Lesson 2: The Will of the People

Here are some examples of when liberal democracies have disregarded the will of the people:

Quebec 1970

In Québec, the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) was founded by some radical Québécois who wanted drastic changes made quickly. The members of the FLQ did not want to be governed by an Anglophone majority government. They wanted Québec to be ruled by the Québécois. They took action against federal institutions and the federal government. In 1970, they kidnapped British diplomat James Cross and later Québec provincial government cabinet member Pierre Laporte. The FLQ issued a manifesto, making several radical demands for the "liberation of Québec". They wanted the manifesto to be published in newspapers and read on television to show the injustices the people of Québec endured. However, the murder of Pierre Laporte by members of the FLQ forced the federal government to take action. Prime Minister Trudeau and his cabinet had a difficult decision to make as a result of these radical terrorist actions by the FLQ. The Canadian government did not know where or when the FLQ might strike next to make their point. In 1914, when Canada was at war with Germany and its allies, the Canadian government passed The War Measures Act. This act gave the Canadian government emergency powers to take complete control of the country to maintain the safety and security of Canadians. The War Measures Act was intended to be used only in emergencies and only when Canada was at war. In 1970 during the October Crisis, Prime Minister Trudeau invoked the War Measures Act, which took away all basic liberal democratic rights, including the right of habeas corpus-the right to be told why you were arrested and to be granted a fair trial. In other words, the police or the army could arrest you without a warrant and without any real reason. By using the War Measures Act in peacetime, Trudeau's government rejected liberal ideology and in essence created a police state until government officials decided to reinstate constitutional rights. The War Measures Act was replaced in 1988 with the Emergencies Act, which provides more protection for rights and freedoms of Canadians.

PATRIOT Act in the United States

The PATRIOT (Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism) Act was enacted in 2001 in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. This act allowed the United States government to take actions that reject liberal values. The United States PATRIOT Act gives the government, the CIA, the FBI, the police, and the newly formed Department of Homeland Security sweeping powers of surveillance, arrest, detainment, and search in the name of national security. If government officials believe an individual is involved in terrorist activities, the officials are allowed to tap phones and read personal e-mails and records of health and financial information.

Throughout the United States, citizens have criticized the PATRIOT Act. They believe that the PATRIOT Act denies citizens the basic freedoms that the American people are guaranteed through their Constitution and Bill of Rights. This act has been criticized for contradicting the Bill of Rights because individuals are being detained, questioned, and held in custody without recognition of their rights. The defenders of the act point out that this suspension of rights is being done only to provide safety, security, and maintenance of order in society.

US Prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba

The PATRIOT Act is an example of how a government's actions can reject liberal values.

In the 1950s, the American government leased land in Cuba from the Cuban government. Since 1987, the United States has operated a prison in Guantanamo Bay on the southern edge of Cuba. After 9/11 and the beginning of the US war on Iraq, American officials sent as many as 775 detainees to Guantanamo Bay. Approximately 420 were released without charge. As of January 2009, there remained 245 detainees. The stories of individuals held in Guantanamo Bay provide examples for you to consider how a government might act in ways that are a rejection of liberal values.

Ibrahim Aziz, an immigrant to the United States from Iran in 1995, became an American citizen working as a photographer in Portland, Oregon. In 2005, he traveled to Iran to see his family. As he passed through American customs, he was arrested. No one told him why, no one read him his rights, and no one gave him the opportunity to communicate with his family or the outside world. He was turned over to agents of the Department of Homeland Security who took him to the Guantanamo Bay prison. There, he was detained and allegedly tortured until President Barack Obama ordered his release. These actions were taken under the PATRIOT Act.

The Anti-Terrorism Act (2001) in Canada

The Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) was enacted after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. To protect itself and others, Canada had to develop an anti-terrorism strategy. The goal of the Anti-Terrorism Act is to give powers to the Canadian government to arrest terrorists and terrorist groups and to manage the extraordinary challenges presented by terrorism. The Anti-Terrorism Act aims to protect the safety, security, and fundamental rights of Canadians.

If you are suspected of terrorism, your phone could be tapped, your e-mail and Internet activities monitored, and your confidential information accessed by government officials. In addition, you could be arrested. Many people believe these powers contradict the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Government officials maintain these powers are necessary to keep order and to maintain security for Canadians and the free world.

