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May 28, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) — A national Canadian public policy think tank said that COVID-19 lockdowns have “heaped misery” on Canada’s largest provinces. Alberta — the only province that jailed Christian pastors for ministering to their faithful and not adhering to health rules — was ranked as the most “miserable.”  

“Compared to the Atlantic provinces, Ontario, Quebec, and Alberta in particular have not only failed to keep COVID cases and deaths under control but have also been extremely reliant on reactive and stringent lockdowns and their economies have suffered disproportionately,” read a May 25 press release from the MacDonald-Laurier Institute (MLI) regarding its “Provincial COVID Misery Index.” 

“Lockdowns have heaped misery on the larger, more populous provinces, while Atlantic Canada’s bubble demonstrated the importance of keeping the virus out in the first place.”

Alberta received a “D” rating, followed closely by Ontario and Quebec, which also had “D” ratings.

Next was British Columbia, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan with “C+” ratings. 

Newfoundland and Labrador was rated a “B,” followed by New Brunswick with a “B+” rating. Nova Scotia ranked the second best with an “A” rating and Prince Edward Island (PEI) garnered an “A+” rating.  

MLI’s “Provincial COVID Misery Index” was created using 11 different measures that were broken down into three categories: Disease Misery, Response Misery, and Economic Misery.

Disease Misery looked at “data related to the direct impact of COVID-19 on populations,” with Response Misery reflecting “reflects the responses and restrictions implemented by governments.” Economic Misery focused on the financial impact of “lockdowns and the costs of borrowing on individuals and governments.” 

Provinces were given an overall score out of 100 in each category based on COVID-19 data such as positive cases, tests, deaths, lockdown severity, and GDP measures. The higher the number the worse the score. 

Alberta received the worst overall score of 206.59 out of 300, with Ontario scoring 200.04 and Quebec 196.76. 

MLI data show the province with the worst rating in the “Response Misery” category was Ontario at 64.44.  

MLI said that when it comes to the “Disease Misery” category, Quebec ranked the “worst” with a score of 90.4, and languished under “high caseloads, high COVID-19 deaths, and high excess deaths – and this dismal record is only partially mitigated by recent lower-case counts.”

In the “Economic Misery” category, Alberta faired worst with a score of 79.89. 

According to MLI, a “lockdown to zero” strategy used in some countries such as New Zealand at this stage in the “pandemic” is “all but certainly futile” due to the globalization of world economies. 

Opposition to COVID-19 lockdowns and the government response has been most notable in the three provinces that faired worst on the misery index. 

In Ontario, many doctors such as Dr. Patrick Phillips have come out blasting COVID-19 health measures. He recently criticized his local doctors’ college for saying they will punish those who speak out against the COVID-19 narrative pushed by government. 

In April, a group of more than 60 elected members, most from Ontario, from the federal, provincial and municipal levels of government who call themselves the “End the Lockdowns Caucus,” held a national news conference calling for an end to lockdowns. 
Alberta has notoriously jailed three Christian pastors because refused to follow COVID- 19 health rules. 

Notably, Pastor Artur Pawlowski of the Cave of Adullam church in Calgary was arrested on a highway and jailed for defying COVID-19 health rules. He was released from jail after a three-day stay, and is now fighting a court battle with the government. 

Quebec recently was the site of the largest anti-lockdown COVID-19 protest to date in Canada, an event that saw more than 100,000 take to the streets of Montreal to voice opposition to restrictions. 

While Canada’s Atlantic provinces faired better in terms of the MLI ratings, those provinces have enacted some of the most stringent lockdowns despite low virus counts. Churches have been shuttered, borders are closed, and travelers from other parts of Canada are required to quarantine upon arrival. 

Just recently, the Supreme Court of the province of Nova Scotia ordered a “halt” to all “anti-vaccine and anti-public health order protests,” through a court injunction, a move that one constitutional lawyer says is a spectacular display of “overreach.”

While PEI – with a population of just under 160,000 – had the best score and was ranked as the least “miserable,” it has had zero deaths from COVID-19 and only has 14 current “active” cases, no doubt due to it being one of the only island provinces.  

Just recently, the PEI government announced a reopening plan contingent on COVID-19 jabs, which won't see the province fully open until early September. 

Conversely, Alberta plans to fully open by early July with no restrictions in place. However, that is only if 70 percent of the population has received at least one COVID-19 injection.