- VitaMan
- 02-05-2022, 12:52 PM
- VitaMan
- 02-05-2022, 12:53 PM
Canadians have done as they were told during the pandemic. They lined up for shots until the country had one of the developed world’s best vaccination rates; they endured some of North America’s longest lockdowns; and they’ve complied with a wide assortment of curfews and quarantines.
But even in a society known for its civility and deference to authority, many are reaching their limit.
Pent-up frustration and rage have burst into the downtown core of the nation’s capital, with hundreds of truckers and other protesters occupying Ottawa’s streets for nearly a week to oppose vaccine mandates. Protests are expanding across Canada this weekend and are threatening to spill over into the U.S. with demonstrators planning a convoy to Washington, D.C.
The populace may disapprove of their un-Canadian-like antics, but there is a growing sense of support for a message they’re delivering -- that strict Covid restrictions no longer make sense. The protests have been the talk of the nation, around dinner tables, on talk shows and social media. And they serve as a warning shot not just to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau but to leaders everywhere: If even Canada is starting to resist pandemic measures, what does that mean for the rest of the world?
As Covid fatigue turns into angst, weary government leaders must decide whether it’s time to start treating the virus as an endemic disease, like seasonal flu. Experts have warned that might be premature. But if Canada is any guide, there will likely be growing public pressure to remove restrictions, whether the science supports that or not.
Inside the capital, it’s the ongoing presence of hundreds of rigs that has made this a unique event. Although there has been almost no violence or property damage, the crowd of trucks lends the demonstrations a menacing air, with the implied threat of heavy machinery in the streets. The city center is almost entirely blockaded, with trucks spilling out into residential neighborhoods. Drivers blast deafening air horns all day and, in some cases, deep into the night.
The protests started in reaction to Canadian and U.S. laws that went into effect in January, requiring truckers crossing the border to be fully vaccinated. They have morphed into a fury over Covid restrictions more broadly. Measures to control omicron hit the economy hard in January, resulting in the country losing 200,100 jobs during the month, Statistics Canada said Friday.
More than C$10 million ($7.8 million) was raised for the protesters on a GoFundMe page, but the crowd-funding site shut it down on Friday, citing reports from police of violence and other unlawful activity.
Trudeau -- who labeled the trucker convoy a “fringe minority” -- has shown no sign of reversing his government’s vaccine mandates. He campaigned and won last year’s election promising to protect health care and impose new travel restrictions on the unvaccinated.
Yet the backlash is being felt by political leaders. Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole, Trudeau’s primary rival in the 2021 election, was dumped by his caucus this week in a putsch led by lawmakers who disliked the party’s turn to the center. For some, his refusal to embrace the protesters’ cause was another sign of weakness. After deposing him in a vote on Wednesday, a few went out and posed for pictures with the truckers.
The government of Saskatchewan, in the heart of country’s more conservative west, said it will scrap all restrictions soon, including proof-of-vaccination requirements for public places.
“Eradicating Covid is not realistic and Covid zero is not achievable,” Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said Thursday, imploring residents to live normal lives. “Have dinner with your friends. Go to the movies. Go to your kids’ games, most importantly. You should do all of these things without constantly assessing if your every activity is absolutely necessary.”
But even in a society known for its civility and deference to authority, many are reaching their limit.
Pent-up frustration and rage have burst into the downtown core of the nation’s capital, with hundreds of truckers and other protesters occupying Ottawa’s streets for nearly a week to oppose vaccine mandates. Protests are expanding across Canada this weekend and are threatening to spill over into the U.S. with demonstrators planning a convoy to Washington, D.C.
The populace may disapprove of their un-Canadian-like antics, but there is a growing sense of support for a message they’re delivering -- that strict Covid restrictions no longer make sense. The protests have been the talk of the nation, around dinner tables, on talk shows and social media. And they serve as a warning shot not just to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau but to leaders everywhere: If even Canada is starting to resist pandemic measures, what does that mean for the rest of the world?
As Covid fatigue turns into angst, weary government leaders must decide whether it’s time to start treating the virus as an endemic disease, like seasonal flu. Experts have warned that might be premature. But if Canada is any guide, there will likely be growing public pressure to remove restrictions, whether the science supports that or not.
Inside the capital, it’s the ongoing presence of hundreds of rigs that has made this a unique event. Although there has been almost no violence or property damage, the crowd of trucks lends the demonstrations a menacing air, with the implied threat of heavy machinery in the streets. The city center is almost entirely blockaded, with trucks spilling out into residential neighborhoods. Drivers blast deafening air horns all day and, in some cases, deep into the night.
