Times Colonist: Comment: We need to try to reduce divisiveness in our society

Terms like “anti-vaxer,” “conspiracy theorist,” and “COVIDiot” were far too common. 

December 2, 2024, Anne O’Neil 

A commentary.

I am concerned about the heightened divisiveness and increasing polarization in our society.

I am a lawyer, now non-practising, having started my career almost 30 years ago. As a practising lawyer, I assisted several clients when active mandates were in place regarding COVID-19.

I have years of experience in the non-profit and social enterprise sector, and experience in law and policy reform. Currently I am focused on life coaching, assisting clients to pursue their passion and purpose in life, which I have been doing for 20 years.

My concern during the pandemic was government overreach. With no long-term studies on safety and efficacy, the vaccine mandates came in, people made hard decisions, and suffered a variety of consequences.

Some lost their jobs, their ability to travel, and their ability to see loved ones who were passing away. Some experienced damage to their health from the COVID vaccine.

There was very little room for open, rational communication with regards to risks and benefits associated with new vaccines and mandates.

Instead, widespread smearing and labelling of people who wished to maintain medical privacy and have their right to informed consent respected was common.

A kind of mob mentality, which is not conducive to the creation of good policy, dominated much of our public discourse.

Terms like “anti-vaxer,” “conspiracy theorist,” and “COVIDiot” were far too common. As far as I know, we don’t call someone who is pro-choice in the context of women’s reproductive rights “anti-baby.”

I am tired of the grade-school tactics of mudslinging and making fun of anyone with a different opinion.

These approaches are designed to bully and silence people, throwing a diverse group of people into a kind of “crazy camp,” making it difficult for them to be heard and easy for them to be scapegoated. Societal rifts and divisiveness deepened.

Leading up to the provincial election I became curious about a local candidate’s position regarding COVID era mandates, so I asked him about this.