The Freedom Convoy arrived in Ottawa late last week, with thousands of truckers and others from across the country converging in the nation’s capital to stage a massive protest.
It started with truckers voicing opposition to the vaccine requirements that are now in place for them to cross the Canada-U.S. border, but it has morphed into much more than that. And it’s attracted some people whose presence is problematic.
It’s been relatively peaceful. Ottawa police have investigated some incidents, but not as many as some feared. Most of the truckers and their supporters have been in Ottawa, had a good time, and the atmosphere was relatively festive.
Most of the protestors in Ottawa are good people voicing their grievance with the government. It should be noted that many of them have been vaccinated against COVID. But they think it should be up to individuals to make the decision.
They don’t see the harm in truckers being unvaccinated, since most truckers come into contact with so few people when doing their jobs, regardless of whether they’re travelling in Canada or to the U.S.
That’s not to say there haven’t been issues during the protest. We’ve seen some pretty reprehensible actions. There’s been a Canadian flag with swastikas on it.
We’ve seen trucks parked on the National War Memorial, protesters dancing on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and the desecration of a statue of Terry Fox – arguably our greatest citizen.
It’s hard to believe that those responsible couldn’t grasp the harm they would do to the credibility of the protests.
And yes, there are those involved with the convoy who have some rather appalling views of the world, ranging from white supremacy to overthrowing the government.
We’ve seen a few of the protestors harass a shelter in Ottawa, and some of them thought it would be a good ideas to create a scene in malls.
But in a crowd of thousands, maybe tens of thousands, they are in the minority. A distinct minority. And you have to wonder how many are truckers, and how many are those who latched on to this cause.
Some say they’ll remain until all the pandemic restrictions are lifted in Canada, but that’s an unrealistic claim.
Many of the restrictions are provincial jurisdiction, not federal. It’ll be up to the provinces to lift those restrictions. Saskatchewan has likely been the most permissive of any province over the last six months. While other regions have been cutting down on capacity limits and issuing a myriad of other public health orders, our restrictions have been vaccine passports for some gatherings and businesses, and a public, indoor masking requirement.
Others restrictions have been enacted by private businesses, who had their legislation in place long before any province.
And the mandate for non-vaccinated truckers is both a Canadian and a U.S. issue. It’s unlikely Canada would lift its restrictions without being in lock step with the U.S.
In the first few months of the pandemic, truckers gained hero status in Canada. Those who didn’t appreciate the trucking industry before found a new-found level of admiration for them.
While we were in lockdowns, they were out doing their job. They were delivering the goods and the services that we needed to sustain ourselves, even if many of those goods were in short supply.
While many of us worked from home, they were still out on the road, spending time away from their families.
Truckers are every bit of an essential service now as they were in March and April of 2020.
With all of the supply chain issues gripping our economy, we don’t need to be making it more difficult to get goods across the border. We can’t afford any additional delays in getting products across the border.
We’re seeing that there’s a lot of support for truckers across the country, through the rallies that have been happening. And it hasn’t just been a bunch of yahoos at these events, either.
I get that there are people opposed to the convoy and the protest in Ottawa, although my guess is a lot of that opposition is due to some of those associated with the event, rather than the protests themselves.
I support truckers. Most of them are good, honest men and women looking to make a living while doing honest work, and doing it well.
And in the end, they’re essential to our country.
