Vincent J. Curtis
12 Nov 20
RE: City to Release Names of COVID rule-breaking businesses. Hamilton Spectator 12 Nov 20. Some self-righteous city councillors want the name of a particular restaurant in Stoney Creek that was fined $3,000 for violating COVID-19 related bylaws released to the public, as a means of shaming it and perhaps putting it under more economic stress.
The moral and legal incoherence of naming names of businesses who allegedly violate COVID related rules just amazes. In the case of the Stoney Creek restaurant, the owner is being fined for acts done by his patrons. Ordinarily, when a person observes law breaking, one is encouraged to call police and not to deal with the situation yourself. The owner was placed, without his consent, in the position of being a deputized police officer through the by-law since he was expected to enforce the law himself. Failing in his imposed duty led to the fine.
The purpose of the bylaw is to prevent the spread of COVID-19, but there is no allegation that anyone picked up the coronavirus at the restaurant on the date in question. So, the crime is not that anyone was infected, but that the precious bylaw was violated.
These bylaws have not been tested in court for their constitutionality, but many civil rights lawyers agree that they won’t stand legal scrutiny. Freedom of association and freedom of peaceful assembly are Charter rights being violated by all sorts of alleged laws and bylaws justified on the basis of an alleged pandemic. (When over a thousand new cases per day are announced, but there are fewer than ten deaths per day reported, we are in flu season fatality rates.)
There is a self-satisfaction in the moral condemnation of others, and shaming restaurant owners may give some that frisson. The rest of us should note the names of places where one can still have a good time.
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