WHEREAS, as a consequence of the declaration by the World Health Organization that COVID-19 is a pandemic, the Government of Quebec declared on March 13 2020 a public health emergency under section 118 of the Public Health Act (chapter S-2.2);

WHEREAS the Government of Quebec has extended the public health emergency dozens of times, so that it is still in effect today;

WHEREAS COVID-19 no longer represents a serious, direct threat to the health of the population, as required by section 118 of PHA;

WHEREAS the following claims made by the Government of Quebec are invalid:

1. The number of COVID-19 cases is rising. False. To support this claim, instead of using the number of individuals sick with COVID-19, the Government uses the number of infections with SARS-COV2. But the CDC defines epidemic to be “[...] an increase, often sudden, in the number of cases of a disease above what is normally expected in that population in that area”. An epidemic is defined by a disease, not by a virus. Currently the Government discloses no data regarding the number of sick individuals. The burden is on the Government to show that this number is relatively high. Absent that, by default, there is no epidemic, regardless of how many are infected;
2. The Government has the duty to protect the unvaccinated. True. But by offering to every citizen free vaccines, which, according to the Government, is the best protection against COVID-19, it has duly fulfilled this duty. The Government must not, under any circumstance, force any of its citizens to accept what they consider to be a dangerous solution to a non-existing problem. It must also drop the paternalistic, arrogant stand that it knows what’s best for each individual. It doesn’t. It must leave all citizens free to decide what is better for them, to act accordingly, and live, or not, with the consequences;
3. The healthcare system won’t be able to handle new cases of COVID-19. Undeniably true, but irrelevant. That’s because the ‘H’ in ‘PHA’ stands for “Health”, not “Healthcare”. Nowhere in the Public Health Act does it say that the Government may declare or extend a public health emergency if it is incapable to handle the medical needs of the population;

WE, THE SIGNATORIES OF THIS PETITION, DEMAND, of the Government of Quebec:

THAT it lifts the public health emergency effective immediately;

THAT it lifts all mandatory requirements related to COVID-19, such as masks, social distancing, vaccination proof, and leaves these requirements at the discretion of each individual organization, whether private or public, based on their own best judgment;

THAT it lifts all restrictions related to COVID-19, such as limits to travelling and to public gatherings, closures of, or limitations on operations of, restaurants, bars, gyms, schools, transportation companies, and other public places, and leaves these restrictions at the discretion of each individual organization, whether private or public, based on their own best judgment.