The philosopher Thomas Hobbes argued that the purpose of government is to maintain order, preventing a “state of nature” where life is “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.” Life during the last two years has certainly been solitary and nasty, as we saw lives lost over the mishandling of the COVID crisis. So then, has the government failed us during the pandemic? The short answer is yes.
Since March 21, mask mandates have been lifted in most public places in Ontario, except settings such as public transit, hospitals and long-term-care homes. Prior to that, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said, “I hate as a government telling anyone what to do. We’ve just got to get moving forward and get out of this and protect the jobs … The world’s done with it, so let’s just move forward,” making it clear he wanted to leave public health measures up to individuals.
But the question is, can this pandemic really be handled by personal choice?
It is no secret that the virus is still spreading; we are now in the sixth wave. A brief by Public Health Ontario suggested a correlation between the removal of mask mandates and a subsequent increase in confirmed COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. (Unfortunately, the “full impact of lifting masking and other measures may not yet be observable,” noted the brief, “given limited PCR testing eligibility and lagging hospitalization data.”)
Given the resurgence of cases, much criticism has been levied on the Ontario Conservatives. Ford has had to defend the absence of Dr. Kieran Moore, the province’s chief medical officer of health, and deflect accusations from front-line workers critical of the government’s decisions, like Dr. Michael Warner. in to viral Twitter videoWarner speaks to how the “average person in Ontario isn’t sure what to do.”
Of course, human connection is important, and we need to learn to live with the virus. We are beginning to see some semblance of normalcy, with the return of large in-person events like conferences, fundraisers and religious gatherings. However, as Shira Lurie noted in a Star op-ed, we are treating the collective problem as an individual one, when it is clear that the “flawed rhetoric of personal responsibility” will not solve this crisis.
So now the tough decisions about how to protect society are falling on our community leaders, when they should have been the responsibility of our elected officials.
I spoke with Fareed Amin, chair of the Islamic Institute of Toronto, about how his mosque navigated the pandemic during Ramadan. He said that although the Ontario government has relaxed public health guidelines, “we have an obligation as an organization to protect the community, and the individual worshiper has an obligation to make sure they protect themselves and vulnerable people around them. In large congregations, someone may catch the virus and later interact with a senior who may not be present at the centre.”
In the absence of political leadership, the institute has been following guidelines set out by Canadian Muslim COVID-19 Task Force on how to keep the community safe. This includes continuing to mandate masks in the mosque, as well as discouraging socialization before and after prayers.
Amin said that “since there has been no consistency amongst the places of worship on best practices, educating people on safety has fallen on us. Although the majority of people are supportive, a few have been adamantly opposed. This virus only needs one carrier to spread to hundreds of people.”
The lack of action from our government puts the onus on ordinary citizens to make the right, and tough, decisions to protect ourselves and those around us. Fortunately, we have people like Fareed Amin to step in and fill the Ford government leadership void. But will this be enough?
