Denis Rancourt
The article is organized into the following sections:
Summary
Purpose and context
Mandatory covering of the “mouth, nose and chin”
Logic of the statutory exemptions from mask wearing
Logic of the statutory general provisions
Schedule 2: Specific Rules, regulatory absurdity in every sector
Increased transmission and disease severity induced by the Regulation, and collateral deaths
Endnotes / References
Summary
I find that the transmission mitigation provisions of Regulation 364/20 of the Reopening Ontario (A Flexible Response to COVID-19) Act, 2020 are arbitrary and nonsensical, in light of actual knowledge about transmission of viral respiratory diseases, including COVID-19. Given hard evidence of harm from the measures themselves, if Ontario was a science-based society, the government would apply the precautionary principle by declaring a moratorium on all transmission-mitigation regulations, until policy-grade studies prove their worth in a rigorous harm-benefit appraisal framework.
