The Globe and Mail - 13.03.2020

A12 O THEGLOBEANDMAIL| FRIDAY,MARCH13,

EDITORIAL

PHILLIPCRAWLEY

PUBLISHERANDCEO

DAVIDWALMSLEY

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

W

hile there is still some debate about how swiftly

the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 is

spreading around the world, what’s clear is that

its consequences are moving at the speed of light.

In a span of less than 24 hours between Wednesday and

Thursday, the World Health Organization declared the out-

break to be a pandemic, U.S. President Donald Trump sus-

pended flights from most European countries for 30 days,

Ontario closed its public schools until April 5, Quebec and

Alberta told residents to cancel or postpone any gathering of

more than 250 people, the National Basketball Association

and the National Hockey League paused their regular sea-

sons,majormuseumsandartsvenuesinNewYorkshuttheir

doors, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau went into isolation

after his wife, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, developed flu symp-

toms and was tested for the coronavirus.

These developments came on the heels of a countrywide

lockdown imposed by thegovernment in Italy, where citi-

zens have been told to stay home other than to procure food

andmedicines.Universitiesaroundtheworld,includingHar-

vard, have ended classes early, sending students home and

telling them to finish their studies online.

What these things have in common is that they are all

forms of social distancing – public measures to keep people

away from each other.

Thegoalofsocialdistancing,whetherthroughanenforced

school closing or a shuttered event, is to slow the spread of

the coronavirus. And in the past couple of days, experts in

the country have been calling for it, provinces and cities have

been implementing it, and Ottawa is getting left behind.

Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer, Theresa Tam, said

Wednesday that social distancing is the best way to “flatten

the curve” on the virus’s spread; that is, to prevent it from

infecting too many people too quickly, and putting over-

whelming pressure on the health system.

British Columbia’s Centre for Disease Control warned

Wednesday that “mass gatherings can contribute to the

transmission” of the virus causing COVID-19.

But with everyone from hockey fans to fine-art lovers sud-

denly being told to stay home,the federalgovernment has

remained less than clear on the issue.

That seems remarkably at odds with the fact that Health

Minister Patty Hajdu says between 30 per cent and 70 per

cent of Canadians could become infected with the coronavi-

rus.

Given this, it would make sense for Ottawa to take a firm

stand on a preventive measure that public-health officials

believe is a critical course of action.

But that hasn’t happened. Ms. Hajdu on Thursday suggest-

ed in the House of Commons that people should reconsider

attending events with large crowds. But she went no further.

With all the related developments in the world, Canadians

might be confused about whether they should stay home or

not. The fact that some provinces are taking tougher stands

than Ottawa adds to the confusion.

Along with Quebec, Alberta and Ontario’s measures an-

nounced Thursday, New Brunswick says any public-school

student who travels abroad during March break will have to

spend 14 days at home before returning to class. Montreal on

Thursday closed its municipal arenas, libraries, pools and

sports centres.

There may be valid reasons for Ottawa’s cautious ap-

proach. For instance, virtually all the infections in Canada to

date have been traced back to contact with people who had

recently spent time overseas. The coronavirus doesn’t ap-

pear to be circulating in the community; enforcing a ban on

all public activities might be overkill.

And closing schools is an extreme measure that will im-

pose a significant hardship on working parents – particularly

health-care workers. They are on the front lines and the

country needs them to be at liberty to stay there.

At the moment, however, extreme responses are being

taken as a form of prudence. And they may well be. Govern-

ment officials in Italy, casting their minds back a few weeks,

are surely wishing they’d done more, and sooner.

But our choices are not limited to close everything or close

nothing. As such, Canadians need more clarity about the de-

cisions theirgovernments are making. Arethese moves, to

shut some institutions and events, but not others, informed

by the best science?

WhyisOttawa

keepingits

distance?

EMERGENCY PLANNING

Re COVID-19 Outbreak A ‘Nation-

al Emergency’ (March 12): Onta-

rio Health Minister Christine El-

liott says the province has “no

immediate plans to bring in

tougher measures” unless com-

munity spread develops. The fed-

eral government is also taking a

wait-and-see approach. Mean-

while, epidemiologist David Fis-

man says “waiting to act before

more cases pop up could put

Canada in a situation similar to

Italy.”

Let’s see now, whom shall we

trust?

Peter Lewis-WattsBarrie, Ont.

ON SEX-ASSAULT LAW

Re Chief Justices Voice Objection

To Mandatory Training In Sex-as-

sault Law (March 11): I am ap-

palled by the opposition put for-

ward by the Canadian Judicial

Council regarding mandatory

training in sex-assault law for

judges. I believe their circuitous

argument is based upon false

premises and it makes me won-

der what other training ought to

be mandated as well.

Roderick MacDonaldQC;

Radville, Sask.

How disheartening! Why would

chief justices across Canada pro-

test mandatory education in sex-

assault law and its social context?

I do not believe the proposal

tells judges how to think or what

to decide. The independence of

the judiciary in Canada is well-es-

tablished and would be un-

changed by this new law. It

would require them to provide

reasons for their decisions. It

would encourage less reliance on

myths and stereotypes.

