The Grinch wins

On Thursday, smartphones around Quebec lit up with the news: Christmas is cancelled.
The announcement came after a confusing two weeks. Premier Legault had raised hopes early in the fall that Christmas gatherings of up to 10 people could be managed this year, if the broader Quebec community engaged in what he called a ‘moral contract’ to isolate themselves a week before and a week after the holiday. The CAQ promised to make a further announcement on December 11th. 

  COVID refused to cooperate, however, and Legault and his team decided to pull back the holiday before their previously planned announcement on the 11th. Numbers kept rising, as did hospitalizations. As Legault himself noted when he made the announcement, there didn’t seem to be any sign that these numbers would relentrelent (verb): when something relents it backs off, eases its threat. Conversely, we sometimes call a fierce opponent unrelenting. , and the threat of the hospitals being overwhelmed in certain regions looked to be immediate and severe. Legault expressed regret over raising hopes earlier in the season, and perhaps tried to correct an earlier impression that his handlinghandling — to handle (verb): An informal way of referring to the management of a situation or a crisis. Ex. You handled that rude customer quite well of the pandemic leaves no room for improvement, saying “I don’t give myself perfect marks for the management of the crisis.” 

  The new rules still permit those living in ‘yellow’ and ‘orange’ zones to have gatherings of up to 10 and 6, respectively. Those living alone will be allowed one visitor.
  Official responses from mayor of Montréal Valerie Plante and the health care community were sympathetic when it came to their own disappointment as well as the broader public’s frustration and impatience with the current situation, but underlined their firm convictionconviction (noun): The word ‘conviction’ can mean several different things in different contexts, including a formal finding of guilt in a criminal court, but in the context above it refers to a firm belief. that Premier Legault had made the right decision. 

  The question that remains: will people buy into the government’s logic and follow both the spirit and the letterSpirit (of the law) and the letter (of the law) (expression): Referring to the ways in which rules and laws get interpreted. The spirit of the law refers to the intention of a rule; obviously people can be quite good at finding ways to avoid the ‘spirit’ of the law, sometimes by following the written regulations so closely that no fault can be found, but the intention of the law is avoided. of the new rules. 

by Nathan R. Elliott

i. “Quebec cancels plan for Christmas gatherings as COVID-19 cases rise.” Montreal Gazette. Dec. 4, 2020. 5 mins. Intermediate. 

ii. “Quebec has officially cancelled Christmas gatherings.” Montreal Blog. Dec 3, 2020. Beginner. 4 mins. 

ii. “Quebec cancels plans to allow Christmas gatherings as COVID-19 surges.” CBC. Dec 3, 2020. 8 mins. Intermediate. iii. “Christmas Cancellation: Quebec backtracks and calls off holiday gatherings.” CTV NEWS. Dec 3, 2020.
4 mins. Beginner/Intermediate.