This Beacon of Light

Flipping the script from despair to hope.

Image created by me at Canva.com

The Freedom Convoy changed history. Things were getting worse, not better for the unvaccinated when the truckers hit the road. The tone was hostile rather than conciliatory. The trajectory was entirely in the wrong direction.

Then the spell broke. And the script flipped.

Michael Grandlouis, an Algonquin Indian from Quebec who “lived across the street from the 2022 Freedom Convoy” while it was in Ottawa, made that case eloquently a few months later. If you haven’t seen Micheal’s video love letter to the truckers, you’re in for a treat - Part 1 is here (44 mins), Part 2 is here (36 mins).

A few days ago, someone who goes by the handle SquintyNoodle on Twitter/X posted these thoughts:

Too many people think the truckers accomplished nothing, so let me lay it out.

For too long, [Prime Minister Justin Trudeau] & his ragtag gang isolated the unvaccinated, restricted our movement, tried to ban us from society, and beat us down psychologically. Each of us thought we were alone. Some were driven to the brink of suicide. Unfortunately, too many succumbed.

Once we heard about the truckers rolling across Canada, we finally had a glimmer of hope. The people ruminating on how they would off themselves stopped those plans and turned toward this beacon of light. Their lives were saved by the hope the truckers represented.

Prior to the protest, various governments in Canada had flirted with ways to "encourage" vax uptake. Some fun ideas tossed around were: withhold healthcare from the unvaccinated, tax the unvaccinated, maybe even go door-to-door to "check" vaccine status. Once the protest occurred, this type of talk stopped immediately.

The convoy caused provinces to drop their mandates. People who think that the mandates ended because they were already scheduled to end conveniently forget that governments at that time felt at liberty to arbitrarily extend mandates as the expiration date approached. Once premiers understood just how many people supported the truckers they realized they couldn't continue with mandates. One by one the mandates were lifted.

The truckers revealed how deep the tyrannical nature of Justin Trudeau and the Liberal Party runs. Many people waited with bated breath for Justin Trudeau to talk with the truckers. After all, he is the PM to all Canadians, not just the ones who agree with him. But instead of dialogue - which Justin lectures everyone else about how they must practice it in times of conflict - he hid from the truckers, then enacted measures that we'd expect in authoritarian countries: Bank freezing, sending militarized police to savagely beat non-violent demonstrators, charging & jailing people for practicing their Charter rights. Many eyes were opened, thanks to the truckers.

So rather than having accomplished nothing, the truckers accomplished quite a lot. Thank you, truckers. #honkhonk