{"id":6696,"date":"2022-01-04T08:50:44","date_gmt":"2022-01-04T16:50:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thedaily.ca\/news\/?p=6696"},"modified":"2022-01-04T08:50:47","modified_gmt":"2022-01-04T16:50:47","slug":"on-covid-restrictions-our-governments-keep-firing-up-the-gaslights-and-shifting-the-goalposts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedaily.ca\/news\/2022\/01\/04\/on-covid-restrictions-our-governments-keep-firing-up-the-gaslights-and-shifting-the-goalposts\/","title":{"rendered":"On COVID restrictions, our governments keep firing up the gaslights and shifting the goalposts"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[et_pb_section fb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.12.1&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; da_is_popup=&#8221;off&#8221; da_exit_intent=&#8221;off&#8221; da_has_close=&#8221;on&#8221; da_alt_close=&#8221;off&#8221; da_dark_close=&#8221;off&#8221; da_not_modal=&#8221;on&#8221; da_is_singular=&#8221;off&#8221; da_with_loader=&#8221;off&#8221; da_has_shadow=&#8221;on&#8221; da_disable_devices=&#8221;off|off|off&#8221;][et_pb_row _builder_version=&#8221;4.12.1&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;4_4&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.12.1&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][et_pb_image src=&#8221;https:\/\/thedaily.ca\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2022\/01\/IMG_2111.jpeg&#8221; title_text=&#8221;IMG_2111&#8243; url=&#8221;https:\/\/garlicpowder.ca\/&#8221; url_new_window=&#8221;on&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.12.1&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; global_module=&#8221;6648&#8243; saved_tabs=&#8221;all&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;4.12.1&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; hover_enabled=&#8221;0&#8243; sticky_enabled=&#8221;0&#8243;]<\/p>\n<p>Listen closely and one might be able to discern the unmistakable sounds of our elected and unelected officials frantically firing up the gaslights and moving the goalposts on COVID restrictions and vaccinations.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>It was a precipitous but inevitable shift from &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/player\/play\/1718139459719\"><u>two weeks to flatten the curve<\/u><\/a>&#8221; to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/canada\/kitchener-waterloo\/waterloo-region-hospitals-vaccine-mandate-1.6241091\"><u>get the jab or lose your job<\/u><\/a>, and unsurprisingly, there is still more to come.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Met the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/canada\/toronto\/ontario-reopen-step-3-1.6078813\"><u>provincial vaccination targets<\/u><\/a>? Great; but now it&#8217;s time for a booster. Ready for the &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.blogto.com\/city\/2021\/09\/doug-ford-assures-people-ontario-vaccine-passports-only-temporary\/\"><u>temporary<\/u><\/a>&#8221; vaccine passport system to expire? Sorry, we need to <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CFRAOttawa\/status\/1463608817522982917?s=20\"><u>extend it through spring<\/u><\/a>; proving once again that if you give the government an inch on your rights, they will go for the mile every time.\u00a0<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>OPINION: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/opinion\/opinion-covid-individual-health-versus-public-health-neudorf-1.6260996\">Why this isn&#8217;t the time to assert your individual health rights<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Less than a year ago, government and public health officials <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/canada\/manitoba\/covid-19-vaccine-myths-dispelled-1.6014067\"><u>touted vaccination<\/u><\/a> as a panacea to end the pandemic. It&#8217;s safe, effective and will allow the country to put COVID <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thestar.com\/opinion\/contributors\/2021\/03\/16\/to-end-the-pandemic-70-per-cent-of-toronto-needs-to-get-the-covid-19-shot-school-vaccine-data-shows-that-will-be-a-struggle.html\"><u>behind us<\/u><\/a>, we were told. To that end, citizens were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/canada\/toronto\/healthcare-vaccination-1.6105937\"><u>encouraged<\/u><\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/canada\/calgary\/alberta-covid-19-vaccine-lottery-amie-gee-1.6163410\"><u>prodded<\/u><\/a> and eventually <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/canada\/toronto\/ontario-pc-caucus-covid-vaccines-mandatory-ford-1.6144504\"><u>threatened<\/u><\/a> to get their shots, with holdouts <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/canada\/sudbury\/trudeau-sudbury-laurentian-election-stop-1.6159866\"><u>demonized<\/u><\/a> by politicians at all levels. Yet, in Ontario, even as the province <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/canada\/toronto\/ontario-step-3-reopening-1.6096179\"><u>exceeded<\/u><\/a> by weeks its vaccination and case number targets of the government&#8217;s phased reopening plan, citizens were offered only breadcrumbs in return: moving up Phase 3 reopening by just <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/canada\/toronto\/ontario-step-3-reopening-1.6096179\"><u>a few days<\/u><\/a>, with no plans at the time for a complete reopening.