Mandatory Masking - Another Opinion

Opinion: John Carpay

Lawyer John Carpay, .president for Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms authored an opinion column in The Post Millennial.

A few excerpts from that column follows (view completely HERE).

The people who brought us the harm-causing lockdowns are the same people now wanting to make mask-wearing compulsory. The curve is flat, and has been for months. COVID-19 deaths peaked in March or April (depending on which jurisdiction) and now continue to decline, even while increased testing exposes more "cases." If masks were not required to flatten the curve, why should they be required now?

A WHO guideline from June 5, 2020 states: "At present, there is no direct evidence (from studies on COVID-19 and in healthy people in the community) on the effectiveness of universal masking of healthy people in the community to prevent infection with respiratory viruses, including COVID-19. … At the present time, the widespread use of masks by healthy people in the community setting is not yet supported by high quality or direct scientific evidence and there are potential benefits and harms to consider."

Assuming for a moment that the spread of COVID-19 is actually reduced by forcing the public to wear non-medical masks, this still does not address the violation of personal autonomy and human dignity, which are protected by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The significance of the uncovered face was underscored not long ago by the heated debate over Quebec's law banning face-coverings. Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard argued: "We are just saying that for reasons linked to communication, identification and safety, public services should be given and received with an open face… We are in a free and democratic society. You speak to me, I should see your face, and you should see mine. It's as simple as that."

Today, government data tells us that COVID poses very little threat to children or youth. Like other viruses, it threatens elderly people with one or more serious health conditions. We now know that four fifths of COVID deaths occurred in nursing homes, amongst elderly people who were already very sick.