UCP government 'the most incompetent' he's seen, Calgary's mayor says
Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi had some harsh words for Jason Kenney, his government and his most recent policies on combating COVID-19's fourth wave on Thursday.
Speaking on CTV News' Power Play, the mayor of Alberta's largest city said the Kenney government was "the most incompetent he's ever seen."
"The premier apologized in one sentence and he then proceeded to spend an hour justifying all of his decisions rather than being able to move forward," Nenshi said.
He also had tough words over the government's implementation of its restriction exemption program.
"They tried so hard to thread the needle last night because they just refused to say the word 'vaccine passport.' The minister of economic development said 'The term vaccine passport is a made-up term by the media,' whatever that means."
Nenshi also isn't sure about how it works either.
"We think it means if you have a vaccine passport system, we're not going to close you down. If you don't have one – we may or may not," he said.
"It's ridiculous, it's silly, it puts the onus on businesses and frankly, it's cruel. It's cruel to people who want government to do the right thing and it's cruel to business owners who have already been through way too much."
The Alberta government's restriction exemption program comes into effect for restaurants and other venues on Sept. 20.
Nenshi also had a message for the city.
"My message to Calgarians has been (that) I know you're mad, everyone is mad by the way - no one was mollified by the decisions last night - I know you're angry, I know you're disappointed, I know you're sad, but you know what? Put it away in a drawer.
"If you're a business owner," he added, "just pretend they actually put in a (mandatory) vaccine passport and get ready to implement it."
"If you're a citizen," he said, continuing, "feel comfortable supporting small business, because the person sitting at the next table is vaccinated, and support those businesses to the best of your ability."
NO EMPATHY FOR 'BOZOS PROTESTING IN FRONT OF HOSPITALS'
Nenshi, who is in the final weeks of his mayoralty, has made a habit of asking Calgarians to be kind to one another throughout the pandemic, but drew the line Thursday.
"I'm not saying have empathy for the bozos who protest in front of hospitals," he said. "We don't need to have empathy for them anymore - but we should have empathy for the storekeepers, the retail workers, the restaurant servers and those just struggling to get by."
Nenshi added that Calgarians should also feel comforted by the fact that the city has some of the finest emergency management personnel in the world.
"Your city government knows what it's doing," he said.
"We'll take care of you as best we can. And together, we'll get through this."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
For the first time in report's history, Canada's air quality worse than U.S.
Thanks to wildfires, air quality in Canada is now worse than in the U.S., according to the 6th Annual World Air Quality Report.
A newspaper says video of Prince William and Kate should halt royal rumour mill. That's a tall order
Prince William and his wife Catherine have been filmed at a farm shop near their Windsor home, The Sun newspaper reported -- the first footage of Kate since she had abdominal surgery for an unspecified condition two months ago.
'You ask for your money, they disappear': Ontario man loses $17K to AI crypto scam
A Toronto man is spreading the word of a cryptocurrency scam that lures victims using AI-generated news sites after he lost $17,000 in investments.
DEVELOPING Canada's annual inflation rate ticked down to 2.8 per cent in February, defying expectations
Statistics Canada says the annual inflation rate edged down to 2.8 per cent in February.
Hertz CEO out following electric car 'horror show'
The company, which announced in January it was selling 20,000 of the electric vehicles in its fleet, or about a third of the EVs it owned, is now replacing the CEO who helped build up that fleet, giving it the company’s fifth boss in just four years.
High thoughts: The habits of Canadian cannabis users are revealed in a new StatCan report
Statistics Canada has conducted a series of surveys to measure the impacts of legalized cannabis since the Cannabis Act took effect in 2018. The latest one, the 2023 National Cannabis Survey, sheds light on users' preferences and habits last year.
Demand soars for solar eclipse glasses in Canada. Are they worth buying?
The demand for total solar eclipse glasses used to safely view the rare celestial event has been ramping up as sellers, along with astronomy and eye-care experts in Canada, warn that viewing the eclipse with the naked eye is dangerous.
Trump says Jews who vote for Democrats 'hate Israel' and their religion
Former U.S. president Donald Trump on Monday charged that Jews who vote for Democrats 'hate Israel' and hate 'their religion,' igniting a firestorm of criticism from the White House and Jewish leaders.
Toronto family doctor who called patient's body 'perfect' suspended for 3 months: tribunal
A family doctor in Toronto has been suspended for three months after a disciplinary tribunal found that he failed to follow proper protocols while examining a patient's breasts and made inappropriate comments about her body.