I’ll readily admit that I don’t understand the nuance and intricacies of the science behind either the spread or mitigation of Covid. I mean, sure – I have a layperson’s understanding, but there’s no way I possess the specialized scientific knowledge necessary to either confirm or contest the findings of genuine experts. But I do know that I don’t know, if you follow me. And I think that’s really important.
Experts, experts everywhere, nor any truth to trust
In such a situation, my instinct is to trust the scientific experts. Now, this can be a fraught situation these days because it seems like both “sides” in this “debate” can cite experts. So, which experts should we turn to? Which experts should we believe?
I’m going to put my money – and my health – on the side with many, many, many, many more experts. This will almost certainly attract scorn and disdain from some quarters, and perhaps I’ll be tarred with insults like “sheep,” “patsy,” and “dupe” (which is, coincidentally, the name of the folk trio band I’m trying to put together with my two brothers…). I’m okay with that, because I know that I’m not just trusting in the combined wisdom and expertise of the scientific community; I’m actually trusting a broad scientific process, the fundamentals of which have led to truly amazing outcomes, helping people live longer, healthier lives all over the globe.
The Range of Skepticism
Skeptics decry the restrictions and mandates that scientists and medical experts have recommended to our government leaders. At a minimum, they resent these measures as overblown and unnecessary. Some allow their skepticism to creep a little further, arguing that public health measures do more harm than good. And then there is an increasingly voluble segment that blasts restrictions and mandates as politically motivated. These folks smear public health measures as part of a broad and sinister effort to rob Canadians of their rights and freedoms. Trading in the rhetoric of fear, dispossession and tyranny, these people have gone beyond the pale.
Bad Apples?
There are, of course, serious, thoughtful, and well-meaning people among those opposing Canada’s public health response to Covid. Indeed, I continue to count such folks among my friends. However, there are others who have deliberately stoked the fires of division and resentment. Despite their claims to the contrary, such individuals are not interested in dialogue, debate or civil discourse. Indeed, this fringe has intentionally chosen a strategy of confrontation. Tearing at our democratic norms, these malign actors have embraced disruption and belligerence in a blatant attempt to bait the government into using force.
While I readily admit my ignorance about the science of virology and immunology, I like to think I know a little bit about the politics of fear and hate. And so, I find it fascinating to listen to convoy spokespeople pushing back against media reports detailing the very visible presence of swastikas, confederate flags, QAnon propaganda and other symbols of racism, hate and fascism.
They assure us these are indicative of nothing more than a few “bad apples” in an otherwise welcoming, tolerant and inclusive movement. The technical, academic term to describe such assurances is: “complete and total bullshit.” The extreme political views of the convoy organizers have been well-documented (Bauder, Ditcher, Michaelson, Barber, King, etc., etc.), and we would be very foolish indeed to downplay or rationalize their inflammatory language. For example, fevered demands to bring about Canada’s own “January 6 event” cannot be understood in any way other than a call to celebrate and foment political violence. My goodness, if the dragon actually tells you that it’s planning to eat you, why on earth would you second-guess the beast?
Tyranny…
Supporters of the convoy have maligned our governments by tossing around words like “tyranny” and “fascism.” It’s important to note that some Canadians have, without question, experienced the Canadian state as a violent and dictatorial force. Indigenous peoples, in particular, have long suffered persecution, violence and dispossession at the hands of our governments. But it would be the most outrageous and offensive of exaggerations to draw any kind of parallel between the actual atrocities inflicted on Indigenous peoples in Canada and the inconveniences experienced by the convoy people and their supporters (and all of the rest of us as well, for that matter…).
I really shouldn’t have to say this, but it is well beyond lunacy to describe Canada’s democracy with words like “tyranny” and “fascism.” If you have somehow fallen victim to this overheated rhetoric, I implore you to give your head a shake. If you genuinely believe you are suffering under the despotic will of an autocrat (Justin Trudeau? An autocrat?! Hah! Someone clearly needs to get central casting on the line…) or have lost your democratic and human rights to the whims of a tyrant, I invite you to read a newspaper. If you did so, you might learn about the dire plight facing the Uyghurs in China, suffering internment, forced sterilization and genocide at the hands of their own government. Or you might come across the brutal and dehumanizing violence and oppression meted out by the Taliban in Afghanistan. Or perhaps you would be reminded of Kim Jong Un’s despotic grip over the lives of the people of North Korea:
Authorities in North Korea routinely send perceived opponents of the government to secretive prison camps where they face torture, starvation rations, and forced labor. Fear of collective punishment is used to silence dissent. The government systematically extracts forced, unpaid labor from its citizens to build infrastructure and public works projects.
