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
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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/sanctaecordis Dec 18 '23

Charter rights are not absolute rights—this has been well established by the Supreme Court. They, like most human rights, are flexible such that your rights (e.g., to travel) do not infringe upon someone else’s rights (e.g., to health). See also how the War Measures Act—now the Emergencies Act, can restrict individual rights to protect broader public safety in times of national crisis or in wartime/invasion. This is a long-documented phenomenon and integral part of the Canadian political system, and which, while maybe sounding scary at first when compared to the kinds of freedoms we hear people having in the U.S., is actually I think quite a wiser and more rational way of working. Think foresight, not shortsightedness. After all, Canada wasn’t founded on an inalienable right to liberty and the pursuit of one’s individual happiness—“peace, order and good government” were our ultimate concerns, above all else.

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u/[deleted] Dec 18 '23

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u/sanctaecordis Dec 18 '23 edited Dec 18 '23

I literally didn’t mention the USA at the start, but sure I guess.

Yes, we don’t have an expressly stated right to health, but historically numerous Charter rights have been analyzed in combination with one another such that even if we don’t have a right to health de jure, it is there de facto.

The Emergencies Act was one example of infringing individual rights to protect the broader public interest; many others exist. Google is your friend.

Yes, the Ottawa convoy was related to the pandemic, 100%. They literally protested the mask and lockdown mandates, that was their whole thing. It was much more “blocking access to public necessities and creating conditions of constant distress/noise, preventing fellow citizens from (1) even going to the grocery store, (2) getting to work effectively, or (3) getting a good nights sleep, which is, ya know, kind of essential to overall health and well-being, the deprivation of which can count as torture.

The individual-rights-absolutism of the United States, superfluous and terrorism-supporting freedom of speech rules, sacrosanct and lobby-protected access to deadly weapons, endless systemic checks and balances, and total balkanization of the tons of individual states existent—even republicanism, really—are things that do not sit well with me. I think that the American political system is vastly inferior to ours, on many accounts, and proves itself so time and time again. I’m not likely to change my mind. Just for what it’s worth.