The protests have inconvenienced many, but they have exposed what ails the country. It’s governed by a party that won only 32.6 per cent of the popular vote, with a public badly divided among five other parties. The Liberals have dominated politics for decades, backed by the well-heeled establishment in Montreal, Ottawa and Bay Street whose careers, incomes and businesses are linked to the party and who disdain rural and Western Canada. Such attitudes led to Justin Trudeau’s rebuff to the truckers when he pledged that “we won’t give in.”
Who’s “we,” and “give in” to what? The protest was started by politically moderate Canadians. There have been party atmospheres at these gatherings or blockades. And the cause has been supported by many Canadians. Two-thirds are fed up with rolling lockdowns and draconian public health measures and want them ended because these policies have needlessly damaged wallets, workers, taxpayers, employers, families and thousands of small businesses.
Besides that, Canada’s populace deserves to be treated with respect. It is neither ignorant nor unruly. Vaccination compliance here is among the highest in the world, including for truckers, but government overreach has been excessive. These demonstrations were sparked by the imposition of extended measures against long-distance truckers who, by definition, self-isolate to do their jobs.
The real story is Trudeau’s inclination to ignore dissent and dismiss a legitimate concern out of hand, then allow officials to block donations. The success of the GoFundMe appeal — more than $1 million in two days — revealed that there was broad-based support for the truckers. When the fundraiser was relocated to GiveSendGo after GoFundMe dropped the campaign, the support continued. Standing by while the Ontario government then froze the GiveSendGo donations attracted negative attention from around the world and made Canada appear to be anti-democratic.
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See Also:
(1) Trudeau’s intolerance of ‘unacceptable views’ has brought us to this moment
(2) Wells: The Emergencies Act: What’s ‘seriously endangered’?
(3) FLASHBACK: Authoritarianism Is a Trudeau Family Tradition
(4) Canada PM Justin Trudeau slammed for invoking emergency powers to stop protests
(5) Canada and the tyranny of emergencies
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