The COVID regime has collapsed under its own contradictions

The last few weeks have exposed schizophrenic aspects of Canadian culture and its influence on governments’ behaviour. The most palpable example lies in how we trampled – in fear – over memory and institutions, obsessively protective and morally dismissive of dignity and human life simultaneously.

The COVID-19 lockdown has been a strange time for people struggling to reduce the risk that folks with health vulnerabilities would catch the virus and perish.

Police services enforced with gusto the makeshift regime, though they had refused to enforce long-standing laws on road-blockading gangs just weeks earlier. They chased away parents with children from parks and pathways and turned people away from public roads. Those who questioned or objected were fined hundreds of dollars. Some were rough handled and carted away, even when following every rule. The term Covidiots was brought in vogue to describe anyone questioning the official line.

The social cost of the COVID-19 regime has not been c…