Whether we want to admit it or not, the truckers and their supporters have won. We, the rest of the country, have lost. I’m, off course, referring to the protest in Ottawa, Windsor and Coutts and now spreading around the world. As we are about to enter the third weekend of the protest, we seem to have given up on any attempt to end these demonstrations which, given some of the demands of the protesters, can rightfully be called an insurrection. The protesters have won the media attention, the social media and the discussion since nobody seems to be challenging them.
Politicians at all levels claim there is nothing they can do, except of course the premiers of Alberta and Saskatchewan who have given in the protesters’ demands to end vaccine restrictions. Police forces say they can do nothing (public safety of course although who’s safety I’m not too sure about). Nobody will call in the military (it’s not Canadian, you know). Surely Military Police personnel, who are qualified as peace officers, could help bolster what the Ottawa Police Chief says are insufficient resources. And do you think that one of the Army’s tank recovery vehicles, which can move a 60-ton Leopard tank, could move a transport truck?
Some commentators have stated that this protest is nothing like the events of January 6th, 2021. Actually, they’re worse. Quick action by the authorities in Washington quelled that event in one day and they have followed up with charges, arrests, and convictions. Canada has let this drag on three weeks with no action in sight. What if we had responded quickly and decisively that first weekend in Ottawa? It has been done in Canada . . . in 1970 during the Quebec crisis when the present Prime Minister’s own father took decisive action and probably saved Quebec and the rest of Canada from much more trouble.
And now it has become international, but only in democratic countries. Dictatorships know how they would deal with this situation. And we’ve picked up a lot of famous, or infamous, supporters. There are the Canadian Conservative politicians such as Pierre Poilievre who seems to hope that this will propel him into the leadership of his party. Although even he has backed off a bit in the last couple of days asking the protesters to please go home. As if?
And of course, there is Donald Trump, the world’s best-known ship-disturber. He is just rubbing his hands with glee hoping Canada collapses no doubt and having another excuse to insult Justin Trudeau. Imagine if he had still been in power in Washington.
They call it the freedom convoy. What is the freedom they seek? Nobody’s freedom has been taken away. No one demands that anyone gets a vaccine. There are no legal requirements to get a vaccine. However, as with any decision, there are consequences. You are not, and never have been, free to do harm to others either by terrorizing a city or spreading the virus. You are not free to cross the US border without limitations if you are not vaccinated and unwilling to undergo a quarantine. Even the US will not let you in now. The protesters want freedom without responsibility. “I want what I want, but I am not willing to give anything in return” could well be their motto.
“Liberty means responsibility. That is why most men
dread it.”
- George Bernard Shaw
These people are being inconvenienced not oppressed.
“Inconvenience and oppression are not one in the same.”
Patti Christie (in response to my last blog)
However, as I stated above, no matter how you view it, the protesters have won, and that is not good for Canada or any other country infected.
By the time the Trucker Convoy arrived in Ottawa to peacefully protest vaccine mandates it had morphed into an angry anti-vax, anti-mask, anti-government movement. Along the way these truckers gained support from like-minded people and also extremists from many fringe groups with different agendas. From what I see, there are more than truckers actually involved with this Occupation of Ottawa now. It's become an attempt to overthrow the government with a lot of non-Canadian backers. So much for Democracy! They need to be stopped.
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