What We Can Learn From the Ottawa “Freedom” Convoy

How mismanagement and incompetence impact the world

I live in Canada, in a city relatively close to where Ottawa was recently being sieged by truckers. In fact, I still see trucks in my town heading to join splinter protests on a daily basis. Like many other Canadians, I mistakenly assumed that this protest movement was going to fizzle out quickly.

I never expected a bunch of truckers convening in my country’s capital to make the news in the USA. And I certainly never thought that copycat protests would pepper the globe. But they did. The movement divided a nation — or many nations, as it turns out — but we can stand to learn from the ebb and flow of this event. Here is what we can take away from this.

Whoever blocks off a city block in a major city gets what they want.

This was what shocked me, and what eventually led to other blockades to form around the world. Although the convoy impeded a city from functioning, shut down dozens of businesses, and destroyed a national economy, the police in Ottawa did nothing. This sent a message to others: we can do what we want without any consequences. And it was to be for quite a bit.

It turns out that strikes and protests work when police don’t intervene. The largest organized protest movement in modern Canadian history occurred in 2012. It lasted nearly a year. Students protested peacefully. Police brutally attacked and illegally searched protesters on many occasions, including yours truly. And yet, the largest protest in Canada failed in achieving its goals. When the police are permissive — or worse, complicit — we get spectacles like the “freedom” convoy.

Incompetence is acceptable (if you’re the police or the government).

All the Ottawans I know are outraged — and rightfully so. This event has showcased several agencies’ incompetence, and the incompetence runs deep in the Ottawa Police Service. For several weeks, they allowed the convoy to take control of local residents’ lives. My friend’s wife was walking to work last week when several “protesters” yelled at her and began following her. When she turned around to face and rebuke them, one of them suddenly punched her in the face. There were police around, but no one did anything. Why was this allowed to happen for so long? Is it okay to spend more than 14 million dollars on a police force that does nothing to help the community?

The mayor of Ottawa, Jim Watson, is also complicit. He has also shown his total ineptitude to solve this crisis. He has been mayor since 2010 and has already said that he will not run for mayor again. He has mentally checked out. He has no skin in the game. Jim Watson cares more about his retirement than he does about Ottawans.

Tow truck drivers have also been pressured into not helping enforce the law during an illegal occupation in Canada’s capital. Did I say pressure? I meant threatened with their lives and livelihood.

We have to ask ourselves as a society — what does it take to have the major players in our society be accountable for their actions (or lack thereof)? This incompetence was there the entire time. Now that our eyes are opened, what are we going to do about it?

Rules for thee but not for me.

Let’s get real here. If these truckers had been Black Lives Matter protesters, most of these truckers would have pleaded for the cops to bash their heads in. At a majority of protests around the world, any protester bearing a swastika flag would not have been tolerated at all. Not so for the “freedom” convoy. The truckers are hypocrites. “Join us!” they yell. Where were they at anti-racism protests? How about protests against government corruption? Why is a vaccine mandate, which ironically is being phased out as we speak, the only thing they seemingly care about?

The truckers began blowing their horns to harass Ottawans when the protest started. When counter-protesters now protest the convoy by giving them a taste of their own medicine by making noise, the truckers often are baffled. They say things like, “This is absurd,” with zero self-awareness or sense of irony.

On the other hand, “rules for thee but not for me” goes both ways. I have heard many Canadians say they are okay with Justin Trudeau sending the army in to violently stop the protesters and destroy their property. We shouldn’t wish to hurt others, even if we deeply despise them and everything they believe in. I’m saddened when I hear others call for imminent violence. As much as it’s a shame that the protesters didn’t protest in a legal manner, it’s also shameful to seek out an eye for an eye.

Does it not worry other Canadians that protesters’ bank accounts are being frozen? As much as I disagree with the protesters’ ideology — and basically everything else about them — the government is only a hop, skip, and a jump away from applying this strategy to other Canadians whose politics they disagree with. This should be concerning to us all — shouldn’t it?

At the time of writing, the convoy has largely dissipated after mass arrests. The Canadian government and various police forces have finally put their big boy pants on, and local businesses in Ottawa are able to go back to work without being harassed. Numerous splinter protests in other cities, as well as around the globe, are still going on.

The long-term cultural impact of this event is still yet to come.