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Goalposts shift again<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>And now, with new case numbers in Ontario <a href=\"https:\/\/covid-19.ontario.ca\/data#casesByVaccinationStatus\"><u>essentially split evenly<\/u><\/a> between the unvaccinated and fully vaccinated and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/health\/waning-immunity-covid-19-vaccines-breakthrough-infections-canada-1.6221608\"><u>questions<\/u><\/a>\u00a0about waning <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/health\/pfizer-booster-us-fda-1.6095891\"><u>vaccine efficacy<\/u><\/a>, the goalposts shift again with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/canada\/british-columbia\/covid19-booster-british-columbia-1.6225602\"><u>rollout of booster shots<\/u><\/a> elsewhere in the country and <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NathanStall\/status\/1463937032976273410?s=20\"><u>calls for expanded eligibility<\/u><\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div>\n<figure class=\"imageMedia image full\">\n<div class=\"placeholder\">\n<div class=\"placeholderImage\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.cbc.ca\/1.6273998.1638657377!\/fileImage\/httpImage\/image.jpg_gen\/derivatives\/original_780\/covid-case-count.jpg\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 300px,(max-width: 460px) 460px,(max-width: 620px) 620px,(max-width: 780px) 780px,(max-width: 1180px) 1180px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i.cbc.ca\/1.6273998.1638657377!\/fileImage\/httpImage\/image.jpg_gen\/derivatives\/original_300\/covid-case-count.jpg 300w, https:\/\/i.cbc.ca\/1.6273998.1638657377!\/fileImage\/httpImage\/image.jpg_gen\/derivatives\/original_460\/covid-case-count.jpg 460w, https:\/\/i.cbc.ca\/1.6273998.1638657377!\/fileImage\/httpImage\/image.jpg_gen\/derivatives\/original_620\/covid-case-count.jpg 620w, https:\/\/i.cbc.ca\/1.6273998.1638657377!\/fileImage\/httpImage\/image.jpg_gen\/derivatives\/original_780\/covid-case-count.jpg 780w, https:\/\/i.cbc.ca\/1.6273998.1638657377!\/fileImage\/httpImage\/image.jpg_gen\/derivatives\/original_1180\/covid-case-count.jpg 1180w\" alt=\"\" \/><\/div><figcaption class=\"image-caption\">The COVID-19 vaccinations data website from the Ontario government shows the number of COVID-19 cases Nov. 28 to Dec. 4 broken down by vaccination status. (Government of Ontario)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=&#8221;https:\/\/thedaily.ca\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2022\/01\/IMG_2111.jpeg&#8221; title_text=&#8221;IMG_2111&#8243; url=&#8221;https:\/\/garlicpowder.ca\/&#8221; url_new_window=&#8221;on&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.12.1&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; saved_tabs=&#8221;all&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; global_module=&#8221;6648&#8243; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;4.12.1&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; hover_enabled=&#8221;0&#8243; sticky_enabled=&#8221;0&#8243;]<\/p>\n<p>One does not need to look hard to guess what the next step will be across Canada. In <a href=\"https:\/\/corona.health.gov.il\/en\/directives\/green-pass-info\/\"><u>Israel<\/u><\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.eu\/article\/france-ties-seniors-vaccine-passports-to-booster-shots\/\"><u>France<\/u><\/a>, the definition of fully vaccinated was changed to include boosters; those six months out from their second dose, or first booster, are now considered unvaccinated, and their vaccine passport privileges suspended.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>There is, of course, the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/politics\/three-layer-mask-tam-1.5787946\"><u> popular<\/u><\/a> rebuttal that these goalpost shifts are entirely above-board as the &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/radio\/sunday\/the-sunday-magazine-for-october-17-2021-1.6212978\/misconceptions-about-science-fuel-pandemic-debates-and-controversies-says-neil-degrasse-tyson-1.6211345\"><u>science evolves<\/u><\/a>.&#8221; But that exposes the flaw inherent in governments&#8217; COVID response: for nearly two years, debate and dissent from burdensome COVID restrictions has been short-circuited with demands that citizens &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/canada\/kitchener-waterloo\/waterloo-region-guelph-hospitals-covid-19-vaccination-grh-1.6236987\"><u>trust the science<\/u><\/a>&#8220;; a modern take on debate-defusing exhortations to &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.economist.com\/democracy-in-america\/2017\/10\/04\/the-rhetorical-power-of-support-our-troops\"><u>support our troops<\/u><\/a>&#8221; during the War on Terror. Every infringement on citizens&#8217; privacy, mobility, autonomy and conscience rights has been justified by officials in the name of the infallible technocratic might of &#8220;the science.