Every once in a while, procrastination works in my favour. This is what I mean.

Today’s blog was started last week, yet I allowed life to get in the way for longer than I would have liked. So yesterday, I decided to finish and post this blog. And I am glad all of those little distractions happened. Like so many of us, I, too, know people who are unvaccinated and some are hardcore anti-vaxxers. Just for the record, I do not want to hear their points of view. I get it.

The unvaccinated and anti-vaxxers think there is some conspiracy going on and they don’t trust the government. Yet how many of those people who don’t trust the government are getting and have been getting government money every month in some cases for years? If you aren’t going to trust the government, maybe you should not be getting government money. Just saying. And I am saying that because one anti-vaxxer, who is on welfare, told me that he won’t get vaccinated because he doesn’t know what is in the vaccine. My thought was, “Really, because you have been addicted to street drugs for years and you have never known what was in them, yet that is okay?” That is the reverse logic we are dealing with. Needless to say, that was a very short and unwelcomed conversation.

Another anti-vaxxer I know, lives in a McMansion and has worked from home even before the pandemic began. If she needs something she can either order it online or have her vaccinated her husband, (he needed to be vaccinated for work), or one of her vaccinated kids, because they need to go to school, get whatever she needs. I know she leaves her house, just not as often as other anti-vaxxers. She has convinced a few other (impressionable) people not to be vaccinated though. Howard Stern is not impressed with the unvaccinated.

In today’s Toronto Sun, Howard Stern is quoted as saying, “If it was up to me, anyone unvaccinated would not be admitted to a hospital. At this point, they have been given plenty of opportunity to get the vaccine.” Howard Stern also said, “…It’s time for you to get it. Now, if you don’t get it, in my America, all hospitals would be closed to you. You’re going to go home and die. That is what you should get. Absolutely.” And later he is quoted as saying, “We don’t want you … stay home, die there with your COVID. Don’t take the cure, but don’t clog up our hospitals with your COVID when you finally get it. Stay home, don’t bother with science, it’s too late. Go f— yourself, we just don’t have time for you.” And I don’t have time for them either.

If you are going to be an unvaccinated anti-vaxxer stay home, work from home, create your own job if you don’t have one, don’t go out and breath on people, don’t go out and protest that you need a job and can’t get one because you won’t get vaccinated. That was and still is your decision. People, like myself, are caring less about the unvaccinated and anti-vaxxers every day.

According to a poll conducted by Maru Public Opinion between January 14th and the 15th, found in the same Toronto Sun, article, 37% of Canadians are in favour of harsh punishments for the unvaccinated stating that it would be acceptable to deny them publicly-funded health care–and 27% stated that it would be OK to go as far as a short jail sentence.

Putting someone in jail for not getting vaccinated is a bit dumb since Ontario has been releasing some pretty hard-core criminals because of COVID, but I get it. People are so fed up with the anti-vaxxers ruling and some cases destroying our lives and lively hoods, that they aren’t thinking clearly. And that is the thing: if we, as a society were thinking clearly, the anti-vaxxers who insist on being out and about, spreading every variant of COVID that there is and ever will be, would be punished, but they aren’t. Instead, our governments have allowed fully vaccinated people to die as they wait for life-saving medical treatment, operations and the like because the rights of the unvaccinated, anti-vaxxers come first. That is reverse logic at its best.

The only silver lining is all of this is for me is that CJ will not be working on set until she decides to get vaccinated which I am hoping is never. If you don’t know why I am referring to CJ, here is a link to a blog about her. It is called, I Am Not the Only One Who is Back,  http://arebelsrant.com/i-am-not-the-only-one-who-is-back/

Thank you for reading, A. Rebel’s Rant!    ;D

Original article: Any Thoughts On the Unvaccinated?

©2026 A. Rebel's Rant. All Rights Reserved.

While the demand for boosters is increasing, they are becoming fewer and farther in between. This is what I mean.

For anyone who doesn’t know, a booster is slang for someone who steals from stores and resells the stolen item or items. Boosters are everywhere, yet I found that there are more in big cities like Toronto, especially downtown. And there are boosters for everything. Since everyone has to eat, food is something that boosters steal a lot of, a lot of the time.

