The Country is on Fire, and That’s Okay
Diplomacy has failed. Not between people and our governments, but between us as people. The flames spread as the divide increases.
For three weeks, the Freedom Convoy occupied Canada’s capital and blockaded key entry points, affecting the supply chain. As a result, inflation has risen to compensate for material loss, and has further enraged the population against the aim of peaceful protest. The majority became collateral, and potential allies were lost.
On the other hand, mandates poised to curb the spread of COVID-19 have severely impacted employment, small businesses and the social fabric that existed before the start of the pandemic. The vaccines are a matter of choice, but most employers require their staff to be vaccinated. The people are free to choose… to a degree.
Now, the protesters have cleared out, and Ottawa breathes a sigh of relief.
The question is: who are the victors?
Was it the convoy of truckers, who fast-tracked the loosening of mandates? They technically got, at least in part, what they had come to petition for. The vaccine passports are either disappearing in sectors where needed, or are gone altogether, depending on where one lives. They were seen. They were heard, more or less.
Or was it the loyal citizenry, who have adhered to the state of emergency since 2020? They’re the 85%, the people who trusted and still trust the government and public health institutions to guide them through the pandemic. Their right to protection was upheld. The majority were seen. They were heard, more or less.
So, who are the victors?
Woman being detained in Ottawa, originally posted by RTE
Nothing has changed
In truth, there are none. Not the protesters behind bars, their bank accounts frozen and their cause(s) galvanized as terrorism. It’s not the average citizen, who shoulders the mandates and the ill effects of economic uncertainty. Both parties are tired. Both are fed up. Both are looking for a way out. Either way, the powder keg was lit.
While still lessened, there are still mandates. This made enemies. The ideological left and the scientifically informed further distrust the compromises made, and the ideological right and disenfranchised are even more indignant after the passing of the Emergencies Act. While the Supreme Court still reigns, Trudeau has been hailed both pariah and paragon for his extreme measures to contend with the protests, both in Ottawa and across the nation. Why is this the case?
Trudeau walks across an empty Wellington Street, THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
The ugly truth is that this is our fault
We got complacent: with ourselves, with others and their viewpoints, with how we conduct ourselves and with whom we choose to represent us. We want to be progressive, and we want tradition. We’re divided, and hopelessly so. We have the tools to speak out in Parliament, but our partisan ways make it ineffective.
Our country, my country is on fire, and it has been for a while. “No we didn’t light it, but we tried to fight it.”
What started this article off as a response to the Emergencies Act slowly evolved into this. The Act isn’t the issue, nor are the politicians that agreed on it.
The issue is with us. We elected them. They are supposed to represent our collective voice. While I would love to issue a call to action, to question the draconian measures of the Act; but what would that accomplish if all we have done is prove that we cannot work together?
So, now what?
We all have a choice to make. We can never truly change someone else, make them see the light, but we can change how we see other people. We can see them as we see ourselves. We may not agree with each other, but we don’t need to. We can be respectful, instead of hateful. We can speak up without hurting someone else. We can disengage from the echo chamber of social media, and talk face-to-face. We can chose to lead this in every aspect of life. We can chose not to listen to those who seek to divide us.
If or when the constitution truly is ever under threat, there will not be a divided people to champion its cause. We’ll be informed, allied, empathetic to each other and most important, we truly will be “in this together.”
So… what are you waiting for?
