In the nearly six weeks since declaring a state of local emergency and shuttering all non-essential businesses, the economy in Banff has been at a standstill.

Normally, tourists would be flocking in droves to the mountain destination — at this time last year, the town’s main concern was finding enough parking spots. Now, Banff streets are eerily quiet and RCMP checkstops occupy the two main entrances to town. “Our economy is basically 90 per cent based on tourism, directly and indirectly, so our town has ground to a halt. It’s a very serious… Click for full article.

Diane will join Michael Campbell this weekend (April 25) to share her thoughts on why the Provinces should adopt the German model: prioritize antibody testing and immune certification. Click here for article.

It’s no coincidence that the first large Western democracy to contain the spread of COVID-19, and the first to prepare to reopen its economy, is Germany, whose leader, Chancellor Angela Merkel, is a trained scientist. Click for full article

Once again, under the guise of COVID-19 and inside the beating heart of a disrupted election campaign, immigration is being used as a political punching bag, with Trump announcing his intentions to sign an executive order to suspend all immigration.  There are two ostensible reasons given for this executive order. The first is to protect Americans from COVID-19 infection brought in from across borders, against the backdrop of a presidential support for anti-stay-at-home protests and calls to open up the US economy. The second is to protect American jobs at a time when 22 million are now officially unemployed.

For now, the suspension of immigration is an executive threat, not an order, and there is a pattern here of Trump making grand pronouncements that create a severe backlash and then are ‘refined’ before they are signed off on. In other words, this is only the entrance to a rather steep uphill path….CLICK for complete article