The key lesson of Ottawa’s siege might be that it’s difficult to get populist, anti-democratic anger to leave once you’ve invited it in and allowed it to get comfortable.
It may have been inevitable (or at least foreseeable) that some kind of tumult would result from the imposition of vaccine mandates. In 1885, compulsory vaccination in Montreal to deal with a smallpox outbreak caused a riot. In 1919, loud public opposition scuttled an attempt to implement compulsory vaccination against smallpox in Toronto.
A century later, the vast majority of Canadians have trusted public health officials enough to get vaccinated against COVID-19. There is similarly high support for requiring vaccination for certain settings and occupations, as well as for people entering the country.
But those attitudes are not universal. And if there is deep disagreement, it’s exacerbated and amplified by social media’s power to cultivate resentment, the American tilt toward populism over the past decade and the simple fact that everyone has been living with the pandemic for two years.
Canadian leaders must now figure out how to respond. Some of them seem to be figuring that out in real time.
Authorities may be unable to clear the streets in front of Parliament but Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was intent on putting some narrative space between the occupation and “the story of this pandemic” when he addressed the House of Commons on Monday.
“This blockade, and these protesters, are not the story of this pandemic,” he said. “They are not the story of Canadians in this pandemic. From the very beginning, Canadians stepped up to be there for one another, to support their neighbours, to support the elderly and to support our frontline workers by doing the right things, by wearing masks, by getting vaccinated and by following public health restrictions.”
WATCH | Trudeau defends pandemic restrictions:
‘This pandemic has sucked for all Canadians,’ Trudeau says
1 day ago
Duration 1:02
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke about the ongoing protests in Ottawa during an emergency debate in the House of Commons on Monday, saying that all Canadians are tired of the pandemic, but they know the best way through it is to continue to listen to science and continue to lean on each other. 1:02
Trudeau offered some empathy (“we are all tired of this pandemic”) and perhaps a hint of encouragement (“these pandemic restrictions are not forever”) as he aimed for a unifying message.
“We should not be fighting one another. We should be coming together to fight the virus,” he said. “This is not a fight against one another. It is a fight against the virus.”
But he was direct in his criticism of the past week’s events in Ottawa and didn’t retreat from the federal government’s own vaccine mandates.
The Conservatives are keen to hear the prime minister apologize for his handling of the issue and for some of what he has said about those who protest against his government.
“Does he regret calling people misogynist and racist?” interim Conservative leader Candice Bergen asked on Tuesday night.
WATCH | Party leaders spar over pandemic measures:
Trudeau stands firm on COVID-19 decisions
7 hours ago
Duration 3:36
Conservative interim leader Candice Bergen used today’s question period to challenge Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on COVID-19 restrictions and vaccine mandates. 3:36
Other Liberals might be happy to see that 62 per cent of Canadians oppose the convoy. In the crude math of multi-party politics, that might look like a clear win for the government. But if there are hearts and minds that can still be persuaded (or at least talked down from a state of rage), the government can’t be entirely absolved of its responsibility to try.
The Conservatives are entangled in questions about their own approach to the convoy. Bergen herself was revealed last week to have advocated against calling for the protesters to go home — apparently in hopes that her party could “turn this into the PM’s problem.”
Five Saskatchewan MPs and Sen. Denise Batters pose at a protest against COVID-19 restrictions in Ottawa. From left to right, MPs Warren Steinley, Kevin Waugh, Andrew Scheer, Sen. Denise Batters, MPs Fraser Tolmie and Rosemarie Falk. (Kevin Waugh/Twitter)
The convoy’s stated purpose has been the undemocratic overthrow of the current government so that the country might be ruled by some impossible arrangement of the Senate, the Governor General and a committee of citizens selected by the protest organizers. Still, several Conservatives embraced the travelling caravan as it made its way to Ottawa.
Since then, major roads have been blockaded, citizens have been harassed and terrorized, swastikas and Confederate flags have been displayed, the War Memorial was desecrated and businesses have been forced to close. A legal injunction was required to put an end to the incessant noise from truck horns.
It seems safe to assume that officials in Ottawa will never again allow a convoy of large trucks to burrow itself this deeply into the capital’s downtown. In their own responses to local protests, police forces in other cities have shown they’ve learned what not to do from Ottawa’s example.
