Comments on: The Commons: Picking up the crisis where we left it

By: frenchie101

frenchie101 — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:40:54 +0000

yes, she makes a good Moe! as for 'leaving her for Moe,' what an an idea. wink

By: YSP

YSP — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:47:23 +0000

So basically, Conservative voters think the gov't did a good job, Liberal supporters think the government did a bad job, & uncommitted voters have no opinion.

This is news?

By: novagardener

novagardener — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:46:22 +0000

Two people in my husband's team and another person he knows were all confirmed with H1N1. I've a compromised immune system as I have cancer yet I still haven't been able to get the shot – perhaps next week, if all goes well. I and my husband always get the annual flu shot and find it has made a big difference.

By: opinionator

opinionator — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:41:09 +0000

To be fair to the government, it was apparent early on (thanks in part to media panic-mongering) that a minority of Canadians actually WANTED the vaccine. So the statement that "every Canadian who wanted the H1N1 vaccine would receive it before Christmas" was likely based on the assumption that Canadians' desires would remain static. This, however, has NOT been the case and, happily, a larger proportion of the public is now clamouring for the vaccine. Unfortunately for the government, vaccine can just not be produced quickly enough by GSK (particularly in view of the demand for unadjuvanted vaccine alongside the adjuvanted vaccine, which requires production lines to be switched over to production and effectively reduces overall production of vaccine).

This is stupid spin on the part of the Liberals. I admit to disliking the current government, but this kind of criticism is tragically simplistic and misses (or blantantly ignores) the big picture.

By: baldygirl

baldygirl — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:33:49 +0000

I had it. It was beyond terrible—the worst illness I have suffered in my life.

By: psiclone

psiclone — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:15:00 +0000

ROFL – hey who is who – Carolyn = Curly and Ralph definitley Larry leaving Marlene for Moe ?

By: Josh D

Josh D — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 07:29:44 +0000

That's cause most people who got the flu think they have a cold. In most people, it's that mild.

By: Mike514

Mike514 — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 04:53:22 +0000

one could either claim that about 50% of Canadians either thought that the govt did a bad or fair job

Normally, "fair" responses are not lumped in with the "bad" responses in any survey that I've seen.

Fair means reasonable or "done properly" (depending on dictionary). It would not be synonymous in any way with "bad." You're being "unfair" by lumping the bad with the fair responses.

By: Mike514

Mike514 — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 04:45:15 +0000

Is there a time-delay for some comments? I've noticed that some commenters ask a question, but another commenter posts a reply minutes or hours earlier rather than later.

This is but one example where Rete asked a question 4 hours ago, and Joylon responded five hours ago. I've noticed other examples, not just this one.

The Macleans IT team should tweak the comments board, if debates are to be logically followed.

By: Gabby in QC

Gabby in QC — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 02:32:13 +0000

“Mr. Speaker, it was seven weeks behind China, but it was an early rollout?” she wondered. “I do not think so.”
Apparently Madame Jennings doesn’t read much beyond her own scripted tirades.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB12519846633138328…
SEPTEMBER 4, 2009
… The H1N1 swine-flu virus is sickening many people around the world, but so far isn't becoming more virulent, health experts said Thursday, giving a bit of breathing room to pharmaceutical companies and officials rushing to deliver a vaccine. ….

Chinese vaccine maker Sinovac Biotech Ltd. won approval from China's drug regulator for commercial production of that country's first H1N1 swine-flu vaccine, and said it is effective with a single standard dose. Novartis AG also said that its H1N1 swine-flu vaccine also prompted a strong immune response after a single dose in a pilot trial. …

… China says that by the end of the year its vaccine manufacturers will produce enough vaccine for about 65 million people — or about 5% of its population. That would exceed China's usual seasonal flu-vaccination rate. …

… Sinovac is supposed to supply five million doses of the vaccine by Oct. 1, and annual capacity would be 20 million to 30 million doses, the company said.”

And
http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsindex.php?i…
Chinese Drug Companies Urged To Speed Up H1N1 Vaccine Production
November 04, 2009 22:12 PM
BEIJING, Nov 4 (Bernama) — Chinese pharmaceutical companies have been urged to speed up the production of Influenza A(H1N1) vaccine amid an increase in the infection rate since mid-October. …
So far, 3.8 million Chinese citizen have been inoculated with the domestically produced vaccine.”

