In June 2020, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau violated the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act and participated in an anti-racism protest.1
In April 2020, Premier Doug Ford travelled to his cottage after demanding that property owners avoid visiting their vacation properties during the outbreak, and broke the rules again in May by having his daughters over contrary to the Emergency Order.2,3
In June 2020, Windsor Police Chief Pam Mizuno along with Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens violated the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act and participated in an anti-racism protest along with an estimated crowd of 2000 people.4
In November 2020, Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens (who also serves as Chair of the Police Services Board) attended a dinner with a total of eight persons, hours after threatening zero tolerance for any violations of regulations that limited people to six per table.5
In December 2020, Ontario’s Finance Minister Rod Phillips returned from a two week vacation in the Caribbean even while Ontario was pushed into a lockdown.6 In a bizarre twist, Premier Ford ordered Phillips to return home even though he was fully aware of the trip.7 Under pressure and to save face for the hypocrisy of the provincial government, Phillips resigned on New Year’s Eve.
I like these people, and I applaud each of these officials for exercising their Charter Freedoms. They should have been able to protest, dine out, vacation, and attend to their property. What I do not applaud is their hypocrisy.
I like these people, and I applaud each of these officials for exercising their Charter Freedoms. They should have been able to protest, dine out, vacation, and attend to their property. What I do not applaud is their hypocrisy.
In December 2020, I openly invited our police chief and our mayor to stand with us as we protested Christian persecution around the world but instead was charged with violating the Ontario Reopening Act for holding church services and a protest.8,9 The same officials that broke the rules were complicit in charging a Christian pastor for ministering to his congregation and standing for global justice. Similar charges have now been laid against five or more additional church leaders in Ontario.
All of these incidents are matters of public record and illustrate the hypocrisy and double-standards witnessed on every level of government including officials in other provinces.10
Why all the hypocrisy?
Hypocrisy is inevitable when you do not actually believe what you have professed.
Hypocrisy is inevitable when you do not actually believe what you have professed. Officials on all levels know what each thoughtful citizen knows: we are not all going to die by the virus, lockdowns are mindless responses to solvable problems, hospitals are not all full and can increase their capacities, shuttering small businesses is immoral, and closing churches weakens social order and endangers lives. And yet, caught in a web of fear, politicking, ever-changing rules, irrationality and incompetence, our leaders continue to advance a public narrative and support directives that they know are impossible to live by. It reminds me of Jesus’ chastisement of the Pharisees when he said:
They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. (Matt. 23:4).
Policy makers might theorize that lockdowns are reasonable responses to viral threats, but our government officials have repeatedly proven that lockdowns are untenable. That, combined with the discrimination and inequality directed towards small business owners and places of worship, illustrates the hypocrisy of the moment. It is time for citizens to circle a date on the calendar and end the lockdowns for our leaders who do not seem courageous enough to publicly acknowledge their own duplicity.
It is time for citizens to circle a date on the calendar and end the lockdowns for our leaders who do not seem courageous enough to publicly acknowledge their own duplicity.
Sources: (all accessed January 1, 2021)
1 https://nationalpost.com/news/trudeau-defends-decision-to-attend-protest-despite-advice-to-avoid-large-crowds-during-covid-19
2 https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ford-cottage-covid-19-coronavirus-1.5561167
3 https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/ontario-premier-sparks-confusion-over-social-gathering-rules-after-weekend-visit-with-daughters-1.4933644
4 https://www.iheartradio.ca/am800/news/city-launches-black-lives-matter-survey-1.12843411 and https://www.iheartradio.ca/am800/audio/morning-drive-mayor-dilkens-1.12632438
5 https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/windsor-mayor-dining-covid-1.5812980
6 https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/rod-phillips-resigns-as-ontario-finance-minister-following-caribbean-vacation/ar-BB1cn6si
7 https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/rod-phillips-vacation-timeline-1.5858696
8 https://harvestwindsor.ca/our-stance-on-covid-19/
9 https://harvestwindsor.ca/press-release/
10 https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-minister-hawaii-vacation-1.5859031