The judges want any educa-

tion to be voluntary. I do not be-

lieve this is the right answer to a

deep problem faced throughout

the justice system, in which

many women are so petrified by

how the courts will treat them

that they often fail to report the

crime in the first place.

Canadian sexual-assault laws

have improved since the 1970s, to

the point that they are envied

elsewhere. But these laws must

be properly applied. And for that,

I believe we need judges to be

educated.

Linda Silver DranoffCM, LSM,

author,Every Canadian’s Guide to

the Law;Toronto

DEMOCRACY AND

ELECTORAL REFORM

Re The Politics Of Voting In Que-

bec (Editorial, March 6): In dis-

cussing Quebec’s foray into elec-

tion reform, perhaps we should

consider what is happening in Is-

rael. I’ve followed the country’s

elections for decades and I’ve

found that its proportional-

representation system – “pure

Athenian democracy” – is night-

marish. For instance, Benjamin

Netanyahu’s recent claimed vic-

tory rings hollow, as he still needs

to gather a coalition of other par-

ties. However, there are eight par-

ties with seats, and some of those

parties are subdivided into small-

er parties even with different ide-

ologies, banded together to by-

pass vote thresholds. So inevita-

bly, there are back-room negotia-

tions; an Israeli Prime Minister

buys and sells control, and extre-

mist minority groups often hold

outsized power.

I contend that with a Cana-

dian-style electoral system, Israel

might have achieved peace, a Pal-

estinian state and harmony with

stability – but that doesn’t hap-

pen because of proportional rep-

resentation. If Canada were to

adopt such a system, I believe

smaller, more extreme parties

would controlgovernment. The

only winners would be those

whose undesirable political ide-

ologies can’t make it in the cur-

rent system.

Woe to us all – proportional

representation in Canada would

be jinxed.

Allan FoxToronto

Re The Era of ‘Joyless Democracy’

(Opinion, March 7): Contributor

Nik Nanos’s analysis of Canadian

voter malaise suggests the fault is

with politicians. He should also

consider that attaining voter joy

usually requires an electoral sys-

tem that values it.

In the first-past-the-post sys-

tem, adversarial wedge issues

and negative strategic-voting are

encouraged. In the end, it seems

only a minority directs what pol-

icies and platforms are to be en-

acted. A proportional system

fares even worse: As demonstrat-

ed recently in Spain, Israel, Ger-

many and Italy, the electorate of-

ten does not see the platform the

majority have voted for. Rather,

multiple parties huddle together

until the politicians arrive at a

new platform.

I believe only the preferential

ballot system values voter joy.

Here, the public votes for their

first choice, second choice and so

on, such that they – and not the

politicians – decide the trade-offs

on important issues. In the end, a

known platform has been voted

for by a majority of voters. Even

the electedgovernment should

be happy, because a majority has

told them what policies to enact.

David VenusAncaster, Ont.

“A vote is a vote is a vote,” con-

tributor Nik Nanos says. He also

says that Canada was founded on

compromise and respect for a di-

versity of views. But if the Doug

Fords of the country aren’t listen-

ing, others should stop them by

moving toward proportional rep-

resentation, and respecting the

political diversity of rural and ur-

ban voters in every regional com-

munity.

Wilfred DayPort Hope, Ont.

In a democracy, if the people per-

ceive there to be a problem, then

there is a problem, even if it is

merely their own misconception.

That’s why I believe the deficit in

our democracy is education.

When the lies and mispercep-

tions I see surrounding its func-

tioning are corrected, our joy

within it should rise, and real

electoral reforms can be realized.

Gregory LangToronto

In 2005, about 58 per cent of B.C.

voters favoured electoral reform;

in 2016, about 52 per cent of PEI

voters favoured a change. In both

cases, the government decided to

keep the existing system. No

matter what voters prefer, it

seems that once politicians gain

power, they stick to the voting

system they think will get them

re-elected.

This is why a growing move-

ment in Canada is calling for a

national citizens assembly on

electoral reform. Given access to

experts and a chance to deliber-

ate, such a group could come up

with fair solutions for conten-

tious political issues. It should be

time for Canadians to lead the

way on reforming the voting sys-

tem, even if it goes against the

short-term interests of our elect-

ed politicians.

Jason McLaren

New Westminster, B.C.

HARMONIZED TAXES

Re This Is How We Do It (Letters,

March 9): Columnist Rita Trichur

suggests the Canada Revenue

Agency provide prepopulated

digital tax returns. This is an ex-

cellent idea.

But it could go even further, by

creating a software package

based on its own internal inter-

face. Taxpayers have already paid

for the development of CRA

systems, yet many still have to

purchase third-party offerings

that do essentially the same

thing.

Whatever costs the CRA might

incur would be much less than

what Canadians already spend

for commercial software. And as

a bonus, the calculations would

be done in an identical manner

to CRA practices.

Brian QuiggToronto

I believe taxation is necessary,

but writing the forms in account-

ant’s jargon before blunderbuss-

ing them onto innocent tax-

payers takes things too far.

When is government going to

reimburse us for doing their job?

Crikey!

Rose DeShawKingston

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