Before the pandemic and before food prices began skyrocketing, boosters had an easy time stealing and selling their wares. Not only could they walk freely into a crowded grocery store they also had a slew of customers who were free to move around the city. Whatever was stolen was sold in thirty minutes or less. Actually, there was a time when their customers’ freezers were fully stocked with meats and their fridges with cheese. Yes, someone one day asked a booster for cheese and that need was filled. How times have changed.

Now that prices for everything have increased and people don’t have as much money, they also aren’t as mobile. Boosters can’t just walk into any store and get lost in the crowd. Stealing is a lot harder now. And it is harder to find customers too. Just when people could use a booster the most, they can’t find one or the booster can’t find them.

But let’s get back to the title of this blog: Would you buy from a booster?

If you haven’t already guessed, I know some people who would buy from one or more boosters. And boosters have approached me too. One day, as I walked out of my building, a guy asked me if I wanted to buy the bottle of vodka he was holding. Since he was selling it for the going price, I called a friend and bought it for them. But that was not the only time. People of all ages, at all times of the year and even during the pandemic have asked if I was interested in buying booze. “Hey, lady, do you want to buy some wine?” No one has ever asked me if I wanted to buy food though. Those boosters have their regular customers.

But would you be a customer? The first question should be would a booster approach you to begin with. If you are not in a busy part of a city and you look out of place, they won’t. You have to look the part, like part of the neighbourhood. Boosters know how to size up a person faster than they know how to size up the meat section.

Just for fun, let’s say someone approaches you with something from a high-end, reputable grocery store, like Sobey’s, Metro or Loblaw. Let’s say that something is a $40 worth of steak and they’ll sell it to you for $20. Would you buy it?  After you hold it, inspect the packaging and push on the meat, you read the label and discover it was packed that day. Would you buy it from a booster?

What if the booster had shampoo, deodorant, or four perfectly sealed extra large, extra strength packages of Tylenol and they were selling all of them for $15, would you buy them? If you know your prices, then you would know one perfectly sealed package of extra strength Tylenol is worth $15 ON SALE. Getting four for the price of one is, well, a steal! Chances are you would. And not because you need the money. You know that if you don’t buy it, someone else, will. And that someone else could be down the street or sitting right beside you. And just for the record, I did not buy the Tylenol. But I was sitting with someone who did. I got one bottle, because I know my prices.

Sorry about the featured image. It is the best I could do for free!

Thank you for reading, A. Rebel’s Rant! ;D

Original article: Would You Buy From a Booster?

©2026 A. Rebel's Rant. All Rights Reserved.

Since I hate drama, the only way for me to deal with it, is to avoid it at all costs. This is what I mean.

Late December when I saw people I knew sitting in a local coffee shop, I went inside to wish them a Merry Christmas. Both of them offered to buy me a beverage, yet I declined. In past I would stand and quickly exchange pleasantries. Tired from shopping and schlepping everything, I sat down. Since we hadn’t seen each other for over a month, I stayed a bit longer than usual. The new Omicron varient was on our minds.

For whatever reason, I had taken pictures every few days of the daily rise of the COVID-19 case count. As I showed them the pictures, I am sure it looked more intimate than it really was. It also probably didn’t help that at some point in our conversation we were laughing and we ended the conversation laughing. I was too tired and caught up in the moment to consider how my sitting there with two guys would look to others. Especially since a few months ago, I refused to speak to one of them because in my opinion, he is a creep. But being civil can come in handy, so I began speaking to him because I barely see him.

A few days later, I walked past the coffee shop again and saw one of the two people looking sad and bored. Since he was not the creep, I went in and said, “I was just at the grocery store. They didn’t have any coal, so I bought you this instead,” and gave him three clementines and a handful of Hersey’s Kisses. After we had a quick laugh I headed out and saw someone else I knew. She was standing in line and smiling at me, something she didn’t do the last few times we saw each other. Still laughing, I gave her two clementines, some Hersey’s Kisses and wished her a Merry Christmas too. As I walked out, I wondered what she would say about me and to who. She was probably on her phone before I stepped into the vestibule.

