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Letter to the Editor
My biggest fear in 2021 is not the coronavirus. And it is not the “new, more contagious (but not more deadly), coronavirus.”
My biggest fear in 2021 is the alarming loss of rights that Canadians are facing!
The Canadian Charter of Rights is supposed to guarantee the fundamental freedoms that every human being should be entitled to: “freedom of conscience and religion; freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication; freedom of peaceful assembly; and freedom of association.”
As I write this, there are currently people facing fines and even imprisonment for attempting to exercise those rights in a perfectly lawful manner. How can this be happening in “The True North, Strong and Free?” This is not the Canada I know. In fact, Canada is starting to sound frighteningly similar to other places in our world that do not enjoy a free democracy (for example: Nazi Germany or Communist China).
How are our Charter Rights being restricted?
First of all is freedom of religion. While people can gather in many non-religious settings (bars, gyms, schools, stores), it is somehow “not safe” to gather to worship. A number of churches are facing fines for holding services, or even for feeding the hungry. One pastor is facing up to a year in prison for daring to exercise this right. According to The Justice Centre, a Canadian legal organization, these “undemocratic” orders are “outright prohibiting the exercise of citizens’ fundamental freedoms,” as well as “impacting their spiritual and emotional well-being.”
If religious groups are facing discriminatory restrictions, who else is going to be next?
Freedom of expression, press, communication, etc. is being restricted every day in numerous media platforms. I have personally had posts on Facebook repeatedly censored because they were supposedly “false information”—even posts that cited government sources!
Since when is it Facebook’s prerogative to decide what is and is not false information? This is an obvious restriction of my freedom to express my thoughts and opinions! American President Donald Trump recently had posts deleted and was even been banned from Twitter and Facebook, after he posted a video asking Capitol protestors to go home peacefully.
If we are facing censorship because a media outlet does not like what we are saying, we are no longer a free people! Communist countries are also known for restricting free speech.
The right to assemble peaceably has been severely restricted. There have been numerous instances of people facing fines, being threatened by police, or even being jailed because they were exercising their right to assemble. In fact, our government is increasingly telling us when and where we can go, who we can see, what we must wear, and what we can say.
We are also facing the possibility of being forced to take a vaccine that still holds many uncertainties. This vaccine is technically only in the experimental stage, having completed only eight weeks of trials (most drugs must go through years of testing before they are accepted as safe). Despite the media “singing the praises” of the vaccine, VAERS, the FDA’s Adverse Event Reporting System, had received reports of over 1,000 adverse events by the end of 2020. “Of those, 17 have been ‘life threatening’ and two have led to a ‘permanent disability.’”
Those with serious allergies are being warned not to take the vaccine. Many have serious health, religious or personal concerns or objections to taking this vaccine. What complications might arise from forcing every person to take this vaccine?
What has precipitated this troubling assault on our Charter Rights and Freedoms?
“There is a deadly pandemic going on!” you might argue. “The government is only trying to protect us.” Does the government really have the right to restrict our constitutional rights, fine and even jail citizens, even if it is supposedly to protect us?
That might have been understandable for the first few weeks of this “pandemic” when there was so much uncertainty about this “new” coronavirus. But since then, overwhelming evidence has shown us that the lockdowns and restrictions are doing far more harm than good. Why have you not heard this “overwhelming evidence?”
Why are you not hearing an objective viewpoint about this coronavirus on the news or from government and health officials? Why is information being covered up or not reported? That is a good question that perhaps you should ask yourself!
Here are some interesting facts that I’ll bet were not highlighted on your news station last night.
In December, Dr. Bonnie Henry stated that only a handful of the coronavirus deaths in B.C. have been outside of long-term care facilities. While my deepest sympathies go to those in care-homes who have died of coronavirus, may I remind you that respiratory illness and influenza has always been one of the highest causes of death in the elderly! (CDC, “Trends in Causes of Death Among the Elderly” March 2001) In fact, over 80% of Covid deaths in Canada have taken place in long-term care facilities.
That also means that, if you are not in a care-home, chances are very low that you will die of coronavirus—even if you have pre-existing health conditions.
According to Google statistics, there have been just over 17,000 deaths total in Canada. There have only been about 1,000 total deaths in all of B.C. If this is really such a deadly disease, how can there be so few deaths? Wouldn’t one expect a “deadly pandemic” to have a much higher national death rate of 2.5% (1.7% in B.C.)!?
“A study of almost 10 million people in Wuhan, China, found that asymptomatic spread of COVID-19 did not occur at all, thus undermining the need for lockdowns…out of the nearly 10 million people in the study, ‘300 asymptomatic cases’ were found. ‘A total of 1,174 close contacts of the asymptomatic positive cases were traced, and they all tested negative for the COVID-19.’ …Commenting on the study, The Conservative Tree House noted that ‘all of the current lockdown regulations, mask wearing requirements and social distancing rules/decrees are based on a complete fallacy of false assumptions.’…asymptomatic spread just doesn’t happen – EVER.”
Dr. Clare Craig, diagnostic pathologist, commented on “asymptomatic” cases: “That’s a concept that we used to describe as being immune.” (The Highwire, 1/7/21)
Lockdowns are causing higher death rates than Covid itself! In Alberta, there have been 904 opioid deaths, compared to 815 COVID-19 deaths, as of Oct. 2020.
“The CDC reported the “largest number of drug overdoses for a 12-month period ever recorded. ’The disruption to daily life due to the COVID-19 pandemic has hit those with substance use disorder hard,’ said CDC Director Robert Redfield, M.D. ‘As we continue the fight to end this pandemic, it’s important to not lose sight of different groups being affected in other ways. We need to take care of people suffering from unintended consequences.’”
Lockdowns are also causing economic crises. “Economic forecasters say that Canada’s provinces and other levels of government below the federal level are spending unsustainably and will face a debt crisis unless they change course. Many businesses are being forced to close down, many have lost jobs, and people are being increasingly forced to depend on government aid to survive. Lockdowns are a serious detriment to capitalism and small businesses in our country.
Some politicians are evidently not as afraid of the virus as they would like you to think, since they seemed to think they were eligible to break lockdown rules and travel abroad over the Holidays. “Federal and provincial politicians have faced backlash and consequences following trips abroad over the holidays, while a large Christmas gathering by an independent MPP has prompted a police investigation.”
Ontario’s finance minister, Rod Phillips, resigned after being caught travelling to the Caribbean during the Holidays. “What’s really reprehensible here with Rod Phillips is tweeting that, there he is, in front of this fire on Christmas Eve wishing everyone a merry Christmas and thanking them for the sacrifices they’re making. And meanwhile he’s down in the Caribbean and lying about it [by using] a photo of Queen’s Park behind him.”
If you have been listening to the popular media outlets, you will, no doubt, assume this is all “false information,” conspiracy theory, anti-mask rhetoric, etc. But if you will take the time to do some research for yourself, you will find the things mentioned here are factual. Instead of listening to sensational news clips and reading misleading headlines, please take the time to look at the actual statistics. Look around your community and at this country. Is this really the condition we want to be in? Is this the direction our country should be headed? Those who fought and died for the charter rights we have all enjoyed would certainly not think so.
It is time to end the paranoia about this non-pandemic! It is time to give Canadians back the rights and freedoms promised to us in The Canadian Charter of Rights. It is time to end oppressive and unconstitutional lock-down measures. If you care about this beautiful democracy, stand up for your country, before it is too late!
Ruth Talbot,
Cranbrook
