People don’t have the right to infect others

By Lethbridge Herald on December 24, 2025.

Ken Moore
For The Herald

In Alberta, Premier Danielle Smith and her followers always talk about independence, community spirit, and straight talk. Personal liberty seems particularly important to those who are the most vocal.

But liberty has always had limits, especially when one person’s choice endangers the safety of everyone else. As measles, pertussis and other preventable diseases re-emerge across North America, and in particular, in Alberta, it’s time for our province to consider what many jurisdictions already accept as common sense: mandatory vaccination for highly infectious and dangerous diseases.

This is not a reckless assault on individual rights. It is a recognition of a deeper truth within our Constitution: the rights of society as a whole sometimes must outweigh the preferences of the individual. The Charter itself states that rights are subject to “reasonable limits … demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society.” 

Courts have consistently upheld this balancing principle, whether in public safety laws, limits on harmful expression, or public health measures that protect the community. Our Constitution recognizes individual rights. But it also recognizes something else: the right of society to protect itself. Yes, individual rights are very important. But even more important are the rights of our whole society: the general populace. And few measures are more clearly justified than preventing outbreaks of diseases that spread silently, rapidly, and indiscriminately.

We’ve seen the consequences of ignoring this reality before. Typhoid Mary—Mary Mallon—was an asymptomatic carrier of typhoid fever who infected dozens and caused multiple deaths. She insisted on her personal liberty, even after being told she was spreading disease. Her story remains a stark warning: when individual rights are exercised without regard for others, the result can be deadly. 

When one person’s choices can harm and even kill hundreds, the province has not only the right but the duty to intervene.

Vaccination is one of the very few tools that can prevent a modern-day repeat of such failures. Alberta’s measles vaccination rate has slipped below levels needed for herd immunity. That puts newborns, cancer patients, and the immunocompromised—people who cannot be vaccinated— and others, especially the elderly, directly in harm’s way. Their right to life and security of the person surely carries at least as much weight as someone’s preference to remain unvaccinated.

Courts across Canada have consistently held that reasonable limits on individual freedom are justified when public health is at stake. From seatbelt laws to mandatory motorcycle helmets, judges have affirmed the principle that governments may step in when failure to act endangers the public. Infectious diseases carry far higher risks than riding without a helmet, yet we allow the former to remain optional.

Some object on religious grounds, saying “God will protect me.” Faith deserves respect, but so does wisdom. As the old saying goes: God helps those who help themselves. And the greatest help when it comes to infectious diseases comes in the form of vaccines.  Vaccines are among the greatest tools ever produced to protect one another. But they must be administered to be effective.

A government initiated mandatory policy would be best. Mandatory vaccination would bring two major benefits to Alberta’s government and its health-care system.

First, fewer outbreaks mean fewer sick days, fewer disruptions to workplaces, and less economic downtime. When thousands of workers fall ill, or must stay home with sick children, the entire economy slows. Productivity drops. Businesses suffer. Mandated vaccination would substantially reduce this avoidable strain.

Second, the cost savings to Alberta Health Services would be enormous. Hospital care for measles cases can run into the thousands of dollars per patient; severe complications from diseases like polio or meningitis can cost far more. Outbreaks burden emergency rooms, require isolation protocols, and divert staff and resources from other essential services. Preventing these hospitalizations is not only compassionate, it is fiscally responsible.

Premier Smith often talks about common sense. Mandatory vaccination for highly contagious, dangerous diseases is exactly that: common sense. It protects the vulnerable, upholds the constitutional principle that society’s safety matters, and saves millions in avoidable health-care costs.

Mandated vaccination is not about government overreach. It is about government fulfilling its most basic responsibility: ensuring the safety of its people and being fiscally responsible. Alberta should openly and seriously consider requiring vaccination for all highly contagious and dangerous diseases, with narrow exemptions for genuine medical need.

While it might be preferable to persuade everyone to be vaccinated for the various infections for which we have vaccines, some individuals would never get vaccinated without it becoming mandatory.  And mandatory vaccinations are not rare.  Numerous countries require people to be vaccinated against polio, measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis and hepatitis B. Obviously, persuasion hasn’t worked in Alberta. A stronger measure is necessary.

We are all in this together. And protecting each other, especially against preventable diseases, is the very essence of what it means to live in a free, responsible, and caring society.  Freedom is a cherished value in Alberta. But freedom does not include the right to expose others to preventable harm. In a civil society, rights are balanced with responsibilities. Vaccination is not just a personal choice; it is a civic duty. And it is one thing the government should make mandatory.

Ken Moore is a longtime resident of Stirling and retired news director at CFAC Television.