Zeitgeist

I love Canada strong and free. If we’re going to remain under totalitarian controls like vaccine passports and state-influenced media, then I’d rather see Confederation unravel.

It’s privileged hypochondriacs holding everyone else back. Eyeball and Blackbird live in fear. Let them. It won’t change no matter how many freedoms are stripped away from everyone. Eliminating mandates and restrictions won’t please some people because freedom has always scared some people, even though life is never without risk. This country just isn’t very free. Our truckers and the Americans are trying to help restore freedoms that some of our own people don’t want. It’s sad and sick. There will always be variants and there’s no acceptable level of risk for these people. Trudeau panders to them and the entire country suffers because of it.

And what the science supports is inconclusive. Values and science are different things and both are important to humans. We’ve been living inhumanely. It has to stop now.

No you don’t get more than two years of our lives “to keep the hospitals from getting overwhelmed”. My kids are only with me a short time and so are my parents. We’re all triple vaccinated and have followed the rules. Two Christmases canceled. We can’t get this time back. The mental health mess, job losses, social deficits, and academic gaps are enormous. You’re going to have to accept people living freely again, unmasked and living life without having to show passports to eat a meal. We’re not buying into the fear anymore. If you’re worried about Omicron, cover up and keep a distance. You have many protections available to you. You don’t get to suspend our Charter freedoms indefinitely for dubious reasons.

He spoke powerfully and sincerely. My guess is that he will be one of the last remaining pillars of the party when it falls apart — if he isn’t kicked out. He should just defect to the Conservatives.

You think such comments are endearing? They just make you even less likeable.

What’s clear is that the majority of the population wants pandemic “emergency measures” lifted, there’s a strong protest movement demanding accountability on the government’s plan to lift the measures (if one exists), and the Prime Minister refuses to meet with the protest leaders or provide reasons for the continued suspension of Charter rights. His position is a losing one. Public frustration with mandates and restrictions is boiling over. The opposition is finally getting its act together. Canadians can see Trudeau’s evasions and vilification of protesters who have legitimate concerns. This won’t fade away into more quiet compliance through more attempts to put down the protests and quell public sentiment. The wisest move for Trudeau is to drop the arrogance and pride and do the right thing. Vaccine mandates and passports are anathema to a free society. To take away constitutional rights and give some of them back to those who accept and provide proof of adopting a government-mandated health program is unacceptable in a so-called free country. The reduction of freedoms for the unvaccinated as well as the public’s government-condoned shaming of the unvaccinated is oppressive. Vaccine passports are oppressive and I’m ashamed that Canada has them. This will be remembered as a dark period in our history, though it could get darker. We should thank the truckers for putting themselves on the line to defend our constitutional rights. End vaccine passports and mandates immediately across Canada. They contravene our Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Canada is a freedom laggard now. Restrictions must also be lifted, including mandatory masking, as soon as possible, as they are in most US states, Great Britain, and a growing number of European countries. I’m sure that once the mandates go, so will the truckers, of their own free will.

These are the kinds of people I need in my life.

That guy in the video rocks!

Where are most people getting their accounts of the protests? How are those accounts editorialized?

Peace, order, and responsible government.

If you think most Canadians won’t fight for freedom and Treebeard asks if most Canadians agree with your stance on the importance of freedom, he’s merely proving your point. I hear you. I hope it’s not true that most Canadians don’t care about freedom, but I have my doubts. I’m losing interest in Canada. I sometimes think the people are becoming sucky. It’s all about getting handouts and being micromanaged like irresponsible babies. If Trudeau succeeds in maintaining mandates, that’s all the proof we need. When people who are willing to sacrifice income to defend freedom are characterized as scary extremists, we’ve lost the plot as a society. If we won’t defend the Constitution, what do Canadians stand for and what’s the value of Canada? Might as well move to the US or Britain where freedom is valued.

Most people watch one of two Canadian news broadcasts later at night: CTV News and CBC news. Do you think that those accounts of the convoy have been fair? I don’t. It’s Pravda and Izvestia. Of course government funding of our major broadcasters has no influence on content…Unicorns and rainbows for everyone.

That’s your standard for rights and freedoms, not getting stabbed or raped?

You’re wrong. The harm comes in many forms of ostracism, such as being cut out of multiple fields of work, not being able to participate in physical or social activities indoors, not being able to board a train or plane to visit a dying relative in another province. All for what again, to satisfy your need for 100% compliance with a heath program you support? I’m glad you say such ridiculous things. It just proves how overbearing mandates and vaccine passports are.

People can make all sorts of choices that are good or bad, such as killing people. You’re making a strange point that doesn’t serve your argument. The threat of unemployment is coercive. Stop being disingenuous.

