Tyranny, Truckers, and Trudeau
Michael Locatelli
For The Clock
mlocatelli@plymouth.edu
Canadian Truckers have garneredworldwideattention over the past two weeks for protesting vaccine mandates imposed by Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government.Reported by the Wall Street Journal,On January 22nd, the“FreedomConvoy”departed from Canada’s most western province, British Columbia, on route to Ottawa,with the goal oferadicatingJustin Trudeau’s vaccination mandatesfor cross border truckers. What started as a protest by those we were most dependent on during the dog days oftheCOVID-19pandemic, has manifested itself into anationwide, and some would say, global movement. Even Elon Musk offered his support in a tweet that read, “Canadian truckers’ rule”.
Protests have been ongoing since the convoy arrived in Ottawa on Saturday.According to the New York Times,Downtown, the streetsare gridlocked by trucks, with hornspounding the cityday and night.A quick Google search will show you thousands of people have flooded acrossthe front lawn of Parliament and the streets of Ottawa, parading signs that read “F*** Trudeau” and “God, keep our land, glorious and free”.People have been protesting peacefully, and their effortshave gained support from Millions of Canadians and people worldwide.
However, there have been a few troubling incidents.Global News reported thattwowarmemorials, and a statue of Canadian hero Terry Fox,were desecratedbysomeprotestors, anda Canadian flag with swastikas drawn onto it was also seen.Absolutely abhorrent, unpatriotic behaviorrequiringcondemnation and prosecution.
This sceneis unsettlingforsomeOttawa residents asmany are stuck in their apartments, unable to access transportation. Many residents have also voiced theirdispleasure with the massive noise of the protests keeping them up during the night. Some feel unsafe as the streets of Ottawa are flooded with trucks and people fighting for thefreedom,they believe in. It is an intimidating scene in downtown Ottawa right now, a showdown the world will continue towatch.
According to the BBC, Prime Minister Trudeau responded to the protests by calling the group “an insult to memory and truth”.He has continuously dismissed the group as a “small fringe minority”but that isn’t the truth either. Mr. Trudeau, what about these protests is an insult to memory and truth? The truth is that forcing vaccination of truckers who spend much of their time alone, driving, is unnecessary. The truth is that we are all Canadians, and our nation was founded on the fundamental value of freedom for all. The freedomto makechoices, especially choices aboutwhethertovaccinatefrom avirus with avery lowfatality rate in a vast majority of the population. The truth is Mr. Trudeau, you spent more time and money focused on trying towina majority government during a global pandemic than helpingand listening toCanadians. The truth of the matter is that you forced people to choose between their livelihoods and an injection forced upon them by a governmentless than halfthepeople elected.The truth is that a socialized health care system andsocializedform of government led to pandemic restrictionsmuchtighter and lengthier than necessary and hasdirectly led to the protestswe now see.
By calling these people a “small fringe minority” Mr. Trudeau is failing to do his job. He is not accounting for the millions of Canadians supporting this movement across the nationand is unwilling to hear the voices of so many he was elected to represent. He is responsible for the well-being of all Canadians, not justthose who abide byhispremonitions of moral correctness. Forced vaccination and degrading those who do not comply seems an awful lot like everything Canada and the west stands united against. If we don’t fight tyrannyand divisionnow, how longwill it bebefore we elect a leader like Putin?If we continue tosupport the vilification of millions of unvaccinated human beings and continue to demonize discourse, we’re nothing butfucked.
Sources:
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/01/29/world/omicron-covid-vaccine-tests