Why is the Government able to Mandate Sanitary Measures without Public Consultation?

Catherine Descoteaux Coordinator at la ligue des droits et libertés says as we enter our third year of the pandemic, the Quebec government should remove the state of emergency.

The state of emergency allows them to enforce public health measures, including the curfew, without public consultation or approval from the National Assembly. The government can renew the state of emergency every 10 days and has done so since March 2020. Descoteaux said the government can choose not to renew the state of emergency, but has chosen to renew it each time since the pandemic began.

She says la ligue des droits et libertés has written to the provincial government asking them not to renew the state of emergency, but there has not yet been any changes made. 

This has allowed the government to enforce curfew so easily, in 2021 and 2022. Decoteaux says this also makes it easier for the government to enforce punitive measures, such as enforcing police to reduce large gatherings to reduce the transmission of COVID-19.

For the vaccine passport, for example, the government did seek public consultation and approval from the National Assembly. 

This reel is a promotion linked to the full episode of Local 514, focused on the provincial and municipal governments use of punitive measures measures during the pandemic and how this affects marginalized communities.

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