The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms requires our governments here in Canada to demonstrate with evidence that restrictions on our freedom to move, travel, associate, assemble, and worship are “demonstrably justified.” The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms asked the provincial and federal governments of Canada for just such a cost/benefit justification analysis, but this NGO has been ignored. Perhaps our government leaders don’t think the deaths arising from cancelled surgeries, delayed medical diagnostics, increased suicides and drug overdoses, deteriorating mental health, unemployment, soaring public debt—caused by their COVID public policies— are worthy of their consideration because they’re off-narrative. However a charitable non-government organization called the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF.ca) has posted online just such a cost/benefit analysis—called Flying Blind—of the resultant harms and deaths arising from our government’s coercive COVID policies.

The results might shock you. Did you know that:

• Deaths from all causes in Canada for the first 8 months of 2020 actually declined from those recorded in 2019 over the same time period?
• Canadian governments attributed 10,295 fewer deaths due to cancer, heart diseases, lung diseases, stroke, pneumonia and influenza, while attributing 8,795 deaths to COVID during the same time period
• At least 200,000 Canadians suffered the cancellation of their scheduled surgeries, including breast cancer surgery, due to lockdown measures.
• At least 500,000 Canadians did not receive timely diagnostic procedures such as MRIs and CT scans for cancer and other deadly diseases.
• As many as 18,000 Canadians have died or will die prematurely of cancer this year because their diagnosis or cancer treatment was delayed by lockdowns?
• Or that unemployment and despair caused by lockdowns will likely increase Canada’s suicide rate by 17%—increasing deaths by suicide by about 680 people?
• When the province of British Columbia’s final statistics are posted for 2020, we’ll probably see that more people died this year from opioid overdoses than COVID-19!
• And what about the lower standard of living our younger generations will experience due to soaring public debt?

Politicians like Premier Doug Ford of Ontario tell Canadians not to travel. And yet hypocritically we discover that Ford’s Finance Minister Rod Phillips went to St. Barts in the Caribbean to soak up the sun for the winter holidays.  Those who have forced on us their ill-conceived public policies around COVID are flying blind and often they are flying hypocritically. They are not heroes. When it comes to leadership, they are not following the servant-leadership example set by Jesus Christ.

Jesus said to His disciples, “In this world the kings and great men lord it over their people, yet they are called [ironically] “benefactors,” that is ‘friends of the people.’ But among you it will be different. Those who are the greatest among you should take the lowest rank, and the leader should be like a servant. ²⁷ Who is more important, the one who sits at the table or the one who serves? The one who sits at the table, of course. But not here! For I am among you as one who serves. Luke 22:25-27 (NLT).