Here’s a Thursday morning free-for-all in honour of temperatures soaring close to thirty degrees Celsius in Saskatchewan today, despite the fact I’m pretty sure it was blizzarding up in here like five minutes ago.
And because as many Saskatchewan residents as possible need to see this - so share far and wide, friends.
Yes, I know. You’ve never heard of Sask Party MLA Ken Francis. He’s irrelevant and will remain such.
You’re absolutely right.
However, as I’ve said in previous posts, post-budget speeches by back bench government-MLAs are revealing in what they expose about the mindset of a political party with massive, unchecked power in this province.
It’s one of the only opportunities provided to their inconsequential selves to actually stand and speak in the Legislative Assembly. Typically there are only a handful of people in the Assembly at the time and most people don’t watch the playback afterwards, so there’s a sense of freedom and self-importance that permeates their speeches, often with bizarre results.
My point in sharing this one is simple: if these guys have the unbelievable audacity to say this shit out loud, in public, about an active mass-casualty incident in our province with an underestimated death toll of over 1300 people and climbing daily, imagine what’s driving them behind closed doors.
Imagine the attitude towards the thousands of families grieving their dead mom or dad, grandparent, aunt or uncle, sister, brother and in at least five families, their child. None of those folks are coming back, there’s no second chances - and their deaths were largely preventable, had leadership in Saskatchewan pretended to make an effort to care whether they lived.
Imagine the lack of empathy for health care workers and our vulnerable friends and neighbours all suffering right now. What’s happening in urban hospitals right now is horrifying. A friend who was in a Saskatoon ER just the other night described the conditions as “third world”, with stretchers lined up in hallways as far as the eye could see in either direction. The wailing of the suffering as they lied unattended for hours was constant.
This after my friend called 911 and was told there weren’t any available ambulances - fend for yourself or call us back.
With all that in mind, what Francis spews in the video above is just… gross. It’s also not normal adult behaviour in a crisis, which takes me back to what this government has been saying and doing about the pandemic when we’re not there to witness it.
Historians were still studying the Spanish Flu pandemic prior to COVID-19, which will be now be studied for a hundred years more. The legacies of guys like Francis, nevermind his boss, are already written in their own words and actions.
Get out and enjoy the Saskatchewan sunshine today, but take a moment to think about those who won’t be doing the same. Nobody’s asking you to “rant and rave about covid”, just that you do better than clowns like the one showcased above.
Enjoy the rest of your week - I hope to have another piece out tomorrow, if not you’ll be getting it in the Monday Morning Memo. Take care,
