Well it looks likes things are returning to normal.
Local councils are holding in-person meetings, the Leafs didn’t qualify for the playoffs and protesters are clogging the streets of Montreal.
Thousands of people gathered in this province’s most populous city – which has accounted for more than a third of Canada’s COVID deaths – over the weekend to protest the . . .
imposition of mandatory masks in indoor public spaces. This was the latest of many such demonstrations that have taken place across Quebec in recent weeks.
The protesters appeared to hail from a broad spectrum of society, everyone from concerned skeptics to libertarian cranks and conspiracy theorists.
The more reasonable protesters questioned the timing of making face coverings mandatory, when cases have dwindled across the province. Others held signs decrying Quebec’s (currently stalled) Bill 61, an audacious play by the CAQ government to extend their already enormous emergency powers.
However, many of the attendees weren’t as thoughtful or measured in their criticism.
There were plenty of signs and t-shirts promoting the QAnon conspiracy, a jumbled assortment of logical leaps and deranged paranoia masquerading as a political movement.
Other attendees chanted “liberté” and made a big show of hugging each other and giving out pecks on the cheek.
It’s hard to believe that all this nonsense was prompted by an order to put some cloth over your face, especially in a city that’s been ground-zero for COVID infections, but it’s the type of political expression that’s to be expected in the age of Wikipedia rabbit-holes.
There will always be a segment of society who are skeptical of the government telling them what to do and for the most part, they have good reason to act that way.
Governments and the enormous bureaucracies they oversee are made up of people, and people are fallible. The current provincial government hasn’t even been in power for a full term and they’ve already accumulated a highlight reel of blunders and boondoggles large enough to shake anyone’s confidence. The premier recently canned his health minister over the response to this public health crisis, which blows apart the notion that there is a firm hand at the wheel of the ship.
However, this is a idiotic hill to die on.
Even the most libertarian of citizens likely abide by plenty of rules that inconvenience them on a daily basis, from using seat belts to stopping at red lights. To whine that putting on a mask is some sort of horrendous government overreach is laughable. Yes, it’s annoying to keep one on your person and nobody enjoys the feeling of marinating their face in warm, moist coffee breath, but you have to look at the big picture.
Limiting the spread of droplets spewing out of people’s gobs has been proven to inhibit this virus, which is a worthy trade off for a few minutes of discomfort.
When you look around the world, especially at places like Belarus and Hong Kong, you realize that Canadians enjoy a large amount of personal freedom. The citizens of Minsk braved rubber bullets and tear gas over the weekend to challenge the tyrant that rigged their presidential election. Meanwhile, Jean and Josée Six-pack in Quebec City are upset because they have to cover their slobber-flecked jowls at the dépanneur.
It’s the same response you’d expect from a petulant child: ‘You can’t make me!’
A child however, would deserve pity. They don’t know any better. The same can’t be said for the selfish dolts that are kicking up such a fuss over masks. The individual freedoms we enjoy come with a host of collective responsibilities and the sooner everyone grasps that concept, the better.
Caleb Nickerson
