The recent trucker convoy to Ottawa has placed Canada under the international spotlight. I wonder what the world is thinking.
We hear people shouting out “freedom,” but I sincerely wonder if they know the meaning of the word. I’ve talked to friends and family who have lived in countries where people are not free and we are scratching our heads. If these individuals feel their Charter rights are being violated, they can use the millions of dollars they raised to hire the best lawyers to defend their interests in our court system.
We see no tear gas, no water cannons, no police with riot shields, no one being beaten and dragged off to an unknown location. These people are free to block roads, make noise and even disrupt international trade.
In fact, this group has been given far more leeway in their public protest than most other groups receive, even in Canada. Very recently, we watched heavily armed police with attack dogs raid the camp of unarmed Wet’suwet’en land defenders and drag people off to jail. When the Mohawk blocked a bridge in 1990, the Canadian army held them under siege and Canadian citizens threw rocks at them when they tried to transport their sick and elderly to where they had access to medical care.
The reason for our government’s current leniency seems too obvious to be stated. Yet, people objecting to health mandates have the gall to claim that their freedom is being infringed upon. And they expect to be taken seriously?
Our democracy is clearly imperfect, but unlike in the United States and many other countries, our elected members of government are extremely accessible and responsive to their constituents. There is also a healthy diversity of opinion in Canadian parliament.
Clearly, there are few people in the history of the world who have been as free as Canadians in the 21st century.
It has been so ironic to see clowns running around Ottawa with Nazi flags in the name of freedom. Has there ever been a more notorious dictatorship in the history of the world that systematically took away freedoms from its citizens, even the right to life itself? Those waving Confederate flags, celebrating a regime that fought for the right to own and mistreat other human beings, are also clearly misguided.
Thankfully, these people seem to have left and even Members of Parliament are able to have open discourse with protesters. One of these is Bob Zimmer, my Member of Parliament. He is a conservative Conservative, and while he and I do not agree on many issues, I appreciate his willingness to respectfully voice his opinion and the opinions of the many Canadians who share his views.
I also appreciate the official statements made by the Conservative Party of Canada condemning the actions of neo-fascist protesters and telling the remaining protesters that they’ve made their point and need to go home.
If the protests still do not end, then it becomes clear to everyone what these protesters really are: people who simply do not understand democratic freedoms and the responsibilities of being a Canadian.
Gerry Chidiac is a Prince George writer.
