Political Arrogance Toward the Truckers

Phony Chrystia Freeland now says government should listen to people.

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A week ago, US Vice President J.D. Vance addressed a conference in Munich, Germany. He delivered a great speech, only 19 minutes long, that is well worth listening to in full. A big theme was that free speech is under assault around the world - and that politicians need to start taking citizens seriously.

When significant numbers of people raise concerns, he said, “it is incumbent upon us to at least participate in dialogue with them.” That’s the opposite of what happened to the Freedom Convoy. Our federal government studiously avoided dialogue. It refused to meet with the truckers, to even enter the same room with them.

Instead, it spent millions of dollars importing 2,200 police officers into Ottawa from other locales in order to physically remove the protesters - rather than simply talk to them (see pages 44, 48, and 77). All of those cops were paid overtime and had their travel, hotel, and food costs covered by taxpayers.

Here’s a bit more of Mr Vance’s speech (my bolding):

I believe that dismissing people, dismissing their concerns…or shutting people out of the political process protects nothing. In fact, it is the most sure fire way to destroy democracy.

…What no democracy…will survive is telling millions of voters that their thoughts and concerns, their aspirations, their pleas for relief are invalid - or unworthy of even being considered. Democracy rests on the sacred principle that the voice of the people matters.

Justin Trudeau’s government told the truckers: Your concerns are invalid. You are unworthy of being heard.

Weirdly, four days after Mr Vance’s speech, Liberal Party of Canada leadership contender Chrystia Freeland appeared to agree with him. At the 5:40-minute mark of this CTV interview, the woman who was Deputy Prime Minister during the trucker protest - the woman who gleefully froze people’s bank accounts - was asked about her position on the carbon tax. After supporting it for years, she now thinks it should be axed. Why?

Voters are unhappy with it, she said, before explaining: “I think that it is really arrogant of a government not to listen to people.”

Right.