But if the closest political analogy for the convoy is the Tea Party movement that emerged in the United States a decade ago, the big question is whether the convoy’s anger and anti-democratic spirit will be allowed to become entrenched in Canadian politics.
While Conservatives are doubling-down on their argument that the prime minister has been divisive, their enthusiasm for the convoy does seem to have waned since the show got to town.
Last Friday, Conservative MP Pierre Paul-Hus described it as an “occupation controlled by radicals and anarchist groups.” Greg McLean, a Conservative MP from Calgary, walked back his comments comparing the scenes in downtown Ottawa to a winter carnival and tweeted on Sunday that “illegal blockades must end now.”
I support law and order. These illegal blockades must end now. I did not intend to minimize the gravity of the situation by comparing aspects of it to a winter carnival – this is a very serious matter. The Govt of Canada must show leadership & provide clear path moving forward.
Bergen now says she wants the prime minister to convene a meeting of all party leaders to talk about how to resolve the situation. As of this writing, Pierre Poilievre hasn’t tweeted the hashtag #TruckersNotTrudeau in six days.
In his own speech to the House of Commons on Tuesday night, Conservative MP Michael Chong ripped into the prime minister even as he called for an immediate end to the blockade.
“Canadians do not have the right to harm other people or to interfere with the freedoms of their fellow citizens,” he said. “It is time for the protesters to end the blockade in Ottawa and the blockade at the border crossing in western Canada.”
That might be the sound of Conservatives realizing that, however much they dislike Justin Trudeau, hitching their wagon to this convoy is going to leave them stuck in a place they don’t want to be.
HALIFAX – Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston says it’s “disgraceful and demeaning” that a Halifax-area school would request that service members not wear military uniforms to its Remembrance Day ceremony.
Houston’s comments were part of a chorus of criticism levelled at the school — Sackville Heights Elementary — whose administration decided to back away from the plan after the outcry.
A November newsletter from the school in Middle Sackville, N.S., invited Armed Forces members to attend its ceremony but asked that all attendees arrive in civilian attire to “maintain a welcoming environment for all.”
Houston, who is currently running for re-election, accused the school’s leaders of “disgracing themselves while demeaning the people who protect our country” in a post on the social media platform X Thursday night.
“If the people behind this decision had a shred of the courage that our veterans have, this cowardly and insulting idea would have been rejected immediately,” Houston’s post read. There were also several calls for resignations within the school’s administration attached to Houston’s post.
In an email to families Thursday night, the school’s principal, Rachael Webster, apologized and welcomed military family members to attend “in the attire that makes them most comfortable.”
“I recognize this request has caused harm and I am deeply sorry,” Webster’s email read, adding later that the school has the “utmost respect for what the uniform represents.”
Webster said the initial request was out of concern for some students who come from countries experiencing conflict and who she said expressed discomfort with images of war, including military uniforms.
Her email said any students who have concerns about seeing Armed Forces members in uniform can be accommodated in a way that makes them feel safe, but she provided no further details in the message.
Webster did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
At a news conference Friday, Houston said he’s glad the initial request was reversed but said he is still concerned.
“I can’t actually fathom how a decision like that was made,” Houston told reporters Friday, adding that he grew up moving between military bases around the country while his father was in the Armed Forces.
“My story of growing up in a military family is not unique in our province. The tradition of service is something so many of us share,” he said.
“Saying ‘lest we forget’ is a solemn promise to the fallen. It’s our commitment to those that continue to serve and our commitment that we will pass on our respects to the next generation.”
Liberal Leader Zach Churchill also said he’s happy with the school’s decision to allow uniformed Armed Forces members to attend the ceremony, but he said he didn’t think it was fair to question the intentions of those behind the original decision.
“We need to have them (uniforms) on display at Remembrance Day,” he said. “Not only are we celebrating (veterans) … we’re also commemorating our dead who gave the greatest sacrifice for our country and for the freedoms we have.”
NDP Leader Claudia Chender said that while Remembrance Day is an important occasion to honour veterans and current service members’ sacrifices, she said she hopes Houston wasn’t taking advantage of the decision to “play politics with this solemn occasion for his own political gain.”
“I hope Tim Houston reached out to the principal of the school before making a public statement,” she said in a statement.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
REGINA – Saskatchewan Opposition NDP Leader Carla Beck says she wants to prove to residents her party is the government in waiting as she heads into the incoming legislative session.
