Albertans encouraged to wear cloth masks in public: easy tips and links on “How To” make your own

It is not the law, but Canada and Alberta have agreed with the idea that wearing a homemade cloth mask might help in the spreading the coronavirus, especially when it is hard to maintain the 2-metre physical distancing when in public.

Remember that the medical grade masks are for front-line care workers, medical staff and first responders. Photo/CANADIAN PRESS

Unlike many Asian countries where a lot of the population regularly wear masks in public, in Western counties wearing a mask in public is not as easily accepted by the majority of the population. One unproven theory is that images of the face masks, conjure up ideas of the bad guys, bank robbers, the wild west’s banditos all wear cloth face covers.

Not pulling any punches, virologist and immunologist, George Gao told ScienceMagazine.org, “The big mistake in the U.S. and Europe – is that people aren’t wearing masks.”

George Gao

Gao is the director-general of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, “This virus is transmitted by droplets and close contact. You’ve got to wear a mask, because when you speak, there are always droplets coming out of your mouth – masks, can prevent droplets that carry the virus from escaping and infecting others.” Across Asian countries the populations are onboard that, “there are an unknown number of people that are asystematic, carrying the coronavirus and they do not even know it.” So, in the spirit of a country’s solidarity, “there is a need to protect others from yourself.”

In recent weeks countries have seen the stats and cannot ignore the lower numbers of infected in mask wearing countries like, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, the region of Hong Kong and China has also now flatted the curve and have loosed up on the city military lockdowns.

Recently passing laws that make it mandatory to wear a face mask in public are the Czech, Slovakia, Indonesia and the Philippines. On April 3rd, US President Donald Trump, announced that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is recommending, on a voluntary basis, that Americans wear “non-medical cloth” face coverings.

In Canada Chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam has changed her view and is now saying, “Wearing a non-medical mask, even if you have no symptoms, is an additional measure that you can take to protect others around you in situations where physical distancing is difficult to maintain, such as in public transit or maybe in the grocery store.”

In Alberta, the view has also changed on the general public wearing mask in public. Leading off with the premier Kenney, who has seen countries that have been successful in keeping the transmission of COVID-19 down, have all had widespread use of facemasks. Alberta’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Deena Hinshaw said at a press conference, “What we know is that people who are sick spread illness – wearing a non-medical mask, such as a homemade cloth mask, has not been proven to protect the person who is wearing it,” but added, “However, it may be helpful in protecting others around you.”

The Alberta government wants people to follow these rules, even when wearing face coverings in public.

Continue to follow all other public health guidance (staying two metres away from others, wash hands regularly, stay home when sick).
Avoid touching your face and mask while using it.
Wash hands before putting on a mask, then before and after removing it.
Clean a cloth mask as soon as it gets damp or soiled.
Put it directly in the washing machine or a sealed bag that can be emptied into the washing machine and then be disposed of.
Cloth masks can be laundered with other items using a hot cycle, then dried in the dryer at the highest temperature setting.
Medical masks can’t be washed and should be discarded and replaced as soon as they get damp, soiled or crumpled.
Dispose of these masks in a lined garbage bin.
Do not share masks with others.

There are many online resources where you can easily make a cloth mask with or without a sewing machine.

CDC has a page with easy instructions; https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/diy-cloth-face-coverings.html
Japanese Creations on YouTube has two great “How To” videos. One has 1.5+ million views already. The second one has good tips to help glasses from fogging up, using some tin foil and a piece of tissue. Both without the need for a sewing machine. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyxl_I7lKw-bjUz3ECa_jwg
Youtuber Danysska from the Czech republic has a very easy how to do instructions on how to make a cloth mask with no sewing; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMwkTLGONOg
The Surgeon General for the US, Dr. Jerome Adam has an easy to follow “how-to” video on how to make a face mask, with-out a sewing machine.
With over 1.7+ million views, HomeMadeOnOurHomestead, has a good how to sew a reusable face mask with a filter pocket; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zm_NmpdgWWA
Thoughtful Creativity 1.5+ million views on her tutorial on how to make cloth face masks in a batches using a sewing machine. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FW1TCQDN4do
Kim’s Kitchen Affair has over 1.4+ million views on her DIY on how to sew a reusable pleated face mask with nose bridge and Filter Pockets in just 5 Minutes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9K4dH3-LHLQ
From prixprix on com by step with photo instructions on a, No-Sew T-shirt Face Mask www.instructables.com/id/No-Sew-T-shirt-Face-Mask/

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Alberta

Alberta government should eliminate corporate welfare to generate benefits for Albertans

Published on May 2, 2024

Todayville

From the Fraser Institute

By Spencer Gudewill and Tegan Hill

Last November, Premier Danielle Smith announced that her government will give up to $1.8 billion in subsidies to Dow Chemicals, which plans to expand a petrochemical project northeast of Edmonton. In other words, $1.8 billion in corporate welfare.

