The Urban Dictionary says ‘walking it back’ is when a sleezy politician who makes an idiotic statement that reflects his real opinion has it pointed out how stupid, racist, homophobic, etc. his comment was, uses a form of time travel to ‘walk it back’ and say something less idiotic to replace his original statement.
Merriam-Webster is a little more diplomatic saying: to retreat from or distance oneself from a previously stated opinion or position. The definition of Doug Ford’s retraction of one or two of his lockdown edicts falls somewhere in between those definitions.
In Doug’s defense, he claims he was only listening to the doctors and scientists and taking their good advice on what to do in the fight against Covid-19. Doug also threw some blame at the Federal government for not supplying the province with enough vaccine, despite his bombastic threat to place a firecracker under Pfizer’s butt. Justin says he is doing his best, but it is a free market out there and we cannot make our own vaccine. The doctors, who are concerned about overloading the ICUs, say they never advised Doug and his ministers to shutdown playgrounds, close patios and padlock golf courses, and they certainly never said the words ‘Police Enforcement.’
The ‘Science’ behind lockdowns is mythical and evolving, as it was about wearing face masks.
The 2-metre physical distancing may have worked for the first version of the virus but these variants seem to be more mobile as well as being more lethal. One does wonder how China was so successful in bringing the virus to bay, but maybe there are not so many rebellious folks in their country. Lockdowns, the selective versions we have used, just did not and will not work.
It is interesting, however, to look at just who has the influence (power) to make Doug Walk it Back. They may have been assisted by the protest groups (tin hats and signs notwithstanding) but the police across Ontario told the Premier where to stick his lockdown instructions. If it is any comfort to the civil liberties protestors, I assure you that Chief Todd spoke to Doc Chirico before colluding with the other police chiefs.
It was, after all, originally a health matter.
All of this bluster on the weekend reminded me of an article I read some time ago about the power of the sheriffs in the United States. The writer posed that the sheriffs held the most power of anyone in the justice and political system. Which at first, seemed unreal, but in the end, I had to agree that there was some truth in the writer’s opinion. Politicians may make the laws and statutes but unless the public completely agrees with them, the police (sheriffs) have to enforce the laws (as they see fit). That the sheriffs may discriminate or have bias did not cross the politicians’ minds because they thought the sheriffs and police worked for them. And failing that, their judges would uphold their laws. However, no one appears before a judge except if a peace officer brings them. So, who has the real power?
As demonstrated by municipal police forces across the Province – they do. In this case, I side with the Chiefs, because of and in spite of what recommendations Doug and his ministers thought about the advice they received, they are wrong. The lockdowns, in the semi-serious and poorly communicated manner in Ontario (and the rest of Canada), have not worked. We ought to have completely shutdown our borders last March (2020), stopped all work, and even essential businesses, for two weeks, and let the virus die a quick death because it could not move from person to person. Canadians should not have been allowed back home from abroad (we apparently had billions of dollars to subsidize their rents in their foreign countries for two or three weeks or even longer). That worked in China and Australia.
Such drastic measures would never have worked for we believe we have and are entitled to do, whatever we want in our ‘free’ society. In any case, I am not certain that the politicians could have shut the borders. They would have had to ask the border agents and police and they might have delayed acting, looking for Charter precedent from the courts and we all know how long that can take.
And so, we stumble along, trying to be normal in these un-normal times of a maybe pandemic and the silly rules and recommendations from our politicians. We can worry about the police obeying the politicians another day.
In the meantime, maybe the Chief can do something about patio dining . . .