(https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2021/country-chapters/north-korea#)
Only the most cynical and deceptive of charlatans would dare speak of “tyranny” in Canada while millions of people around the world suffer unimaginable violence and oppression under the jackboots of genuine tyrannical regimes like the one’s I’ve noted above.
…or Freedom?
Recalling that some folks out there are likely inclined to dismiss me as a sheep, dupe and/or patsy, perhaps my assurances that Canada really is still a liberal democracy will fall on deaf ears. If this is the case, I am happy to refer such skeptics to sources they may find more convincing and reputable than me:
- Freedom House has given Canada the highest possible “freedom” rating in both “Political Rights” and “Civil Liberties” every year since it was formed in 1973.
- The Human Freedom Index, which uses 82 distinct indicators, ranks Canada as the 6th freest country in the world in terms of personal and economic freedoms.
- The Foundation for the Advancement of Liberty (out of Madrid) placed Canada at 3rd in its Index of Moral Freedom in 2020.
- Reporters Without Borders ranked Canada at 14th out of 180 states in its 2021 World Press Freedom Index.
- The Economist’s 2021 Democracy Index includes Canada as one of only 21 “full democracies” in the world, ranking our system as the 12th best on the planet.
Can we all just think about the weight of this evidence for a moment? Like, seriously think about it? How on earth could anyone in their right mind possibly square all the hyperbolic convoy rhetoric about losing our rights and falling victim to tyranny with not just the lived experience of millions of Canadians, but also a veritable mountain of empirical data that points to the contrary?
Cause and Effect
Organizers of the convoy protest have framed their political project as both an expression of, and a demand for, freedom. And yet, a visceral form of belligerence and resentment has remained at the very core of the protest since its inception. This protest is designed to fuel the politics of grievance by rallying and gathering together opponents of the broadly liberal and moderately activist governments across the country. The three-fold goal is: 1) find common cause to bring together all those who feel anxious, slighted, resentful, angry and frustrated during this most uncertain of times; 2) light a fire beneath them; 3) aim them at elected governments like a loaded weapon.
If you don’t believe me, I’d like to introduce you to Major Stephen Chledowski:
If you haven’t already watched Major Chledowski’s brazen call to arms against the Canadian government, you can do so here. In his “urgent message for all Canadians,” Chledowski refers to a “government that suppresses your freedoms” and “knowingly and repeatedly violated the highest laws of the land.” He denigrates government officials as “liars and deceivers” and “traitors to freedom.” Inside the conspiratorial recesses of Chledowski’s fevered imagination,
The federal and provincial governments of Canada have chosen, through a well-planned and orchestrated set of measures to trick and fool and scare you…into complying with the suppression of our basic human rights. They have knowingly betrayed you and me under the lie of safety.
Major Chledowski goes so far as to describe our governments’ behaviour as “the very definition of tyranny,” asserting that our leader are committing “genocide.”
Liars and deceivers? Traitors to freedom? Tyranny? Genocide?
While this strain of inflammatory rhetoric is certainly unnerving on its own, Chledowski’s concluding call to arms is particularly ominous and sobering:
I am calling on my military and police comrades, all of you, all of us who have sworn a personal oath to protect our family, our friends and our community to now stand up and protect your loved ones against this government-forced medical tyranny. You chose to serve because you wanted to give back to your community, and instead the government has turned your love for community and your loyalty against you, and you are now a weapon against the very people you love. Brothers and sisters, you can’t be for ever-changing indiscriminate government measures which use fear and violence and also be for your loved ones and for freedom. You have to chose. I am asking you to choose your family and your community. This is why you serve. And this is your moment to be a hero for your loved ones. They deserve the truth. They deserve to be protected….We cannot let freedom die with this generation. May God forever bless the free citizens of Canada.
Beneath the Surface
At the surface level, the convoy’s proclaimed message is compelling: after all, who doesn’t support freedom? And there is no doubt whatsoever that the last two years have left every single one of us tired and frustrated with the current situation.
However, the convoy’s charged rhetoric about oppression and tyranny is not the language of democracy. Even in a best-case scenario, such language works to degrade democracy by eroding liberal norms and radicalizing our politics. And in a worst-case scenario, this rhetoric provides oxygen for the flames of actual violence. If you doubt this, I would ask you to listen to Chledowski’s rant again. And if you’re still not convinced after that, perhaps you should read about the RCMP’s arrest of 13 people at the convoy protest at Coutts, Alberta on Valentine’s Day. With protesters acknowledging they’d been “infiltrated by an extreme element,” the police have opened an investigation into “conspiracy to attempt to commit murder” and seized guns, body armour, a machete and “a large quantity of ammunition and high-capacity firearm magazines.”
This is the convoy’s end game; it’s always been the convoy’s end game. Now that we’ve all glimpsed it, I truly hope we’re able to come together in rejecting the divisive politics of grievance, hate and violence.
nothing but zeroes 