Part of Ottawa residents’ legitimate frustration with ongoing protests is that neither city officials nor anyone else in charge appears to have the faintest idea on how to handle a large-scale protest in what is after all a G7 national capital. Anyone who has lived in or visited for any length of time a major world capital, as I have in several countries, knows that noisy, large-scale protests are par for the course. They’re often drawn out and in some cases violent. The farmers’ protests in India impacted normal life in New Delhi for more than a year.
The protest in Ottawa is less than a week old, and according to Ottawa police, has been entirely peaceful, with no incidents of violence to date. Having said that, if the protesters intend to remain here for the long haul, city officials are going to have to figure out some modus vivendi, to allow the protesters to exercise their democratic and constitutional right to protest peacefully, while respecting the rights of Ottawa residents to get on with their lives with a minimum of disruption.
Unfortunately, the politicians in power, federal, provincial and municipal, have not only staked out an extreme position — dismissing the protesters as a fringe minority and offering no possibility of compromise, even to the extent of meeting with them — they’ve also put all of their faith in vaccines, when many other countries recognize recovery from infection, use of therapeutics, and in some cases frequent testing as viable alternatives. There is also the very real issue of waning vaccine efficacy and vaccine fatigue, as evidenced by the slowing uptake of boosters in Ontario, and therefore whether today’s vaccine mandate will turn into a never-ending carousel of mandated boosters. Data shows Ontario booster uptake already plateauing around 50 per cent, well below the 80 per cent or so who are fully vaccinated, which is clear evidence of vaccine fatigue. There is potential room for compromise if the government walks back from its rigid position that it’s vaccination or nothing and recognizes the alternatives for those who are unwilling to be vaccinated.
What’s more, the Trudeau government is increasingly looking like an outlier in enforcing strict vaccine mandates where federal power will allow, such as civil servants, airlines and truckers, whereas by contrast most European countries move to loosen restrictions and work towards the end game where the pandemic disappears and becomes endemic like the annual winter flu. It’s noteworthy that those few countries attempting to impose mandatory vaccinations either on some or all of their populations are facing considerable pushback.
Germany, whose new chancellor wants to impose a mandatory vaccine mandate, is facing resistance not just from the “fringe” but from his coalition partner, the Free Democrats, a mainstream conservative party, whose leadership has expressed extreme skepticism about the impingement on civil liberty that the vaccine mandate represents.
The world is watching and will make up its mind whether high-minded Canadian sentiments to engage with those one disagrees with apply only elsewhere but not at home, unless the cause happens to be one you support yourself. Recall that Trudeau made a cameo appearance at the Black Lives Matter protests and very publicly took the knee. While he certainly can’t be faulted for not especially liking protesters who express their dislike of him in fairly blunt language, as the prime minister of all Canadians, and not just the 32.6 per cent who voted for the Liberal party, it would have shown statesmanship and magnanimity had he agreed to at least meet them and listen to their demands. Dialogue that Trudeau championed for the protests in India could actually work in Canada, too.
National Post
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