The next day I sought out the guy I gave the clementines and chocolate to. Again, he was sitting in the coffee shop and met me at the door. It was there that I asked him not to say anything about me to the person standing in line the night before as they live in the same building. He said he wouldn’t, and I have never heard him gossip before but you never know.

In my experience she likes to ask a lot of questions about the people in my life. And the things she knows about them has taken me aback more than once. The only thing we have in common is our local grogery store, which is where I saw her last. At first I did not recognize her with her hair another colour and in an updo. She was also dressed up. I, on the other hand, looked as I usually do. Waiting in line to pay for our groceries, we stood side-by-side and ignored each other. Just the way I will behave the next time we see each other.

Neither one of those two guys has my phone number and I only know what building the non-creep lives in, not his apartment number. Besides so many people are impressionable, and could get the wrong impression about me.  People, like the person I saw in line, talk, sometimes a lot. Why fill their already boring day? Unlike the black anda white featured image, gossip has many shades. And truth be told, I was a little bored that night.

Here are the Omicron numbers. The numbers are from the day before and reported on the news the date below.

December 5 Toronto–139

December 7 Toronto–163

December 9 Toronto–206

December 14 Toronto–239

December 17 Toronto–759

December 20 Toronto–1056

December 21 Toronto–901

December 22 Toronto–1284

December 24 Toronto 2456

December 25 Toronto 2309

December 31 Toronto 3899

As you can see, the nubmers keep going up.

Here is a link to my latest post on Behind the Blog called, The Coffee Shop, http://behindtheblog.arebelsrant.com/index.php/2022/01/02/the-coffee-shop/

Happy New Year and thank you for reading, A. Rebel’s Rant! And stay safe everyone!    ;D

Original article: How Do You Deal With Drama?

©2026 A. Rebel's Rant. All Rights Reserved.

Theft of all kinds is on the rise, yet people stealing isn’t the only theft we should be concerned with. This is what I mean.

About two weeks ago, I was talking to someone who said they went to a gorcery store to buy bacon. Although it was advertised as being on sale in the flyer, the cashier charged them the regular price. They said that there were a few other items that were supposed to be on sale yet weren’t.  Bacon was the one they remembered because it was the most expensive and the one item they specifically went to that store to buy. According to them, this grocery store rarely has the sale price in its computer. When I asked if they requested the cashier to call for a price check, they said they didn’t. Not everyone wants to hold up the line so someone can check the price and then possibly have to hold up the line again in case someone else has to wander over to the register to override the original transaction. I am not one of those people. If something is supposed to be on sale and it is in the flyer, I want the advertised price or the price displayed on the shelf.

About a week after that conversation I was at the grocery store I frequent to buy one thing. The price on the shelf was the usual price but it was a different brand. I thought there could be a price difference yet I went to the register without asking someone in that department. The price I was charged was a dollar more. After telling the cashier what the price was, I told her I didn’t want the item and I left the store. Halfway home, I decided I really wanted it for dinner and went back. This time I went to another register with another brand name. It, too, was overpriced by a dollar. This time when I told the cashier she left the register, checked the price, overrode the original price and charged me the displayed price on the shelf. She also told me that she would tell someone and I believed her. Overall the staff at that grocery store is amazing.

And it is amazing that some grocery stores average as much as $200,000 a year in stolen food. Is that why some stores aren’t checking what should be on sale and charging their customers the original price? Maybe. That is one way to recoup their losses. But here is the thing: Everyone customer is responsible for what they buy. If you think you are being overcharged, put your pride aside and say something. After all, it is your money.

Thank you for reading, A. Rebel’s Rant!    ;D

Original article: Are Grocery Thefts On the Rise?

©2026 A. Rebel's Rant. All Rights Reserved.

There are a lot of reasons as to why I haven’t blogged, yet here is one reason I decided to start again. This is what I mean.

On Wednesday morning I woke up a few seconds before my cell phone rang at 5:48 am. Wanting more sleep, I rejected the call. Although I thought about blocking the number, I didn’t. And a good thing too.

