Late Monday night, the Canadian House of Commons voted to extend Trudeau’s Emergency Act, although the bulk of the protestors left over the weekend. Trudeau was adamant the emergency hasn’t ended and the truckers might return like last night’s Chipotle.
This only scratches the surface of the situation, though. Before the vote, Trudeau seemed to insinuate that this vote was ALSO a ‘confidence’ vote, meaning that if the measure had failed, it would trigger a new round of elections. Take a watch at what might be the ‘best’ 30-second political speech of the year:
From CTV News:
Leading up to the vote, there were signs the government had decided to make it a confidence vote, meaning that if it failed, the minority Liberal government could have fallen, which would have triggered an election.
Trudeau had not officially designated the vote as such, but he opened the door to that interpretation by likening the decision to a vote on a throne speech, which lays out the government's agenda.
Just before the voting began around 8 p.m. EST Monday, government House leader Mark Holland was asked by the Conservatives to clarify whether this was a confidence vote.
"It's time to vote," he replied.
Toronto Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, who voted in favour, said in the debate he might have voted against continuing to use the act now that the blockades had ended. He said he would vote yes because he had no interest in helping trigger an election.
Joel Lightbound, a Liberal MP who has criticized the government over its handling of the crisis, said invoking the act was "a slippery slope." He said he would be inclined to vote against the measures if it were not a vote of confidence, and asked for clarification from ministers. He also voted in favour of the motion Monday night.
To put this into US terms, this would be like Biden stating that if the Build Back Better Act failed, all Congressmen would be up for election immediately. Set against the backdrop of cratering poll numbers (both for Trudeau’s Liberal Party and US Democrats), this is effectively saying “If this vote fails you will be out of a job” — and the politicians reacted with their usual courage.
And the ‘best’ part — if the vote HAD failed, I’m positive Trudeau would have claimed that he never called for a confidence vote and the MPs were simply confused. It’s a ‘heads I win, tails you lose” situation. (As a side note, it’s unbelievable to me that a no confidence vote doesn’t have to stand alone as its own issue, and that the ‘leaders’ don’t have to clear this up before voting.)
But notice what else he did at the end of that video. He insinuated that MPs who vote no are AGAINST DEMOCRACY. (Because nothing says DEMOCRACY like blindly following whatever the ‘leader’ says) This is one step (and not a big one) away from “These people cannot vote because they are against us.”
So now we’re at the point of tyranny where the ‘leaders’ want real emergency powers for hypothetical protests. And since the protests COULD restart at any time, it’s easy to envision Trudeau continuing to demand these powers in perpetuity. The more cynical among us might even speculate that one of the ways government would ‘ensure’ there’s no more protesting is to monitor social media posts and attack protests before they even get started.
But the tyrants are just getting started in Canada. Ottawa’s mayor wants to sell the trucks the state ‘confiscated’ during the protest. And inside the article we find something ironic, at the very least:
Prior to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoking the Emergencies Act for the first time in Canadian history last week, police had difficulties finding tow truck operators willing to tow the semi-trucks and other vehicles in the Canadian capital. Under the Emergencies Act, the government is able to force tow truck operators to carry out their work or they could face potential fines or prison time if they refuse.
The government was literally forcing tow truck drivers to work under the threat of prison. Isn’t there a word for when somebody forces you to work against your will? Eh, I’m sure it will come to me.
But that’s not all. Tamara Lich, one of the organizers of the Freedom Convoy was recently denied bail. Justice Julie Bourgeois (can’t make this up) explains:
"In Canada, every citizen can certainly disagree with and protest against government decisions but it needs to be done in a democratic fashion in abidance with the laws that have been established democratically."
This raises a whole lot of questions. What laws that have been established democratically were broken? Is the punishment for breaking those laws complete financial ruin? Could Lich legally go home and protest there? What about the people who have had their bank accounts frozen? Can we support THOSE people without being put on (another) list? The ‘rules’ of protest are changing so quickly that nobody can keep up. I’m not the only one with loads of questions.
Luckily, Finance Minster Chrystia Freeland has an easy way to regain access to your accounts: Stop the blockades that were over like a week ago!
Freeland said earlier anyone affected has an easy way to have their accounts unfrozen: “Stop being a part of the blockade,” she said.
Of course, many people who have had their accounts frozen weren’t even in Ottawa. And the government has committed to hunting down everybody involved and punishing them. “Stop making us hit you” rings pretty hollow to me.
And finally, special thanks to Republic Jim for bringing my attention to an actual violent Canadian protest that occurred last week:
On Thursday, February 17, 2022, shortly after midnight, Houston RCMP was called to the Marten Forest Service Road (FSR) after Coastal Gas Link (CGL) security reported acts of violence at their work site.
It was reported approximately 20 people, some armed with axes, were attacking security guards and smashing their vehicle windows. It was initially reported that some CGL employees were trapped, but all had managed to safely leave the area.
Upon police attendance at the 41 km mark, the roadway had been blocked with downed trees, tar covered stumps, wire, boards with spikes in them, and fires had been lit throughout the debris. As police worked their way through the debris and traps, several people threw smoke bombs and fire lit sticks at the police, injuring one officer.
The article contains more information, but here are a couple pictures:
Edit 10:42 2/23: Police have released footage of the protestors.
You can search every single minute of Freedom Convoy video and not see anything like this. This was the point I was sarcastically making yesterday in showing Montreal’s protest from May 2020. The ‘leaders’ claim the convoy was violent and destructive, yet the only violence and destruction seems to be elsewhere in the country.
And a tiny bit of good news before we wrap this up: The school mask mandate in Illinois was struck down. Sadly for Chicago residents, their ‘leaders’ will continue to pretend their rules are the reason the earth rotates around the sun. As of today’s numbers, the city only has 203 covid-positive people in the hospital, numbers not seen since the summer low point. (The hospital is still 80% full, showing AGAIN that the number of covid-positive patients in the hospital has very little bearing on overall utilization)
Have a great day out there, and stay sane!
"When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation."
Canada is ahead of the rest of the free world by instituting a “PreCrime” -based system of government (see reference, Minority Report).
And the Head of State of Canada who is watching all this from afar in the UK must be thinking… what exactly? I’m sure she must be distracted with her own battle with Covid (best wishes of course for recovery.)
http://www.canadafaq.ca/what+type+of+government+does+canada+have/