China ahead of Canada? I do not think so.

By: TwoYen

TwoYen — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:08:44 +0000

Nah, it's always been said that there are a group of people who will always vote Liberal. It's in their genes It used to be around 24 percent, but with Iggy's numbers now down to 17 percent I suspect it has fallen a bit. My guess is that with the Quebec federalist vote and the ethnic vote no longer in the bag, that the new "bottom" is aroud nine percent. That's only a guess, not based on scientific fact.

By: DPT

DPT — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:04:07 +0000

dead horse? They have nothing else.

By: frenchie101

frenchie101 — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:01:25 +0000

The new three stooges, Bennet, Goodale and Jennings.

By: frenchie101

frenchie101 — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:59:21 +0000

nine? thats a little high.-smirk

By: Ontario Nationalist

Ontario Nationalist — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:38:22 +0000

I can't understand why he isn't fighting. Where has he been?? He should be blasting away with a new issue every day. And some policies.

By: Mike514

Mike514 — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 23:59:44 +0000

Canada is leading the world when it comes to percentage of population vaccinated against swine flu. (Toronto Star)

About one-quarter of Canadians have been vaccinated, according to Dr Butler-Jones.

Do the Liberals really need more good reasons to move onto another topic of debate? Or will they keep flogging this issue for whatever it's (not) worth?

By: Anon

Anon — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 23:53:49 +0000

The poll I saw had about 35 % saying that the govt did a bad job whereas about 25% thought it did a good job. The rest, which included about 15% with no opinion, thought the govt did a "fair" job.

Again, 1 in 3 Canadians thought the govt did a bad job. Thus one could either claim that about 50% of Canadians either thought that the govt did a bad or fair job or 50% thought that it had done a good or fair job.
Interesting spin above.

By: TwoYen

TwoYen — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 23:52:49 +0000

Hey, don't complain. If the Liberals keep up with this strategy Iggy may reach nine percent in the polls.

By: Crit_Reasoning

Crit_Reasoning — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 23:47:54 +0000

Another wasted QP. The Liberals should be holding the Government to account, but they're not. They're ignoring most of the real issues of the day, because they'd rather chase their own tail on the H1N1 issue (for the nth time). It looks like an increasingly desperate attempt to score cheap political points, and it's not working. The Liberals need to try something new.

By: Rete

Rete — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 23:46:09 +0000

Poll after poll show that the public think ……. the federal government has handled the pandemic badly.

Sounds like a fact less Liberal talking point to me. Prove it – link to the poll after poll.

By: jolyon

jolyon — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 23:34:09 +0000

Exactly. I really don't know whether to laugh or cry when MPs use China as an example of a system we should be copying.

By: SeanStok

SeanStok — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 23:29:55 +0000

I bet there's not a single Liberal member who would let his or her own child receive a Chinese approved vaccine.

By: jolyon

jolyon — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 23:27:26 +0000

Which polls?

"Opposition politicians and the media may be hammering governments for their handling of the H1N1 situation, but a new poll suggests Canadians themselves feel their governments are doing an OK job." Canadian Press Nov 12 '09

"Canadians are evenly split over the federal government's handling of the swine flu, but more than half believe concerns over the risk of H1N1 are exaggerated, a new poll by EKOS indicates." CBC-EKOS, Nov 12 '09

By: Justin

Justin — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 23:21:17 +0000

I know 2 people who have gotten it in the past couple of weeks.

By: joe

joe — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 23:12:23 +0000

Funny. I never got the flu. Did you? I never met a person who had the flu the last several weeks.

By: Jason

Jason — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 23:08:31 +0000

Poll after poll show that the public think (a) H1N1 panic is overblown by the media and (b) the federal government has handled the pandemic badly.

By: John W

John W — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 22:57:00 +0000

H1N1 is a losing, wasted issue for the Liberals. Everybody knows the Province and local health units are handling it for the most apart. It makes the federal liberals look desparate and self serving.
It hurts to say it but the Libs are getting clobbered. Where was Ignatieff for the past week? I never thought I would say this, but the PMO spin doctors have the media crawling, the Libs babbling, the NDP confusing; Ignatieff wandering around like a lost soul with nothing to say.
And I'm on his side.