Appeal to the past.

I ran into this article as about three or four people I know linked to it on their web pages.

https://catholicinsight.com/the-courage-of-bishop-michael-power-crucial-for-our-times/ 

"The Courage of Michael Power: crucial for our time."

The gist of the article appeals to Power's famous treatment of the Irish poor and sick who arrived on our shores in the summer and fall of Black '47, and how he selflessly treated them day in and day out in the fever sheds, regardless to the personal cost. 

There are a few problems with appealing to Power, the first being that the only thing most people know about him is how he ended up dying serving the poor as he caught the dreaded Typhus from the sick Irish and died himself from the disease.  What is less well known is his relationship to the government of his time.  To put it simply: he got along with them, and avoided making waves.

I explain that in my response to the article:

"What Power would have done is a tough question. On the one hand, as you point out, Power did spend much of his days in the summer and fall of '47 in the fever sheds (which were on the grounds of the Hospital, where the Bell Lightbox now stands). However, his relationship with government was complex. When he took the newly formed diocese, he travelled to London before he came to Toronto in order to get the British government on board with recognizing the new diocese. This was a bit of a problem because the Anglicans had not formed a diocese around Toronto yet, which meant Power would outrank the local Anglican prelate. Power, however, was a Anglophile who believed the British Empire could be a force for good in the world- once it was properly converted, of course. He managed to convince the British that having a Catholic bishop in Toronto would be a good idea in part by arguing that a bishop would be better able to keep an eye on the flock and perhaps prevent Catholics from taking part in a rebellion again, as they had in large numbers in 1837. (He argued this despite the fact that the Rebellion of 1837 in Lower Canada erupted in his parish, under his nose, and he knew nothing of it.) So when he came to Toronto, he had no intention of causing waves, and he every intention of keeping his flock in line. He was respected by the Protestant leaders in Toronto, to the point that two of them- Edgerton Ryerson and John Strachan- chose Power to be the first chair of the first board of education in Ontario. Power tried to create Catholic schools within that system, not form his own system. That was done by his successor, Charbonnel.

"So, if you want to argue that Power would have acted courageously in the face of this crisis- yes, he most likely would have. If you want to suggest that he would have gone against the government and encouraged his flock to have done the same- that is unlikely."

As I said, he would have acted courageously.  What form that courage would have taken, though, is impossible to say.  If one wishes to argue that he would have gone against the government mandate (which the article does not say), that seems unlikely.