I have moved my writing over to Substack. My latest two articles are How I was Impacted by the Emergencies Act in Canada and The Long Conversation of the Truckers.
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Images of trucks rolling across Canada with crowds lining the highways, waving Canadian flags, were signs of hope a few weeks ago. These truckers, our essential workers, for months on end hauled loads, risking their lives, in the face of a pandemic when no vaccine was in sight.
I live in Surrey, BC which is sometimes referred to as “Little India” because of the large East Indian representation. For about a year we saw people on street corners with signs, “No Farmers, No Food.” They were supporting a protest in India. Trudeau even got behind them with his support.
On January 15 Prime Minister Trudeau passed a federal mandate requiring truckers to be vaccinated or forced to quarantine. About 10% of truckers in Canada are not vaccinated. Within a week the U.S. imposed a similar mandate, pulling an estimated 16,000 truckers off the road.
Shortages and delays were noticed almost immediately. But the real issue was that this happened as a result of men and women losing their livelihood due to a needless government mandate. Omicron is spreading without any regard for who is vaccinated and who is unvaccinated.
A convoy of truckers began to travel to Canada’s capital, Ottawa, at the end of January to speak with Prime Minister Trudeau. Trudeau has a history of not speaking to truckers and he didn’t entertain the thought of listening to the truckers for the entire three weeks they parked their rigs in downtown Ottawa. He had three weeks to make peace with his people.
This protest was of Trudeau’s making.
And then the Prime Minister of Canada made things exponentially worse by calling in what is equivalent to the National Guard, seizing private personal information, freezing bank accounts of protestors and their supporters, and arresting unarmed people who were peacefully exercising their democratic rights.
The lesson for Canadians is that you cannot, as an ordinary citizen, expect your prime minister to listen and you will be penalized for supporting a legal protest even if it is entirely within your civil rights. Authorities will look the other way while protestors are kneed in the back, trampled by officers on horseback, sprayed with rubber bullets and tear gas, butted with military rifles, and harrassed in their place of business for assisting protesters. I’ve watched too many videos to count that were posted by ordinary citizens and my heart is broken.
It does not cease to amaze me how a peaceful protest can be villainized by the press. But with millions of annual support by the Trudeau liberal government, I suppose the journalists had no other option, unless they wanted to face a fate similar to that of the truckers. Just last week a local radio personality, Kid Carson, found his position terminated. This is what happens if you step beyond the accepted narrative.
Gone are the days of freedom of thought and speech. Gone are the days of freedom of the press.
Gone are the days of freedom of peaceful protest. It is difficult to imagine a more peaceful protest than that of the truckers’ Freedom Convoy in Ottawa.
Trudeau has discredited himself on the world stage and lost the confidence of the Canadian people.
You hear someone prying at your front door. They are trying to break into your house. Immediately you call the police.
You’ve been rear-ended. The other vehicle leaves the scene. You call the police.
You hear a woman screaming in terror at the house next door. You call the police.
You hear a series of gunshots. You call the police.
You find a grow-op in your rental. You call the police.
You see someone lying unconscious on the sidewalk. You call the police.
You get a threatening phone call. You notify the police.
Your children’s bicycles are stolen out of your backyard. You report the theft to the police.
Your car window is smashed and someone has rifled through your things and stolen the few valuables you had in your trunk. You get in touch with the police.
You see a suspicious character walking across private property, looking in windows and checking doors. You call the police.
You hear loud partying next door that keeps you up into the wee hours of the night. You eventually call the police.
You find that your neighbor’s daughter has been raped when she shows up at your door. You call the police.
You discover a burned out vehicle beside the road. You report it to the police.
Your bank account has been tampered with and money is missing. You suspect stolen identity. You call the police.
Your child does not come home at night. You call the police.
We turn to police because we want safety and justice. This is what the police represent.
The people who cry, “Defund the police,” are not thinking rationally at all. It is truly the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard.
Who is in favor of having no one trained to confront crime and lawless behavior? Definition of police:
A body of government employees trained in methods of law enforcement and crime prevention and detection and authorized to maintain the peace, safety, and order of the community.
The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language
Who really is in favor of taking down the police? Do these people have a rational bone in their body?
Without a police presence–without an authoritative, trained presence to confront lawlessness–we are doomed. It’s Chazistan everywhere.
We will respond to threatening incidents alone, with only our resourcefulness, and guns. Believe me, we are not equipped for this.
It’s terrifying to think about having no trained professionals to “maintain peace, safety and order in the community.” No one with experience to collect evidence to take to court.
If anything, the police need more funding, more training, more supports, in order to protect us.
We do not live in some utopia where everyone is basically good and can be depended on to do the right thing if they are given the resources. Take away the police presence and crime immediately escaltes.
Without the police, it’s the Wild West again—everyone fending for themselves and disputes settled by gunfights.
This is the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard.
Tina Friesen 