Tyranny, Truckers, and Trudeau
Michael Locatelli
For The Clock
mlocatelli@plymouth.edu
Canadian Truckers have garnered worldwide attention 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 “Freedom Convoy” departed from Canada’s most western province, British Columbia, on route to Ottawa, with the goal of eradicating Justin Trudeau’s vaccination mandates for cross border truckers. What started as a protest by those we were most dependent on during the dog days of the COVID-19 pandemic, has manifested itself into a nationwide, 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 streets are gridlocked by trucks, with horns pounding the city day and night. A quick Google search will show you thousands of people have flooded across the 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 efforts have gained support from Millions of Canadians and people worldwide.
However, there have been a few troubling incidents. Global News reported that two war memorials, and a statue of Canadian hero Terry Fox, were desecrated by some protestors, and a Canadian flag with swastikas drawn onto it was also seen. Absolutely abhorrent, unpatriotic behavior requiring condemnation and prosecution.
This scene is unsettling for some Ottawa residents as many are stuck in their apartments, unable to access transportation. Many residents have also voiced their displeasure 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 the freedom, they believe in. It is an intimidating scene in downtown Ottawa right now, a showdown the world will continue to watch.
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 freedom to make choices, especially choices about whether to vaccinate from a virus with a very low fatality rate in a vast majority of the population. The truth is Mr. Trudeau, you spent more time and money focused on trying to win a majority government during a global pandemic than helping and listening to Canadians. The truth of the matter is that you forced people to choose between their livelihoods and an injection forced upon them by a government less than half the people elected. The truth is that a socialized health care system and socialized form of government led to pandemic restrictions much tighter and lengthier than necessary and has directly led to the protests we 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 nation and 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 just those who abide by his premonitions 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 tyranny and division now, how long will it be before we elect a leader like Putin? If we continue to support the vilification of millions of unvaccinated human beings and continue to demonize discourse, we’re nothing but fucked.
Sources:
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/01/29/world/omicron-covid-vaccine-tests