What we learned

When I was a kid, we learned of Stoney Creek and Ypres and Vimy Ridge. We learned that blood, sweat, and tears are synonymous with the mud and artillery fire of Passchendaele. The poetry of John McCrae, a Canadian doctor serving on the front lines in the First World War, taught us that poppies are more than a flower. And wearing them on those cold November mornings is not the least we can do; no, we were taught that it was not enough. We had to remember, lest we forget.

We learned of Juno Beach when we were told that Canada always punched above our weight-class. When we sung the national anthem, the true north strong and free were more than words, they were tangible. We believed it.

I have not seen much freedom lately.

The Charter of Rights, a rather new creation brought about by a guy who shares his name with an airport and a rule-by-diktat prep school bully, is in tatters. By my reckoning, Sections 2, 7, 8, 9, 11, 15, and 26 have all been violated up to this point, but I may be missing some. We are, indeed, in dark times.

I have seen strength and bravery though.

No, not from everyone. In fact, most have quietly acquiesced in the COVID Era. But you don’t have to be brave to go with the prevailing view, do you?

I have seen bravery from individuals. Doctors in Alberta taking a stand. Lytton’s Dr. Charles Hoffe warning of vaccine injuries in spite of the religious dogma surrounding the vaccines. A Canadian politician holding a press conference to sound the alarm on serious errors in our pandemic response while knowing that it will end his political career. And thousands of individuals that have told their employers they will not trade a paycheck for their liberty.

Unfortunately, except for a brief period in the last election, we have rarely had anything to rally around. The unvaccinated in this country are few and far between, and most Canadians seem happy to ignore the two-tiered society, so long as they are in the tier that benefits. I am not, of course, suggesting that everyone that got the vaccine is turning a blind eye. I know many vaccinated people that think what is currently happening is an atrocity, but I also know some that think the government “hasn’t gone far enough”.

Indeed, that was the rallying cry for the Trudeau campaign: All non-believers must be punished.

Many people have, more or less, called the Canadian cause a lost one. I don’t know if that’s true. It might be, but I’ve always had hope. Those dissidents who are left have only had their determination sharpened. They are a mix of the strong ones, the brave ones, and those that fight simply because they like fighting.

And now we have a rallying point:

As the freedom convoy continues to get more and more attention and inspire people worldwide, I finally see Canadians punching above their own weight. Not all Canadians, and I suppose the lesson lost in all those school lectures was that not all Canadians were in the trenches. Some supported from afar, as best they could, but some were certainly cowards who went into hiding at the first sign of trouble.

Rather than face the Canadian public, who Trudeau is theoretically supposed to represent, and address their concerns, he has feigned being afraid of spreading COVID (despite having natural immunity AND three doses of his precious vaccine). Yet, even as he claims to be self-isolating, he has moved to a secret location because of non-existent threats of violence. The freedom convoy want resolutions and a restoration of the rights guaranteed to us by the Charter — not violence. Running away from your own citizens is something I have only heard of from third-world dictators. Until now.

History remembers the brave, but in Trudeau’s case, they may remember the cowardly in jest.