The protests started in reaction to Canadian and U.S. laws that went into effect in January, requiring truckers crossing the border to be fully vaccinated. They have morphed into a fury over Covid restrictions more broadly. Measures to control omicron hit the economy hard in January, resulting in the country losing 200,100 jobs during the month, Statistics Canada said Friday.
More than C$10 million ($7.8 million) was raised for the protesters on a GoFundMe page, but the crowd-funding site shut it down on Friday, citing reports from police of violence and other unlawful activity.
Trudeau -- who labeled the trucker convoy a “fringe minority” -- has shown no sign of reversing his government’s vaccine mandates. He campaigned and won last year’s election promising to protect health care and impose new travel restrictions on the unvaccinated.
Yet the backlash is being felt by political leaders. Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole, Trudeau’s primary rival in the 2021 election, was dumped by his caucus this week in a putsch led by lawmakers who disliked the party’s turn to the center. For some, his refusal to embrace the protesters’ cause was another sign of weakness. After deposing him in a vote on Wednesday, a few went out and posed for pictures with the truckers.
The government of Saskatchewan, in the heart of country’s more conservative west, said it will scrap all restrictions soon, including proof-of-vaccination requirements for public places.
“Eradicating Covid is not realistic and Covid zero is not achievable,” Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said Thursday, imploring residents to live normal lives. “Have dinner with your friends. Go to the movies. Go to your kids’ games, most importantly. You should do all of these things without constantly assessing if your every activity is absolutely necessary.”
- winn dixie
- 02-05-2022, 12:59 PM
This aint just in canada no mo. Similar protests down under and across the globe!
- VitaMan
- 02-05-2022, 01:07 PM
Should we just give up and put it in the same category as the flu ?
- winn dixie
- 02-05-2022, 01:19 PM
Barely sniffles!
Blue Collar folks standin up is what itll take!
lsm libs and the u n dont like that. Specially here in murika cause were armed!
Blue Collar folks standin up is what itll take!
lsm libs and the u n dont like that. Specially here in murika cause were armed!
- Yssup Rider
- 02-05-2022, 01:48 PM
Lock and load antivaxxers!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
- Levianon17
- 02-05-2022, 03:12 PM
- Computerwise
- 02-05-2022, 04:17 PM
Just because one protests laws requiring proof of vaccination does not mean they are antivaxers. It merely means they are protesting the laws having to show. It further means they are fighting for freedom, the freedom of choice. The freedom to decide when enough ridiculous restrictions is enough.
Peaceful protests are what gets the message out and what exactly is wrong with that. Well, plenty if you hate freedom, plenty if you think they way you want thing sis the only way, plenty if your a politician lost in power.
There is no need for any restrictions due to Covid, but when does a government ever relinquish the freedoms it took away? Pur forefathers fought for these freedoms, the freedom to choose religion, speech and yes decide what goes into your body. Have we lost all sight if these freedoms. Or is being right all that matters anymore.
Peaceful protests are what gets the message out and what exactly is wrong with that. Well, plenty if you hate freedom, plenty if you think they way you want thing sis the only way, plenty if your a politician lost in power.
There is no need for any restrictions due to Covid, but when does a government ever relinquish the freedoms it took away? Pur forefathers fought for these freedoms, the freedom to choose religion, speech and yes decide what goes into your body. Have we lost all sight if these freedoms. Or is being right all that matters anymore.
- Computerwise
- 02-05-2022, 04:18 PM
Good post Vitaman, thank you.
- Tsmokies
- 02-05-2022, 04:48 PM
This would never have happened if puppet trumpy 
had been reappointed by putin. It's all Biden's fault lol n omg n wtf 
had been reappointed by putin. It's all Biden's fault lol n omg n wtf
- Computerwise
- 02-05-2022, 04:55 PM
Looking for a person to blame Trump or Biden never fixes a problem, it just perpetuates it. Vitaman asked a valid question: is it time to go back to normal life without Covid restrictions. And the truckers are saying "Yes!" I agree with the truckers. Who care who is to blame?
Let's fix the problems. Or is that too difficult a concept for some?
Let's fix the problems. Or is that too difficult a concept for some?
- bambino
- 02-05-2022, 04:57 PM
- Tiny
- 02-05-2022, 05:27 PM
Should we just give up and put it in the same category as the flu ? Originally Posted by VitaManRight now, depending on where you live, the hospitals are still overloaded, and the Omicron variant is much more infectious than the flu. So I don't think we're there yet.
But maybe, in a few weeks, we can put it in the same category as the flu. Most people by now should have some immunity from vaccinations and/or previous infections. The Omicron variant isn't as lethal as Delta or Alpha.
But who knows. We could be hit by new variants and be back in a bad place.
- the_real_Barleycorn
- 02-05-2022, 06:17 PM