Anti-science views toxic
From coast to coast, a small minority of anti-science Canadians keep rallying against public health restrictions designed to keep us safe during the COVID-19 pandemic.
They don’t call themselves anti-science, of course. But that’s their essential message: Don’t accept what public health officials are advising, including measures such as mask-wearing, social distancing and crowdsize restrictions; sow doubt, despite not being experts themselves, about scientific research.
Such groups often include committed anti-science proponents who question vaccines and/or believe pandemic-related government restrictions are part of vast conspiracies intended to take away people’s democratic liberties.
It doesn’t help when politicians who should know better, like Conservative MP Derek Sloan, lend support by sponsoring a petition questioning the safety of COVID vaccines.
Let’s be blunt. These people are badly mis- or uninformed. And to the extent they put others’ health at risk by refusing to wear masks, social-distance or restrict gathering sizes, authorities should be imposing penalties stiff enough for them to get the message and desist.
This isn’t a game. People are being hospitalized and dying in the current second wave of COVID-19 in this country and around the world.
Their claim people’s rights are being abrogated is simply false. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms categorically states rights can be constrained by “reasonable limits” that can be “demonstrably justified” in a free, democratic country. That includes powers given to health authorities to keep the population safe during pandemics.
So, contrary to what some seem to believe, law enforcement officials do have the authority to, for example, break up large gatherings and issue fines for not complying with public health restrictions.
Since we live in a democratic country, those who don’t believe their rights have been reasonably limited in a demonstrably justified way are free to challenge such enforcement — in courts of law. Good luck with that.
Besides, any rollback of rights due to public health measures is obviously temporary, not permanent. When the pandemic eased during summer, restrictions were relaxed. With a second wave now surging, renewing controls makes sense. With vaccines on the horizon, those are temporary, too.
Health-care professionals have been risking their health and that of their loved ones, caring for virus victims. How about showing some compassion for them and others on the front lines?
Historians point out there’s really nothing new in the anti-science playbook regarding public health measures. The strategies — including downplaying the threat’s seriousness, exaggerating the dangers of countermeasures like vaccines and claiming larger conspiracies — have been around for more than a century.
People shouting about their rights need to also consider their responsibilities.
This isn’t a game. People are being hospitalized and dying in the current second wave of COVID-19 in this country and around the world.