MONTREAL -- Another legal attack is hovering over the Quebec government for the measures it took to protect the population from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Four people, one of whom is a doctor, as well as rights group Fondation pour la defense des droits et libertés du people (FDLP) made their action against the Quebec government and the province’s public health director public on Monday.
In their procedure, the group states that confining the province of Quebec as a whole was an "unreasonable and unjustifiable" measure during the health emergency. They say these decisions violated their rights and freedoms.
"The ‘closure’ of Quebec and the containment of its population have failed to protect the most vulnerable and in particular the elderly who reside in CHSLDs," reads a press release by the FDLP on Monday. It notes that COVID-19 is particularly lethal among older populations. "This situation is in no way comparable, for example, to the deadly Ebola virus whose lethality ranges from 25 to 90 per cent in humans of all ages, races, sexes and health conditions combined."
The goal of their action is to have several articles of the Public Health Act and ministerial decrees issued during COVID-19 declared unconstitutional and inoperative, including Bill 61. These measures and pieces of legislation have granted excessive powers to the government during the health crisis, they say.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 8, 2020.
