A minor revolt may be brewing in Canada. And like many others before it in history, the cause will be arrogant elitists indifferent to the suffering of their fellow citizens and always eager to push the limits of their power. It may, in fact, grow from merely protest to political realignment, with surprising results for the establishment. Like a sort of Manifest Destiny, the so-called Liberals see the political landscape as a versant plane leaning down and to the left. What’s happening right now suggests otherwise.
The Canadian truckers’ convoy has rolled into Ottawa: thousands of truck drivers with millions of supporters from all across the country, with one simple, peaceful message: end mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations and the government’s dystopian digital tracking system used to enforce them. These working-class men and women have long been content to quietly do the indispensable jobs while their “betters” waved them away with a derisory flick of the wrist. The viciousness of the “Liberals” is now laid bare for all to see.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau denounced the protesters as racists and misogynists (naturally) before promptly running away, refusing to meet with the leadership or even consider their demands. Despite the truckers’ peaceful presence, and their continued calls for the protest to remain peaceful, the mayor of Ottawa has declared a “state of emergency.” He actually described the “fun carnival” atmosphere of the protest as “disturbing.” Ottawa police are seizing donations of diesel fuel and propane and even held a press conference to announce their plan to target not just protesters but their financial backers. GoFundMe froze millions of dollars in donations. Meanwhile, an Antifa thug intentionally drove a car into a crowd in Winnipeg, injuring several people who had gathered to show their support for the truckers. No word yet on whether his act is to be considered “mostly peaceful.”
How this particular situation will be resolved is hard to predict, but the thick Canadian ice may be starting to crack. The provincial government of Quebec has dropped plans to tax (!) the unvaccinated, while the premier of Alberta, Jason Kenney, refuses to mandate COVID-19 vaccinations. A poll from the Angus Reid Institute released on January 31 revealed that most Canadians (54 percent) want to end all COVID-19 restrictions. On February 2, the Canadian Conservative Party (CPC) overthrew its leadership in the House of Commons by a wide margin, with 73 of its 118 members voting to remove the “moderate” (read supine) Erin O’Toole and replace him with a firebrand Trump supporter from Manitoba named Candice Bergen as the interim party leader. This has set up a leadership battle in the CPC. A conservative member of parliament from Ontario, Pierre Poilievre, is “running for prime minister to give you back control of your life.”
The leader and spokesman for the truckers, B. J. Dichter, has called the Ottawa city council “communist,” but he’s also willing to point a finger at the broader problem. “Erin O’Toole was such a failure as [CPC] leader, because he was chasing Trudeau off the communist cliff,” he said, but “it’s the political class that needs to be purged of this garbage.” Thousands of Canadians are pouring into the streets of Ottawa, lining bridge overpasses and roadways and donating millions of dollars to show their support for people their government blithely dismisses as racist and misogynist simply for wanting the freedom to run their own lives without Ottawa’s boot on their necks. Unfortunately, the next general election is some time off, but voters will remember Trudeau’s handling of this trucker’s strike. It could end up being his “basket of deplorables” moment.
