Editor:
The paid advertisement on page 13 last week is headed up “Your Rights and Freedoms” and purports to give us the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. But in classic social media style, the “information” (using the word in the ad) leaves out the most important section of the Charter – Section 1. It reads as follows:
“The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees the rights and freedoms set out in it subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society.” This first section of the Charter says there are limits to our freedom. Limits that have to be demonstrably justified (meaning, for instance, with established medical/scientific evidence) but once justified, our rights and freedoms can be restricted.
In other words, the anti-vaxxers are free to choose not to be vaccinated, not to wear masks and are free to demonstrate, but limits can be imposed to restrict how they interact with the rest of us, for the protection of the health of all the community. This section is why the anti-vaxxers have not had success fighting restrictions in the legal system in Alberta and elsewhere.
Alison Sawyer, Elphinstone
