Did COVID-19 Affect our Rights and Freedoms?
The Canadian government had to face challenges when COVID-19 started to spread worldwide, and many Canadians saw the health mandates they implemented as something that infringed on their freedoms and rights. The pandemic caught every governing body worldwide by surprise, and they were forced to make decisions that would be viewed unfavourably by many people. Still, it benefited us all and was worth it in the end.
Starting with lockdowns and mask mandates and the addition of provincial border closures, people across Canada saw what was happening as the Canadian government taking away their rights and freedoms. According to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, some of our rights may have been restricted during the beginning of the pandemic. When the borders closed between provinces, it impeded Canadians’ right to move freely within Canada, but the restriction of movement was done to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Does this make it okay for the government to make these decisions for the people of Canada? The short answer is yes.
The first section of the Charter explains that “rights and freedoms set out in it [the Charter] subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society.” The government could take reasonable measures to help ensure that the spread of the virus was limited because they had enough evidence to make these health and safety measures that conflicted with our rights and freedoms. Some of the actions taken were only for a short period of time, like the border crossing issues and even the “stay-at-home” orders, while others, like the mask mandates, have been more long-term but don’t impede our freedoms or rights. The businesses are the ones enforcing the mandate, which is something they can do. Take the whole “no shirt, no shoes, no service” signs most businesses advertise on their doors; the mask is just the newest addition. This makes it hard to understand all the hostility that some Canadians held for the mandate.
The final piece to look at is the “Freedom Convoy” that crashed into Ottawa in February. They were supposed to be protesting the mandate that all truckers crossing the U.S. border must be vaccinated. Global News states that “the federal government’s vaccine mandate for cross-border truckers became the group’s shorthand explanation for their protest.” They claimed this infringed on their right to employment since they couldn’t work if they didn’t get vaccinated. The Charter states that Canadians have a right to seek employment, which means that you could go out and find a job; being a Canadian will ensure that there are available jobs for its citizens. After that, it would be up to you to get the job and keep it. A lot of jobs have prerequisites that they require their employees to have. Some of these requirements include background checks, driver’s licenses, and up-to-date vaccination records. While having these prerequisites forced many people to choose between getting a vaccine and their jobs, their rights and freedoms were never violated.
We need to understand that while we might disagree with the government’s precautions, and we may get annoyed by the lockdowns and the masks, it is for a reason. If it means keeping our children safe, keeping people from getting sick, and ensuring our hospitals aren’t overloaded, then does it matter that our freedoms have been restricted for a little while? Maybe we need to look at the larger picture instead of just ourselves.