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.
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the NDP is caving to political pressure from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre when it comes to their stance on the consumer carbon price.
Trudeau says he believes Jagmeet Singh and the NDP care about the environment, but it’s “increasingly obvious” that they have “no idea” what to do about climate change.
On Thursday, Singh said the NDP is working on a plan that wouldn’t put the burden of fighting climate change on the backs of workers, but wouldn’t say if that plan would include a consumer carbon price.
Singh’s noncommittal position comes as the NDP tries to frame itself as a credible alternative to the Conservatives in the next federal election.
Poilievre responded to that by releasing a video, pointing out that the NDP has voted time and again in favour of the Liberals’ carbon price.
British Columbia Premier David Eby also changed his tune on Thursday, promising that a re-elected NDP government would scrap the long-standing carbon tax and shift the burden to “big polluters,” if the federal government dropped its requirements.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Simon Jolin-Barrette, minister responsible for consumer protection, has tabled a bill to force merchants to calculate tips based on the price before tax.
That means on a restaurant bill of $100, suggested tips would be calculated based on $100, not on $114.98 after provincial and federal sales taxes are added.
The bill would also increase the rebate offered to consumers when the price of an item at the cash register is higher than the shelf price, to $15 from $10.
And it would force grocery stores offering a discounted price for several items to clearly list the unit price as well.
Businesses would also have to indicate whether taxes will be added to the price of food products.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
