Our wishywashy and uneven pandemic restrictions.
The union that represents UPS workers in Canada is questioning why the company’s president of U. S. operations was granted a special ministerial exemption from this country’s quarantine rules when he visited Toronto last week.
The Teamsters are right — the purpose of Nando Cesarone’s trip from Atlanta seems to have been to sell employees here on a contract offer, which is hardly the sort of exceptional circumstance that should justify waiving the mandatory 14- day quarantine. But this questionable exception was not itself an exception.
The CBC reported Thursday that Foreign Affairs Minister François- Philippe Champagne has granted 191 similar quarantine exemptions on “business mobility” grounds since the self- isolation rules have been in effect, and most of these waivers have been granted over the past couple months.
The CBC says UPS provided a statement on the controversy, which cited the company’s status as an essential service and noted that, in the CBC story’s words, UPS is “responsible for delivering needed supplies to Canadian businesses and consumers including personal protective equipment and ‘ hopefully vaccines soon.’ ” Which is probably true. But also irrelevant since Cesarone’s in- person visits to Ontario facilities to push a labour deal is not a necessary step in the shipment of life-saving supplies.
“What’s important for us is that everybody is just playing by the same set of pandemic rules,” said Christopher Monette, the public affairs director for Teamsters Canada.
While the Teamsters obviously have a little skin in the game when it comes to the labour agreement, fairness in enforcing pandemic restrictions is nonetheless a reasonable expectation to have of the federal government. Unfortunately, it is not being met.
In question period on Tuesday, Conservative Leader Erin O’toole reminded the House of Commons of the government’s inconsistency. “Last month we learned the Liberal government allowed two different American billionaires to enter Canada, and they waived the quarantine rules,” he said. But regular shlubs who are not pals with the government still must isolate themselves for two weeks after crossing into the country.
We have been asked by the government to make many sacrifices to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. This was possible — if not exactly easy — to abide in the early days of the pandemic because there was an underlying assumption that: 1) all of us would be sacrificing; and 2) while all of us were sacrificing, the government would be working furiously and with ruthless efficiency to get itself ready to fight COVID-19.
Now we know there was no basis for either of these assumptions. More than seven months into the pandemic, the government is still fumbling around clumsily, tackling COVID with the same urgency and precision that it tackles, say, the issue of unsustainable salmon aquaculture. And as Cesarone’s case highlights, some of us are sacrificing a whole lot more than others.
As a country, we are experiencing a second wave of COVID-19. We have ourselves to blame for the resurgence because we are growing weary of social distancing from friends and remaining vigilant about masks and handwashing.
But the government is also to blame because it is setting the standard for all of us, and that standard is wishy- washy and uneven. There is Cesarone, of course. And over the past six weeks — the same time period during which people in many parts of the country have been told not to invite grandma to Thanksgiving dinner or allow their kids to engage in Halloween trick- or- treating — Foreign Affairs Minister Champagne has granted 137 other business quarantine exemptions.
Crucial judicial hearings are now being conducted over Teams. Doctor’s visits about complex medical problems are being conducted over Zoom. The government can, and should, insist that business interactions such as the ones Cesarone embarked on in his recent trip also be conducted by video conference, at least until the quarantine period has passed, and maybe instead of travel altogether, as NDP MP Jack Harris has suggested.
Until it does, no one should be surprised when the public flouts a set of rules and guidelines that do not seem to apply to the rich and powerful, or the politically connected.
Canadians have been generally good at holding up their side of the difficult bargain that has been struck to handle the pandemic, mostly adhering to the law and staying safely apart. But the government’s side of the deal is sagging. The longer that goes on, the more Canadians will ask why the rest of us should comply.
WHAT’S IMPORTANT FOR US IS THAT EVERYBODY IS JUST PLAYING BY THE SAME SET OF PANDEMIC RULES.