{"id":3824,"date":"2020-04-01T05:08:58","date_gmt":"2020-04-01T09:08:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/?p=3824"},"modified":"2020-04-01T05:08:58","modified_gmt":"2020-04-01T09:08:58","slug":"as-civil-liberties-erode-canada-must-not-allow-covid-19-outbreak-to-infect-the-rule-of-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/?p=3824","title":{"rendered":"As civil liberties erode, Canada must not allow COVID-19 outbreak to infect the rule of law"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/opinion\/opinion-charter-rights-freedoms-covid-1.5508222#content\">Skip to Main Content<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/\">CBC<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/sitemap\">Menu <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/coronavirus-guide-explainer-1.5497009\">COVID-19: What you need to know<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/search\"><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\">As civil liberties erode, Canada must not allow COVID-19 outbreak to infect the rule of law<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Government can suppress civil liberties in the name of protecting them, but how far will it go?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/opinion\/joseph-arvay-1.5508994\">Joseph Arvay<\/a>, <a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/opinion\/david-wu-1.5509266\">David Wu<\/a> \u00b7 for CBC News Opinion \u00b7 Posted: Mar 26, 2020 4:00 AM ET | Last Updated: March 26<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.cbc.ca\/1.4360910.1508446345!\/cpImage\/httpImage\/image.jpg_gen\/derivatives\/16x9_780\/peace-tower-20170726.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><figcaption>Measures\n taken by the federal, provincial and municipal governments to try and \nstop COVID-19 from spreading have some asking where the Canadian Charter\n of Rights and Freedoms stands in light of this pandemic. (Sean Kilpatrick\/Canadian Press)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><em><strong>This\n column is an opinion&nbsp;by Joseph Arvay QC and David Wu,&nbsp;lawyers at Arvay \nFinlay LLP in Vancouver and Victoria, B.C.&nbsp;For more information about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/opinion\">CBC&#8217;s Opinion section<\/a>, please see the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/opinion\/opinion-faq-1.3834532\">FAQ<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When\n the lock-downs started occurring in Wuhan and other cities in Hubei, \nChina, quarantining more than 50 million people, many observers in \nWestern countries thought it impossible for such Draconian measures to \nbe implemented in the democratic West.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Only an authoritarian government could implement such liberty-infringing measures, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yet the premier of Nova Scotia <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/canada\/nova-scotia\/nova-scotia-to-provide-covid-19-update-sunday-march-22-1.5505859\">announced strict legal measures<\/a>\n Sunday to enforce isolation and social distancing, measures that \ninclude fines and even potential imprisonment. He said, &#8220;a failure to \nfollow public guidelines to limit the spread of COVID-19 puts our civil \nliberties at risk.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That statement might have struck some as \ncounter-intuitive or something of an oxymoron. We usually see our civil \nliberties as being a bulwark against state action that seeks to deprive \nus of our rights and freedoms, such as the right to liberty, and the \nfreedoms to assemble in public places and associate with our friends, \nfamilies and colleagues. And yet here was a provincial premier claiming \nthat these new laws \u2014&nbsp;laws that would do just that \u2014&nbsp;are in effect civil\n libertarian measures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Similar measures to counter COVID-19&#8217;s \ntransmission are now in place or expected at all levels of government in\n Canada: federal, provincial, territorial, and municipal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"title-1714986563713\">\n                Provinces, cities crack down on social distancing rules\n            <\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>8 days ago<\/li><li>\n                    1:59\n                <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>\n        \n    \n    \n\n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n\n    \n\n\nProvincial and local \ngovernments are cracking down on people who are not following social \ndistancing or quarantine rules to try to prevent further spread of \nCOVID-19. 1:59  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This raises legitimate \nlegal questions \u2013 how far can the state go to erode our civil liberties \nin the name of protecting them? And where does the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gc.ca\/eng\/csj-sjc\/rfc-dlc\/ccrf-ccdl\/\">Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms<\/a>,which applies to federal, provincial and municipal laws, stand in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A\n declaration of a local, provincial, or federal emergency does not in \nand of itself suspend the operation of the Charter. Our fundamental \nCharter rights currently remain in place, and all laws and government \nactions aimed at tackling the pandemic still need to be compliant with \nthe Charter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/politics\/cellphone-tracking-trudeau-covid-1.5508236\">Trudeau leaves door open to using smartphone data to track Canadians&#8217; compliance with pandemic rules<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/canada\/newfoundland-labrador\/privacy-covid-19-michael-harvey-1.5507979\">Public health can override privacy, but it&#8217;s not happening yet: Privacy commissioner<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>We have no doubt that the measures taken so far by governments \u2013 from orders in some provinces to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/canada\/toronto\/covid-19-coronavirus-ontario-monday-1.5506445\">close all non-essential businesses<\/a>, to the bylaw amendments in some cities to increase <a href=\"https:\/\/bc.ctvnews.ca\/vancouver-can-now-enforce-physical-distancing-with-fines-up-to-50k-1.4864402\">fines to up to $50,000 for breaches of emergency orders<\/a>\n \u2013 are compliant with the Charter, because none of our rights and \nfreedoms are absolute. All can be infringed by laws that &#8220;are \ndemonstrably justified in a free and democratic society.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These \nvarious measures would strike most people as proportionate to achieve \nthe pressing and compelling state objectives of protecting our citizens \nfrom a deadly virus. Rights and liberties must sometimes make way in the\n pursuit of other legitimate societal objectives, like public health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And\n such rights and liberties can themselves sometimes be in conflict (for \nexample, one&#8217;s right to liberty and association versus another&#8217;s right \nto life and security of the person in the current pandemic).