "Enough is enough," where Trudeau gave a stark warning to all Canadians who were taking the social distancing measures too lightly. "Enough is enough," scolded Trudeau, "Go home, and stay home." In the weeks following the speech there were a litany of hefty fines being doled out to Canadians for talking to neighbours from their driveway, being in a ca together while going for a drive, spending time in a park as a group, and so on. Many of the fines issued were well over $1,000 and this high number was decided upon in order to tell Canadians that, enough was enough. Amid the blitz of fines, Trudeau travelled from Ottawa to his chalet in Lake Harrington, Quebec to spend time with his wife and children over the Easter holidays. The trip was a direct violation from Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam, who tweeted just prior to the holiday weekend to tell people that such an event was no excuse.

Photos of the getaway weekend were posted to Instagram by Trudeau's wife, Sophie Gregoire, prompting a significant backlash from the Canadian public, a stunt Trudeau would later refuse to apologize for.

5. Lack of Transparency

It's important to keep records, especially when dealing with something as serious as the coronavirus pandemic. Trudeau's administration is well aware of that and have been keeping thousands of pages of records, documenting what strategies they've implemented, what contracts have been made and countless memos and emails between cabinet ministers. The only problem is that when asked by the opposition to review the records or make them available to the public, they were only presented with much of the information already redacted.

“The documents were provided but they were redacted by the government in advance,” said Conservative MP, Scott Reid in the House of Commons recently. “They were not so busy that they could not busy themselves with redacting the documents. Will the government reverse its course?” asked Reid.

In response to Reid, Minister Hadju said that the committee,“did compel what turned out to be well over a thousand [censored] documents. Officials were working day and night to try to ensure our response was strong and robust to protect Canadians’ lives,” No further information has since been provided beyond that.