Beck held her first caucus meeting with 27 members, nearly double than what she had before the Oct. 28 election but short of the 31 required to form a majority in the 61-seat legislature.
She says her priorities will be health care and cost-of-living issues.
Beck says people need affordability help right now and will press Premier Scott Moe’s Saskatchewan Party government to cut the gas tax and the provincial sales tax on children’s clothing and some grocery items.
Beck’s NDP is Saskatchewan’s largest Opposition in nearly two decades after sweeping Regina and winning all but one seat in Saskatoon.
The Saskatchewan Party won 34 seats, retaining its hold on all of the rural ridings and smaller cities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
HALIFAX – Nova Scotia‘s growing population was the subject of debate on Day 12 of the provincial election campaign, with Liberal Leader Zach Churchill arguing immigration levels must be reduced until the province can provide enough housing and health-care services.
Churchill said Thursday a plan by the incumbent Progressive Conservatives to double the province’s population to two million people by the year 2060 is unrealistic and unsustainable.
“That’s a big leap and it’s making life harder for people who live here, (including ) young people looking for a place to live and seniors looking to downsize,” he told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.
Anticipating that his call for less immigration might provoke protests from the immigrant community, Churchill was careful to note that he is among the third generation of a family that moved to Nova Scotia from Lebanon.
“I know the value of immigration, the importance of it to our province. We have been built on the backs of an immigrant population. But we just need to do it in a responsible way.”
The Liberal leader said Tim Houston’s Tories, who are seeking a second term in office, have made a mistake by exceeding immigration targets set by the province’s Department of Labour and Immigration. Churchill said a Liberal government would abide by the department’s targets.
In the most recent fiscal year, the government welcomed almost 12,000 immigrants through its nominee program, exceeding the department’s limit by more than 4,000, he said. The numbers aren’t huge, but the increase won’t help ease the province’s shortages in housing and doctors, and the increased strain on its infrastructure, including roads, schools and cellphone networks, Churchill said.
“(The Immigration Department) has done the hard work on this,” he said. “They know where the labour gaps are, and they know what growth is sustainable.”
In response, Houston said his commitment to double the population was a “stretch goal.” And he said the province had long struggled with a declining population before that trend was recently reversed.
“The only immigration that can come into this province at this time is if they are a skilled trade worker or a health-care worker,” Houston said. “The population has grown by two per cent a year, actually quite similar growth to what we experienced under the Liberal government before us.”
Still, Houston said he’s heard Nova Scotians’ concerns about population growth, and he then pivoted to criticize Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for trying to send 6,000 asylum seekers to Nova Scotia, an assertion the federal government has denied.
Churchill said Houston’s claim about asylum seekers was shameful.
“It’s smoke and mirrors,” the Liberal leader said. “He is overshooting his own department’s numbers for sustainable population growth and yet he is trying to blame this on asylum seekers … who aren’t even here.”
In September, federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller said there is no plan to send any asylum seekers to the province without compensation or the consent of the premier. He said the 6,000 number was an “aspirational” figure based on models that reflect each province’s population.
In Halifax, NDP Leader Claudia Chender said it’s clear Nova Scotia needs more doctors, nurses and skilled trades people.
“Immigration has been and always will be a part of the Nova Scotia story, but we need to build as we grow,” Chender said. “This is why we have been pushing the Houston government to build more affordable housing.”
Chender was in a Halifax cafe on Thursday when she promised her party would remove the province’s portion of the harmonized sales tax from all grocery, cellphone and internet bills if elected to govern on Nov. 26. The tax would also be removed from the sale and installation of heat pumps.
“Our focus is on helping people to afford their lives,” Chender told reporters. “We know there are certain things that you can’t live without: food, internet and a phone …. So we know this will have the single biggest impact.”
The party estimates the measure would save the average Nova Scotia family about $1,300 a year.
“That’s a lot more than a one or two per cent HST cut,” Chender said, referring to the Progressive Conservative pledge to reduce the tax by one percentage point and the Liberal promise to trim it by two percentage points.
Elsewhere on the campaign trail, Houston announced that a Progressive Conservative government would make parking free at all Nova Scotia hospitals and health-care centres. The promise was also made by the Liberals in their election platform released Monday.
“Free parking may not seem like a big deal to some, but … the parking, especially for people working at the facilities, can add up to hundreds of dollars,” the premier told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
