Supporting the Truckers' Right to Peaceful Protest
Plus the CPP premium tax hike, my thoughts on demonstrations at the homes of Canadians, a report on China's espionage activities in Canada, and more
The Trucker Convoy and the right to peaceful protest
As I was driving back from Killam, Alberta, this past Sunday evening on the QE2, I noticed how every single overpass from Lacombe down to Airdrie had Albertans showing up to wave their Canadian flags and honk in support of the trucker convoy heading to Ottawa to protest against federally-mandated vaccines. These peaceful displays of protest are the Canadian way – typically stoic, simple, and unabashedly friendly.
I support the right of all Canadians to peacefully protest and rally to show support for a favourite cause. I support the truckers and the convoy heading to Ottawa to have their voices heard. The vast majority are good-hearted, patriotic, and reasonable Canadians. A few radical voices trying to attach themselves to the convoy or fringe political parties trying to gain recognition won’t change that fact, nor provide justification for the federal government’s vaccine mandate on the industry.
Conservatives have been opposed to federally mandated vaccines since Prime Minister Trudeau surprised Canadians on Day 2 of the federal election campaign in August 2021 by calling for them to be introduced in Canada. We also oppose the mandatory vaccine mandates on Canadian truckers. The folks who ship our goods and bring much-needed supplies into our country were rightly called essential during the pandemic as they kept the economy moving and kept Canadians fed. They have worked tirelessly, complied with fast-changing rules, and done their very best to keep our stores and grocery shelves stocked.
The Canadian economy needs every person back at their job, able and willing to put in a hard day's work to get back on track. We have the ability and technology to accommodate everyone in our workplaces that allows for every person, vaccinated or not, to be able to go to work, put food on the table, and do so without government interference. To the truckers from Calgary Shepard and from across Canada, I support your peaceful demonstrations against these mandates.
The CPP premium hike and rising cost-of-living
With the new year comes higher taxes from the Liberal government. On January 1, an increase in tax rates under the Canada Pension Plan came to effect, adding more financial burdens for Canadians in an economy ravaged by the pandemic. Already in the past year, housing prices are up 27%, gasoline prices are up 33.3%, natural gas is up 19.6%, transportation is up 8.9%, necessities such as water, fuel, and electricity are up 8.5% and food prices have also gone up 5.7%. Nearly 60% of Canadians now are struggling to afford food for their families, yet when Conservatives called upon the Prime Minister to reverse the tax hike for this year, it fell on deaf ears. Its reversal would have put up to $700 back into the pockets of families, money that could be used for essential items they need. Now is not the time to make things worse.
Federal government report on China’s espionage activities in Canada
The People’s Republic of China has long engaged in intimidation tactics against overseas Chinese, targeting particularly pro-Taiwan and democracy activists, as well as Uyghurs and Falun Gong practitioners. In March 2020, the security screening branch at Canada Border Services Agency wrote an internal report detailing the widespread campaign of espionage and intimidation against Canadians of Chinese descent by China. In the document, officials noted the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office was given the role of utilizing intimidation tactics against dissidents of the regime and found various methods to interfere in Canadian public life, such as the case with the recent interference in the 2021 federal election by the government in Beijing. This is disturbing and highlights why the recall of the Canada-China committee is all the more necessary as parliamentarians need to study these issues to better protect Canada.
Protests, not intimidation
Over the past weekend, protests and demonstrations occurred at the home of Calgary MP George Chahal. The right to protest is essential in a healthy democracy, but there are opportunities to protest that can happen without intimidating the families and neighbours of elected officials. In recent years, activists have become more aggressive in their actions through harassing people at their homes and engaging in intimidation tactics, much like Antifa in the United States. Targeting the homes and private lives of Canadians is a form of intimidation and I strongly condemn these actions. To wit, I want to bring up other instances of protests that have occurred at the homes of Canadians. In 2002, Greenpeace activists, including today’s Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault, climbed onto the home of Alberta premier Ralph Klein and his wife and harassed them both. They claim to have done so with good intentions, wanting to “educate” the premier on climate change. Premier Klein called it as it was: “nobody’s home ought to be public property” and their actions constituted an invasion of privacy. Premier Klein was right then and his words ring true today. In 2020, woke protestors went after RBC and the TC Energy board chair of Coastal Link, protesting at their private residences. These actions go beyond impacting the two executives affected, it also has an impact on their families along with others in the neighbourhood who are not responsible for the actions of their neighbours. When these incidents happen, we must follow Ralph Klein and call it as it is: it is wrong. Protestors should take to the public square instead, the right to protest is extremely important in a democracy but it belongs on public property.
The problem with canned diced potatoes
In the third year of the pandemic, amid soaring food, housing, and gas prices, bureaucrats in Ottawa are focused on the issues that matter least to Canadians. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency recently launched a public consultation requesting feedback from Canadians on a proposed change to the size of diced white potatoes sold in cans. This is the type of highly intrusive regulatory process that makes the average taxpayer and citizen roll their eyes. It logically leads to questions such as “was there a problem with improperly sized potatoes in cans?”, “was someone harmed with a poorly diced can of potatoes?”, or “what is the public policy reason for Ottawa to regulate the size of diced potatoes?”. The government should focus on more important matters to Canadians, not such mundane issues.
The vaccine is obsolete already, anyway, it didn't work very well at all. So why make us ruin our immune system, because enough of this stuff will, follow the science. Our freedom shouldn't end where your fear begins. Trudeau is in lock down now because he is a simple minded coward!
Plus people have the constitutional right to protest in public area's as long as we don't interfere with peoples movement and freedom, even in front of a politicians house. What's the point in protesting in a vacuum somewhere where no one cares? Our rights are fine except when we annoy the politicians, then they make laws and get the police on us to try shut the protest down and put us in jail and take away our freedom, like they do in China and Russia.
No one should be forced by the Government (that doesn't have a clue about science anyway) to take a drug that harms young men and doesn't seem to work, or lose your JOB! That's insane! plus the harm they are doing to the Kids!
That's how they erode our Freedom's. I say BS and we need to stand up as individuals and say NO! I'm not going along with this crap anymore and I'm taking my freedom back!
Thanks Tom. These guys are really putting it on the line to be peaceful in their protest while the Ottawa police are literally confiscating their food. The truckers should STAY peaceful, and there should be consequences for the unlawful behavior of the police and other powers in Ottawa.