Curfew exceptions, updated
Here’s the official list of curfew exceptions, updated.
Raised a slight eyebrow at CBC’s headline Montrealers protest […] curfew. A mere 75 people were at that protest, don’t make it sound like everyone in the city turned out.
In general, our media are happily manufacturing dissent against the curfew: Global’s Civil liberties association condemns curfew, CTV’s More harm than good and others I will add.
For some reason, Newsweek covered the fining of protesters on the weekend.
MarcG 11:10 on 2022-01-03 Permalink
I flinched at that headline as well. Clickbait I guess? Although you’d think something circus-like (“Come gawk at a bunch of freaks and feel better about yourself”) would be catchier.
GC 11:20 on 2022-01-03 Permalink
Montrealers love a good protest. You’d be hard-pressed to find ANYTHING that wouldn’t get a couple of dozen people out. At least the photo isn’t misleading about the scope of it.
Because I’m pedantic, I find it amusing that going to/from the hospital is an exception, but apparently only going *to* the pharmacy. (Then I have to stay there until 5 AM?) Yes, yes, I know it’s implied…
jeather 11:30 on 2022-01-03 Permalink
I disagree with the curfew — honestly most people I know don’t like it, think it is theatre and not actually going to help, and that it’s trying to cover up for his shitty decisions in Nov/Dec, including allowing secular tree day to go on as usual but announcing on Dec 30 that NYE had to be cancelled. (Should it have been? Maybe. We did the max-6-people meal at noon instead because what else do you do with the groceries.)
DeWolf 11:54 on 2022-01-03 Permalink
I don’t think you can say they are manufacturing dissent when it’s very likely that a majority of Montrealers oppose the curfew. Just because most of us aren’t willing to risk a massive fine or attend protest with a bunch of conspiracy clowns doesn’t mean there is support for this measure. (I’m sure the CAQ’s suburban/rural base likes it just fine, though.)
Kevin 12:02 on 2022-01-03 Permalink
The curfew IS meaningless theatre.
At this point, so is contact tracing.
Quebec screwed the pooch in delaying boosters and not locking down in mid December.
The half-measures announced since then are not enough to protect the unvaccinated.
Chris 17:50 on 2022-01-03 Permalink
I literally know no one that supports the curfew. I’ve asked friends, family, coworkers, they all oppose it.
Corona is endemic, some have not got that into their heads yet. If the covid-zero people have their way, we’ll never have all our freedoms back.
Tim S. 18:03 on 2022-01-03 Permalink
Thanks for the anecdotal evidence Chris!
I honestly don’t have a problem with a 10PM curfew in January. I might change my mind in May.
Kevin 18:07 on 2022-01-03 Permalink
Chris
The idea of Covid zero stopped in April 2020.
Governments chose to burn out medical staff during the past two years while fiddling instead of actually working to build capacity or educate the public.
We have been at the edge of healthcare failing for two years, and the next few weeks are looking worse than anything that has come before.
Tim S. 18:41 on 2022-01-03 Permalink
The virus probably is here to stay. A few things consider:
1) The virus will continue to evolve, vaccines may or may not keep up.
2) We will all age into increased vulnerability.
3) Most of us will pick up various “co-morbidities” along the way.
Given that, we probably won’t get all our ‘freedoms’ back, in the same way that we’re not free to empty chamberpots onto the sidewalk or eat at restaurants that don’t pass health inspections. We just have to think about which measures we’re willing to accept, long-term, and which ones we’re not. I hope we don’t end up with a permanent curfew and can one day get rid of masks for most interactions, but things like decreased international travel, vaccine passports, more spending on ventilation, no more crowded indoor bars and restaurants and shows, might be things we have to adapt to.
Diseases become less dangerous because we adapt our behaviours. It’s what we do as humans.
MarcG 20:24 on 2022-01-03 Permalink
For anyone looking for some positive Covid news, some folks in Texas have made a low-cost, patent-free vaccine and India has given it the green light already. https://www.democracynow.org/2022/1/3/patent_free_vaccine_in_texas
Chris 19:30 on 2022-01-04 Permalink
Tim, why put “freedoms” in quotes? You don’t think being forcibly confined to your home for 1/4 of the day is not a limitation of your freedom? I don’t think many are satisfied to “hope” that we won’t have a permanent curfew. Acceptance will continue to fall the longer it exists.
Sorry to sound harsh, but trying to stop anyone from dying of covid by forever staying masked or locked at home is just not going to fly. Just like we’re not willing to save everyone from dying of car crashes or air pollution because we prefer the freedom of personal transportation.
MarcG 20:55 on 2022-01-04 Permalink
If car crashes were contagious I think we would treat them very differently.
Tim S. 21:50 on 2022-01-04 Permalink
Chris, all of human civilization is a balancing of individual freedoms and rules we have to follow. The balance changes in response to events, of which COVID is one. Freedoms are not, and never have been, absolute: hence the quotes, because you’re using the term in a way that isn’t the way I would use it.
I don’t know if curfew is an appropriate part of that balance. I hope not. But the balance will have to change. Deal with it.
Kate 23:08 on 2022-01-04 Permalink
Tim S.: Nicely put. There are whole philosophy books that dance around the idea you encapsulate in three sentences.