Canada’s capital city of Ottawa has been clogged with trucks driven by protesters seeking an end to the country’s aggressive social controls. Like-minded groups have also jammed border crossings between Canada and the United States, wreaking havoc on the North American auto industry. Interestingly, we may be witnessing the end of the international gaslighting narrative that relies on attacking or idolizing protesters depending on their beliefs.
Prior to invoking Canada’s Emergency Powers Act, Canada’s Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, unleashed escalating and at times confusing statements. Meanwhile, truckers have expressed their resolve to maintain their protests despite the costs to the country’s economy, and the efforts to vilify them.
It didn’t need to come to this.
If aggressive social control could defeat a virus, then there is no way that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau could become the fourth member of his own household to contract COVID-19.
If government policies differentiated, as they should, among vaccine encouragement, vaccine mandates and vaccine passports, it is unlikely that truck drivers would have been motivated to block important international ports and sustain protests.
If there could be a conversation based on the pandemic’s status, effectiveness of various governmental policies on the pandemic, and open discussion about Covid, perhaps this dilemma would not exist at all.
People are frustrated and the result seems like the antithesis of Canada’s gracious culture. Brinksmanship and threats are not attributes normally associated with Canada.
IS GOVERNMENT POWER VERSUS DIALOG A SUCCESSFUL STRATEGY?
Rather than engaging those in the “Freedom Convoy,” Mr. Trudeau has chosen a course of marginalizing or perhaps removing these Canadians from polite society. He has characterized the truckers who deliver food, fuel and other necessities of life as holding, “unacceptable views.”
While hinting that perhaps he would order the army against his own citizens, the Prime Minister mused about whether liberal democracies should “tolerate these people.” It wasn’t that long ago politicians like Mr. Trudeau were shaming those who disagreed with them as “intolerant.” Apparently, the desire for tolerance has passed and Trudeau piled on with accusing the protesters of being both misogynistic and racist. While I marvel at the Prime Minister’s ability to extract misogyny and racism out of COVID relief policies, it appears he has taken the easy road and reduced the opposition to just that; either racist, or misogynistic, two keywords that have pretty much become standard fare when one is out of reason, compassion, or both.
Mr. Trudeau has supporters in a friendly press. A summation of recent pieces by reporting companies is that a tiny gaggle of conspiracy-fueled, right-wing fringe Canadians, egged on by false social media content farms in foreign lands has immobilized the entire country of Canada. These “reports” imply Canadian citizens embrace Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his policies with some 90% approval. While the reported single confederate flag, swastikas and QAnon hand signals have evaded photographs, all correct-thinking Canadians are waiting on Mr. Trudeau to make good on his promise to sic the army on protesters in the capital city of Ottawa. Or so sayeth the “reporting.” Mr. Trudeau also claims that protestors are stealing food from the homeless. Not to be left out, The New York Times print edition of February 8th had a headline, “Ottawa Protest Stirs far Right Around the World.”
The press alarmism does not appear to be working this time around.
Calls for polarization are not having the same effect.
Mr. Trudeau then greeted St. Valentine’s Day by declaring he would activate the Emergency Powers Act. The subtitle of this strategy might be, “the beatings will continue until morale improves.”
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to The Common Bridge to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.