For whatever reason I woke up at 2:30 am Thursday morning. Two minutes later my phone rang but this time I answered. “Hello,” I said. There was a pause. I think I said hello again yet I am not sure. At some point, the caller, who sounded like she had a few beers under her bra (she was definitely on something), asked, “Is this Anna?” to which I said, “Yes. Who is this?” My answer was no answer.  The person hung up. Wide awake, I realized who it could be. Let’s just call her CJ.

CJ has more of a history with me than I do with her because the only time I think about her, notice her when she inserts herself into my life. And that takes time, energy and thought. In my experience, CJ thinks a lot of things, and few of them are good. Like the times I would go to work on set and she would sit as close to me as possible, walk 2 inches behind me off the shuttle bus and continue to follow me through background holding, snicker and then burst out laughing with her friend when I stumbled–twice. Naturally there is more, but I don’t want to relive it, and do you really want to read it? As I said, I am of the opinion that CJ thinks a lot of things and few of them are good.

And she must have thought something was happening when a number came up on a certain cell phone. It belongs to someone we both know, someone who has been entering and exiting my life about a year before they met. Timing, however, is everything. At that time, I was rebuilding my life in more ways than I want to remember. His life wasn’t perfect either. But a lot has changed. Both of our lives are better.

Is that why we have been communicating again? Maybe. It’s not like we communicate with each other a lot. In fact one of the reasons I haven’t allowed myself to get close to him for the past four years, is CJ. In my experience, CJ is sneaky. Sneaky people, in my opinion, are desperate and desperate people are always dangerous. Look what she does to me at work when there are literally over a hundred people who could witness what she does. If she is going to do any of the above and more in front of them, what is she capable of doing if she every got me alone? Bottom line is that she has and still scares me. She also has very “supportive” friends who I also see on set. Who wants to be a part of that? Is that why he reached out to me?

I don’t know because I am not him. All I know is that CJ has not been the only person in his life for the past five years and this is not the first time we have reached out to each other. He has had other, in my opinion, more serious relationships than whatever he had or has going on with CJ.

For anyone who is curious, I used the screenshot of the phone calls I received because I want and need whoever called to know I am not going to put up with any of their BS. This is especially true if the person is CJ. Since it is easy to deny ones wrongdoings, it is harder to deny facts. I have a new phone number too.

Thank you for reading, A. Rebels’s Rant! It is nice to be back.  ;D

P.S.

If it wasn’t for other people creating drama in my life, it would be boring!

Original article: I Am Not the Only One Who Is Back!

©2026 A. Rebel's Rant. All Rights Reserved.

Let’s use an example I read earlier today. A woman in Saskatoon was in a Tim Horton’s parking lot when someone told her about the CERB. Even though, due to a medical issue, she hasn’t worked for years, she called the number, got the CERB of $2,000, money she was not entitled to and the Saskatewan government gave her $1,200 for her disability. That is a total of $3,200 a month. It is unclear as to how many months she received the additional $2,000 yet she did manage to spend $4,000 on new furniture and blankets because she said her apartment is infested with cockroaches. (Just as a head’s up, buying new furniture and blankets will not get rid of cockroaches or bed bugs.) Since the Saskatchewan government has clawedback the CERB money she was not supposed to receive dollar-for-dollar from her disability cheque she couldn’t pay her rent, got evicted and is now if I remember correctly couch-surfing. Everyone on social assistance like welfare or disability has their worker, or someone explain exactly what is expected of them before they receive any provincial funds. This woman is one of thousands, perhaps even hundreds of thousands of people who received the CERB when she shouldn’t have. The Canadian government said it gave Canadians over $80 BILLION in CERB money, money it did not, and still does not have.  Money that taxpayers will have to find a way to pay because the Canadian government has borrowed it.

