To Ottawa with Love: Time to end the protest and start working on the Great Cleanup?
Commentary by Claus Rinner - 12 February 2022, original to the Toronto Moon.
There has been a cacophony of trucker-ditching in the meanstream (sic!) media headlines in the last few days, from the Toronto Star’s “Convoy shows how the far right has co-opted concept of ‘freedom’” to the Globe and Mail’s “The trucker convoy shows how Canadians are being sucked into larger conspiratorial narratives”. Apparently, “freedom” is a bad word now, as illustrated by blogTO’s “Someone just vandalized Toronto's newest public school with anti-vax graffiti”.
This is not a misplaced photo, as you would be excused to have thought:
This vandalism of the city's newest public school — funded through the taxes of pro-and anti-mandate citizens alike — saw the phrases "respect the charter of rights," as well as "freedom" painted on the exterior of the 2021-completed building.
“Freedom”, Ouch.
Another target of those right-wing, freedom-pressers: the maple leaf. “Canada’s flag has been weaponized and transformed into a hyperpartisan prop — here, and, it now seems, abroad”, writes John Lorinc in the Star. Indeed, I watched in amazement as the Canadian flag appeared in freedom protest videos from both Germany and France today. But “weaponized”, really?
Meanwhile, the Globe’s Ian Brown condescends to educate us with “Remember: Those who wave the Canadian flag do not get to define it for everyone else”. Memo to Mr. Brown: You are overthinking this.
A bit more thought-provoking was Brian Lilley’s column in the Toronto Sun, supporting Ontario Premier Ford telling protesters to “go home”. The concern expressed in the byline, “Forcing policy changes by mob rule is not how we operate in Canada”, is a sentiment I am seeing emerge across the political spectrum. It is exacerbated by the convoy organizers’ expectation to speak with the Prime Minister and their determination not to leave Ottawa until their demands are met. While I agree with those demands—ending all vaccine mandates and COVID-related restrictions—, I believe the Freedom Convoy 2022 has achieved a lot and should be wrapped up after this weekend.
Already this week, two Premiers have announced the end of vaccine passports and other measures under provincial jurisdiction: Scott Moe for Sasketchewan and Jason Kenney for Alberta. In my sector, two universities in these same provinces, the University of Calgary (Alberta) and the University of Sasketchewan in Saskatoon, followed with concrete timelines to end their campus vaccination requirements during this winter semester and drop mask requirements in April. And Premier Doug Ford has hinted at lifting all restrictions including vaccine passports … for Ontario businesses … soon. Despite this progress, there is an increasing risk that politicians on the Left will delay easing mandates to avoid the impression that they give in to the protests.
Instead of letting the convoy come to an uncomely end, we may need our truckers to lead us into a Great Cleanup. I am not talking about cleaning up the streets of downtown Ottawa, which the protesters are supposedly already doing much more diligently than the City of Ottawa normally does. I am thinking of pressuring parliaments, courts, and other major institutions to properly analyze the crisis, redress the damage done, and ensure this cannot happen again. Redress is particularly urgent for those who saw their jobs gone and careers destroyed. Longterm protection from decision-making under fear, panic, and groupthink will require careful thought given to multi-lateral governance structures and shared responsibilities. To be sure, we need to prevent medical officers of health from making society-wide decisions ever again.