This year’s federal election will have many strands that influence it, including the ‘freedom’ protest movement and its interaction with right-wing populist politics.
With the occupation of parliament grounds entering its second week, police walk a thin blue line between enforcing the law and not inflaming the situation.
The psychosocial impact of the pandemic and responses to it have been immense, but the Canadian government’s approach to COVID-19 remains divisive.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
Canada’s ‘us against them’ COVID-19 strategy is amplifying social division, creating major psychosocial impacts, and has resulted in a significant decrease in trust toward authorities.
Former health secretary Jeremy Hunt is concerned that the U-turn on vaccine mandates for NHS staff will make it harder to implement them in the future.
A ‘Freedom Convoy’ has been protesting vaccine mandates at Parliament Hill, but most Canadians don’t share their views on COVID-19 restrictions.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
Most Canadians support government measures to help control the spread of COVID-19, according to a public opinion study. But they’re growing weary of the pandemic.
The arrival of the highly infectious Omicron variant has changed the COVID landscape in Australia. We asked 5 experts whether it’s time to rethink vaccine mandates for dining, fitness and events.
People sing O Canada during a rally against COVID-19 restrictions on Parliament Hill on Jan. 30, 2022.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
The so-called freedom convoy has torn off the protective tissue on what it means to “be a Canadian” to expose an ugly truth.
A woman stops to take a photo of signs attached to the fence around Parliament as the trucker protest continues in Ottawa.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
GoFundMe claims it won’t fund campaigns that promote hate or misinformation. So why is it backing the so-called freedom convoy that’s currently causing so much incendiary disruption in Ottawa?
A sign reads ‘Assassin Trudeau’ but the letters S in assassin are replaced with SS, abbreviation of Schutzstaffel, the black-uniformed self-described “political soldiers” of the Nazi Party.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
At a time when the nation should be fighting against structural violence, resources and attention are being given to a cause that doesn’t deserve it.
Health-care workers watch from a window as demonstrators gather outside Toronto General Hospital in September 2021 to protest against COVID-19 vaccines, mandates and restrictions.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young
The antagonism driven by political interference in COVID-19 vaccination is fuelling hesitancy. Mass vaccination campaigns require public buy-in via trusted health-care providers and community leaders.
People hold signs during a singing of O Canada during a rally against COVID-19 restrictions on Parliament Hill.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
When the ‘freedom convoy’ heads home, governments will be keen to avoid similar events. Angry protest movements are volatile and have lasting consequences, as the rise of Trumpism shows.
Vaccines mandates for healthcare workers may have made sense earlier in the pandemic. But not now.
People gather to protest COVID-19 vaccine mandates and masking measures during a rally in Kingston, Ont., in November 2021. Ottawa’s proposals to bypass publishing vaccine mandate guidelines goes against the principles of good governance.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Lars Hagberg
In a time-honoured tradition of Canadian democracy, government regulations become public when they appear in the Canada Gazette. That’s why Ottawa’s proposal to bypass that step is so troublesome.
Around the world, from Italy to Québec, authorities are using everything from mandates to incentives to try to get people vaccinated. Here’s why mandates aren’t always effective, are difficult to enforce and often lead to protests like the one seen here in Rome.
(AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Having exhausted policy tools to convince vaccination holdouts to change their minds, it seems little can be gained from additional vaccine mandates than further weakening social cohesion.
New York City’s vaccine mandates are unaffected by the court ruling.
AP Photo/Mary Altaffer
Can the government mandate vaccines? Canadians have rights to make decisions about vaccination, but these rights are not absolute, and do not mean those decisions will have no consequences.
The court appears split over the future of vaccination mandates, with conservative justices skeptical of the Biden administration’s authority to enforce requirements.
Through lockdowns, vaccine mandates and the spectre of mass death, the pandemic has uprooted our lives and challenged us to think differently about ethics. What might the future hold?
Bad laws, political tribalism and cancel culture – philosopher Arthur Prior was describing similar things in the 1950s, and his challenge is just as relevant today.
Visiting Professor in Biomedical Ethics, Murdoch Children's Research Institute; Distinguished Visiting Professor in Law, University of Melbourne; Uehiro Chair in Practical Ethics, University of Oxford
Paediatrician at the Royal Childrens Hospital and Associate Professor and Clinician Scientist, University of Melbourne and MCRI, Murdoch Children's Research Institute