The Anti-terrorism Act

• provides the powers to discourage terrorist organizations from setting up in Canada

• provides the tools that the police and national securities agencies need to identify and find terrorists

• provides tougher criminal sentences for terrorism offences

• makes it a crime knowingly to participate in, facilitate, or contribute to a terrorist group

• makes it a crime knowingly to collect or give funds to carry out terrorist acts

• within carefully defined limits, allows for the arrest and detention of, and imposition of conditions of release on, suspected terrorists to prevent terrorist acts and save lives

• helps Canada achieve its international obligations in the war against terrorism

• ensures that Canadian values of respect and fairness are preserved through laws against hate crimes and propaganda

  Canadians as Suspected Terrorists 

  A similar situation to Ibrahim Aziz under the PATRIOT Act in the U.S. also happened to Maher Arar, a Canadian citizen. Maher Arar was born in Syria and moved to Canada in 1987. He worked in Ottawa as a telecommunications engineer. In September 2002, he went on vacation to Tunisia. On a stop in New York City during his return to Canada, US officials detained him. The officials claimed he had links to the terrorist organization al Qaeda. Instead of allowing him to go back to Canada, the officials deported him to Syria although he had a Canadian passport.

  After Arar was released and returned to Canada, he said he had been tortured when he was in Syria. He accused American officials of sending him to Syria although they knew that the Syrians use torture as a form of interrogation. Since his release, Arar has spoken out against abuses of human rights, and he is seeking compensation for his mistreatment.

  On June 2, 2009, 400 police officers raided homes in Toronto and Mississauga, Ontario. On June 3, 2009, the police identified 17 people charged under the Anti-Terrorism Act with following a violent ideology inspired by al Qaeda. Twelve adults and five youths were arrested. The suspects were accused of plotting to blow up various sites in London, Ontario, and of plotting to storm Parliament Hill, to behead politicians, and to bomb nuclear plants and the RCMP headquarters in Ottawa. Many of the people arrested were released on bail. One of the detainees was denied bail. He was charged with receiving training from a terrorist group and with intending to cause an explosion likely to harm people or damage property. The police were able to identify the suspects by using wiretapping and testimony from witnesses.
  

Coronavirus

Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses. Some cause respiratory illness in people, ranging from mild common colds to severe illnesses.

Novel coronaviruses, like COVID-19, are new strains of the virus that have not been previously identified in humans. This means people have no immunity against it, and it has no specific vaccine or treatment.

COVID-19 vs. Flu

In some ways, COVID-19 is similar to influenza (also known as the flu), but there are also key differences.

Similarities

• Both cause respiratory disease
• Both are spread by small droplets from the nose and mouth
• Both are not spread through the air over long distances and times, unlike the measles

Differences

• COVID-19 does not appear to transmit as efficiently as influenza:
  • only people with symptoms seem to be spreading the disease
  • controlling its spread is possible when people with symptoms are isolated
• There is no specific vaccine or treatment for COVID-19.
• COVID-19 causes severe disease and mortality in more cases than the flu. On average:
  • COVID-19 has resulted in 1 to 2 deaths per 100 cases
  • Flu results in 1 death in every 1,000 flu cases

* Information taken from the government of Alberta website

Timeline of Events:
According to the World Health Organization (WHO):

• A pneumonia of unknown cause detected in Wuhan, China was first reported to the WHO Country Office in China on 31 December 2019.
  
•  The outbreak was declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on 30 January 2020.
• By March 11, 2020 WHO declared COVID 19 a pandemic, as the disease moved from rapidly spreading in one region (Hubei China) before making its way around the world in a matter of months.

Countries around the world have responded to the rapid spread of COVID 19 in a variety of ways.  To varying degrees, individual rights and freedoms have been restricted for the greater good.  The scope of these preventative measures are unprecedented as steps such as suspending all major and minor league sports indefinitely to restricting travel outside of Canada have been implemented. 

Read about some of these examples:

• Canadians evacuated from China due to coronavirus to be quarantined at Canadian forces base
• Italy extends travel restrictions to entire country to try and contain spread of COVID 19
• China may be beating the coronavirus, at a painful cost
• Canada soccer announces suspension of all sanctioned soccer as precaution against COVID 19
• COVID 19- Educational Disruption and Response

These restrictive measures have been taken because, according to Alberta Health Services,  "COVID-19 can cause serious illness, it is critical to keep it from spreading by having people with a symptoms stay home, away from others."