Families that have been agitating for years will be allowed to sue over brainwashing experiments carried out in the 1960s at the Allan Memorial. Most of the subjects have since died, but families still want compensation from the CIA, the Canadian government, the Royal Vic and the MUHC.
Updates from March, 2022 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
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Kate
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Kate
Quebec public health does not foresee a fifth major wave of Covid in greater Montreal as public health measures are relaxed or dropped. Requirements for masks, as noted below, will soon be ended and the vaccine passport (how much did that cost to develop?) will soon be history.
Tim S.
I don’t have a problem dropping restrictions if cases/hospitalizations/deaths are low, though I notice we’re at 20 deaths today, which doesn’t seem low. What I’m more concerned with is a plan for the next variant and reminding people that we’re probably not completely done yet. It seems like a lot of people died because Legault was in denial about having to cancel Christmas, and that should never happen again.
mare
Alpha and Delta and Omicron are all very different versions of SARS-CoV-2. They didn’t evolve from each other and became weaker and weaker in the process. The likelihood we will get another version is very high, and we’re not preparing for it. That new version is probably hiding in some animal population right now, until it jumps back to humans when it finds a way around our immunity.
Here’s what scientists say: https://twitter.com/chrischirp/status/1498813449299808260
On top of that: our hospital staff needs a holiday. Just saying “the number of cases will be lower than during the peak” is not giving them any hope. They will eventually quit, after working 12 hour shifts for months.
The vaccine passport’s main purpose was so people would get vaccinated. Everybody needs to get a booster. You can’t just make Covid go away by saying it’s over.
/I’m in a high risk category and seriously don’t know what to do with this new political direction.
MarcG
Thanks for sharing, mare. My wife has health complications and we’ve been extremely cautious for 2 years. We’re both pretty introverted so it hasn’t been as bad as it could be, but I really miss seeing my family. It’s nice to know that other people are asking “are you sure this is a good idea?” as well.
steph
The re-opening is still a patchwork of random fixes. I have to go back to the office because Papa Legault said so, it’s SAFE, but it’s not safe enough use the office coffee machine, or eat in the cafeteria…
They’re still clowns making poor plans.Ian
Well Montreal is a city that always asks “is this a problem that can be solved by clowns” …
…but probably not in that sense, although it does work well with the overall clown-theme.
Where I work is institutional so there are super precautions like the drinking fountains are disconnected but here isn’t proper ventilation, or how you have to wear a mask while ordering food in the cafeteria and paying but there are no masks required once you pay… although it’s all the same room.
I’m in favour of masks and hygiene but it all seems performative like taking off your shoes to go through security at an airport.
DeWolf
It’s understandable that the recommended precautions have changed as our understanding of the disease has evolved, but it’s unforgivable that Canada’s various public health departments have done such a bad job of communicating those changes. Instead we have a weird patchwork that includes an overemphasis on the early 2020 guidelines, namely hand-washing, and an under-emphasis on the things that actually help prevent an airborne disease, like wearing a mask and opening windows. And unlike the UK and many other countries, there has been no clear official recommendations about ventilation. It’s either approached in oblique terms or not at all – as is the case with schools in Quebec.
I’m in Ontario at the moment and a lot of businesses still have signs everywhere about disinfecting surfaces. Which is good basic hygiene but at this point has very little to do with Covid.
qatzelok
We have seen how easy it is to suspend human rights in Canada. The tax-sheltering elites are very happy about this.
Kate
You mean Bill 21, qatzelok? Yeah, that’s a pain, that one.
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Kate
Quebec is planning to withdraw its mask mandate so that wearing one will no longer be required except on public transit by April.
Not sure how I feel about this. In two years, between working (freelance, not WFH) at home and wearing a mask on the odd occasion I’ve taken a bus or metro, I have not had a single head cold, and no flu or other contagious illness. I don’t think I’ll be the only person choosing to wear a mask on the bus after April.
qatzelok
I know what you mean, Kate. I have also had virtually no colds.
But is this a good thing, or is having colds once in a while good for your immunity system?
