In Europe, it’s off again for a tour. As Quebec relaxes its rules, the old countries are re-defining themselves. On Monday, the very day we were able to start singing the karaoke song again, the Austrian police began to control passers-by. And to fine the unvaccinated who ventured into the streets.
A man left a message in The Press. Mad. Enraged, even, because we had dared to publish an article on what is happening in Austria. At the end of the line, he cursed and cursed journalists, vile agents of fear propaganda orchestrated by the authorities …
The usual conspiratorial litany, what? We listened to the man utter his rage with a touch of weariness, before moving on to another call. We got used to it in the long run.
It has to be: experts say it will never end. That we will have to learn to live with COVID-19. We cannot eradicate the virus; just control it as best we can. And try to get used to this new normal.
But there is one thing the government has the power to put an end to now so that Quebec can regain a more normal democratic life: the state of health emergency.
The decree was proclaimed on March 13, 2020. Since then, the government of François Legault has renewed it every ten days. This allows him to impose measures – the curfew, the wearing of a mask, the vaccination passport – without asking the opinion of the National Assembly. It also allows it to grant contracts by mutual agreement, without calls for tenders.
At the start of the crisis, it was understandable. The government had to proceed urgently. The house was on fire, it was not the time for debates at the Salon Bleu. We had to put out the fire – and give ourselves the means to do so. Everyone understood that, even the oppositions.
But after 20 months of this exceptional regime, the government has clearly taken a liking to it. Governing by decree is so much easier. So much easier. So much less transparent. It is time to end it.
The state of emergency must be lifted.
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Louis-Philippe Lampron has been saying it for months.
Each time, before tackling the subject, this law professor at Laval University takes a few precautions. He first emphasizes that he is doubly vaccinated. He adds that he does not believe that Quebec is a dictatorship or that François Legault is a tyrant. He does not believe either in the 5G chip in the vaccine or in any small pedosatanic conspiracy …
In short, Louis-Philippe Lampron is not a conspirator. He is a specialist in rights and freedoms. And like other jurists, he believes that the government does not respect the spirit of the Public health law by renewing the state of emergency every ten days – and refusing to debate it. “It is however fundamental to have this debate,” he said.
The problem is that the conspirators have been invoking their rights and freedoms in every way since the start of the pandemic. They mourn the loss in such an exaggerated, so ridiculous way that it has become almost suspect to want to defend these rights and freedoms… for real.
Hence the precautions of Prof. Lampron.
“The conspirators say anything on social networks,” he exasperates. This creates wear and tear. »Wear and tear in the media and among the general public. It becomes boring, this apocalyptic speech. We don’t listen anymore. We don’t want to hear anything anymore. And then, everyone is more or less in agreement with the health measures imposed by the government. “That explains why the oppositions have hesitated for a long time” before calling for the end of the state of health emergency, said Mr. Lampron.
No one wants to be called a conspirator – let alone being accused, in the midst of a sanitary quagmire, of putting a spade in the wheels of the government, which is working hard to get us out of there.
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All this, the Legault government understood too well. He does not hesitate to play this card to sweep away criticism, even legitimate ones, with the back of his hand.
Already in April, Liberal leader Dominique Anglade appealed to the Prime Minister’s “sense of state” by asking him to consult parliamentarians when renewing the state of emergency. François Legault then qualified this idea as esoteric, accusing Mme Anglade to look for problems where there were none.
When the Liberal MP Marc Tanguay returned to the charge last week in the National Assembly, he was outright called a “conspirator” by the Minister of Justice, Simon Jolin-Barrette.
“I can see the political interest in ridiculing the opposition,” said Mr. Lampron. But to treat this opposition as a conspirator because it calls into question the fact that the government has for too long arrogated to itself exceptional powers, not only is it strong coffee, but it is very worrying for the future. ”
The checks and balances and accountability are essential for the proper functioning of a democracy. Can we make this simple observation without being accused of pouring into conspiracy?
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In the National Assembly, Simon Jolin-Barrette suggested that, without a state of health emergency, “we could not provide the care that is required and necessary in our hospitals”.
Louis-Philippe Lampron does not believe it. “It is wrong to say that without maintaining the state of emergency, we will lose all the measures we need” to fight the pandemic, he said.
We are no longer in the urgency of the first months. The government has time to see it coming. He could very well maintain the sanitary instructions, or impose new ones, with the support of the National Assembly.
In June, Ontario and British Columbia lifted their states of emergency. According to the latest news, the coronavirus had not yet been struck down in these two provinces …
Quebec, for its part, has promised to lift the state of emergency somewhere in early 2022, after the vaccination campaign for children aged 5 to 11. But it is already too late, insists Louis-Philippe Lampron.
“Getting out of the health emergency means democratically opening the windows and getting out of the opacity of the Prime Minister’s office. ”
After 20 months, Quebec democracy needs air.