FEATURED COMMENT – Do not dismiss the importance of truckers’ protest

Re: Protesters made their point; now it’s time to leave

Dear Mel,

Many years ago I came to your office to disagree strongly with your column, “Divine or not, Jesus was a good man.” We treated one another with mutual respect and I have never forgotten that meeting.

Since returning to Kamloops in 2008, I have silently agreed with you many times, and strongly disagreed with your comments at other times.

I agree that it is time for the truckers to go home, but I hope you do not dismiss the importance of their protest the way our Prime Minister does.

I stand with the truckers in their worthy cause. They helped to clean up the mess, and did not cause it. We could anticipate that there would be troublemakers trying to get in on the protest.

I commend to you the first hand report of Rebel News reporters who travelled with the truckers and reported their observations:

“But what was it like being there during the height of the crowds?

“Honestly, it felt more like a massive celebration than a protest.

“The streets were PACKED with vehicles and crowds of supporters. People were happy and hopeful, full of energy and optimism. It was electric to be encompassed by so many passionate and kind individuals, who had all been isolated from others for so long due to government restrictions. The crowds were made up of people of all races and religions and ethnicities; people of all ages, many with their families or friends.

“The energy in the air was palpable. The protest was all peaceful, all positive — and oh-so-polite amongst the mobs of people. Protesters picked up after themselves and neatly packed away their trash. Volunteers handed out free food and beverages that were donated by others in attendance. A heavy police presence was there in downtown Ottawa, but as was reported by True North, zero arrests were made over the weekend.

“And the protest just kept going — getting bigger and louder as the day went on. It was an absolutely freezing-cold day (-20°C/-4°F) but that did not stop anyone.

“Members of Parliament and senators were instructed by parliamentary security to hide (from the incredibly peaceful and polite crowd of protesting Canadians) and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau himself fled to an “undisclosed location” due to a supposedly heightened security threat.

“Leading up to the event, and all throughout it — even as it continues now — countless legacy media journalists and left-leaning politicians have attempted to discredit the Truckers for Freedom movement, labelling the protest ‘far-right’ or ‘terrorist.’

“They wanted so badly for this to be Canada’s ‘Jan. 6’ moment. Federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh claimed the protest espouses ‘extremist and dangerous views’ and is a ‘white supremacist’ movement. Justin Trudeau notoriously labelled the truckers and their supporters a ‘small, fringe minority’ with ‘unacceptable views.’

“However, if you simply watch our coverage, you can see that such could not be further from the truth. And the agents provocateurs to be found in Ottawa could hardly blemish the colossal grassroots movement of regular everyday Canadians who were coming together over the cause of freedom — a movement started by this convoy of simple, hardworking truckers, who just want to be free from the overreaching hand of state control.”

ALLEN HERN
Baptist Pastor (Retired)