And this is just one example of corporate welfare paid for by Albertans.

According to a recent study published by the Fraser Institute, from 2007 to 2021, the latest year of available data, the Alberta government spent $31.0 billion (inflation-adjusted) on subsidies (a.k.a. corporate welfare) to select firms and businesses, purportedly to help Albertans. And this number excludes other forms of government handouts such as loan guarantees, direct investment and regulatory or tax privileges for particular firms and industries. So the total cost of corporate welfare in Alberta is likely much higher.

Why should Albertans care?

First off, there’s little evidence that corporate welfare generates widespread economic growth or jobs. In fact, evidence suggests the contrary—that subsidies result in a net loss to the economy by shifting resources to less productive sectors or locations (what economists call the “substitution effect”) and/or by keeping businesses alive that are otherwise economically unviable (i.e. “zombie companies”). This misallocation of resources leads to a less efficient, less productive and less prosperous Alberta.
And there are other costs to corporate welfare.

For example, between 2007 and 2019 (the latest year of pre-COVID data), every year on average the Alberta government spent 35 cents (out of every dollar of business income tax revenue it collected) on corporate welfare. Given that workers bear the burden of more than half of any business income tax indirectly through lower wages, if the government reduced business income taxes rather than spend money on corporate welfare, workers could benefit.

Moreover, Premier Smith failed in last month’s provincial budget to provide promised personal income tax relief and create a lower tax bracket for incomes below $60,000 to provide $760 in annual savings for Albertans (on average). But in 2019, after adjusting for inflation, the Alberta government spent $2.4 billion on corporate welfare—equivalent to $1,034 per tax filer. Clearly, instead of subsidizing select businesses, the Smith government could have kept its promise to lower personal income taxes.

Finally, there’s the Heritage Fund, which the Alberta government created almost 50 years ago to save a share of the province’s resource wealth for the future.

In her 2024 budget, Premier Smith earmarked $2.0 billion for the Heritage Fund this fiscal year—almost the exact amount spent on corporate welfare each year (on average) between 2007 and 2019. Put another way, the Alberta government could save twice as much in the Heritage Fund in 2024/25 if it ended corporate welfare, which would help Premier Smith keep her promise to build up the Heritage Fund to between $250 billion and $400 billion by 2050.

By eliminating corporate welfare, the Smith government can create fiscal room to reduce personal and business income taxes, or save more in the Heritage Fund. Any of these options will benefit Albertans far more than wasteful billion-dollar subsidies to favoured firms.

Authors:

Spencer Gudewill

Policy Analyst, Fraser Institute

and

Tegan Hill

Associate Director, Alberta Policy, Fraser Institute

Alberta

Official statement from Premier Danielle Smith and Energy Minister Brian Jean on the start-up of the Trans Mountain Pipeline

Published on May 1, 2024

Government of Alberta

Alberta is celebrating an important achievement for the energy industry – the start-up of the twinned Trans Mountain pipeline. It’s great news Albertans and Canadians as this will welcome a new era of prosperity and economic growth. The completion of TMX is monumental for Alberta, since this will significantly increase our province’s output. It will triple the capacity of the original pipeline to now carry 890,000 barrels per day of crude oil from Alberta’s oil sands to British Columbia’s Pacific Coast.

We are excited that Canada’s biggest and newest oil pipeline in more than a decade, can now bring oil from Edmonton to tide water in B.C. This will allow us to get our energy resources to Pacific markets, including Washington State and California, and Asian markets like Japan, South Korea, China, and India. Alberta now has new energy customers and tankers with Alberta oil will be unloading in China and India in the next few months.

For Alberta this is a game-changer, the world needs more reliably and sustainably sourced Alberta energy, not less. World demand for oil and gas resources will continue in the decades ahead and the new pipeline expansion will give us the opportunity to meet global energy demands and increase North American and global energy security and help remove the issues of energy poverty in other parts of the world.

Analysts are predicting the price differential on Canadian crude oil will narrow resulting in many millions of extra government revenues, which will help fund important programs like health, education, and social services – the things Albertans rely on. TMX will also result in billions of dollars of economic prosperity for Albertans, Indigenous communities and Canadians and create well-paying jobs throughout Canada.

Our province wants to congratulate the Trans Mountain Corporation for its tenacity to have completed this long awaited and much needed energy infrastructure, and to thank the more than 30,000 dedicated, skilled workers whose efforts made this extraordinary project a reality. The province also wants to thank the Federal Government for seeing this project through. This is a great example of an area where the provincial and federal government can cooperate and work together for the benefit of Albertans and all Canadians.