missed opportunity for unity

Like a lot of people, I read a lot of stories, especially news stories. I am always surprised and annoyed by the holes in the stories, the big gaping holes that just don’t make sense.

Last year, as the Freedom Convoy was pulling into Ottawa after many days on the road, it was big news. Everybody knew it was happening, nobody was caught off guard or shocked. Well, except our Prime Minister and the Ottawa police service.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau should have known what a large majority of the convoy participants stood for. They were against heavy-handed government, against some of the way Covid-19 was handled and against the very foolish carbon tax. If Trudeau had any idea of what was happening, he certainly didn’t handle it well. What he should have done was meet with the convoy leaders, heard what they had to say and then come up with a reasonable answer. Instead, he didn’t meet with them, instead called them down, accused them of many things and told them to go away. That was very dumb and very short-sighted on behalf of a prime minister that has had as much experience as he has had.

He implemented the Emergency Measures Act and we all know how prolonged, awkward and expensive that turned out to be. It took an ensuing multi-million dollar inquiry for Trudeau to admit a year later that he wished he had used different words about the convoy participants. Trudeau was plain and simply dumb on this issue. Every conflict resolution expert will tell you that successful resolution requires time, patience