Beware the Covidiots

Every day, experts learn more about coronavirus and ways to protect the population. Everyone I know in Toronto and London is self-isolating, and many of the shops that remain open in Toronto have markers so you social distance yourself from the next person. While this isn’t the way most of us would choose to spend the beginning of spring, it beats being on a ventilator. I’m happy listening to the medical experts on what’s right because whatever else, they know more than I do.

But what happens to civil liberties in a time of crisis? It’s a question that has long been debated. At the hospital last Saturday night it was announced that visitors would no longer be allowed to see patients. That was inevitable. Sitting in the hallway at Sunnybrook, one family walked by and asked if we should fight this new restriction. Covidiots. Categorically, I said that I did not.

While it’s always good to question authority, this was a crazy fight to pick and ultimately lose. It would put thousands of patients at risk, including our own fathers, not to mention the healthcare workers. Sliding down the slippery slope is something to be concerned about, but this isn’t the occasion, although both human rights and media freedom are always essential and especially so in times of crisis.

Civil society is under attack, though. The CIVICUS Monitor, a global research collaboration, in a 2019 report, showed that “the fundamental freedoms of association, peaceful assembly and expression are backsliding across the world. In the space of a year, twice as many people are living in countries where these civic freedoms are being violated: 40 per cent of the world’s population now live in repressed countries — last year it was 19 per cent.” Only three per cent of the world’s population live in countries where rights are protected, down from four per cent in 2018.

According to CIVICUS, “we already see international battles for control of the narrative around the virus, in particular between the world’s two largest national economies — the US and China”. Despite President Trump’s denigration of the mainstream media, it plays a crucial role in providing clear information, accurately reporting what scientists and doctors say. The most important thing is that we can trust that transparency and truth from official sources and the media.

On the previous Monday, the former Secretary of State David Miliband, now president and CEO of the International Rescue Committee, gave an interview on PBS in which he said that times like these show us how interconnected the world is. It also showed how vulnerable migrants and refugees are. “This is the moment for the world to recognise that the unsolved problems of globalisation, the unsolved problems of refugees, of war, of health systems that are not in place, really need to be addressed.”

In Italy, the homeless and the undocumented migrants are often vulnerable to police harassment. The Italian police now stop over 200,000 people every day and about 50,000 have incurred fines or a prison sentence.

Miliband said that “it’s the NGOs, the non-governmental organisations, that are on the front line trying to make a difference. The developed world has got to recognise that this is an international crisis and needs to be treated as such”.

The Council of Europe has affirmed, “fundamental safeguards to the rule of law, parliamentary oversight, independent judicial control and effective domestic remedies, must be maintained even during a state of emergency”.

Amnesty International asked that states in the Americas “ensure that their responses to Covid-19 are in line with their international human rights obligations”. These include a commitment not to use “repression or excessive force in enforcement of public health measures; or censor or limit access to evidence-based information or prevention”.

In Canada, we saw this in action as Trudeau’s Liberal government tried to pass emergency legislation that would grant it sweeping powers to tax and spend until December 31, 2021. On Monday March 23, the Official Opposition announced that it would not support a bill without a parliamentary vote although it was anticipated that the legislation would pass unanimously. By Tuesday afternoon there were signs of trouble. In the early hours of Wednesday morning, the Covid-19 Emergency Response Act passed its third reading in the House just before 6am.

Democracy during the pandemic. Maybe the only positive sign in an otherwise bleak, frightening and uncertain landscape.