Are you an unconstitutional woke Nazi MSM totalitarian puppet? Lol

Unvaccinated may be at greater risk of serious illness and death, but they represent a small proportion of the population and respecting medical discretion matters. Our hospitals can handle it. If they can’t, it’s better to fix the healthcare system than to suspend Charter freedoms for the entire population and take a harsh stance against the unvaccinated. Mandates are divisive, unconstitutional, and rather arbitrary considering that it’s very hard to have one-size fits all healthcare that’s effective. There’s great value in vaccines and new treatments, but educating people and incentivizing their use (when the research is clear) is a better long term strategy than mandating a program subject to loss of freedoms and even one’s livelihood.

Coolio. Didn’t see a dance but lots of flags.

The sky is falling! How much violence has there been? How much rioting? Oh yeah, none. I did see a dance party. Looked fun.

You’re probably right and I’m sure there are many people out there with harsher sentiments towards Trudeau. He needs to come across to the valid concerns.

When there’s no clear justification for the temporary suspension of Charter rights, there is no justification for the suspension of Charter rights. That’s why we have a constitution in the first place. Our rights must be the default state, not restrictions and mandates. I realize that we’re coming out of a viral wave, but with falling hospitalizations, a mild variant that represents almost all Covid cases, and one of the world’s highest vaccination rates, there can be no justification for the continued suspension of our Charter rights. The vulnerable have ample protections available. Vaccine mandates, vaccine passports, and all across the board restrictions must be dropped. Now, it’s fair to discuss a gradual removal of certain restrictions like masking, but there has to be a firm end date and it has to be soon. The vaccine-passports are a non-negotiable. They must be dropped immediately and I’m grateful that the protesters are holding the line because our own federal leader and many provincial leaders are not respecting our constitutional rights, certainly at this point in time. The violations will become more obvious over time, so it’s in the leaders’ political interests to back off of mandates. If you want to know the particulars of why mandates aren’t reasonable for these vaccines, read my other posts and the posts of those who have provided vetted credible research. Our country’s vaccination and public health profile is similar to Denmark’s. Denmark is rightly dropping mandates and restrictions. Removing medical discretion and other Charter rights and making those who don’t comply with a government-mandated health program second class citizens with reduced rights is unethical and unconstitutional. Current conditions certainly don’t justify it.

Just trying to show good faith and that there is room in the discussion to see rationale in the arguments from the other side. However, there’s a line that must be drawn on government overreach. Governments in Canada are over that line for sure for the reasons I’ve explained. If Trudeau can’t provide a fast timeframe for the removal of vaccine mandates, he is acting in open violation of constitutional rights. Truckers are fair to hold the line on our Charter protections. Trudeau has a way out of this mess. The longer he waits the worse it will be.

Dr. Tam is waiting for the international go ahead from the WHO. Prior Liberal PM’s understood the importance of sovereignty and making decisions that are right for Canada in its current context. Our context of a highly vaccinated population with falling hospitalizations is similar to Denmark’s. Denmark has dropped mandates and restrictions. I admire the Danes. I remember the story of how the King wore the Star of David in solidarity with the Jews during the Holocaust. Courageous. Canada has courage in its history too. We need to remember this. Lest we forget.

I’ll give the federal government and most provincial governments the benefit of a doubt for the first year of the pandemic up to the point when all adults had the opportunity to become fully-vaccinated. After that all mandates and restrictions should’ve disappeared. We never should’ve had vaccine passports, which are an affront to our health discretion and other constitutional rights. They’ve created a two-tier society. Watching Trudeau defend the continued suspension of our Charter rights when 90% of adults are fully-vaccinated is like watching a dictator tell the people that most people stayed home during lockdowns so everyone should stay home under permanent lockdown. Mandates and restrictions, certainly including masking and vaccination requirements, were never supposed to be permanent. It will be increasingly hard for Trudeau and the premiers to defend vaccine requirements, because most people will demand some personal choice over how many jabs to take, how often, or whether they’re necessary at all, especially after already accepting two or three jabs. Trudeau and all governments have to give up vaccination requirements and vaccine passports. The truckers are right to stand up for the right of all Canadians to medical discretion. Promotion of treatment is one thing. If the virus wasn’t transmitted by vaccinated people and the vaccine offered permanent complete protection, there would be a better case for mandates, but even then it would be hard to make the case that people who have the tools to protect themselves from Covid, the vaccinated, should impose their health choice on the unvaccinated. We now know the reality of the incomplete protection from vaccination and the counter-productivity of over-vaccination. Trudeau would be wise to back off vaccine mandates on moral and constitutional grounds, but also because the truck convoy isn’t going to relent on vaccine mandates — thankfully. Canadians’ Charter rights must be restored.