Meanwhile, businesses all over Canada are going bankrupt. Just today it was predicted that in the next few months over 200,000 small businesses will go out of business because they cannot afford to stay open. That number does include the businesses that have already gone under. Businesses pay all kinds of taxes. Businesses hire people, even if those people are only contract employees, those people pay taxes. We pay taxes every time we buy something or use a service. And yes there are a few exceptions like childrens clothing and childrens shoes  and some foods, but everything else is taxed. Businesses are like us. They need to buy things to keep everything running smoothly. If I had a choice between giving a business or someone on social assistance an extra $2,000 to $13,000 I would give the money to the business.

Now I know that there are people out there who say that the provincial government should not be taking, clawingback the CERB money from people on welfare or disability, because the CERB money is federal and I understand that. But understand this, not only are taxpayers going to have to pay more taxes to pay down the debt, those CERB fraudsters were not entitled to that money in the first place. They also figured out how to live off the money the provincial government gave them every month, in some cases years. If anyone really wants to push this further, than maybe they can fork out some of their own money, like between $2,000 to $13,000. You know to help those CERB fraudsters pay back the money they weren’t entitled to. That is of course, if any or all provincial or territorial governments will still make them.

Here is the link to article I read earlier today.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/landlords-tenants-cerb-rent-1.5810230

And here is a link to my latest post from, Behind the Blog. It is called, Should People Receive Social Assistance?

Should People Receive Social Assistance?

Thank you for reading, A. Rebel’s Rant! ;D

Original article: CERB Fraudsters VS the Canadian Taxpayer

©2026 A. Rebel's Rant. All Rights Reserved.

Before March 15th, 2020, everyone I knew (who wasn’t retired) had a job. Life was good at best and okay at worst. Things have changed. People who seemed like they had it together are falling apart fast. One guy used to have a mind of his own doesn’t. The mindless has also become the voiceless. It drives me crazy when he let’s his friend answer for him. Someone didn’t pay their rent. Someone quit their job. Someone always wants to be alone and doesn’t answer their phone for anyone–for days. Everyone is drinking the same amount or less so that is good. No one mentioned does it for me. Naturally someone makes, or well made, we wonder.

He has been around for a while yet nothing ever happens. Life is busy or one of us is going out with someone else. Then there are the other people he has dated. The first has class, the second trashed me every chance she got and hurriedly moved to Vancouver years ago. Someone somewhere always somehow still blames me for that which is ridiculous. If I had that much power wouldn’t I be full ACTRA or above the line? I know of the third yet we never met. The fourth (that I know of) has repeatedly shown me she is crazier than the second which scares me as she is still around. And so is he, kind of.

One of his friends lives close by and I see him a lot without trying. Last week he was walking in a part of town I have never seen him in which was weird. Almost as weird as when in February, this guy called my name from his car as I crossed four lanes of traffic. As he stopped, I crossed back wondering how he recognized me all bundled up with my hair in a messy bun. Towards the end of our conversation I said, “Yea, I don’t think she is getting it,” she being the fourth. I wanted to give him some examples of the crazy things she has done while we are at work. But I didn’t. He probably knows.

And who would have known that on Friday October 23, 2020, as I stood on Dundas Street facing east, I would see Jason Momoa cycling west. The second I saw him I knew I couldn’t date that guy. Before anyone gets any strange ideas, this is why. As I remember, Jason Momoa knew at a very young age that he wanted Lisa Bonet in his life. And she is. They have been together for 14 years and are happily married with two children. When people know what and who they want, they go after it. I need someone who knows what they want. And I don’t think this guy does.  And that’s okay. One day someone will. Until then I will keep putting myself out there, even during a pandemic. Anyway…

As he rode up the street and past me, I said, “Hi Jason Momoa!” Hopefully I will be booked to work on See again. It has amazing sets, even better acting and a great storyline! And the star of See, is Jason Momoa!

Here is a link to Behind the Blog. Today’s post is called, So I Gained Some Weight. And?

So I Have Gained Some Weight. And?

Thank you for reading, A. Rebel’s Rant! ;D

Original article: Would You Date During A Pandemic?

©2026 A. Rebel's Rant. All Rights Reserved.

The pandemic has society spinning on its head. People have too much time on their hands and the government is handing out money like it’s deeply discounted Hallowe’en candy. Strangers are becoming stranger all the time and well, in my opinion, aggressive.

