Freedom broke out in some unlikely places this month. Last week, Denmark announced it would end all COVID restrictions beginning February 1. Around the same time, a massive convoy of Canadian truckers sped across the country to protest Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s draconian vaccine requirements. We should all be inspired by our brothers and sisters up north. Trudeau, like President Joe Biden, has issued broad vaccine mandates on a host of businesses and employees. Cross-border truckers fell within one of those categories, and those truckers have decided to do something about it. Their journey across the country made international news, and now that they’ve reached Canada’s capital of Ottawa, the truckers are still standing strong. What’s more, the protests are working. SEE ALSO: Denmark’s Lifting of COVID Restrictions Is a National Embarrassment Trudeau has scurried off to hide in an undisclosed location after “testing positive for COVID,” but Ottawa residents are starting to demand action from their prime minister. The trucker protest is so massive that it’s shut down large portions of the city, including businesses and schools, according to the CBC. In response, residents have started protests of their own. Some criticize the truckers for “intimidation” (no violence has been reported) but may are criticizing the Ottawa police for failing to do… something. It’s frankly a little unclear what they expect Ottawa PD to do, but they’re feeling the heat. Police Chief Peter Sloly basically threw up his hands in an interview with CBC. “This is a national issue, not an Ottawa issue,” Sloly said on Wednesday. “I am increasingly concerned there is no policing solution to this.” “I don’t have a singular mandate in this city, this province or this country, to negotiate the end to any demonstration,” Sloly continued. “There always needs to be an element outside of the police for any truly successful end to any demonstration, particularly one of this size.” SEE ALSO: Communists, Unite! UC Berkeley Partnership with China Shouldn’t Surprise Anyone To Ottawa residents frustrated that their city has been effectively shut down, the truckers pointed out that they only have Trudeau to blame. “Our message to the citizens of Ottawa is one of empathy. We understand your frustration and genuinely wish there was another way for us to get our message across, but the responsibility for your inconvenience lies squarely on the shoulders of politicians who have preferred to vilify and call us names rather than engage in respectful, serious dialogue,” convoy leader Chris Barber said. “The fastest way to get us out of the nation’s capital, is to call your elected representatives and end all C-19 mandates.” In other words, unless Trudeau wants to deal with two groups of angry citizens, he needs to come to the negotiating table. I don’t know whether he will, but Sloly’s statements show that these protests are having the intended effect. The irony here is that these Canadian truckers are far more reminiscent of the 1960’s Civil Rights protests in America than the BLM riots of 2020. The Canadians aren’t backing down. They’re making life so difficult for their elected leaders that those leaders will be forced to negotiate. But they’re staying peaceful. They aren’t trashing Ottawa or killing people. They’re being firm and clear, but they aren’t causing random and unnecessary hardship to the people in the city. I hope they’re successful. It will be a victory for freedom, not just in Canada, but everywhere people care about living their own lives and making their own decisions free from government tyranny.
