New York Post - Once democracy, Canada is now authoritarian

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A Québec judge has upheld a four-figure fine on a harried office manager charged for breaking a Covid curfew by driving alone in his car at night. Québec had among the strictest pandemic lockdowns of any province.

“The nightly trip to the office was more convenient than it was necessary,” ruled Judge Tanya Larocque of Québec Provincial Court. Larocque upheld a $1,000 fine plus payment of court costs.

William Murphy of Ste-Catherine-de-Hatley, Que. was pulled over by police at 1 am on Sunday, April 11, 2021. Murphy testified he was called into his Sherbrooke office by an accountant who complained the company server was malfunctioning.

“I don’t know why I didn’t tell the accountant it could have waited until the next day,” testified Murphy. Québec police at the time were enforcing a curfew that banned all but essential outdoor travel between 9:30 pm and 5 am.

The court was told Murphy spent Saturday evening rebooting the company’s computer system and was on his way home at 12:20 am. “He took the off-ramp of the highway on his way home but realized he forgot his briefcase that contained his house keys,” wrote Judge Larocque.

“Mr. Murphy doubled back on the highway to go back to the office, then realized he didn’t have the keys to the office which were in the same briefcase,” wrote the Court. “He doubled back home and was intercepted by the police. At the time the defendant said he hadn’t slept in three days.”

Québec was the only jurisdiction to enforce a province-wide curfew under threat of maximum $6,000 fines. Premier François Legault last January 11 said he was also “working on” a surcharge for unvaccinated residents though the Canada Health Act forbids discrimination in provision of medical services.

“We’re discussing it with the Minister of Finance to see how we will implement this measure, but every adult in Québec who does not agree to get at least a first dose of the vaccine over the next two weeks will get a bill from the government,” said Premier Legault. “There have to be consequences.” The tax was never imposed.

Québec had the highest Covid death rate of any jurisdiction in Canada including First Nations reserves. A total 16,963 of 46,710 pandemic deaths in Canada occurred in the province.

The Public Health Agency of Canada never endorsed curfews as a pandemic precaution. The U.S. National Library of Medicine in a November 12, 2021 study Early Evening Curfews And Mobility questioned the practice. The study cited data from Greece that “suggests a possibility a curfew led to more people coinciding in indoor public spaces which constitutes a contagion risk factor.”