And it didn't work when we tried it during the last decade.
It's not what led to the incredible postwar booms of the '50s and '60s. (Applause.) It didn't work when it was tried in the decade before the Great Depression. (Laughter.) But here's the problem: It doesn't work. And that theory fits well on a bumper sticker. And we have to admit, it's one that speaks to our rugged individualism and our healthy skepticism of too much government. Fortunately, education is a remedy for ignorance.Now, it's a simple theory. When I hear people at the rally passionately advocate for their freedom, but not others, I can’t help but see ignorance.
We don’t have the freedom to be ourselves the way many straight, cisgender people take for granted. As a queer Canadian, I can attest to how homophobia raises its ugly head any time, anywhere. Maybe the “freedom convoy” should likewise listen carefully. I listen carefully to the experiences of exclusion, ridicule and discrimination marginalized people face in a country that is supposedly equal for all. It is my job to listen to people tell their stories in the classes that I teach. I have been conducting research on social exclusion and prejudice since 1996. Not everyone’s freedomįreedom is important, but many Canadians aren’t being considered by the “freedom convoy.” Ask any of the usual targets of social prejudice, ignorance, discrimination and hate about how their freedoms are constantly trampled on by other Canadians. Ask people who are immigrants, disabled, poor, overweight, speak a language other than English. What about their freedom from gender-based violence?Īsk trans people who regularly have to deal with transphobia. Where is their freedom from the sheer stupidity of others?Īsk women and girls who continue to face sexism, sexual harassment, sexual assault and sexual exploitation at the hands of men. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin TangĪsk Muslim Canadians about their freedom from ignorance and discrimination in the form of Islamophobia expressed in verbal and physical assault and even mass murder.Īsk Asian Canadians about intolerance and racism from other Canadians who blame them for COVID-19. In the tantrum for so-called freedom, the majority of participants have not denounced or condemned these reprehensible, well-documented behaviours which, notably, have gone mostly without consequence.Ī person walks towards Parliament Hill for a rally against COVID-19 restrictions. Uttering racist and threatening comments, making many people in Ottawa’s downtown feel generally unsafe.Shutting down schools in the wake of rallies, denying parents the freedom to go to work and children their freedom to go to school.Overrunning malls and shops that have forced many to shut down, thereby denying the shop owners’ and employees freedom to earn a living.Defecating in public, including on the property of people whose home displays a Pride flag.Desecrating war memorials that pay tribute to those who fought for the very freedoms the convoy supporters enjoy.Descending upon a soup kitchen, intimidating staff and demanding to be fed - all without masks.Who could be against freedom? But let’s take stock of the freedom that some have exercised during the ongoing rally: The one-word rallying cry - freedom - is the activist mantra. The problem lies in what’s not being said or acknowledged. The so-called “freedom convoy” has captured worldwide attention as a minority of truckers and their supporters have asserted their right to assemble and oppose COVID-19 protocols imposed by the federal, provincial and territorial governments.
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