Personal Freedom & Public Health, an article by Nicola Ross

Last week, I was out walking my dog Frida through a forested area. I came around a corner and was startled to see a large man dressed in black. He was tall and wore a fluorescent orange vest. I wasn’t concerned about my safety, instead, my immediate thought was: Am I doing something wrong? Followed by: Am I allowed to be here?

It turned out he was a fellow walker and was as surprised to see me as I was to see him. We exchanged pleasantries and off we went in our own separate ways.

What disturbed me by this encounter, was not any COVID risk to my health — many metres separated us — but that in a short few weeks my first reaction was to be fearful that I’d done something wrong — that Big Brother was watching and I was in trouble.

This illustrated how quickly we could sink down into a police state. I don’t want to be alarmist, but I think we have to be diligent in observing the balance between personal freedom and public health.

On April 15, the CBC program, The Current, dealt with this topic. (See the link below.) Two professors knowledgeable about these things explained how individual rights under our Charter of Rights and Freedoms were being violated. They weren’t critical of government for this, noting that there is a provision that allows for some tighter controls in extreme circumstances such as a pandemic.

But they cautioned that we shouldn’t give our governments a “blank cheque” to do whatever they want either. With this in mind, there are moves internationally to set up an independent body that deals precisely with ensuring that governments don’t overstep their bounds — recognizing that we don’t really know what those bounds need to be.

These experts also cautioned that as Canada transitions away from the extreme measures currently in place — one professor called it the “COVID hangover” — that we need to look carefully to ensure our governments do not hang on to powers that might continue to limit our freedoms in an unbalanced way.

Now you may wonder what this has to do with hiking. I’m not going to wade into the quagmire of whether or not our hiking trails should be open. What I suggest is that when the time is right, opening up trails will be an excellent way to begin transitioning back to some form of normalcy. Trails in many places have never closed and this freedom has not seemed to result in higher rates of infection. People need to get outside and exercise for their physical and mental health. And, importantly, allowing this personal freedom will help our governments avoid the risk of squandering the good will of the vast majority of Canadians who have been physical distancing.

Check out The Current program on Personal Freedom and Public Health.

Author Bio: From Loops & Lattes Hiking Guides’ author and avid hiker Nicola Ross. Visit www.nicolaross.ca to purchase one of her four hiking guides, sign up for her newsletter and receive info about hiking trails, books, contests and more.