Andrew Speaker

There is a man in the US, Andrew Speaker, who suffers from a rare form of Tuberculosis. Mr. Speaker was recently married and decided to continue with plans to travel to Europe for his honeymoon. When in Europe he was contacted by the CDC and instructed to report to American authorities in Italy, so that he could be quarantined. He was specifically instructed not to fly home.

What did he do? Believing his life to be at risk unless he returned home, and also believing that his passport was now on the US no-fly list, he made several short flights around Europe, then flew from the Czech Republic to Montreal, Canada, so that he could drive across the US border. A border-guard ignored the warning to stop the man from entering.

Mr. Speaker, your behaviour was reckless and reprehensible. As a Canadian I am outraged that you came through Canada to avoid your country's authorities and to circumvent the safety precautions designed to save lives. You were in fear for your own life, and yet showed zero concern for the lives of any of the other people around you, not least of all the airline crews who carried you home. Your path through Canada shows that you were fully aware of the ramifications of your behaviour: you knew your own country didn't want you flying, so you flew somewhere else where they didn't know you had extremely drug-resistant TB. What you did is wrong and you clearly knew it.

Mr. Speaker, I truly hope that nobody becomes sick because of your total disregard for your fellow humans. But if someone does fall ill, your behaviour is tantamount to assault. If someone dies, your actions constitute manslaughter. In Canada we don't have a death penalty for killing another person, but maybe in your case we won't need it.

Links
Wikipedia: Andrew Speaker
Toronto Star: 1 2 3 4


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