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Thursday, March 28, 2024
Op-ed: Where do we stand on questions of personal freedom?

There is something ugly rising within my country. Something that I never would have believed that a populace, which has traditionally been a model of inclusivity based upon a live-and-let-liveĀ ethos, might be subject to.

Not that Iā€™m suggesting we are saints, lord knows that historically our country has many shameful stains, however I believed that these were not formed from the fibre of the many but rather forged by the agenda of the few.

Recently, I have been forced to reconsider my beliefs.

In the last two years across this country we have been asked to make sacrifices that in many ways might be suggested to parallel (in significantly different ways) those of our parents and grandparents during wars that spanned a significant portion of the globe.

And we have complied. We have shouldered the restrictions and made concessions relative to our personal freedoms that at the very least might be described as draconian.Ā 

Still, these sacrifices might be justified based on our understanding they were made for the greater good of all. AndĀ that is what Canadians have always been recognized for.

However, in the past few weeks I have listened on radio to my fellow citizens suggesting that those who have not complied with the majority position should be denied basic health care and other essential services. That those who do not choose to accept the will of the majority should be ā€œput on an island and abandoned to their own devices.ā€

Do Canadians really support ghettoizing their fellow citizens?

At a time like this I am reminded of the words of Voltaireā€™s biographer, Evelyn Beatrice Hall (S.G. Tallentyre) when describing her subjectā€™s philosophy: ā€œI disapprove of what you say, but will defend to the death your right to say it.ā€

In our current milieu, I might also paraphrase this to: I disagree with your decision but will defend to the death your right of choice to make it.

Which brings me to The Lake Reportā€™s Jan. 27Ā editorial ā€œClose maskless school now,ā€ in which the first nine paragraphs speak to denying these people the right and the freedom to make their own choice.

With all due respect to the author of this editorial, my family has had men and women who served in every major conflict this country has been involved in over the last 120 years and, in every case, they fought to preserve the freedoms (including that of choice) that every Canadian has had as an inalienable right to practise and enjoy.

Whether we agree with these folksā€™ decision or not, it is not our place to deny them their right of choice.

I submit that the current protest in Ottawa funded by an unprecedented level of GoFundMe contributions which, as of Jan. 28Ā (as reported by Bell Media 1010) averaged about $100 per contribution, without any expectation of financial return, is a very clear plebiscite.

Further, based on televised statements from the legitimate protesters, I do not feel this movement represents a vaxx/anti-vaxx divide. Itā€™s a protest engendered by government-imposed limitations on individual rights and freedoms,Ā an issueĀ I believe far more Canadians are invested in than whether or not someone gets the ā€œjab.ā€

Our duty as citizens of a free and democratic society is to safeguard the principles around which Canada has evolved.

This duty is not the purview of elected governments driven by political agendas. It is my responsibility, and your responsibility, as individual Canadians to determine whetherĀ we preserve a free and inclusive society for future generations.

Guess itā€™s up to each of us to decide, but I know where I will stand.

Brian Marshall writes The Lake Report's weekly Arch-i-Text column.

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