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div>\n<figure class=\"imageMedia image full\">\n<div class=\"placeholder\">\n<div class=\"placeholderImage\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.cbc.ca\/1.5998279.1619116625!\/cpImage\/httpImage\/image.jpg_gen\/derivatives\/original_780\/covid-ont-20210407.jpg\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 300px,(max-width: 460px) 460px,(max-width: 620px) 620px,(max-width: 780px) 780px,(max-width: 1180px) 1180px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i.cbc.ca\/1.5998279.1619116625!\/cpImage\/httpImage\/image.jpg_gen\/derivatives\/original_300\/covid-ont-20210407.jpg 300w, https:\/\/i.cbc.ca\/1.5998279.1619116625!\/cpImage\/httpImage\/image.jpg_gen\/derivatives\/original_460\/covid-ont-20210407.jpg 460w, https:\/\/i.cbc.ca\/1.5998279.1619116625!\/cpImage\/httpImage\/image.jpg_gen\/derivatives\/original_620\/covid-ont-20210407.jpg 620w, https:\/\/i.cbc.ca\/1.5998279.1619116625!\/cpImage\/httpImage\/image.jpg_gen\/derivatives\/original_780\/covid-ont-20210407.jpg 780w, https:\/\/i.cbc.ca\/1.5998279.1619116625!\/cpImage\/httpImage\/image.jpg_gen\/derivatives\/original_1180\/covid-ont-20210407.jpg 1180w\" alt=\"\" \/><\/div><figcaption class=\"image-caption\">Ontario Premier Doug Ford attends a news conference at the Queens Park legislature in Toronto in April, the same month he apologized to Ontarians and cancelled a number of COVID-19 restrictions after facing intense backlash. (Chris Young\/The Canadian Press)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>But when proven wrong \u2013 or more importantly, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/canada\/toronto\/doug-ford-ontario-covid-19-news-conference-1.5997521\"><u>unpopular at the polls<\/u><\/a> \u2013 that formerly rock-solid science on which officials acted is simply dismissed out of hand. Policymakers, however, cannot on one hand demand unyielding adherence to science, and then down the road simply hand-wave away their previous demands on the grounds that their knowledge or political fortunes have evolved.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>It is for this precise reason that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.law.cornell.edu\/wex\/separation_of_powers_0#:~:text=The%20Checks%20and%20Balances%20system%20provides%20each%20branch%20of%20government,branch%20from%20becoming%20too%20powerful.&amp;text=The%20Checks%20and%20Balances%20System%20also%20provides%20the%20branches%20with,members%20from%20the%20other%20branches.ance:%20to%20prevent%20rule%20through%20unaccountable%20technocratic%20appeals%20to%20authority.%20Debate%20and%20dissent%20in%20the%20age%20of%20Covid,%20however,%20have%20become%20four-letter%20words,%20with%20politicians%20and%20public%20health%20officials%20seized%20of%20a%20single-minded%20monomania%20that%20brooks%20no%20challenge%20to%20their%20authority.\"><u>checks and balances<\/u><\/a> exist in governance: to prevent rule through unaccountable <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cambridge.org\/core\/journals\/german-law-journal\/article\/rise-of-technocracy-and-the-covid19-pandemic-in-taiwan-courts-human-rights-and-the-protection-of-vulnerable-populations\/0FCD6D70FCDE950C775CC05E9D922DAD\"><u>technocratic<\/u><\/a> appeals to authority. Debate and dissent in the age of COVID, however, have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/news\/2021\/02\/11\/covid-19-triggers-wave-free-speech-abuse\"><u>become four-letter words<\/u><\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/health\/anti-vaxxers-canada-online-hate-healthcare-workers-safety-1.6247682\">Canadian health-care workers call for more protection from harassment and threats<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Our public health officials and elected politicians should not at this point expect any benefit of the doubt. Considering that we are still taking our shoes off and binning bottles of water at airport security 20 years after 9\/11, that government officials and their unelected mandarins are unwilling to cede their newfound power in an age of COVID should not come as any surprise.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Indeed, officials have shown they are not above apparent falsehoods to further their aims. Last week, Ontario&#8217;s Chief Medical Officer of Health Kieran Moore justified the immunization of children between the ages of five and 11 by claiming hospitalization and case counts for that age group\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=w4EgP5bBARc&amp;t=122s\"><u>were increasing<\/u><\/a>. Yet, according to Ontario&#8217;s own data, there had\u00a0been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.publichealthontario.ca\/en\/data-and-analysis\/infectious-disease\/covid-19-data-surveillance\/covid-19-data-tool?tab=ageSex\"><u>zero hospitalizations in that age group<\/u><\/a> in the past two weeks at the time of Moore&#8217;s statement.