What's happening in Ottawa is no longer a protest. It's an occupation. Michael Harris writes:
Everyone in this country believes in the right to protest. A protest allows free people to display their dissent over public issues.
The right to protest is invaluable. It has worked miracles in changing the course of history. The civil rights marches and protests in the United States brought long-delayed justice to Black Americans—at least on paper.
Protesters brave enough to get on their feet and hit the street were instrumental in ending the Vietnam War.
Long ago, enormously courageous women protested the indefensible voting laws in America until they were finally enfranchised.
But there is a vast difference between a protest and issuing an ultimatum, on behalf of a tiny, ill-informed minority that undermines the rights and safety of the majority of prudent citizens.
That is exactly what the so-called “Freedom Convoy” is all about. It is the naked threat to degrade and make permanently dysfunctional Canada’s capital city, and other cities, unless the government abandons the public health policy it was elected on, and ends all Covid-related restrictions.
What we have here is not a protest but an occupation. And that occupation has put a lot of profoundly important issues on the table.
What are those issues? Consider:
Can an unelected mob shut down the seat of national government and presume to dictate policy? Who elected them? And with money coming in from a number of foreign countries, including the U.S., who is funding them?
Can that mob be allowed to bring in fuel for the trucks gridlocking the city so that they can blow their horns all night?
Can they defecate and urinate on people’s lawns, shut down businesses, flash swastikas and Confederate flags, and deface sacred public monuments?Unfortunately -- but not surprisingly -- the Conservatives have aligned themselves with the convoy. In his recent campaign -- in which Pierre Poilievre announced he was running for Prime Minister, not the leadership of the Conservative Party -- Poilievre repeated the word "freedom" several times. No accident.
This is where the rubber hits the road. Last night, Ottawa police raided a base camp the occupiers are using, making arrests. This morning, a class action lawsuit goes forward against the occupiers. They will be given a deadline. If they leave by the deadline, the court will leave them alone.
The message, Harris writes, is clear: truck off.
Image: The Hill Times
20 comments:
While employed in South Korea for many years, I learned a thing or two about protests. S.Korea is a Democracy that is taken seriously by the people. The President of the country has one five year term that is it. If issues are not dealt with he/she goes down in history with a less than stellar reputation. There, I witnessed a number of protests. They lasted no longer than a week in front of the Blue House. The disgruntled where heard and results posted in the papers, on Arirang television, Korean radio and Television. People openly discussed the results. WHY can’t WE DO THAT HERE? Oh…South Korea did not close down , not once, during this pandemic. Anyong
What's happened in Ottawa doesn't happen often here, Anyong. The Winnipeg General Strike was something like this occupation. We're not used to this kind of thing.
There was an interesting tidbit this morning. Someone was cited for not having the correct licence. Not a trucker at all , just some clown in a borrowed truck. Ther may not be as many truckers as the insurgents want us to believe.
Our son works in Ottawa, rumley. He says there are a lot of non-truckers in the crowd -- including lots of university students.
Too little too late from the Ottawa police. In December, the truckers announced they were coming and planning to occupy Ottawa until Trudeau resigns. The media tracked the truckers' progress from western Canada. Yet, when they got to Ottawa, the police had no plan. This is gross negligence and OPS heads should roll.
We're now in the second week of the occupation and OPS still has no plan to send the truckers packing. All we get is lame excuses - not enough tow trucks, not enough manpower, despite reinforcements from Toronto and Kingston. Get moving, enforce your bylaws, tow the worst offenders out, shut off reinforcements and supplies. Nazis are like rabid dogs, give them an inch and they'll take your hand. They need to be dealt with quickly and decisively.
Cap
It took the authorities too long to recognize who they were dealing with, Cap. Each day lost makes it more difficult to bring this to an end.
Mark Carney is right. This is sedition. Mr. Trudeau can't hide behind the Ottawa police department any longer. It's the legitimacy of his government that's under attack. The people of Ottawa are hostages and he's doing bugger all for them.
We might be less than satisfied at how government is formed but it's our government, not the protesters and they have no right to meddle in it.
If ever Junior had a "just watch me" moment, this is it.
Exactly, Mound. This is time for Justin to say, "Just watch me!"
I would have thought a reference to the Winnipeg General Strike would have been a more appropriate reference.
BTW a lot of funding seems to come from south of the border. I hope the RCMP and CSIS have a close look at this. It almost looks like a "colour revolution à la Maidan.
Americans are known exporting their politics, jrk. Sedition is quite popular down there these days.
Oh, glad tidings and pipings of joy! I am happy to say that Toronto is protester-free. They have melted away like pissed on snow. They made their ruckus on Saturday but the numbers of protesters were relatively small, judging by drone footage. Closing off multiple points of entry to Toronto seems to have worked very well. The horn honking,from cars not trucks, was modest and no worse than soccer victory honking. It stopped totally on Sunday when the protesters left amid a vast storm of psychic raspberries.
The army is right - this can be handled by competent and determined policing. It is not a military matter, at least not normally. The Ottawa Chief of Police seems to be deliberately creating failure. He was saying that this was not a police matter even at the beginning and hinting that the army should come in. The army replied saying they didn't handle police matters. They are not eager to be dragged into this self-created mess.
If Trudeau called in the army, it would turn him into the bad guy. Is that the goal? The army anyway might not be some instant solution, particularly given their lack of desire to get involved. So probably the Ottawa police will have to do their own work. Maybe they should start by getting rid of their Chief of Police. They might be able to seize the trucks and sell them later to cover some of their expenses.
It sounds like the OPP and the RCMP will join the Ottawa police force, ffd. This will still take some time.
The sedition is happening on both sides of the police lines. Cops love these guys.
I'm not sure that's true, PoV.
My great-grandmother participated in the Suffragette movement in England. I also participated in several protests in this country. I know what lawful protests are about. And it is not what is happening in Ottawa at this time. Mark Carney is on the mark (no pun intended). I support what Carney has written. Canadians may not be used to what is happening in Ottawa at this time, they ought to know when people are breathing the law and require something be done to stop those truckers from trumping all over other peoples rights. Anyong
Re: ffd
We don't need military intervention but we could use a company of drivers with tank transporters to haul these trucks to a secure compound.
Carney named it in his succinct and as always, brilliant take on this sedition. Covid is the excuse, takeover is the goal. This morning they've closed the Ambassador Bridge and where is Doug Ford, likely watching it on TV and cheering them on. If the Ottawa police force proceeds to violently crack down on the next First Nations or Climate Change protest, we'll be watching. Oh, and next time in Ottawa, park wherever you want. BC Waterboy
This is not how you protest, Anyong. This is insurrection.
The local Ottawa tow truckers are refusing to do the job. But there are others who can do the job, Mound.
Carney's diagnosis is spot on, waterboy. And it will be interesting to follow the money.
Post a Comment