11 Apr 20
The Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Sections 2(a) and (c), guarantee freedom of religion and the right to peaceful assembly. On the face of it, Christian faiths ought to be able to celebrate Easter with regular assemblies in churches. The Charter can be overridden with the Notwithstanding Clause, but no such clause appears in Canada’s Quarantine Act.
A reading of the Quarantine Act makes it clear that the Act was not intended for a quarantining of the entire nation. It speaks of places of quarantine, and of the requirement of people entering Canada at ports of entry to present themselves to a “screening officer.” Above all, the people who are subject to quarantined are those who are, or could be, sick. There is no power granted for mass quarantining of healthy people.
Political leaders in times of crisis can certainly ask for cooperation and unity, but invoking authorities they don’t possess and passing laws or by-laws to enforce an unlawful quarantine on healthy people undermines the rule of law.
H.L. Mencken wrote, “The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with and endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.” We can see the force of his statement in the reaction to the pandemic.
-30-
No comments:
Post a Comment