CHARBONNEAU – Wildfires, pandemics, generate fear and denial

WHEN FACED WITH something unbelievable, we don’t believe it.

At least, that’s the initial reaction. Facts can change our minds and reveal the incredible to be true. For others, facts are not convincing. For them, the incredible requires an extraordinary explanation – one that matches the extreme nature of the event.

Existential threats focus the mind, especially when those threats are immediate.

That was the case for those who watched a lethal wildfire advance as it tore through Lahaina on the Hawaiian island of Maui. For them, the cataclysm was unbelievable and life-threatening.

Lahaina resident Mike Cicchino saved himself by jumping into the ocean, ducking under water as the flames swept overhead. Cicchino found the experience surreal and thought he must be dreaming.

“My mind kept going back to: This has got to be just a nightmare. This cannot be real. This cannot actually be happening,” he said. “But then you realize you’re burning. I’m feeling pain, and I don’t feel pain in nightmares,” he told Forbes.

For those who found a global pandemic unbelievable, an alternate extraordinary explanation was required. Global elites such as Bill Gates must be behind this “pandemic.” The evil man must be manufacturing “cures” consisting of implanted chips in our bodies for the purpose of tracking our every move.

For pandemic deniers, the response to the pandemic was similar to the response to the wildfires west of Kamloops at Shuswap Lake. Some of the lake residents stayed despite an evacuation order. Many were driven by the flames to the water’s edge where they were rescued by boat.

Pandemic deniers thought the government of Canada was overreacting to the deadly pandemic by mandating vaccinations. In a bizarre misinterpretation of our constitution, the delusional formed a convoy to invade Ottawa in an attempt to sway the Governor General to dissolve parliament.

In Kamloops, pandemic deniers under the label of BC Solidarity Movement filled a truckload of supplies with the stated goal of taking them to the residents who remained in the evacuation zone. As much as a rescue mission, it was a demonstration of the power of freedom convoyers to do what they like.

Predictably, a confrontation took place as they tried to break through the roadblock on Highway 1 outside Sorrento.

On hearing of the attempt of a convoy to pass through the barrier, RCMP Cpl. James Grandy said: “It appeared that the intentions of those involved were to overwhelm the police roadblock and gain access into the area.”

At the blockade, one of the freedom convoyers argued their rights to pass under the Canadian Constitution.

Where do the freedom convoyers get this impression of our constitution? I think they’ve been watching too much of the shenanigans of their U.S. counterparts who think their constitution gives them the right to do whatever they want.

Freedom convoyers in Kamloops supported the “rescue mission” to the Shuswap. On their Facebook site, Freedom Kamloops posted: “@everyone please show your support to all of the brave citizens who have taken matters into their own hands to do the right thing for their community.”

I couldn’t help but notice that sympathies lay with the brave residents of the Shuswap who defied orders to leave, not for the firefighters who had to face not only the wildfires but angry, stubborn residents who argued with the firefighters.

David Charbonneau is a retired TRU electronics instructor who hosts a blog at http://www.eyeviewkamloops.wordpress.com.