The pandemic has served as a flashpoint for civil liberties

Lack of transparency key, Meghan McDermott says.

As the one-year anniversary of the pandemic approaches, residents of B.C. are living in a radically altered landscape. Our provincial government has been both praised and criticized for its handling of the pandemic, but how have they truly fared with respect to civil liberties and human rights?

A key issue for the public and organizations such as ours has been the lack of transparency by the province. It is impossible to assess whether the provincial government is striking the right balance between our liberties and the protection of public health without being privy to the evidence they are basing decisions on. B.C. has rightly been criticized for not being as forthcoming as other provinces about the timing and location of infections. At least three First Nation communities have legally challenged the province's withholding of COVID-19 information that is necessary for Indigenous governments to make more informed safety decisions for their communities.

And unlike other provinces — and despite repeated calls to do so — B.C. still is not collecting race-based data. As the province's human rights commissioner Kasari Govender has stressed, “Collecting and using disaggregated data is about caring for our communities by informing law, policy and institutional practice that is in service of — and developed in collaboration with — those who are systemically discriminated against.” The ongoing reluctance of the province to collect such crucial data undermines public confidence. How can we trust that COVID response measures are truly effective if we have an incomplete picture of how diverse communities are impacted?

The uncertainty over whether masks are legal requirements or merely recommendations highlights how tricky the pandemic has been from the perspective of rule of law. Confusion about legal enforceability can add to the uncertainty that most of us are already struggling with, and can further lead to the perception that the government is governing haphazardly. Rules for visiting seniors in care have also lacked clarity and been inconsistently applied in B.C., causing a lot of preventable heartache and loneliness.

A key issue related to rule of law has actually escaped the attention of many. Last summer, broad new emergency powers were granted through the passage of the COVID-19 Related Measures Act. The expanded authority allows the government to temporarily change any law during an emergency, without any oversight from the public and without approval from the legislature. Although the pandemic requires quick decisions by the government, these new powers are unjustifiably over-broad and lack proper safeguards.

We are also concerned about measures to police the pandemic. Initially relying on public health officers to emphasize communication of pandemic rules, the province has now authorized police officers to start COVID-related law enforcement and to issue violation tickets. With very little data about the scope of enforcement, we are left to speculate about the efficacy and impact of these enforcement measures. And given that our province resists collecting race-based data, we simply do not know whether racialized British Columbians are disproportionately impacted by police enforcement actions, as is the case in other provinces.

We, and many others, have been unequivocal that no one should be left behind in the pandemic. Sadly, the government does not seem to agree. We continue to see officials disrupt the rights of the unhoused with injunctions to clear encampments and denial of proper sanitary services.

Premier John Horgan criticized Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps because, instead of displacing unhoused residents, she adhered to public health guidelines. Rural communities — especially Indigenous ones — have also been disrespected by the province, clearly displayed when health officials recently withdrew vaccines from the Nuxalk Nation.

The pandemic has served as a flashpoint for human rights and civil liberties. As difficult as these times are, hopefully this unprecedented time reminds us of the importance of cherishing rights and liberties, and holding the government to the highest standard of transparency and accountability — because we deserve nothing less.