Kate
I’ve been around long enough that I think my immune system has encountered a pretty wide range of pathogens already and I don’t need to add to the collection. YMMV.
CE
I’ll preface this by saying that I am not against masks and am aware that they are very useful for slowing the transmission of air-born viruses.
However, I’ve talked about this with a few people who, like me, have to wear a mask pretty much every day for most of the day. Those who get to work from home and don’t have to take transit every day tend to be more or less fine with the masks and seem to be hesitant about ending the mandate. They also tend to be the people who have made wearing and enforcing mask wearing part of their identities. But pretty much anyone who spends most of their day having to wear it likely can’t wait to never have to wear them ever again! Try working 10 hours in the heat without ever being able to take a mask off and you’ll feel the same way.
Tee Owe
My understanding is that wearing a mask protects others from you better than you from them. So if you have a cold or a sniffle, then yes, wear a mask – like the Japanese have been doing for decades. AFAIK your not catching a cold lately likely has more to do with hand hygiene, but masks can also help.
Tee Owe
that is to say, masks ‘worn by others’ can also help
MD
Hey Kate, I’m not getting the same impression from the article as you might be?
“Le gouvernement doit annoncer mercredi ou jeudi son plan de retrait du port du masque, qui pourrait demeurer obligatoire uniquement dans les transports en commun à partir d’avril.”To me this sounds like it’ll be removed everywhere EXCEPT public transit, no?
Kate
Read too fast, MD. Thank you, I have fixed my post.
j2
Why public transport last? Density? Because I’m sure there are denser concerts and hockey games. And you can open a window on the buses. (well… run the air conditioner maybe).
And also, Meezly’s? account of the 55 with nosedicks or pulled all the way down.
(Tinfoil hat: killing public transit softly)
Kate
j2, you can’t open a window on the current crop of STM buses.
Meezly
Wasn’t me, and didn’t notice any nosedicks on the 55 that particular day, though I usually spot at least one on any given bus route.
DeWolf
What is it about buses and improper mask-wearing? Nearly everyone on the metro wears their mask properly, but every time I take the bus there’s somebody with a chin hammock or a nosedick.
qatzelok
“Why public transport last?”
That’s a good question. This meme suggests that common people taking common transport are just crawling with disease.
It’s a very classist trope. Commercial media (and commercial politicians) often defaults to marginalizing poverty, but only because poor people can’t buy the products it sells.
Kate
qatzelok, it doesn’t require wealth to put your mask up over your nose on the bus. After two years everyone should know how to wear a mask.
carswell
@j2 Maybe because public transit is one of the last crowded places that many people don’t have the option of avoiding?
COVID-wary individuals can chose not to go to stores, restaurants, the Bell Centre, PdA, etc. but if they need to travel — for work, appointments, shopping, whatever — and don’t have a car, they’re probably going to have to take the bus, train or metro.
Also, few if any of those businesses and venues put people in such close contact, including face-to-face contact, as public transit during rush hour.
Michael
I had covid twice. Each time had tiny symptoms for only a few hours. Vaccinated 3x. I will never wear a mask again if I don’t have to.
Kate
Well, lucky you.
j2
I get that people are tired and fed up, but that’s just saying let other people die or suffer.
I just wish I could breathe normally again.MarcG
@Michael: You understand that if you get sick and have tiny symptoms but pass it on to someone who ends up dying because you didn’t wear a mask that that’s a Bad Thing™ right?
JaneyB
I like the mask-on-transit idea as well as the Asian mask-when-sick practise. I think the govt would be very interested to see what kind of effect keeping those would have on the winter medicare budget. It’s definitely worth assessing and also handy to have on hand in case new tough variants are headed our way.
Ian
@j2 that was me complaining about the 55 and all the “nosedicks”, I’m totally going to steal that 😀
@CE I wear a mask all day at my job, once my skin got used to it and I stopped getting maskne on the bridge and tip of my nose for the first few months I don’t really notice all that much. I’ve been wearing those duckface kn95s which make a better seal on my face shape and are a bit more roomy. The cheapo procedural masks are annoying, but I shopped around and found a model that is comfortable.
