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But Rath countered, saying the government lawyer was blowing the pandemic out of proportion.
“This is not polio, this is not smallpox, this is not the Spanish flu,” he said, reiterating his and Kitchen’s argument that few healthy people had died.
“Healthy people are not dying from COVID-19,” he said.
The lawyer noted Kirker likely didn’t think that when she was appointed to the bench she would be the judge asked “to save Christmas.”
Rath said the restrictions on having visitors to your home or meeting people outdoors, mandatory mask use and business closures amount to “the incarceration of 4.4 million Albertans.”
He said there was no evidence that less restrictive measures would not be as effective.
“The measures taken need to be proportionate and there needs to be a balancing exercise by the government.”
Kitchen said many Albertans would suffer irreparable harm, one of the tests for granting an injunction, if the restrictions remained in place over the holiday season.
“You can’t buy back Christmas, you can’t buy back being with family to attend a loved one’s funeral,” he said of the fact monetary compensation couldn’t undo the harm.
Some elderly people have been looking forward to spending their first Christmas with grandchildren, he opined.
“This could be their last Christmas,” Kitchen said.
The public health measures are affecting “the relationships, the experiences and the things that make life worth living.”
