The Truth About the Truckers Protest

Not what the media told us

The above is a video of Tamara Lich, one of the organizers at the 2022 Canadian Truckers Convoy. Hear her heart.

This week Chris Barber and Tamara Lich were convicted of mischief. Lich has already spent time in jail, twice.

If you were the leader of a country and you had two options, which one would you choose?

Either you could listen to the people, whom you represent and who have lost their jobs. You have the power to alleviate their distress. These are the same people who risked their lives and safety for two years, since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Nothing has changed in that way.

As the leader of the country you might see that it was perhaps not prudent to impose this mandate, at this late date, since the pandemic seems to be waning and very few people are dying now. You know you can repeal it and you know this is what the people are asking for.

In the back of your mind you are aware that it will happen sometime. Mandates can’t go on forever. You could bring the timeline forward a little and all of these hundreds or thousands of people would go home happy.

Or, you could choose another path.

You decide that these people need to be taught a lesson.

You see this as an opportunity for a show of strength on the world stage (not, of course, realizing that most of the world will not see it as you do).

You decide to dig in your heels….

You refuse to meet to negotiate with your electorate who is parked on your doorstep. You call them "insurrectionists." You determine to "crush" this "uprising."

You implement the most powerful tool at your disposal--the Emergencies Act. You can't even wait for approval by your own senate (who might not approve).

The enforcers you hire employ tear gas and rubber bullets on the crowd. They ride horses in the direction of a woman with a walker. They trample her and others. They physically assault an immigrant, a veteran and a female reporter. The protesters offer no resistance. They are told to “hold the line.” To be “remain peaceful.” To your disappointment you discover there were no guns among the protesters.

Now you double down and drag people to jail. You seize their bank accounts. Your take away their business licenses. You make them endure endless months of court appearances, even though police officers on the ground called this a peaceful protest.

Leaders of the protest finally emerge, battle-scarred, with a conviction of mischief (as happened last week—see CBC article: Chris Barber, Tamara Lich not guilty on most charges for roles in 2022 convoy protests).

Unfortunately this was the choice that was made.

This was not some country under an oppressive dictatorship. This was a country once argued to be the most peace-loving in the world--Canada. Canada was the envy of the world. Now we’re not sure.

This decision was the beginning of a downward trajectory for our Prime Minister. The people lost faith in the leadership of Justin Trudeau. Eventually he lost the confidence of his Liberal caucus and was removed from the coveted position of Prime Minister.

All of this might have been prevented.