Kevin
Someone is going to earn a PhD studying the correlation between opposition to masking and exposure to foreign propaganda.
EmilyG
Keeping mask rules on transit is a great idea, and I’m totally in favour – but even these days, people on transit often don’t wear masks properly.
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Kate
What do people do after they quit municipal politics or are voted out of office? Le Devoir talked to nine people who’ve experienced this.
david2711
Not surprisingly, only one of these got a job in the private sector, and only 1/3 are employed at all. Poor Sue Montgomery will probably end up bagging groceries.
Kate
Unlikely. She’s an experienced journalist, and people who’ve left journalism can often get good jobs doing public relations work.
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Kate
News is showing up about the return of the usual festivals, but also of new ones, including a country music festival at Jean-Drapeau park in August. I’ll have to revive my festivals page.
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Kate
The mayor’s office is pondering options to honour Robert Silverman, better known as Bicycle Bob, who died recently. Silverman was a pioneer in pressing for better cycling infrastructure, an idea that started out sounding wacky in the car‑crazed 1970s, but has since been acknowledged as a way of making our city a better place to live.
carswell
Instead of (yawn) naming a street or bike path after him, why not do something appropriately activist? Double bike infrastructure spending over the next decade and call the increase the Bicycle Bob Fund. Or introduce the Bicycle Bob Act which, among other things, would make Idaho stops legal for cyclists.
carswell
If a name-bearing structure is required, the active transport bridge over the Turcot would be an excellent candidate, assuming it’s actually built.
Ephraim
Seriously, do you think they are going to name something after an anglophone? I mean, we still don’t have a single street in this province (as far as I know) named after Ezekiel Hart. There is a plaque on the street named after his father… which ironically doesn’t even cross Papineau, in Trois Rivieres.
Meezly
oh yes, I’m all for the Idaho stop.
I wonder if I got counted during some of my countless bike trips last year but just came across some positive growth on bicycle use on the Plateau.
Orr
@carswell – how about the bike-pedestrian overpass we’ve been promised to access the pont Jacques Cartier bridge bike-pedestrian sidewalk so we can avoid the 5-minute red light to cross the 5 lanes of car traffic between montreal streets and the bridge entrance.
I’d vote for that.carswell
@Orr Sure. Or how about a project to finally make the entire area around the Glen, especially the dangerous Décarie/de Maisonneuve intersection, bicycle safe, as cyclists have been demanding for decades?
Or if they insist on naming a bike path after him, make it a new one (or ones) finally providing safe passage across the very unsafe Décarie expressway and service roads? An obvious link would be between the Édouard-Montpetit path on the east side with the Fielding path on the west side but there are other candidates too.
Meezly 11:02 on 2022-03-03 Permalink
One day I’d like to read more about MKUltra. Just from what I’ve read – how it was a continuation of Nazi experimentation even though the CIA head who approved it had helped end WW2 by bringing down the Nazis and the project was headed by someone was Jewish. When he retired he admitted that all the “work” he did (lasting suffering and trauma inflicted on unwitting victims) didn’t amount to much. You don’t say. He even died living a full life without ever being held accountable.
And the resource and effort all those institutional entities to cover up and thwart any compensation and answers for the victim’s families. It was only because of misfiling that some un-destroyed documents were discovered. Otherwise, the public would never know the extent of the horrific experiments.
It’s still mind blowing to me that this happened in the very hospital my kid was born not that long ago. I guess it’s good to know that the Quebec Superior Court is capable of something, after decades of pushing.
Kate 11:44 on 2022-03-03 Permalink
I think you have to imagine back to the Cold War era. Experimental psychology was on a rush of new funding for experimentation in messing with people’s heads to weaponize them. (The Manchurian Candidate is the classic film on this theme.)
This isn’t to justify the horrors perpetrated on the MKUltra victims, who had simply gone to the Allan seeking help with emotional and mental difficulties. That these vulnerable people were secretly offered up as experimental subjects is still a matter of deep shame for the institutions involved.