By Duck Paterson
If protests were just about a few truckers complaining about having to abide by rules that were enacted for the safety of the majority by a democratically elected government, then maybe it could be tolerated — but it’s not and that is not the intent of these radical protesters. The “Freedom Convoy” is madness based on anti-vax falsehoods, supported by selfish and uninformed people.
Truckers are required by American law to be vaccinated to cross the border. So what is the big deal?
As of Feb. 6, 79.9 per cent of Canadians have been fully vaccinated. According to the New York Times, as of Feb. 7, almost 65 per cent of the world’s population has been double vaccinated.
So what do these folks know that the people involved in this so-called protest for freedom, don’t know? It seems like a small minority of disgruntled folks don’t really care about COVID, it’s that they want their own way and have found the only way to get it is to break the law.
There are a few things that stick out to me that are wrong and the first one is the lack of leadership in this country. That alone is the biggest reason why we are in this ugly situation. “No Show Trudeau,” has left municipal governments to take it from these lawbreakers. “It has to stop” is what Trudeau said about the take over of Canadian cities. Wow, powerful words! He should have chosen his father’s words from a few years ago, “fuddle duddle” those truckers. That would have received a lot more attention.
It’s taken almost three weeks for the Canadian leaders to even contemplate any sort of action and even with the enactment of the emergency measures act, they say it will give municipal jurisdictions, as well as the local police, more authority. Did we vote for a government that would act on behalf of the majority of Canadians or just sit in Ottawa, paying lip service and passing the buck? I admit it’s a step in the right direction but only if the federal government and the provinces follow it up with enforcing the act.
It’s more than just the total lack of concern by “no show,” it’s the other so-called leaders. The Conservatives fixed their problem themselves, by ousting their leader, and good thing. That whole party standing up and supporting this law-breaking movement is a disgrace. A supposedly business-friendly party is doing its damndest to skewer local business, let alone innocent citizens.
I’m not surprised the leader of the NDP has decided to not say or do a thing either. After all, these so-called truckers and others breaking the law are working class and the backbone of the NDP support. Just because they are getting millions of dollars in support from the U.S. and Donald Trump is sending them all congratulations, it’s nothing to worry about for Mr. Singh and the NDP as they want to make sure their win/win position, in Ottawa, is protected — so let’s just keep our heads down and pretend all this unrest isn’t happening.
Imagine all the carbon dioxide coming from all these gas and diesel hogging vehicles travelling across the provinces and country and what has the Green Party done or said about it all? Nothing, yup I guess only hardworking, law-abiding citizens should be held responsible for climate change. If you decide to break the law to bring a country to its knees that’s OK for the Greens.
The blame doesn’t just lay with the feds either, all the provincial leaders, and politicians in general, should be held to blame for how this situation has evolved. This so-called “protest” farce has been let to go too long and too far. If governments had stepped in and done what they were elected to do, we would not be the laughing stock of the world now. In my opinion, any credibility we had as Canada, has gone down the toilet because of the lack of backbone by the senior levels of government.
Unfortunately, we don’t have any leadership with the courage to protect us from what is going on. What they are doing is leaving it to the courts who are appointed, so they are not responsible to the Canadian people. The judges, appointed not elected are left to set the direction for the country… what’s wrong with this picture?
Come on leaders, clean the streets, make these lawbreakers responsible for their actions and return Canada back to what we believe in —an honest, hard-working and law-abiding country!