Most of me thinks this is a waste of taxpayer money. A small part of me hopes Mark lives, but with extreme long-haul effects. One’s he can talk about among his anti-vax pals for years.
A former federal candidate and prominent critic of public health measures during the pandemic is among the handful of COVID-19 ICU patients that were moved to Ontario this week.
That’s according to information provided by his supporters in a video shared online.
On Monday, the Saskatchewan government announced that some ICU patients would be transferred to Ontario to help relieve pressure on the province’s health care system which has been stretched to its limits by the fourth wave of COVID-19.
In an update, broadcast from the room where Mark Friesen often streams videos online, supporter Tamara Lavoie said Friesen has been moved to Mt. Sinai Hospital in Toronto.
In the video, Lavoie said she and others gained access to Friesen’s “Grizz’s Den” studio in order to update his followers. Friesen often refers to himself as the “Grizzly Patriot” online.
Lavoie, who has also opposed COVID-19-related public health measures, did not say Friesen has tested positive for COVID-19.
During a teleconference on Friday, Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency president Marlo Pritchard said at this point only COVD-19 ICU patients are being moved out of province.
In the video Lavoie and another supporter, former B.C. PPC candidate Jody Craven, solicit donations they say will be directed to Friesen’s family.
Friesen, who is typically active on Twitter, often using the platform to share his views concerning public health measures during the pandemic, has not tweeted since Sept. 30.
Friesen, who ran for the People’s Party of Canada (PPC) in the Saskatoon-Grasswood riding, spoke to CTV News on election night.
Like many at the PPC event held at the Saskatoon Inn, which is under investigation by police, Friesen opted not to wear a mask despite a provincial mandate that had recently come into effect.
“A lot of people aren’t scared of COVID here, they’re just not scared of it. And even if somebody was to possibly succumb to it, we just look at it as, that’s life, that’s an experience,” Friesen said at the time.
After the onset of the pandemic, Friesen emerged as a prominent voice in Saskatchewan criticizing COVID-19-related public health rules and organizing “freedom rally” protests against such measures.
In late September, Friesen was part of an effort to pause Saskatchewan’s then-forthcoming proof-of-vaccination policy through a court injunction.
The request was quickly quashed by a judge.
BREAKING NEWS:
Mark Friesen has been moved to Mount Sinai hospital in Toronto. pic.twitter.com/KAKyYQLnXx
— Starr Ryder (@StarrRyder1) October 22, 2021
LOL. She called in Pneumonia.
These stories get progressively sadder. Mark, for all his warts, probably wants to live, and thanks to people like Dr Leslyn Lewis and other community leaders, he’s probably never going to fully recover if he does at all.
Never have Canadian children been used as shields for adults. Parents question vaccinating kids 5-12 without long-term data, a low risk of fatality, & cautions echoed around the world, when the treatment neither prevents transmitting or getting the virus. https://t.co/GwQWy7NRd1
— Dr. Leslyn Lewis (@LeslynLewis) October 22, 2021
Is Mark an asshole? Maybe. I don’t know the guy but each one of these people had all the same info that the rest of us had and chose to do the opposite, mostly for religious reasons.
When Jesus matters to someone more than human life, this is what you get. https://t.co/iSSeg8Faro
— Dean Blundell (@ItsDeanBlundell) October 25, 2021
Religion and anti-Ottawa sentiment are HUGE drivers of misinformation in the covid age. Mark’s entire MO was to convert the overwhelming majority of vaccinated Canadians with information that fit his narrative. Like the rest of them, he ignored two years’ worth of warnings and living proof by being allowed the medical freedom to do whatever he wanted.
Job Done.
Jesus and religion may have played a part.
Familial relations may have, too.
This was a choice and he chose “infection” over “vaccination”, and these are the consequences. Everyone has the same right to choose the same outcome because that’s the bet: You’re choosing side effects at this point and the side effects from getting covid will kill you or destroy your quality of life. The vaccine? you have a .0008% chance of having serious side effects. Covid? 4-7% chance and those side effects are only about a billion times worse.
That’s what Mark asked for, that’s what Mark got. He’s also getting first rate medical attention from people he doesn’t trust. It’s fucking amazing to me that these people are such dicks about it all until they get sick. They throw themselves at the mercy of science after spending two years calling science a fantasy.
If Mark lives it’s because the government he thinks is out to get him saved his life. If he dies, he dies. He chose the life he wanted and I’m good with it.
He should be too.
DB
