View From the Back of the Bus

Mainstream Canadians must be getting accustomed to the view from the “back of the bus”. There has been little public reaction to the most recent actualization of the some are more equal than others philosophy which governs this country. The latest example was the rush to meet the demands of native groups for first in line protection from the ravages of the world swine flu pandemic ahead of the needs of other Canadians. On the surface the rationale for this are the higher mortality rates of “native” communities. No one has offered to tackle the single most important underlying reason for such and run the risk of being branded a racist. It is the responsibility of each community to take responsibility for its hygiene, nutrition and education that lay at the root of the problem. The truth however remains unexamined and untouchable. Nunavit has received 22,000 vaccine shots for its’ 19,340 residents; while the rest of the country 5,863,000 to immunize some 33,717,500. That works out to 1.4 vaccine shots per Nunavite but a scant 0.17 per Canadian across the rest of the country.

Now of course the difficult to swallow news that our esteemed (sic.) drug manufacturers have fallen behind in production and are unable to deliver the bulk of promised vaccine deliveries; this will leave 4 in 5 Canadians unprotected against the virus widely heralded as a killer of epidemic proportions.

Thus as most Canadians scramble in line and fight over 1 dose of immunity afforded for every 5 of them; those in Nunavit with favoured status find themselves in the enviable position of access to almost 1½ immunities each. Perhaps they will offer to share the surplus with the rest of us.

Whither the unfortunate children under age ten in the rest of Canada who now have no chance of receiving the recommended two half doses of H1N1 vaccine spread at least 21 days apart, according to the recommendations of Health Canada.

While not politically correct to say it, the unvarnished truth is on this and most other issues; there are two classes of people in this country, but they are not the ones touted by special interest groups