The pandemic has provided us with several lessons and even -- Robin Sears writes -- at least one gift:
The first lesson of this pandemic is that we must never be caught so flat-footed again. Canada will not soon let its public health infrastructure get this weak and under-funded. Grumbling about influence and delays by competing countries notwithstanding, the success and commitment of the UN, the WHO, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and many other national entities both public and private must not end. These organizations have done an admirable job coordinating research, testing and funding.
The second lesson is more painful: some social cultures are positively dangerous in public health terms. Those obsessed with individual rights and “liberty” over solidarity have lost badly. Those graced with courageous leaders and a tradition of trust in their institutions have mostly won.
The most painful lessons of all are the inequities and injustices COVID has revealed:
The most painful cracks in our society have been revealed by COVID: how we treat our parents and grandparents; how blind we are to the cost of homelessness and racism; how many children go to bed hungry. Please let us accept this painful “gift of COVID” with a serious and unshakeable commitment to close some of these cracks. If not out of a humane ethical response, then do get it because the cracks make us all more vulnerable.
But we have also been given a gift:
We began this year on the verge of perhaps the deepest divisions the country has seen since the Quebec referendums. COVID-19 united Canadians in a common struggle. One that I hope we be will able to look back and say, ”We defeated this together as a nation.” If there’s anything positive about the virus, this is it.
If we take the lessons and the gift to heart, we can make Canada a better place for all of us.
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