So, for the week before Christmas, and beyond, there is a 50 per cent capacity limit in restaurants and venues, no popcorn or drinks at the movies, no eating or drinking at sports events, patrons have to remain seated in restaurants, and wear masks when not eating.

No singing. No dancing.

And this is for the COVID vaccinated.

All of this just in time for Christmas, and all in the name of protection from the latest COVID-19 “scariant”, Omicron, which in South Africa, where it was first identified, has resulted only in mild symptoms and no hospitalization.

Why?

Is it because those who drive the endless fear narrative for political gain, are themselves genuinely terrified of what Christmas represents?

Is it because they cannot abide by what Christmas delivers to our hearts every year, the thing we look forward to, the eternal hope for all humanity made manifest in the birth of our Lord and Saviour in a humble stable in Bethlehem?

Hope is the antidote for the fear that Doug Ford, and those like him, stokes in our hearts in order to control us and remove our freedoms.

Enjoy the Christmas you were meant to have. Gather with your friends and family, and dispel your fear of anything but the real variant, the political variant of tyranny eagerly pursued by Doug Ford. MP Derek Sloan