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<p>Another instance of federal government bungling. Banning flights to minimally COVID affected Caribbean countries and allowing them to heavily infected Florida (nearly 6000 new cases and 42 deaths yesterday and rising) demonstrates the pathetic political shape this country is in. I fear to see how the post COVID financial mess will be dealt with. Paul.</p>
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<br />From: David Harvey via craic <craic@lists.integralshift.ca>
<br />Date: April 8, 2021 at 1:46 PM
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Hi All;
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Just some thoughts by a couple of "Snowbirds" stuck in the Caribbean. Pardon me for being really Pis..ed Off"
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My wife & I have been going to a little island, Bequia, part of the country of "Saint Vincent & the Grenadines." since I retired in 2000.
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I have some serious medical issues and the sun, salt water & air work miracles for me.
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We left Canada on Nov.26th 2020 with a return ticket for April 15, 2021 on Air Canada flying direct to Saint Vincent & th Grenadines, then ferry to Bequia. Please note that Bequia is 7 square miles in area and has about 5000 inhabitants, one health clinic and one doctor. As we all know, Our Federal govt shut down all the Canadian airlines flying to the Caribbean and Mexico, so we could not get back to Canada until the airlines flew again which turns out to be May 9th 2021. Since there are lot of Canadians on this island, the May 9th flight and the May 16th flight were soon fully booked so we got seats on the May 23rd flight. Please note that these resumptive May flights are only out of Barbados. Due to Bequia being one of the SVG Grenadine Islands, there is no airport on the island. Since our flight from Barbados is on a Sunday, as are all the other AC flights, we must take a ferry from Bequia to Saint Vincent on Sat, May 22, overnight on SVG, then catch a connecting flight the next morning to Barbados. (Cost of flight to Barbados is not covered by our return tickets and there is an upcharge to return home).These AC flights are only on Sundays and there are no ferries on Sunday.
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<strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">For your information, Bequia has never had, nor has now any Covid-19 cases and it is immunizing the population with Oxford/AstraZeneca.<br /></span></strong>
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<strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Based on the above rant, why are only Caribbean Islands & Mexico shut down by AC when all the other "Sun" destinations are available?</span></strong>
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Now, returning to Canada by air has a lot of things that MUST be done by the returnee, or else. Please note that I have no problem whatsoever with covid-19 testing at the airport, BUT, even if we have our immunizations, they ignore them and force us to quarantine in an "official" hotel at a ridiculous price. The only possible waiver of the hotel stay is for "Medical Services" and, if I understand corrrectly it is a government minion who determines the validity of the "Medical Services". I have had to cancel several medical appointments due to the air shut down so now I need to get them rescheduled, by my daughter still in Toronto. Some of the rescheduled appointments MUST be in the hospital since the arrival protocols allow "Medical services" only in the 36 hours after arrival in Toronto, and May 24th is a holiday.
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Finally, and sorry for the length of this missive, I found out the following statements from the Canadian Snowbirds Association
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"Some Canadians have decided to go south despite the ongoing pandemic and while various restrictions remain in place"
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<em><strong> When we left Canada the ONLY restriction was an Advisory to not fly</strong></em>.
<strong><em>False!</em></strong>
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"Snowbirds are getting vaccinated in Florida leaving some concerned about equity as Canadians receive vaccinations before Floridians."
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<em><strong> Who gets vaccinated when is solely up to the local government.</strong></em>
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<em><strong> What has this to do with shutting down air service to the Caribbean & mexico?</strong></em>
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<em><strong><br /></strong></em>
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"Snowbirds voiced concern about the new requirement for Covid-19 testing upon return to Canada and complained that the associated costs were unfair.
<strong><em>Of course they are.</em></strong>
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<strong><em><br /></em></strong>
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<strong><em>I also found out that the Hotel quarantine program is being managed by American Express Global Business Travel which is available by phone only. We do not have 1-800 numbers on Bequia.</em></strong>
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<strong><em><br /></em></strong>
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<strong><em>Sorry for the length but since the popular beliefs seem to concern only </em></strong>
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On Thu, Apr 8, 2021 at 12:41 PM David Harvey <
<a href="mailto:littlefort81@gmail.com">littlefort81@gmail.com</a>> wrote:
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Right on!
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On Thu, Apr 8, 2021 at 12:13 PM David Walsh via craic <
<a target="_blank" href="mailto:craic@lists.integralshift.ca">craic@lists.integralshift.ca</a>> wrote:
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Schoolbook',serif;">Right on Paul !!!!<span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Schoolbook',serif;">David <br /> <br /> <span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Century Schoolbook',serif;">David Walsh<span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Century Schoolbook',serif; color: #1f497d;"><a target="_blank" href="mailto:david@dwalsh.ca">david@dwalsh.ca</a><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><strong>From:</strong> craic <<a target="_blank" href="mailto:craic-bounces@lists.integralshift.ca">craic-bounces@lists.integralshift.ca</a>> <strong>On Behalf Of </strong>2docp 2docp via craic<br /> <strong>Sent:</strong> April 8, 2021 12:12 PM<br /> <strong>To:</strong> Assisting virtual Craic <<a target="_blank" href="mailto:craic@lists.integralshift.ca">craic@lists.integralshift.ca</a>><br /> <strong>Cc:</strong> 2docp 2docp <<a target="_blank" href="mailto:2docp@bell.net">2docp@bell.net</a>><br /> <strong>Subject:</strong> [Craic] COVID cases UK vs. Ont.<span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></p>
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<p>Hello gentlemen. You may consider Boris Johnson to be a bumbling oaf but get a load of this: we had more new COVID-19 cases in Ontario yesterday than in the entire UK (3295 vs 3030). If the UK leadership is inept, what do you call the two excuses for leaders that we have to deal with in Ontario. Trudeau who procured far too few vaccines for our needs and Ford who completely mismanaged the distribution of what we had and unnecessarily frightened the population regarding the AstraZeneca vaccine. But we can only blame ourselves. We elected these so called "leaders". Paul.<span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></p>
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