Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is being schooled on Democracy by a group of truckers protesting in Ottawa, the capital of Canada. In its fourth week, this trucker protest has grown in strength, not only in Canada but worldwide. What started as a caravan of trucks stretching for miles as they traveled across Canada has turned into a peaceful occupation of the area around the Capital building, chocking off the downtown area of Ottawa. As the movement has gained momentum and support, Justin Trudeau is losing support due to his mishandling of the protest.
Trudeau could have avoided the hardship and embarrassment that this protest has placed on him and his country had he met with these truckers weeks ago instead of hiding to avoid confrontation. Instead, he refuses any dialogue with the protesters. Instead, the prime minister ramps up his rhetoric and name-calling against them and their supporters using very unpopular terms like racist and misogynistic. He calls them white supremacists wielding Swastika and Confederate flags.
Days of coverage and hours of recordings are yet to uncover either of these flags, making him look foolish and his action weak. Trudeau is acting more like a petulant child than the leader of a free country. He looks more like a dictator than a prime minister. It is not a good look.
The daily sessions in Parliament are a heavyweight battle between Trudeau and his name-calling members of the majority party against the opposition party that comes armed with facts and logic looking for a resolution. Trudeau replies with calls for increased vaccinations as his answer to any question from the other side and seems downright foolish and outmatched with each passing day.
This protest is not about the vaccine but about the ending of mask and vaccine mandates which are no longer necessary. Canada is 90% vaccinated, as are the truckers. He had no answer when pressed for what percentage he needed before rescinding the mandates.
He has threatened to have the trucks towed, but the tow truck operators refused to get involved. He threatened an increase in Police pressure, and the Police Chief for Ottawa resigned in protest. He has urged to freeze funds held by GoFundMe and GiveSendGo, almost $20 Million, but the public and courts would not allow that to happen.
This week, Trudeau has invoked the Emergencies Act, which had never been used in Canada. This act provides for action against terrorists, not a protest by truckers. None of Trudeau’s threats or actions are having an impact on the truckers. Instead, they are bolstering support worldwide for the efforts these protesters are using to bring attention to the government overreach in Canada and other countries. Trucker caravans are reported to be forming in the United States, Australia, and Europe.
The protests are peaceful so far, but as Trudeau ramps up his words and actions and refuses to talk to or negotiate with the truckers, this situation may not have a peaceful end. That is squarely on Trudeau, and with his political future on the line, it appears his tenure as Prime Minister will end sooner than later. He has no one to blame but himself.