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"title-1714986563550\">\n                \u2018Enough is enough,\u2019 Trudeau toughens talk on isolation\n            <\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>8 days ago<\/li><li>\n                    1:58\n                <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>\n        \n    \n    \n\n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n\n    \n\n\nPrime Minister Justin \nTrudeau toughened his language around self-isolation and social \ndistancing while considering implementing the Emergencies Act. 1:58  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How much further might the government go?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There is now much talk of social unrest. <a href=\"https:\/\/nationalpost.com\/news\/canada\/coronavirus-panic-grocery-panic-shopping-stockpiling\">Scuffles have broken out in grocery stores<\/a> that ran short of items, and on March 19 the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/global-health\/science-and-disease\/watch-scuffle-breaks-london-supermarket-shoppers-fear-coronavirus\/\">London Daily Telegraph reported<\/a>\n that, &#8220;Food retailers have warned that riots and civil disobedience \ncould break out within weeks if production is unable to keep up with \ndemand.&#8221; Meanwhile, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/world\/unprecedented-gun-and-ammunition-sales-spike-amid-coronavirus-spread-1.5502092\">gun and ammunition sales<\/a> in Canada are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/canada\/edmonton\/guns-ammunition-shotguns-handguns-cabela-s-swamp-donkey-outdoors-1.5507560\">rising significantly<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Desperate\n people sometimes take desperate measures. If the COVID-19 pandemic \nworsens and poses an even greater threat to our society, we can expect \ngovernment measures increasingly to infringe on our civil liberties if \nneeded to deal with unrest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/politics\/trudeau-tam-covid19-emergencies-act-supplies-1.5508035\">Trudeau says most premiers don&#8217;t think Emergencies Act needed yet to cope with COVID-19<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/canada\/newfoundland-labrador\/rnc-public-report-forms-covid-19-1.5508099\">Police chief says compliance is the goal, but arrests possible if COVID-19 orders disobeyed<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Is a total lock-down in our future? Unrestricted state spying or surveillance? Suspension of habeas corpus? Martial law?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It seems safe to say that Canadians are in uncharted territory, and that includes our governments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"title-1714990147617\">\n                Ontario closes all non-essential services to slow COVID-19 spread\n            <\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>8 days ago<\/li><li>\n                    1:51\n                <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>\n        \n    \n    \n\n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n\n    \n\n\nOntario Premier Doug Ford\n ordered all non-essential stores and services to close at the end of \nTuesday, to slow the spread of COVID-19. 1:51  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Undoubtedly\n the state will be accused by some of doing too much, and by others of \ndoing too little. Both sides could potentially rely on the Charterto bolster their position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But the reality is that the Charterwill\n not hamstring unprecedented government measures that are designed to \ntackle an unprecedented crisis, as long as such measures can be \njustified.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What the Chartermandates is proportionality\n and balance.&nbsp;Particular care needs to be taken not to worsen the \nalready precarious situation of our homeless, prisoners, those seeking \nrefugee status, sex workers, drug addicts and other vulnerable and \nmarginalized communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These are, no doubt, very fearful \ntimes. But what we hope is not in the cards is a government invoking the\n &#8220;Notwithstanding clause&#8221;&nbsp;in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gc.ca\/eng\/csj-sjc\/rfc-dlc\/ccrf-ccdl\/check\/art33.html\">section 33 of the Charter<\/a>.\n That would mean that there are no restrictions on those governments \nthat decide to enact laws that abolish our legal rights and fundamental \nfreedoms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That, in our opinion, would be an unnecessary overreaction and a dangerous one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let&#8217;s not give the COVID-19 virus that power. It is causing enough havoc; let it not infect the rule of law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><strong>This column is part of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/opinion\">CBC&#8217;s Opinion section<\/a>. For more information about this section, please read our&nbsp;<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/opinion\/opinion-faq-1.3834532\"><strong>FAQ<\/strong><\/a><strong>.<\/strong><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">About the Author<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.cbc.ca\/1.5508999.1585093904!\/fileImage\/httpImage\/image.jpg_gen\/derivatives\/square_620\/joseph-arvay.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/opinion\/joseph-arvay-1.5508994\">Joseph Arvay<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Joseph Arvay QC is a lawyer at Arvay Finlay LLP in Vancouver and Victoria, B.C.<a href=\"https:\/\/cbc.radio-canada.ca\/en\/vision\/governance\/journalistic-standards-and-practices\">CBC&#8217;s Journalistic Standards and Practices<\/a>|<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/about-cbc-news-1.1294364\">About CBC News<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>\n    \n    \n    \n      \n\n\n5 days ago<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>\n    \n    \n    \n      \n\n\n5 days ago<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>                                                  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Skip to Main ContentCBCMenu COVID-19: What you need to know As civil liberties erode, Canada must not allow COVID-19 outbreak to infect the rule of law Government can suppress civil liberties in the name of protecting them, but how far &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/?p=3824\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2136,2145,2144],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3824"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3824"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3824\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3825,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3824\/revisions\/3825"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3824"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3824"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}