Exploiting a pandemic to promote a cause — from bikes to prisons

May be latitude to make changes too unpopular, controversial in normal times to gain acceptance

“When this virus passes, we will have an opportunity to remake the world.”

That bold, stark statement didn’t come from Donald Trump, although it sure sounds like it could have.

No, it came from an international group of scientists calling for “nothing less than a revolution” in rural sustainable development to end hunger and food inequality.

For them the pandemic is a wake-up call, an opportunity to change course on rural development.

Importantly, they are not alone in using — exploiting, some might say — the current pandemic to pursue personal agendas.

In Canada, countless individuals, organizations, businesses and especially politicians are taking advantage of the COVID-19 crisis to push their favourite causes.

The range of agendas is huge, from bike lanes to “quiet streets,” universal basic income, decarceration of prisons, immigration cutbacks, four-day workweeks, higher minimum wages, online courses, long-term care investments, defunding the World Health Organization and more.

Depending on your own point of view, some of these agendas are good, others are bad.

In times of crisis such as we are facing now, special-interest advocates see an opening for their agendas. That’s because in the midst of a global pandemic there may be more latitude to make changes, to pursue goals and legislation too unpopular or too controversial in normal times to gain acceptance.

In politics, there’s an old saying about never letting a good crisis go to waste. Rahm Emanuel, who was Barack Obama’s first chief of staff, is one of those closely linked to the phrase, saying during the 2008 economic meltdown that you “never want a serious crisis to go to waste. It’s an opportunity to do the things you once thought were impossible.”

And that’s exactly what’s happening now! Here’s a sample:

On bike lanes, pro-bike activists are pushing Toronto and other cities to act fast on creating more lanes for cyclists. The bicycle has become a pandemic must-have. To me, that’s highly debatable.

On a universal basic income, advocates claim the pandemic has exposed severe gaps in our social security safety nets and is the strongest argument in generations for a system that provides struggling Canadians with a guaranteed annual income. The same argument is made by those promoting higher minimum wages.

On decarceration of prisons, advocates who have long argued that Canadian prisons are overcrowded have stepped up their campaigns to see more prisoners released.

Adelina Iftene, a law professor at Dalhousie University, wrote in Policy Options that prisons are a public health hazard at the best of times, but during COVID-19 “we are now on the brink of crisis akin to a lit match in a room full of gasoline.”

On immigration, conservatives who feel Canada is letting in too many newcomers are arguing that now is the perfect time to “pause” on accepting people who don’t fit Canada’s “successful historic immigration model.”

On a four-day workweek, proponents say the pandemic, which has forced most employers to adjust their operations, is providing a catalyst for companies to introduce shortened work weeks to make people healthier and more productive.

Also exploiting the pandemic are advocates of online courses (step forward Ontario Education Minister Steven Lecce), more money for long-term-care facilities and for Ottawa to stop supporting international bodies such as the World Health Organization.

Indeed, it’s striking to see, as many of us were dealing with a new reality brought on by the pandemic, how others saw not a crisis, but an opportunity to promote their own agendas — and, as the rural development scientists said, to try to remake the world.