As a team of concerned Nova Scotians from a variety of political and professional backgrounds, The Nova Scotia Civil Liberties Association is extremely concerned with the COVID-19 policies that have already been enacted and the future trajectory under our current Public Health leadership. Each of our industries, including legal, medical, education, entrepreneurs and civil servants have been disproportionately and unjustifiably negatively impacted by COVID-19 policies.
We are no longer ignorant of the nature of COVID-19, including the highest risk co-morbidities, transmissibility and the case fatality rates. Additionally, our knowledge of medical intervention has evolved dramatically including life-support techniques, early intervention and now equipped with readily available vaccines which have been highly adopted, especially by the most vulnerable, we as a society are far better defended against the harm COVID-19 presents.
The rhetoric and policies from provincial leadership surrounding COVID-19 have been devastating and are only getting worse, especially for the most vulnerable in society. As lockdowns predominantly hurt the marginalized and underprivileged populations, and mandatory-masks predominantly affect children, so too do vaccine passports and mandates affect those who have historical and rational distrust of government.
The evidence at this point is overwhelming that the elderly and the frail predominantly suffer the burden from COVID-19, but it is the young and healthy who are unjustly shouldering the burden of the response – including but not limited to:
The Nova Scotia Civil Liberties Association strongly urges not just a more rational but also a much more compassionate approach, free from stigma and from the unjustifiable and disproportionate harms impacting society. The policies and press-conferences that perpetuate an irrational fear of COVID-19 should be abandoned. Words of courage and unity should replace those of panic and stigma, and Nova Scotians should be educated and empowered to individually manage their risk with what has been common practice for decades.