Lisa Sygutek
Feb 28, 2024
My opinion on the recent ruling by a federal judge related to the trucker protest in Ottawa.
I feel that it’s time for me to give my opinion on the recent ruling by a federal judge related to the trucker protest in Ottawa.
A federal judge said that the Liberal government’s use of the Emergencies Act in early 2022 to clear convoy protesters was unreasonable and infringed on protester’s Charter rights.
In what’s already turning into a divisive decision, Federal Court Justice Richard Mosley wrote that while the protests “reflected an unacceptable breakdown of public order,” the invocation of the Emergencies Act “does not bear the hallmarks of reasonableness – justification, transparency and intelligibility.”
Ultimately, there “was no national emergency justifying the invocation of the Emergencies Act,” he wrote.
I believe in the right of every Canadian in this country to peacefully protest. That’s why we are a free and democratic society.
If you think this convoy was resonating as an anti-COVID protest for most people in this country, I think you may be missing the boat.
While it certainly started as an anti-COVID movement, it seemed to turn into an anti-Trudeau protest.
I believe this was a movement that says we are done. We are done with government restrictions that don’t make sense. The pendulum had swung so far to the left that the cable had snapped. This protest seemed to have become more about the state of our country and the increased divisiveness that we’re under. This seemed to be about main-stream media creating a narrative supportive to Trudeau. It symbolized east vs. west, urban vs. rural, entitled vs. working class, union vs. small business, NGOs vs. industry. Division. Division. Division.
Add into this was the incredible overreach of Trudeau by enacting the Emergency Act, an overreach that has now been proven true by the federal courts.
Our Prime Minister appears to have forgotten what Canada represents, citizens, when in disagreement meet and work their way through the situation calmly until an agreement is reached. How do you resolve an issue when the Prime Minister refuses to not only meet with, but also dehumanizes the protesters by calling them misogynists and racists? I’m sure there were idiots in the group, but to label the entire group under one umbrella is divisiveness at the core.
The word racist coming out of his mouth is laughable while himself getting caught up in a black-face scandal. The word misogynist coming out of his mouth is also laughable when you consider what he did to his Justice Minister whom he expelled from the Liberal caucus because she challenged his overreach of power. Isn’t that a pattern of overreach?
You then have to ask what would have solved this issue. How about if our Prime Minister, or a delegation because he had COVID, had the courage and humility to meet with groups at the beginning, not hide away in his ivory tower thereby removing him as our country’s leader. Trudeau recently showed up in Edmonton and didn’t even have the courtesy to let our Premier know. She had to hear it in the news. Why? Because it didn’t fit his narrative of our country as one that should blindly follow his utopian idealization of what he wants. He’s like the child that didn’t get the candy from the store, so he sulks in his room. It’s almost comical until you realize that this person is supposed to be our leader.
The only solace I get from this whole thing is that Trudeau looks unprofessional to the rest of the world with the court ruling and he will hate that!
I’ll leave you with a snippet from our national anthem … “O Canada, we stand on guard for thee / God keep our land glorious and FREE!”