Who decided for people in Ontario what is essential and what is not essential?

BY SIMONE J SMITH

Who would have ever thought that there would be a time in our lives when what we eat, who we talk to, what we buy; when we buy it would be controlled strictly by the government?

We live in a country that is said to be a democratic one. Democracy, in its Greek roots means, “Rule by the people.” This means that as Canadian citizens, we should have just as much say on how our country is run, hence the development of The Charter of Rights and Freedoms. As citizens living in a democratic society, we have rights, which include: the right to speak freely (as long as we are not harming others in the process), to practice our religion, and to vote.

Citizens in a democracy also have responsibilities, one of them being whom we choose to lead us. We also must keep informed about what is going on with our government, but as of late, the definition of democracy in Canada has become blurry.

Canada is supposed to be a prime example of democracy because of its political stability, free elections, and extensive civil liberties, but I beg to question; are Canadians the ones who are really calling the shots in Canada? Is the democratic parliamentary system truly democratic?

In the last year, we have witnessed events that cast doubt over people’s trust in this “democratic” system.

After the announcement last Tuesday about yet another lockdown, our office has been receiving phone call after phone call, email after email, of people frustrated with what has been going on.

In dialogue with a community member, she expressed her concerns over the new lockdown protocols, and how much they have started to affect her family.

“Whatever I have to do to fight this I am going to do,” she told me. “Simone, enough is enough. How do I get in contact with Doug Ford? Can you help me do that? I had no problem adhering to all these policies; it is this latest one that has really pissed me off. I am a mother who has been home-schooling my children before this pandemic even started. I do a lot of things with my children in the home, and when I went to the Dollar Store this weekend, and they told me that I couldn’t buy arts supplies, or pens and pencils for my children, this really hit home. Who are the people determining what is essential and non-essential? What gives them that right?

 I listened empathetically and thought long and hard about the question she asked. Who was determining what is essential and non-essential, and who had they consulted before they made these decisions?

This type of strong-arming by the government could be the beginning to the end of what we all see as a democratic society. All of the articles that I have seen written about the new lockdown measures have spoken to what is allowed and not allowed, and I am happy that they did. What they did not speak to is the fact that we as humans, as citizens in Canada have the right to question the government, to ask them how they decided for all Canadians what was essential for them.

The government’s logic is that cordoning off “non-essential” goods will encourage more people to stay home and buy their good online from smaller companies. Maybe they are not privy to what happened last year in a drugstore in LaSalle. In this incident, hair products for African descendants were taped off and deemed as non-essential. This naturally raised some eyebrows, but naturally, because it was not happening to us, little was said or done.

Now of course it has hit closer to home. Now many of us are realizing that something that may seem like nothing to someone who doesn’t need certain products is essential for other people.

This brings us to a very disturbing fact that is slowly turning into a trend; our human rights are being ignored. Many people want to stand up for themselves, but don’t know where to start.

Here is where we have to come together as a nation and say what we believe is right no matter how unpopular it is, especially when comes to defending our rights and freedoms. When are freedoms are being repressed and we remain silent, we become complicit in that repression.

We cannot be complicit. We cannot follow the crowd. We have to speak up. We have to speak with intelligence, and we have to be LOUD.

Yes, at times you will be attacked, I can assure you of that. You will lose some friends and make some enemies, but I tell you that there is a resistance growing. You are not alone.

We must take back our rights! We must fight for our freedoms. The revolution will not be televised.