The last two weeks saw a massive convoy of trucks cross Canada from British Columbia in the west, across the frozen plains of Alberta and Saskatchewan, and on to Ottawa, the seat of tyranny. Called the Freedom Convoy, they were and are engaging in a massive protest against the Fascist vaccine mandates and lockdowns and all the other State actions of an elitist far-left government.
The Convoy has caught the attention of peoples across the world – people tired of the irrational acts of their own governments that have kept them locked down, forced them to accept a deadly medical procedure on the false assurances that if they submitted, then their lives would return to normal. People who saw two weeks to flatten the curve become two years to flatten their freedoms, their livelihoods and even their very lives.
People who were assured that their governments had their best interests at heart and were following the best recommendations of the best scientists in the world, only to learn that the science was manipulated and the so-called vaccines prevented nothing and only made them sicker, and all that the lockdowns and mask mandates did was to destroy businesses and increase the power and wealth of elites.
The Convoy drivers came bearing a message to the seat of the Canadian government. They were saying that the people were tired of living in fear, tired of lockdowns, vaccine mandates, tired of having their freedoms trampled on by every petit tyrant serving in some official capacity. They were bringing the message that the people could look after themselves, that they didn’t need some distant authority to tell them what they must do to avoid an illness little worse than the ones they encountered every year in life.
They were saying they were tired of official lies about what was necessary to keep them safe, and that it was time to let go and let the people decide what was best for themselves. In other words, they were conveying the message that the freedoms usurped must be restored – that it was time that a government that claimed to serve the people should actually listen to the People, step aside and let the People chose their own course.
As of today, the Ottawa government has given their response. To all freedom loving Canadians they have said: “You don’t matter.”. “We have the power and we don’t have to listen to you”. ” Your job is to shut up, pay your taxes to support us, and do as you’re told.”. The Ottawa government responded with a big middle finger to the rest of the nation.
They did so by sending the police around to confiscate the fuel and propane of the Convoy trucks. It is winter in Canada, and temperatures can reach levels of cold that most people cannot imagine. The fuel and propane are necessary to keep trucks functional and the drivers from freezing. Presumably, the powers responsible thought those actions would lead to dispersal of the Convoy – that rather than risk their lives, the truckers would surrender and quit their protest. Some might, but I think such actions will simply engender more resistance. The fact that the government is now arresting some of the truckers and are blockading any attempts to provide them with food, fuel and other support is simply making things worse.
The Stupidity of Power
The government reaction is just that – reaction. In fact, it is a typical reaction of an out-of-touch authoritarian government. It is the reaction of a government that has grown complacent and assured of its own security. Rather than taking the concerns of the people seriously, its cowardly leader has run off to hide rather than stay and listen to the voice of the people he claims to represent.
So why is their reaction stupid? While confiscating fuel might seem a clever move, on closer inspection it is actually one of those poorly thought through partly baked ideas. Trucks require fuel to move. If the government wants the trucks to move and disperse, it will have to provide fuel. A truck without fuel isn’t going anywhere. Taking the fuel away from the trucks simply means they are going to stay where they are – probably not the objective those bright administrators had in mind.
Then they want to arrest drivers. Now Canada is already short of drivers. Current estimates are that Canada is short around 25,000 drivers. It is hard to get good estimates of the actual number of drivers involved in the Convoy, and numbers range from just under 600 vehicles to over 50,000. For a country of 38 million people, either number is significant.
Arresting a few thousand drivers for protesting a despotic regime does nothing to help the already serious supply chain issues and driver shortages. Given that most of the drivers affected by the mandates are cross-border drivers bringing goods into Canada from the US, and transporting Canadian products south, there is a large negative multiplier effect on the Canadian economy for every driver arrested.
The trucking industry in Canada involves more than drivers. Almost 2% of the total Canadian population is directly employed in land transportation, either as drivers, or loaders, or warehousers, or distribution. That is almost 5% of the total Canadian workforce. While only a small fraction is directly participating in the Convoy, there is a much larger body of sympathetic workers behind each Convoy driver. Furthermore, the Canadian people are tired of Covid restrictions and see the Convoy as a symbol and rallying point for expressing their dissatisfaction.
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