Date of publication: 05 Apr 2022 • 6 hours ago • 2 minutes reading • 38 comments Alberta Chief Physician Dr. Deena Hinshaw provides a briefing on COVID-19 in the county during a press conference in Edmonton on Wednesday, March 23, 2022. Photo by David Bloom / Postmedia
Content of the article
Alberta’s chief medical officer acknowledged on Tuesday that measures taken to combat the COVID-19 pandemic had affected individual rights.
Advertising 2
This ad has not been uploaded yet, but your article continues below.
Content of the article
But Dr Dina Hinsaw said at a hearing that challenged her public health mandate that the measures were the “last resort” needed to protect people from the coronavirus and maintain the viability of the healthcare system. After a cross-examination by attorney Leighton Gray, one of two lawyers representing the parties to the constitutionality of Hinshaw’s mandates, the doctor said such measures were needed when voluntary compliance did not prevent the disease from spreading. “With many of the health orders you made known, the Alberta government knew they were restricting or restricting individual freedoms. . . is not that right;” Gray asked. “The last resort was to restrict these freedoms when the possibility of mitigating the risk that COVID poses to the population was not possible with it. . . “Voluntary means that had been used before,” Hinshaw said.
Advertising 3
This ad has not been uploaded yet, but your article continues below.
Content of the article
“Therefore, this does not support my assertion about the Alberta Government’s hierarchy of values, that addressing public health issues with COVID was more important than individual personal freedoms under COVID-19,” he said. Gray. “At a time when the health care system was in grave danger of collapsing, it was clear that the decisions taken were to restrict certain personal freedoms in order to protect both the health care system and to minimize serious consequences for the good of the whole. population, “Hinshaw said. “Therefore, at those specific times when the threat was significant and growing, again, very specific freedoms were restricted for the purpose of protecting the population as a whole.”
Advertising 4
This ad has not been uploaded yet, but your article continues below.
Content of the article
Gray, who represents two churches challenging Hinsaw’s mandates, and attorney Jeffrey Rath, representing three people, want Judge Barbara Romain to find that the measures violate the Charter’s individual rights and should not be violated. have power and effect. Such a decision could limit any future measures the county could consider if a sixth wave of the pandemic began to flood the healthcare system. Even if the judge of the Court of Queen’s Bench finds that the orders violate individual rights, he could consider that they were justified in the conditions of the pandemic. Gray suggested that Hinshaw’s view that the non-pharmaceutical interventions he ordered – such as cover-up requirements and restrictions on public gatherings, including religious services – saved lives was not supported by evidence. “There is no real data to support it, is there?” said Gray. “I would disagree with that. “There is a lot of data that shows the effectiveness of non-drug interventions,” Hinshaw said. Her deposition will continue on Wednesday. [email protected] Twitter: @KMartinCourts
Share this article on your social network
Advertising 1
This ad has not been uploaded yet, but your article continues below.
Sign up to receive daily headlines from the Calgary Herald, a division of Postmedia Network Inc. By clicking the subscribe button you agree to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails. Postmedia Network Inc. | 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4 | 416-383-2300
Thank you for your registration!
A welcome email is on its way. If you do not see it, check the junk folder. The next issue of Calgary Herald Headline News will be in your inbox soon. We encountered a problem with your registration. PLEASE try again
Comments
Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but political forum for discussion and encourages all readers to share their views on our articles. Comments may take up to an hour to monitor before appearing on the site. We ask that you retain your comments regarding and with respect. We’ve enabled email notifications — you will now receive an email if you receive a reply to your comment, an update on a comment thread that follows, or if a user follows the comments. See the Community Guidelines for more information and details on how to customize your email settings.
