Canadian Truckers Help Change the Political Science on Restrictive and Divisive COVID Policies
Posted on 02/10/2022
As the U.S. mid-term elections draw closer, governors from Democrat-led states are rolling back COVID-19 restrictions such as vaccine passports and indoor mask mandates in a bid to win back support from the populace. Since March 2020, most of the Western world has dealt with limits to freedoms in a bid to prevent deaths from COVID-19, while accumulating massive governmental debts. The Economist Intelligence Unit’s (EIU) Democracy Index saw both the U.S. and U.K. falling down the rankings of the world’s most democratic countries as COVID-19 restrictions continue to curtail civil liberties. The United Kingdom fell two places, from 16 to 18, while the U.S. dropped one place, from 25 to 26. “The pandemic has resulted in an unprecedented withdrawal of civil liberties among developed democracies and authoritarian regimes alike,” the report says.
In Canada, the “Freedom Convoy”, which started out as a demonstration against Canada’s restrictive COVID policies and drew in people from around the nation, has paralyzed the center of Ottawa. Similar demonstrations have now spread beyond the Canadian capital to border crossing into the U.S. The Emerson Port of Entry in Manitoba is the latest to be blocked. The Ambassador Bridge links Windsor, Ontario, with Detroit was first blockaded by trucks in both directions late on Monday. The Coutts, Alberta area is where a large group of truckers and some farmers have been protesting and blockading the Canada-U.S. border crossing. The convoy sees itself as a catalyst to inspire civil disobedience and inspire other movements. However, the major Canadian media networks have portrayed the “Freedom Convoy” in a negative light and Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has threatened the protestors with consequences and refused to meet with them. Ottawa police have arrested people for honking horns in the city and have confiscated fuel.
The protests have put pressure on politicians and businesses to ease up on the COVID mandates, as it is now impacting profits and operations. Supply chains, which are already stressed, as Toyota, Ford Motor Company, and Chrysler-owner Stellantis have had to curb production because of border closures. Many workers refused to get the COVID mRNA shots, which dealt a blow to the labor pool.
Bridge Owners
Matt Moroun is urging the Canadian government to take action and end the blockade at the Ambassador Bridge. Moroun is the chairman of the Detroit International Bridge Company and the owner of the Ambassador Bridge. In a statement, Moroun set out three different options for the Canadian government to use to reopen the bridge: repeal the vaccine mandate, remove the vehicles blocking the bridge, or do nothing. The bridge, which Manuel “Matty” Moroun purchased from the Bower family in 1979, is one of the few privately-owned border crossings between the United States and Canada. The Ambassador Bridge was privately built in 1929 by a palm reader turned financier, Joseph Bower.
The pressure is working. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh called for a federal plan to “exit pandemic.”
Europe
A coordinated pan-European convoy of anti-vaccine protesters is expected to descend on Brussels and other locations in Europe. On Wednesday night, another Freedom Convoy formed in Paris
New Zealand
Freedom convoy protesters in New Zealand have push back against police barricades.
