Norfolk Council asking bikers to steer clear of Port Dover

Vincent J. Curtis

21 Oct 20

Port Dover is a small town on the north shore of Lake Erie, and forms a part of the municipality of Haldeman-Norfolk.  A tradition grew up, and has been running for years, that bikers would gather in Port Dover on Friday the 13th, which will occur again in the month of November.  Important personages in Norflk county government think that is a bad idea.

The response to the pandemic around the world has been a calamitous failure of central planning.  The plans to discourage the informal gathering of bikers in Port Dover deprives individual grown-ups from making their own decisions and themselves balancing their own risks and rewards.

An expert is able to draw a reasonable line of caution that balances risks and rewards.  Any fool with power can say no, and often does.  Dr. Shanker Nesathurai, Norfolk Chief Medical Officer of Health could have simply reminded bikers to maintain social distancing, to wear N95 masks if distancing is impossible, or to keep wearing their helmets if these have face shields.  Instead, he strongly discouraged bikers from visiting Port Dover at all - and spending lots of money at local merchants.

Mayor Krystal Chopp spoke of means the municipality could do to make a biker visit unpleasant. 

If I were a Port Dover merchant, I’d deduct from my taxes the amount of revenue I lost due to the actions of Norfolk council.  I’d deny service to the Mayor, Dr. Nesthurai, and all other members of council that took money out of my pocket.  If the actions of council permanently broke the biker tradition, I’d sue the councilors personally for loss of business.

In a free and democratic society, we let grown-ups make their own decisions, letting them balance risk and reward.  Central planning and control is almost always a calamitous failure.

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