Government Wasn't Listening

Spooked by talk of freezing bank accounts, Jeannette paid her utilities a year in advance.

Part 1: Trucker Town Rises out of a Frozen Farm Field

Gratitude for the Freedom Convoy. This card is among the mementos left at Exit 88 for the truckers.

The four weeks of Exit 88's existence are a kaleidoscope of moments. Kids playing on snowbanks with crazy carpets. Kids drawing pictures of trucks. Thank you notes to the truckers being dropped at the gate, then pinned to a large board in one of the tents. "We had to replace the board three times, we had so much stuff," says Michel.

Amid the tsunami of donations flooding into the camp, some people gave cash. There was a box for the money, he says. It was "never opened by just one person. At least three to four people. You need gas? Here, go fill up your truck. Repairs? Here. After they closed down the GoFundMe account, a lot of money was coming in. All the truckers, whatever they needed, everything was paid."

When the government started talking about freezing banks accounts, when the Deputy Prime Minister talked about punishing people who were helping the truckers, when the media speculated wildly about Russian funding, Jeannette's anxiety spiked.

Her career in banking provided insight. "When you received that court order or that notice from the government, you had no choice," she says. "You'd take everything out of this person's account. Or bang, you'd freeze everything. And if these poor people didn't have money to feed their kids, who cares. Now, with technology, oh my God. They can do whatever they want. Very easily."

In fact, Jeannette was so spooked she emptied their own bank account by paying a year's worth of utility bills ahead of time. Heat, electricity, insurance. "Can you believe that?" she asks:

At that point, I was scared we were going to lose everything. I don't want to get in shit for helping people. It doesn't make any sense. I'm a former lifeguard. What does a lifeguard do? You've got to save your own ass first before saving somebody else.

I didn't trust them. I go, 'I want to pay all my bills. Then, at least, our family's going to be okay.' All the cell phones, everything paid. OK, the basics are taken care of.

My husband laughed at me. But he said, 'If it's going to make you feel better, honey, if you'll sleep at night, OK.'  

Big picture, Jeannette's sense of justice was outraged:

We should be allowed to push back. It wasn't a fringe minority. The people were pushing back. No, we don't want this. And the government wasn't listening.

I still don't agree, to this day, with mandating the vaccine. You people can take whatever you want, it's cool. But the day they forced it. I did not agree with forcing truckers or anybody else.

Gratitude for the Freedom Convoy. One of the mementos left at Exit 88 for the truckers.

final installment: We Just Spread the Love