The truckers in Canada who have been protesting the requirement for immunity passports notched up their first significant win yesterday in the province of Alberta. The Premier of Alberta, Jason Kenney, announced last night that the requirement to show proof of vaccination to enter businesses and engage in other normal movements would end at midnight. Nearly all other COVID restrictions will be lifted by the end of February. Kenney didn’t cite “The Science” or any new medical data when making the announcement. He simply acknowledged that the governmental COVID mandates “have led to terrible divisions” among his people. Allow me to be among the first to chime in and say… ya think? (Washington Times)

A Canadian province has conceded to nationwide demonstrations by the nation’s truckers and will abolish vaccine passports immediately and end most COVID-related restrictions by month’s end.

Jason Kenney, the premier of Alberta, announced Tuesday evening that the passport requirement to enter businesses in the province will end at 11:59 p.m. local time and most other restrictions will be gone in three steps over the next three weeks.

“Now is the time to begin learning to live with COVID,” Mr. Kenney said in a televised address. “These restrictions have led to terrible division.”

Kenney went on to criticize the requirement for truckers to be vaccinated in order to travel between Canada and the United States. He then focused on a new proposal coming from Justin Trudeau that would similarly require truckers to show immunity passports to travel between provinces in Canada. He promised that he would fight any such restriction, “in court, if necessary.”

I don’t know if it’s fair to say that Kenney was making a “political decision” here or not. I’m sure that’s part of it, but more than anything else he seems to have awoken to the unrest among his citizens. He has no doubt seen all of the media coverage of people carrying “Truck You, Trudeau” signs and supporting the truckers’ protest.

Not all of Canada’s provincial leaders and politicians are siding with Kenney, however. The head of Canada’s left-wing New Democratic Party, Rachel Notley, issued a statement condemning Kenney. She wrote, “The sight of an elected government being bent to the will of criminals should be of grave concern to everyone.” Even in Canada (closely mirroring the United States) you can find liberal politicians willing to label people as criminals simply for speaking out, provided that she doesn’t agree with their speech.

Meanwhile, in Calgary, Alberta’s largest city, reporters went around to survey business owners to get their reaction to the news. Perhaps unsurprisingly, most of them approved of the removal of the immunity passport requirement but complained that the changes didn’t go far enough. This was particularly true among owners of bars and restaurants who complain that they have been hit harder than most other industries. There will still be social distancing mandates in place in their establishments, along with early curfews, at least for the next several weeks. Most expressed a preference that Kenney put an end to all of the restrictions immediately.

It would appear that Jason Kenney is a man who has learned how to “read the room.” Perhaps Justin Trudeau should give him a call and ask for a few pointers. If they want to turn it into a conference call, maybe they could invite Joe Biden, Gavin Newsom, and Kathy Hochul as well.