Ed Puszkar | Apr 28, 2021


I am amazed as well as disappointed after looking through the latest issue of your paper. There was no vitriol. There was no alarm. There was nothing! Our beloved Premier had arbitrarily curtailed certain inalienable rights from within the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and, on the surface, it looks like you, along with everyone else, are quite content with it. Local police forces throughout the Province realized that they didn’t want to be in the middle of this quagmire, and politely refused to enforce the new laws. Civil liberty groups voiced their opposition, yet, not a single word of concern or warning within your editorial this week.

Yes, I know, the Premier changed the wording, but the intent is still the same, and the infringement on the people of Ontario remains. Yes, our Premier apologized for his mistake, and then he changed the law without changing it, to make certain that his second ‘mistake’ would be overlooked. It still remains up to the discretion of the enforcement community as to when to stop an individual, (arbitrary detention), without a good reason, - a suspicion is good enough. Then the law requires Joe Blow to self-incriminate– or lie – or say nothing, all of which means that he is ticketed, or worse.

What is most frustrating is that you, Sir, have said nothing. This has nothing to do with politics or with which political party did what. This is not about masks, or social distancing. This has to do with the most basic and fundamental human rights, as defined within Canada. If this trampling of our rights does not warrant your concern and focus, then what does? With your tacit approval (because that’s what it is), you remind me of an old farmer that is more concerned with the barking of a neighbour’s dog than with the presence of the wolves at his door.

I know, some will reiterate that this is for a limited time only and will be rescinded – until the next time, and the next and the next. Believe me, there will be a next time, and a next, until we accept it as done. It is like boiling a frog in a pot of water – just raise the temperature slowly and they will never know, until it is too late – just limit the freedoms gradually and eventually everyone will accept it.

Ed Puszkar

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