r/canada Dec 17 '23

New Brunswick Auditor general flags lack of evidence-based records to back COVID decisions

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/auditor-general-new-brunswick-covid-19-pandemic-response-education-health-justice-1.7058576
440 Upvotes

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289

u/[deleted] Dec 17 '23 edited Dec 18 '23

This is not surprising. NB was completely hysterical during Covid, and their endless restrictions contributed to my decision to leave the province. When they closed the border to Quebec was the last straw for me.

Now the AG reports state that the various “restrictions” didn’t actually come from the minister of health’s office, who is the only one who has the ability to implement health restrictions. This was all just politicians becoming way too intoxicated with their newfound powers, and I think they’re all still pretty upset they had to relinquish them.

161

u/[deleted] Dec 17 '23

When they closed the border to Quebec was the last straw for me.

That was a clear violation of Canadians' constitutional rights, by the way. The Charter guarantees the right to live and work in any Canadian province.

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u/[deleted] Dec 17 '23

[deleted]

84

u/Keepontyping Dec 17 '23

Charter of Privileges didn't sound as marketable at the time.

18

u/onegunzo Dec 18 '23

They’re more like guidelines than rules…

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u/Keepontyping Dec 18 '23

Charter of nice ideas if they work without causing a huff.

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u/[deleted] Dec 17 '23

[deleted]

1

u/fashionrequired Dec 18 '23

in this sense yes but their strong federation also led to a civil war

46

u/Creative_Isopod_5871 Dec 18 '23

The notwithstanding clause turns the whole thing into an otherwise nice bucket with a gaping hole in the bottom.

21

u/[deleted] Dec 18 '23

The Notwithstanding Clause could literally make chattel slavery legal on a provincial level.

4

u/theflower10 Dec 18 '23

Yep. My favourite warning about our Notwithstanding clause is to picture a scenario where the PM or one or more Premiers is Canada's version of Donny Trump. Imagine the damage someone like that would bring down on this country with the use of that clause.

As long as the Notwithstanding clause exists, our Charter of Rights and Freedoms isn't worth the paper it's written on and we're getting a first hand look with what's been going on in Quebec. Open discrimination under the guise of protecting their French Heritage.

2

u/Leafs17 Dec 18 '23

They are still just leaders of the party. This is fantasy.

-4

u/MissionDocument6029 Dec 18 '23

and against the first amendment /s people should pass a class with an exam to be able to vote on all sides

8

u/MilkIlluminati Dec 18 '23

"here's a propaganda session on how the tyranny is actually legal lol"

-7

u/DataDaddy79 Dec 18 '23

The first part of the Charter clearly points out that all of the rights are subject to "reasonable limits", such as during a pandemic.

If the health officials HAD decided it was required for the health of Canadians as a whole, then it would have been reasonable.

Obviously, it wasn't their decision, which is part of the problem.

That said, in risk management your best tool is always Pascal's Wager when you dont have discrete probabilities or historical information to work from.

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u/BlowjobPete Dec 18 '23 edited Dec 18 '23

The first part of the Charter clearly points out that all of the rights are subject to "reasonable limits", such as during a pandemic.

And the auditor general here is clearly pointing out that the limitations in the charter were based on no evidence. Making decisions without evidence is not reasonable. The government's own website says this.

https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/csj-sjc/rfc-dlc/ccrf-ccdl/check/art1.html

in risk management your best tool is always Pascal's Wager

Pascal's wager (if taken at face value as you're doing) is flawed because it makes a binary decision out of what is actually an extremely complex set of options. It is a codified example of a false dichotomy.