Leaders Bring People Together

'Did you read your job description, buddy?'

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

Photo supplied by Jeannette.

Michel and Jeannette hosted Freedom Convoy truckers for a month on their farm, 30 minutes from Parliament Hill. During that time, their perspective shifted in more than one way.

Their daughter works in downtown Ottawa - as do some of their neighbours. They also had direct contact with the truckers themselves. What all of these people reported was not what the mainstream media said was going on in the nation's capital.  

"I didn't really believe the press before, but now I believe it less," says Michel. "Whatever you read in the newspaper or see on the news, probably 70% isn't right."

Jeannette feels as though she's lost a close friend:

I believed CBC. I loved CBC so much. I watched it all. I love Anna Maria Tremonte. And Peter Mansbridge. I loved the radio programs. You know, I lived on CBC.

And then I'd see the news. All of a sudden, it's like, what do you mean? No, this is not what's happening.

It opened my eyes. It's such a shame, it's such a shame. It's like a child waking up and saying, 'OK, my parents are not perfect. Or my idol is not perfect. It was almost as baby-ish as that - how ignorant I was.

Prior to the Convoy, some of their rural neighbours had perhaps been a bit standoffish, having noticed Liberal Party election signs on their property. "I was a Liberal," says Jeannette, adding that it wouldn't have been so bad if the Prime Minister had simply disagreed with the truckers,

But to call people names. That was divisive to the most. That was the cherry on top. I voted for him, too. I had freaking Liberal flags here.

To do name calling! I go, 'My God. You're supposed to bring people together as a leader, not separate them. Did you read your job description, buddy?' That was the end for me.

Michel grins. "The best part," he says, is that some of their neighbours did their own reassessment. "Everybody said, 'OK, if you vote for Liberals but you've got the trucker camp here, it's not the same thing.'"

The backlash "was not too bad for us," says Michel. On the one hand, three people complained, accusing them of supporting the truckers instead of those "poor people in Ottawa." On the other hand, relations with their neighbours have never been better.  

next installment: Government Wasn’t Listening