{"id":4224,"date":"2020-07-20T05:13:43","date_gmt":"2020-07-20T09:13:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/?p=4224"},"modified":"2020-07-20T05:14:14","modified_gmt":"2020-07-20T09:14:14","slug":"canadian-constitution-foundation-suggests-amendments-to-mandatory-mask-order-in-ontario","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/?p=4224","title":{"rendered":"Canadian Constitution Foundation suggests amendments to mandatory mask order in Ontario"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Canadian Constitution Foundation suggests amendments to mandatory mask order in Ontario<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<figure><iframe width=\"970\" height=\"250\"><\/iframe><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\n            Order breaches rights to individual liberty, informational privacy and non-discrimination, said CCF\n        <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-res.keymedia.com\/cms\/images\/ca\/119\/0321_637298191835950369.jpg\" alt=\"Canadian Constitution Foundation suggests amendments to mandatory mask order in Ontario\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\n            \n    \n    \n        \n                \n                        \n                            BY\n                                    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lawtimesnews.com\/authors\/bernise-carolino\">Bernise Carolino<\/a>\n                        \n                                            08 Jul 2020\n                \n            \n                Share\n                 AddThis Sharing Buttons<a>Share to Facebook<\/a><a>Share to Twitter<\/a><a>Share to LinkedIn<\/a><a>Share to Email<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Canadian Constitution Foundation has <a href=\"https:\/\/theccf.ca\/release-ccf-raises-concerns-about-mandatory-masks-order\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">questioned the constitutionalit<\/a>y of orders requiring face coverings in certain Ontario municipalities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In a <a href=\"https:\/\/theccf.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Letter-with-blackline-june2020.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">letter to Dr. Nicola Mercer<\/a>,\n medical officer of health at the Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph public \nhealth region, the CCF said that a June 12 order imposing the use of \nmandatory face coverings in commercial establishments breached s. 7, s. \n15 and s. 8 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The order <em>prima facie<\/em> violates the right to liberty of the \nperson under s. 7 because it forces people to cover their faces and \ninterferes with their bodily integrity, the CCF said. It also infringes \nthe right to non-discrimination on the basis of disability under s. 15 \nsince it imposes a disproportionate burden on persons with disabilities,\n including breathing problems like asthma and emphysema or trauma-based \nphobia of breathing obstructions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure><iframe width=\"970\" height=\"250\"><\/iframe><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201c[I]f a person has PTSD related to having their breathing obstructed,\n they should not need to discuss this with strangers in order to buy \ntoilet paper or fill up their gas tank,\u201d said Christine Van Geyn, \nlitigation director at the CCF.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The order does include an exemption which allows such individuals to \nforgo masks, but the CCF argues that requiring a person to disclose \nprivate health information in order to claim an exemption infringes \nprivacy rights under s. 8, particularly the right to informational \nprivacy. Forcing such a disclosure may cause a person with trauma-based \nphobia to re-experience the traumatic experience and suffer reputational\n harm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The CCF said that the order should be repealed or at least amended \ndue to these issues. Tested against the requirements found in <em><a href=\"http:\/\/canlii.ca\/t\/1ftv6\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">R. v. Oakes<\/a><\/em>,\n the limitation imposed by the order is not rationally connected to the \nobjective, is not minimally impairing and is not proportionate, the CCF \nsaid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To support its argument of a lack of rational connection to the \nobjective, the CCF cited the relatively low local rate of community \ntransmission in the area and questioned why the order applies to retail \ncommercial establishments but not to other places also subject to public\n gatherings, such as churches or community centres. The CCF said that \nthe order should be amended to require masks only when physical \ndistancing of six feet is impossible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The order is not minimally impairing because it fails to consider its\n impact on the privacy and equality rights of persons with disabilities,\n who risk reliving trauma and experiencing reputational harm, the CCF \nsaid. Therefore, the CCF asks for an amendment to the effect that an \nemployee of a commercial establishment should accept a claim for a \nmedical exemption at face value, without requiring a disclosure of \nprivate health information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Most Read<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure><iframe width=\"970\" height=\"250\"><\/iframe><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The CCF then said that the $5,000 fine imposed on commercial \nestablishments who do not enforce the order is disproportionate, given \nthat much lower fines were implemented during the peak of the outbreak. \nThe order should be amended to set a $500 fine instead, the CCF said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt is our strong preference not to commence litigation, when simple \namendments to the Order would achieve the goal of protecting both the \nhealth and the rights of citizens,\u201d wrote Van Geyn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The CCF intends to send letters to other Ontario communities with \nsimilar orders either implemented or contemplated, such as York Region, \nKingston and Waterloo.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Canadian Constitution Foundation suggests amendments to mandatory mask order in Ontario Order breaches rights to individual liberty, informational privacy and non-discrimination, said CCF BY Bernise Carolino 08 Jul 2020 Share AddThis Sharing ButtonsShare to FacebookShare to TwitterShare to LinkedInShare to &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/?p=4224\">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":[2278,2280,2279],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4224"}],"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=4224"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4224\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4225,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4224\/revisions\/4225"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}