Not too long ago, if someone said something to you and you didn’t answer, everyone kept walking. Now if you don’t stop and talk to the stranger than strange stranger, or give them money, they (try to) intimate you even in broad daylight. My neighbourhood has always had panhandlers but they are now out of control.

It is really hard to call people people when they behave like animals by going to the bathroom at the side of the sidewalk in front of houses and people on the streetcar. And if someone reading this is thinking, Well, there aren’t public washrooms anymore, there are. Like the one at the church across the street, less than 35 metres away from where I yelled at an old man to poop on someone else’s front stoop and not that of my friends all while in broad daylight. But why bother to have to possibly wait for the streetlight and the washroom when the streets of Toronto are right there. If someone in authority cared something would have been done by now, but, in my opinion, no one in authority has cared for a long time. And just for the record, a few months before the pandemic, no one believed me when I would tell them that people use the streets of Toronto as their public washroom. Now that the City of Toronto is housing people all over Toronto, people are believing a lot of things they never thought would happen in their back or front yards.

Break and enters are on the rise in every neighbourhood but mine probably because there is nothing left to steal. And the fact that there are cameras literally everywhere on every building. Since not every neighbourhood is as equiped as mine and some have secluded pockets, break and enters will only continue.

One thing my neighbourhood has always had an abundance of is organizations that hand out harm reduction kits.  The majority of those kits’ used needles etc., end up on the streets of Toronto until Needle Hunters, who are paid $14.50 an hour pick up all the (illegal) drug paraphernalia that drug users/addicts can’t be bothered to dispose of (even if needle drop boxes are right in front of them). Few people believed me about that too, but now months later, as the City of Toronto has been housing the homeless in a variety of neighbourhoods people are believing the discarded needles etc., that they see. And  how could they not? Needles, bands, and anything else in those harm reduction kits are left all over their neighbourhoods.

Toronto is becoming like a lot of American cities. Dirty, drug infested, and downright deplorable! With so many people from my neighbourhood being housed all over Toronto, my neighbourhood, outside of the aggressive panhandlers, is safer and cleaner. As a side note, there are at lot of people who have chosen to live in areas that they can’t afford and that is a problem.

As usual I could go on, yet I won’t.

Here is a link to Behind the Blog! Today’s blog is called, Is There A Tent City Near You?

Is There A Tent City Near You?

Thank you for reading, A. Rebel’s Rant!  ;D

Original article: Do You (Still) Like Your Neighbourhood?

©2026 A. Rebel's Rant. All Rights Reserved.

At the end of July, the stimulus bill that gave qualifying Americans an unemployment boost of $600 per week came to an end. A few days before that a woman stated that she could not live off of $400 per week, because to her she would be existing. Not only is she having a difficult time adjusting, I am having a difficult time understanding why she didn’t put even a tiny amount of money away when she was living large.

Teachers are having a difficult time with pretty much everything except communicating their grievences of which there are many. At one point a group of teachers refused to enter a school because according to them they didn’t have proper PPEs. Shortly after that, another group said that they don’t always know what school they are going to be teaching at from one day to the next. I guess they never considered that after people are appointed to be judges, they get moved around from one courthouse to the next without always knowing where they are working sometimes until the morning of. One day they could be in Newmarket, the next they might be in Oshawa. And they usually only have a few hours to read the files, of which there are many. If teachers keep up all of their complaining,  everyone will be having an even more difficult time with teachers.

