Every day we wake up on this earth, we are given an opportunity to work on the unfinished project that is living the life of a decent human. Seizing that opportunity is not always easy, quite often maintaining positivity for those around us can be hard work. It can draw down on our own emotional capacity, especially in times of personal upheaval.
Today, Canada finds itself a nation divided with a populace running on empty. On the morning of Jan. 31 there was only one person who could have started the process of building a bridge and it required nothing other than the words, “we hear you.” Doing such a thing would likely hurt the short-term political fortunes of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. It may have been bad politics, yet it would have been a demonstration of a leader who puts the national interest above that of their own political interest.
Few expected the convoy to morph into the movement that it has become when it started out from British Columbia just over two weeks ago. As it grew in momentum leading into the last weekend of January, it became apparent that it had become the outlet of pandemic frustration for many. For every last-minute school cancellation, for those who see injustice in forcing a parent to sit outside while their child plays hockey in an arena their own taxes help pay for… the convoy became the conduit for every coalition of people who have chafed at COVID restrictions.
Large protest movements attract those who love anarchy, living for nothing but to tear down others. It has been disappointing, albeit not surprising, to see some of the people who condemned protests like Black Lives Matter with a broad brush give a free pass to the signs of hate that traveled to Ottawa. It is equally disappointing to see the voices who preached a message to look beyond the destruction and listen to the important message of past protest movements frame this current movement as nothing more than a fringe minority of racist white nationalists that is un-Canadian and to be ignored.
Canada is divided and to make things more confusing, the old political spectrum is dying. The left and right taught to us by Joe Simpson in politics class at LDSS isn’t all that handy if we are trying to understand where people sit today. Matt Gurney, a journalist at the National Post, recently shared voting data from the last election that showed the largest contingent of new PPC voters came from the Green Party. In the traditional political sense, these two options would seem as polar opposites, so why did a bunch of hippies from the left cast a vote for the PPC? Most likely because the further one travels from the traditional political centre, the less they believe in government as a force for good, and the PPC was the only party in the last election that gave Canadians with skeptical attitudes towards government a spot to land.
Present day, it feels as if a Hunger Games-esque aura has settled down around us – a ruling class that sees the working class not as equals, but as a means to serve their needs. How is a nurse or a truck driver who was a hero in 2020 now undeserving of a job? Moreover, how can one not see the disconnect between a government whose mantra has been to elevate folks into the middle class yet the regulatory approach here will contribute to pushing more people into poverty through inflation?
There is a standoff between those who want to see Canada join countries like Denmark and England to remove mandates, passport systems, and move on with life. There are those who prefer more of the current strategy. The most challenging part is that after two years of being in a vice, everyone’s capacity for empathy is reduced. It is completely reasonable that a resident of downtown Ottawa is consumed by a rage that can only be placated by the trucks pulling out. It is also reasonable for a resident of Listowel to simply not care about what life is like in downtown Ottawa if they feel that protests are the route to having their concerns acknowledged and heard by leaders.
The only people that can heal the wounds are those who occupy the highest offices in the land, and that begins with the Prime Minister. This Prime Minister has a love affair with identity politics, and sadly last week showed that he would rather hammer a wedge for short-term political gain than acknowledge the country is boiling – with anger, frustration, pain, or perhaps just a need to be acknowledged and heard. A population with no empathy and a ruling class that has become drunk with power leaves all void of the requisite emotional capacity to work on their own self. When we cannot focus on being the best version of ourselves, it ends poorly for all.
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Stewart Skinner is a local business owner, former political candidate, and has worked at Queen’s Park as a Policy Advisor to the Minister of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs. He can be reached at stewart@stonaleenfarms.ca or on Twitter: @modernfarmer.
