Canada’s Trudeau Faces Major Challenge From Anti-Vaccine Trucker Protests

The trucker’s strike in Canada is becoming a political hot potato for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government, struggling to bring order into the chaos triggered by massive protests that have brought life to a standstill in the capital city. Ottawa announced a state of emergency on Sunday to deal with this unprecedented crisis. To cap it all the Prime Minister himself is in Covid- induced isolation.  Canada at the moment appears rudderless as it rolled into another week of protests by noisy truckers who have laid siege on Ottawa. Sensing an opportunity, Canada’s Conservative Party, which had failed in its third attempt to dislodge Trudeau, is fishing in troubled waters.

Canada’s Prime Minister tweeted on Tuesday, "Canadians have the right to protest, to disagree with their government, and to make their voices heard. We’ll always protect that right. But let’s be clear: They don’t have the right to blockade our economy, or our democracy, or our fellow citizens’ daily lives. It has to stop.’’ Many Canadians are critical of Trudeau’s soft handling of the protests that has made the lives of people living in the capital miserable. Trucks have gridlocked the city, and noise of constant honking by truckers are unnerving citizens. Several want stringent action to clear the streets and believe the army should be deployed to disperse truckers. But Trudeau has said he would never ask the military to act against fellow Canadians.

The protests were triggered by a new border crossing rule announced by the US and Canada in late January to enforce covid protocol following a fresh outbreak of the pandemic. The rule required truck drivers to be fully vaccinated to cross the border to either the US or Canada.

What is surprising is that 90 per cent of Canadians are already vaccinated. Like other rich nations, when the vaccines were first out, Canada had bought up four times more vaccines than the population needed. Just about 10 per cent of adult Canadians are not unvaccinated and refuse to do so, exercising their right of free choice. Yet according to reports in the Canadian press, as many as 32 per cent of people support the anti-vaccine protests. The truth is like the rest of the world, people are wary of covid restrictions and covid protocols. The trucker’s protest has now swirled to include far-right extremists, anti-government activists and conspiracy theorists --sections that dislike the Trudeau government. In short, elements that have been unable to make any mark in Canada’s political scene, are now using the trucker’s movement to spread their message against liberal values. They are hoping to popularize their anti-science and anti-vaccine conspiracy rhetoric.

Not surprising that the truckers are being lauded by President Donald Trump and his support base in the US. In fact, Trump weighed in on what is happening in Canada last week. And in typical Trump style declared Trudeau a "far-left lunatic,’’ out to destroy Canada. He also praised the truckers and asked for the "freedom convoy’’ to come to Washington and demonstrate against  Joe Biden’s covid restrictions. Trump’s supporters believe that the vaccine mandate goes against the principle of free choice which is integral to American democracy.

The only way out for Canada is to begin a dialogue with the truckers and persuade them to stop the protests. But having gathered momentum they are unlikely to back down now. Trudeau has a major problem in hand and ordinary Canadians are tired of the disruption caused by the protestors.

In India, many Modi supporters are delighted with the trucker’s protest. Angry at Justin Trudeau’s tweets and statements supporting the farmer agitation in India, they believe he has got his just payback. Trudeau the poster boy of the liberals has a large Sikh support base in Canada and was naturally  Not that the bhakts  are anti-vaccine, but are happy to see Trudeau’s current discomfiture