Footage of Calgary Police arresting a man on an outdoor skating pond for not following the city’s COVID-19 rules was offensive.
Calgary Police greatly exceeded their bounds in this incident and their explanations to the contrary should fall on deaf ears and they should be derided for their performance.
In the first few months of the pandemic, public officials told us that the safest place to be to avoid virus transmission is outdoors. It’s hard to figure out a better or broader outdoor area than a frozen pond where folks were skating and playing hockey.
Unfortunately, incidents of power-hungry public servants are happening across the country.
When news of the pandemic first emerged in late March, various governments demanded a full lockdown to “flatten the curve” so that the hospitals could get the opportunity to ramp up.
We obliged and we locked down – but it lasted far longer than the initially requested 15 days.
Governments in the west can only maintain their hold on power “with the consent of the governed.” We consented to the original lockdowns and the bulk of society abided the requests for months.
Do the various governments still maintain the consent of the governed?
It’s an interesting question given the Ontario government recently plunged the province back into another lockdown.
I find it astonishing that the people of Ontario will accept this new lockdown. If I owned a small business in Ontario and had barely survived the last lockdown, I would have no choice but to ignore the government’s orders.
The Constitution Act guarantees certain rights to all Canadians including the right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice.
I don’t see any language in there that says Ontario can suspend those rights on a whim.
Ontario is using their Health Protection and Promotion Act as their authority to make these sweeping orders.
The act in Ontario is primarily designed to protect the water supply and to provide the authority to shut down establishments with proper notice and a valid reason. For example, the government can close a swimming pool if it is deemed a health hazard or close a restaurant providing the health officer posts a notice explaining why.
The Health Protection and Promotion Act contains no provision for a sweeping lockdown of all restaurants in the province.
The bottom line is if the residents and business owners in Ontario simply said “no,” there would be no lockdown. It would be merely a suggestion by the government.
A suggestion that tells the bullies in government to go pound sand.
