For Canadian snowbirds, 2020 is a year best forgotten.Though the vast majority were grounded by a strict border shutdown, those few who managed a “getaway” were penalized upon their return by onerous federal rules culminating in the infamous hotel-quarantine debacle that media have described as “imprisonment,” “unconstitutional,” “dangerous” and “unCanadian” … all in Ottawa’s purported interests of keeping Canadians “safe.” As might be expected, constitutional rights advocacy groups have jumped to the challenge, claiming that the federal government rules are overbroad and seriously infringe on Canadians’ fundamental rights, freedom from unreasonable detention and freedom from cruel and unusual punishment. Also challenged are government’s arbitrary requirement for negative COVID-19 tests for Canada-bound flights and its role in fashioning an “agreement” with Air Canada, Sunwing, Air Transat andWestJet to suspend flights toMexico and the Caribbean through April 30 − the virtual end of the current winter tourism season. Ironically, Canadian snowbirds who were able to get to Florida or Arizona this past winter almost universally commented that they felt “liberated,” “free” and, most important, “safe” in their surroundings. Though facial masking and social distancing were rigorously practised, and safety measures which they had been accustomed to at home were maintained, life went on fairly normally. Shops, supermarkets, hair salons, gyms and restaurants went on serving their customers, and most schools remained in session even while maintaining space, occupancy and sanitation practices. In petulant response to this “liberation,” much of Canada’s media singled out and shamed those who travelled to their winter homes as callous, privileged, unwilling to heed Ottawa’s admonition that they stay sheltered and share the pain − an effort that ran aground when it was discovered that dozens of federal and provincial legislators, hospital executives, top government bureaucrats and even an administrator of Alberta’s COVID vaccine rollout spent their Christmas holidays in Hawaii, the Caribbean, Florida and other warm-weather locations. Penitent resignations followed. By Milan Korcok HINT FROM HIPPOCRATES First Do No Harm COVID-19 40 | www.snowbirds.org
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