Politicians are no match for a virus

When Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently announced that, in order to combat the spread of COVID-19, he was going to shut down the border to non-citizens, my gut reaction was 'Great idea, but probably too late; why didn’t you take such action four weeks ago when it might have really helped?' I must confess I’m viewing this crisis much differently than I’ve viewed others in the past, when I could be analytical, detached, and dispassionate when judging politicians on the skill with which they communicated to a worried public. Now I’m part of the worried public.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, pictured on March 17, 2020, holding a press conference outside the Rideau Cottage on the grounds of Rideau Hall. The prime minister and his children are in self-isolation since his wife Sophie Grégoire Trudeau tested positive for the coronavirus on March 12. Ms. Grégoire Trudeau has been in quarantine since March 12. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Opinion

BY GERRY NICHOLLS

March 23, 2020

OAKVILLE, ONT.—One of the best lines from the original Ghostbusters movie comes after the character Egon Spengler (played by the late Harold Ramis) beholds the evil god Gozer. Says Spengler: “I’m terrified beyond the capacity for rational thought." Well, that’s kind of how I’m f...

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