Decision makers still need to be held accountable

There are more people walking and cycling too.

Let’s hope the enjoyment and benefits will continue.

Perhaps we have also reconnected with our family and have discovered the joy of spending time together in our own homes. That would be huge if we have realized that we don’t need to go out somewhere to connect. Perhaps you’ve discovered the physical and mental health benefits of talking to each other while preparing a meal and then sitting down together at the table to feast and chat.

These positive results could loom larger than memories of the actual lock down and would be amazing.

We should also be more vigilant about authoritarian decisions. Not everyone is infallible and sometimes bad rules are made unintentionally — people have not thought about it enough.

month about unfair rules imposed on places of worship, rules that were only being applied to people who choose to attend a place of worship.

Provincial government guidelines produced earlier this month actually said congregational singing is “not allowed”. Somebody in government was listening and recently updated its rules on the website to now state that it is “discouraged”.

The News was not able to locate any information on whether the singing of “Happy Birthday” in a restaurant is discouraged so the perception is still that only singing in “places of worship” is risky.

The government is still asking places of worship to record the names and contact information for everyone who attends in case there is a COVID-19 outbreak and contact tracing is necessary. That makes sense but only if it applies to all places where people gather. It is just as likely that someone eating in a restaurant could later be positive for COVID-19 and contact tracing would be needed. However, there is no require-ment for restaurants to do this — only people who attend a place of worship.

The government did listen regarding church drivein services. The requirement that vehicles had to be two metres apart has now vanished. That was smart because clearly every time you parked outside a grocery store it was obvious cars were not spaced two metres apart and there did not appear to be police enforcing that rule.

If you remember there were some rules around travel after 9/11 that made no sense. People exposed the nonsense such as nobody allowed to knit while in an aircraft because knitting needles could be used to attack someone. Some rules were changed eventually.

We depend on officials making wise decisions but they are only human and we should all be vigilant and speak up when necessary. Don’t be afraid to question authority.

They should be able to back up the reasoning for their decisions.

This editorial originated in the Medicine Hat News.