COVID-19 and the Police State

While the rest of Canada is distracted with what is passing for the 2020 Easter weekend, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police have been busy as shown here:

You will notice that I have highlighted the most pertinent section of the press release.  I am wondering just how many Canadians could afford to pay a fine of up to $1 million?  There's nothing like the punishment not fitting the severity of the crime, is there?

While the RCMP claims that they are going to use a measured approach and that arrest will be a last resort, Canadian police forces across the nation have not shown a measured approach despite this press release from the Canadian Association of Police Chiefs:

Here are some examples of how Canadian police have focussed on public education rather than using their ability to enforce through the issuance of tickets:

1.) Ottawa, Ontario - 

2.) Hamilton, Ontario - 

3.) Montreal, Quebec - 

4.) Montreal, Quebec - 

5.) Calgary and Cochrane, Alberta - 

Please note that the ticket issued to two teenagers was issued by the same RCMP that are supposed to be using a measured approach.  Thanks to public pressure, the tickets were cancelled.

Let's close with this letter from the Canadian Civil Liberties Association to the Ottawa Police Force:

Whether we want to admit it or not, many of us are living under martial law of the medical variety thanks to the imposition of emergency laws.  This has become quite apparent in Canada where the mainstream press is increasingly reporting on the provincial government's "rat lines" which are put in place so that Canadians can report on other Canadians' behaviours during this "crisis".  We all need to remember that, when police forces are given power, they rarely shirk from exercising the full power of the law, measured approach and public education be damned.