Double standard at play

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 04/02/2022 (1519 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

“I don’t think we should be asking them to go home. I understand the mood may shift soon. So we need to turn this into the PMs problem. What will he take the first step to working toward ending this?”

— Newly elected interim Conservative party leader Candice Bergen, Jan. 31.

“Enough is enough. Clear the blockades, restore the rule of law.”

— A tweet by Candice Bergen on Feb. 17, 2020, echoing a National Post headline calling for Indigenous blockades of national rail lines to be forcibly removed.

By showing outward support for the trucker protest and occupation in Ottawa, and attempting to use it to politically harm Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the new head of the Conservative Party of Canada is playing a very dangerous game.

Bergen, who was voted in as interim leader just hours after Erin O’Toole was turfed by his own party, has been openly supportive of the convoy in Ottawa, saying there are “thousands of passionate, patriotic and peaceful Canadians on the Hill right now who just want to be heard,” even as she condemned the “hateful and destructive acts” of those participants displaying white supremacist symbols last weekend.

A CTV report published yesterday suggested Bergen had pushed then-leader O’Toole to show support for the “Freedom Convoy” protest, arguing last week that there are “good people on both sides,” an echo of the infamous phrase uttered by former U.S. president Donald Trump following a Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va., in 2017, in which white supremacists were clearly present and marching.

Nearly two years ago, Bergen and her fellow Conservatives were outraged that Indigenous men and women supporting the Wet’suwet’en First Nation in its protest against the construction of the Coastal GasLink Pipeline in B.C. had not been immediately cleared off rail lines across the nation.

The Portage-Lisgar MP told the media website PortageOnline.com at the time that what was most upsetting was the prime minister’s weak response.

“He has refused to take action, he’s refused to acknowledge how devastating these blockades are, and instead, he’s talking about dialogue,” Bergen said. “Now, dialogue certainly has its place, but we are a country of law, and a country of rules, and those laws need to be upheld.”

Based on her recent actions, it seems that Bergen’s adherence to the rule of law has been lost in the blare of dozens of semi-truck horns as she attempts to use the convoy to her own political advantage. Clearly, there is a double standard at play here — a naked attempt at brinksmanship politics that Indigenous groups across the country are openly and rightfully questioning.

Let’s be perfectly clear about this — the situation in Ottawa is deteriorating. Tempers of Ottawa residents have been fraying over the last week as members of the protesting trucker convoy further entrenched themselves around Parliament, settling in for what they are saying is “the long haul” until their demands are met, and all COVID-19 mandates end across the country.

While supporters of the convoy have been trying to argue that the protestors have been largely peaceful, “fun-loving” Canadians who are not harming anyone in their stand against vaccine mandates and Liberal Leader Trudeau, news reports paint a different picture.

There are numerous reports of Ottawa residents being harassed, threatened and spat upon for wearing masks, businesses having their windows smashed, intimidation of staff and volunteers at a local shelter, not to mention the hurling of racial slurs.

Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly told The Canadian Press that officers will focus on mischief, hate, harassment, threats and other intimidating behaviour to send a clear message: “The lawlessness must end.”

Sloly further said the protest is an “increasingly volatile and increasingly dangerous demonstration,” and his department was committed to bringing it to an end. Nevertheless, after a week of police inaction, local residents don’t seem convinced.

“This weekend is going to be worse than last weekend simply because they are still there, they are entrenched, and there will be people simply itching for a confrontation who will come to town,” Ottawa-based communications consultant Tim Abray told the news site Al Jazeera. “I think we’re on our own. We need to help keep each other safe.”

As of late Friday afternoon, similar rallies were setting up in Toronto and Quebec City, while Friday morning saw a peaceful convoy of trucks and farm vehicles camped outside the Manitoba legislature along Broadway, blocking off Memorial Boulevard.

On Friday, the Conservative party issued a statement from Bergen, stating Canadians want and need a peaceful resolution to this impasse,” and called upon Trudeau to work together with her to find solutions and “provide a clear plan to end the situation in Ottawa.”

But by supporting the demands made by the organizers and thus giving the convoy legitimacy, there has already been damage done to the Tory brand. James Moore, a former cabinet minister under Stephen Harper, said Bergen’s support of the convoy has hurt the Conservatives.

And earlier in the day, Conservative Sen. Dennis Patterson announced he had quit the Tory caucus in protest to stand as an independent, and “unreservedly” denounced the convoy, saying participants were “showing contempt for the law.”

In all seriousness, I have to wonder who is actually being used here — the so-called Freedom Convoy, or Bergen.

» Matt Goerzen, editor