Dear Editor
In reply to Mr. Wiebe's letter of March 10 (Begs to disagree), I have to say that I do not put much faith in polls because you don’t know who they are asking, the questions they are using, what segment of the population is being polled and so on.
Personalities on TV are paid to give opinions on issues and sometimes controversial opinions, but, in the end, it’s just an opinion like yours or like mine. So, we have to use our intelligence, gather the facts and look at the issues clearly to find the truth.
Mr. Weibe stated the prime minister had no right to impose vaccine restrictions on truckers crossing the border. Well, he is the prime minister after all and his job is to look after Canadians. Can you imagine the outcry if a new variant of COVID-19 was brought across the border by a trucker and our prime minister did nothing. So, the prime minister had the right to do what he did because that is his job and he had the science to back him up and he had the back bone to do it. So good on him.
It is estimated six million people have died from COVID-19 and probably more. We had a new, easily transmissible variant showing up and the prime minister's concern was to keep the Canadian public protected. He could not say truckers coming into Canada had to be vaccinated unless truckers leaving Canada were also vaccinated. So, get vaccinated.
This did not apply to truckers driving in Canada, only if they were crossing the border. President Biden imposed the same law. So, what is the issue? I don’t think the prime minister or the government was embarrassed by the situation, but certainly aware. The prime minister did not react immediately for numerous reasons, all of which were correct.
First, he waited until the Conservatives stopped shaking hands and hugging the truckers. Secondly, he gave the truckers an opportunity to express their views, and we all know how that went. Thirdly, he was waiting for the local authorities to use the adequate laws they had to bring about law and order, which, as it turned out, they lacked the will and the backbone to do.
The Emergencies Act was brought in to give the police direction and backing they needed. It did the job, end of story and good work. The only ones who would term the act as criminal are those who have something to fear. I was not concerned nor were most Canadians, except of course those who want to make political hay, like Jason Kenny.
The Canadian Civil Liberties Association has withdrawn from court action against the government. Accusing the prime minister of criminalizing what happened in Ottawa is both absurd and unjustified. That is something these truckers and their organizers did all on their own. They broke the law and embarrassed Canadians and they tried to blame it on someone else because they don’t want to take the responsibility for what they did.
We have laws in this country, good laws and they have to apply to everyone equally across this great nation. No one should be above the law whether by status, colour, culture or belief. The law has to apply to all equally. It’s there to protect everyone’s dignity and everyone’s home and everyone’s life. The same for you and the same for me. It can not be taken by one person or group to abuse another. That’s criminal and that is what the truckers and their organizers did.
I deeply fear that unless we uphold the laws we have in this country and stand strong to protect them against people and acts of this sort we will lose our real freedom. We will even lose our democracy and we will have no one else to blame but ourselves. These people don’t understand freedom. What they are after is license to do what they want and to impose their acts on you and me because they feel they are above the law.
Mr. Wiebe, if a cause I was supporting was deemed criminal by the federal government, then I would have to say I was wrong in that endeavour and I would take the responsibility for my actions and not blame others. However as long as we have the country we have today, I am not concerned.
Walter Guzik
Baljennie