On my second last visit to my parents, my mother said, “you need to do your part,” and said that on my next visit I should mow the lawn. I asked her what her two able-bodied teenage grandsons, both on either side of 16, who live less than 2 kilometeres away were doing during their COVID-19 summer holidays. Why wasn’t she asking one of them? Not only do I live in Toronto, which is over 50 kilometres away, I am in my 50’s, and I visit my parents for about 4 hours twice a month from noon until 4 pm, the hottest times of the day. If my mother is having a difficult time with the lawn, she could always ask her son-in-law if her grandsons aren’t willing to help her. He has two days off a week, has keys to my parents house, partly because my parents bought their house from my sister and the above mentioned son-in-law. He is younger than me and knows how to operate a lawn mower. If you are having a difficult time understanding why my mother would ask me to mow the lawn, I am not. If it wasn’t last winter, it was the winter before when the weather person announced a snow storm for the weekend and my mother suggested that I stop by to help her shovel the snow. Just for the record, I don’t have a problem helping my parents. On my last visit, I shaved my dad’s head, trimmed his eyebrows, got as much of the hair in his ears as possible and trimmed his toe nails, which after 5 months where desperate for a lot of attention. Just for the record, I have been doing thing like that for my father for years. I don’t have a problem helping my parents. I just have a difficult time with most of my mother’s suggetions, always have.

These are difficult times only because some people insist on making their lives more difficult. As usual I could go on, yet I won’t.

Here is a link to my post from Behind the Blog. It is called, These Are Really Difficult Times,

“These Are Really Difficult Times ….”

Thank you for reading, A.  Rebel’s Rant!  ;D

Original article: Are These Difficult Times?

©2026 A. Rebel's Rant. All Rights Reserved.

City and medical officials all over Canada have been talking about the increase in overdoses lately. No one seems to know why there are so many, what can be done about them or how to stop people from using drugs, which in most cases leads to overdoses. I have a few theories.

The first is that now that the borders are closed, and people cannot travel as freely as they have in the past, it is really hard to smuggle drugs into Canada. People still try yet now that CBS has fewer people to stop at the border, or people arriving via ports or plane, Canada Border Services has (far) more time to stop and question people which leads to searching them. And that is why there have been a growing number of drug busts.

The second is that now that drugs like crack-cocaine are harder to smuggle into Canada, drug dealers have had to improvise. Instead of using their old-standbys, they have had to change it up. Now they use whatever chemicals are at their disposal. Making meth is the next best thing for those who can’t get crack. If they want to make the high higher, they might add some or a lot of fentanyl to the mix. Which is deadly to anyone who has not built up a tolerance drugs in general.

When stores were closed the boosters couldn’t steal anything to resell. Even when stores like the LCBO and the Beer Store were open, there were small numbers of people allowed in at time and there were security guards who, now that there were far less people to watch, were watching everyone closely. With everyone either working from home, waiting to go back to work, working part-time or avoiding it all together, break and entries have decreased. People may be take risks to get money yet they are not stupid. That financial gap was filled when the Liberal government introduced the CERB.

The Canadian Emergency Response Benefit was to financially help Canadians who lost their jobs, had their hours cut, got COVID19, had to stay at home to care for family members like their children, (who were no longer going to school or daycare), or their parents who could not care for themselves due to lack of services they had grown to rely on. The CERB was and still is helping a lot of Canadians, including drug addicts who are a resourceful and risk-taking bunch. And they were taking a risk. The risk was losing any and all monthly government money from one of two financial programs. For Ontario it is Ontario Works, also knows as welfare or OW for short. The other is Ontario Disability Support Program also known as ODSP.

Now that some provinces like British Columbia, the province with the highest number of drug users, drug addicts and thereby overdoses and deaths, has allowed anyone in that province to receive government benefits and receive CERB without penalty. Everyone who lacks a moral compass has been committing fraud the moment they knew they could get away with it. And in British Columbia, like every other province, they have been since mid-March.

With an extra $2,000 a month in the pockets of people who are clearly not entitled to the CERB, and some provincial governments who are not going to claw-back even a (small) portion of the provincial tax-payers money, the only people benefiting are the drug suppliers, the drug distributors, the drug dealers and those who use drugs. Everyone else loses. In my opinion, it is wrong and the provinces that do not claw-back all of the money that people are not entitled to are simply enabling them to use drugs and defraud the government.

If government and medical officials really wanted to help drug users and drug abusers they would stick them in rehab–even if that meant more than once.

As usual I could go on, yet I won’t.

Here is a link to my post from Behind the Blog. It is called, The Last Few Months.

The Last Few Months

Thank you for reading, A. Rebel’s Rant!   ;D

Original article: Why Are There So Many Overdoses Lately?

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