A couple of news items this past month particularly piqued my interest; both involved people contravening pandemic orders. The first was at an overcrowded church service, the other at a clothing store that failed an AHS inspection. Both situations involved leadership or ownership that felt they were right in their actions and offended by government interference in their business.
Normally I would agree with the two principal individuals here had government prevented them from operating more freely in normal times. But that’s what’s wrong here; it isn’t normal now. It hasn’t been for over a year. Yes, a long time of restricted living, and impinged rights and freedoms. It’s the stuff of revolutions in some places, like down south. The church pastor has regularly defied the pandemic orders under the Alberta Health Act and has therefore been criminally charged, and he’s in jail. He won’t leave jail because he will not comply with the Act. I presume he also prefers portraying the martyr. The store owner said he was in compliance with Alberta Health orders but according to the article he’s angry that an inspection occurred unannounced and demanded that AHS “show me the science, show me the data, show me the research”. Seems pretty clear the AHS inspector got it right.
These are examples of citizens, two of too many, who truly believe the pandemic is not an issue, that it should be business as usual, and that their individual rights and freedom prevail.
We’re in a public health emergency! The premier declared it a year ago based on advice from the chief medical officer of health, who based that advice on clear evidence of a pandemic. Pandemic! That’s an epidemic, pardon the pun, gone viral. It means too many people get sick, potentially all of us, and too many who get sick and die. Maybe pandemic isn’t a strong enough evocation. A good PR person might use Bubonic Plague or Black Death to get the point across.
A public health emergency is spelled out in Alberta’s Public Health Act and the authority given the government during the emergency is draconian. Extreme authority that can raise anyone’s hackles, especially on the necks of people who generally hate government or any limitations to their chosen, unfettered rights. To them it’s justification for storming the Capitol or some similar backwoods militia attack on government. Explaining to pandemic non-believers that the current strict public health measures are benevolent and temporary is like talking to a spoiled, stubborn child who has just had their toy taken away.
Contesting alleged personal loss under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms would be futile. Courts would apply precedent (in this case “the Oakes test”) to prove our rights are “subject only to such reasonable limits as can be demonstrably justifiable in a free and democratic society.” The emergency would be deemed a reasonable and important purpose to societal function.
Those invoking God, Christ and freedom to pray in crowded churches during a pandemic should understand that, despite the inherent value of community worship, faith is primarily a personal testament. However, for now, join your congregation via Zoom.
