Todd Whitcombe: Are collective or individual rights best for democracy?

Democracy is the worst form of government, except all the others, according to Winston Churchill.

Democracy demands much of its citizens. All forms of government do. It is the price we pay for living within a society.

In Canada, we view politics as “right” and “left” – a system developed during the French Revolution when the supporters of the king were seated to the right of the President of the National Assembly and the common folk were seated on the left.

I doubt anyone who identifies with right-wing politics today would think of themselves as supporters of the nobility. Right-wing politics has evolved to be about the individual, traditional values, and traditional views. Or, at least, that is the way right wing parties portray themselves.

Those on the left-wing of the political spectrum tend to social values and changing societal norms. People should be allowed to do as they collectively want.

Of course, these are vast over-simplifications. Because right-wing politics tend to take a very libertarian viewpoint if the issue is something they care about. For example, is individual freedom paramount? If so, then government shouldn’t be able to tell people what they can and can’t do. Wear a mask? No way. No one has the right to tell me I should wear a mask.

Yet at the same time, we see right-wing politicians wanting to ban same-sex marriages, do away with abortions, disband unions, and get upset when someone protests the cutting of old growth forests. How dare people stand up for their values and views! But isn’t that what individual freedom is all about?

It has been a year since the trucker’s convoy descended on Ottawa, Alberta, and a host of other sites across the country. Many would like to portray the protesters as law-abiding citizens engaged in public protest. Fair enough. Did they go too far? I think so and apparently so does the Public Order Emergency Commission.

The final verdict, after considering the evidence, is the very high threshold for invoking the Emergencies Act was met.

But what does this really say about our rights as individuals in Canadian society versus the collective rights of the public? Only time will tell us the impact of the protest on our democracy.

Todd Whitcombe is a chemistry professor at UNBC.