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Always another threat<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>As the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) <a href=\"https:\/\/protect-eu.mimecast.com\/s\/Um4oCPY99TyjwRZHz14su-?domain=aclu.org\"><u>once knew<\/u><\/a>, &#8220;There will always be a new disease, always the threat of a new pandemic.&#8221; Accordingly, the number of boosters, or the percentage of fully-vaccinated citizens, needed for a return to normal will always be n+1. Meet one metric, and be met with two more. As the ACLU continues, &#8220;If [fear of disease] justifies the suspension of liberties and the institution of an emergency state, then freedom and the rule of law will be permanently suspended.&#8221;\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Already we see public health officials priming the pump for the next goalpost shift. Even if vaccine uptake is high among five to 11-year-olds, it will still not be good enough. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/politics\/tam-vaccine-babies-toddlers-1.6262091\"><u>According to Dr. Theresa Tam<\/u><\/a>, Canada&#8217;s chief public health officer, toddlers under the age of four will be next to need the shots, claiming with an absolute lack of shame that \u2013 unlike all the other times we were promised an end to the pandemic \u2013 vaccinating that group will be a &#8220;turning point.&#8221;\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The government, of course, will never walk back its emergency powers of its own volition. And why would they? After two years of fomenting terror and division among the population, they have cultivated a solid base of support that combines the post-9\/11 see-something-say-something paranoia of a middle-class yuppie with the unctuous 1980s Moral Majority sense of superiority.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Until public opinion turns sharply against government overreach, we will continue to live in an artificially prolonged state of emergency, beholden to the whims of bureaucrats and elected officials.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Listen closely and one might be able to discern the unmistakable sounds of our elected and unelected officials frantically firing up the gaslights and moving the goalposts on COVID restrictions and vaccinations.\u00a0 It was a precipitous but inevitable shift from &#8220;two weeks to flatten the curve&#8221; to get the jab or lose your job, and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6697,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","_glsr_average":0,"_glsr_ranking":0,"_glsr_reviews":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,8,6,4,43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6696","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-covid19","category-general-news","category-justintrudeau","category-lockdowns","category-vaccines","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"yoast_head":"<title>On COVID restrictions, our governments keep firing up the gaslights and shifting the goalposts - The Daily News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thedaily.ca\/news\/2022\/01\/04\/on-covid-restrictions-our-governments-keep-firing-up-the-gaslights-and-shifting-the-goalposts\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"On COVID restrictions, our governments keep firing up the gaslights and shifting the goalposts - The Daily News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Listen closely and one might be able to discern the unmistakable sounds of our elected and unelected officials frantically firing up the gaslights and moving the goalposts on COVID restrictions and vaccinations.\u00a0 It was a precipitous but inevitable shift from &quot;two weeks to flatten the curve&quot; to get the jab or lose your job, and [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/thedaily.ca\/news\/2022\/01\/04\/on-covid-restrictions-our-governments-keep-firing-up-the-gaslights-and-shifting-the-goalposts\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Daily News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-01-04T16:50:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-01-04T16:50:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/thedaily.ca\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2022\/01\/2FE4CB1C-3F88-41E5-B972-C7DF6DCA426C.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1125\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"564\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"The Daily News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"The Daily News\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thedaily.ca\/news\/2022\/01\/04\/on-covid-restrictions-our-governments-keep-firing-up-the-gaslights-and-shifting-the-goalposts\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/thedaily.ca\/news\/2022\/01\/04\/on-covid-restrictions-our-governments-keep-firing-up-the-gaslights-and-shifting-the-goalposts\/\",\"name\":\"On COVID restrictions, our governments keep firing up the gaslights and shifting the goalposts - 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