A Peasants' Revolt: Truckers and Tyrants
Canadian Parliament moves to indefinitely suspend civil rights of the people
“Resolve to serve no more, and you are at once freed. I do not ask that you place hands upon the tyrant to topple him over, but simply that you support him no longer; then you will behold him, like a great Colossus whose pedestal has been pulled away, fall of his own weight and break in pieces.”
- Étienne de La Boétie, Discourse on Voluntary Servitude, circa 1553
Successful protests rest on the principles of nonviolent civil disobedience. It is the pathway free people must choose when confronted with oppressive rule. Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr., are contemporary paragons we draw wisdom from. Counter to many of our instincts and reactions, force becomes unproductive. And eventually for the Colossus itself this becomes reality.
The Canadian truckers did it right. A month ago I highlighted the convoy en route to Ottawa protesting the cross-border Canadian vaccine mandates. The reciprocity of both the US and Canada’s synchronized mandates embargoed each other’s unvaccinated—their “unwashed”—residents. The result: unvaccinated Canadian truckers could not leave Canada.
In response, thousands of truck drivers rallied in opposition. The caravan of peaceful protesters arrived in the capital city remaining parked for weeks. At first, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ignored the gathering—fleeing to a “secure location,” after coming down with a timely benign COVID infection. The hope was this weekend temper tantrum would fizzle out. Surely, these truckers wouldn’t stick around! Trudeau was wrong.
The Prime Minister slandered Canadian citizens—labeling them with abhorrent lies. Fake actors were brought in and pitched by national media outlets to be the faces of the trucker rally; it didn’t work. The truckers were peaceful. The sidewalks were cleaner than when they arrived. Snow was cleared; the homeless in downtown Ottawa were fed meals by rally goers. Yes, there was honking—and lots of it. The blaring horns reverberated throughout the world spreading the message of freedom and willpower.
Nonviolent civil disobedience was winning. This was a threat to the established order. Trudeau and premiers in other provinces were facing a maddening conundrum. How do they disband the truckers? Tow trucks! Ahh! The companies refused the offer. It wasn’t good business to haul off their loyal customers’ property to be confiscated. Police began seizing fuel for truckers hoping to drive them out with the winter cold. The response: hundreds of Canadians marched with empty fuel containers. It didn’t work. The government then turned to its only instinct—the only thing it knows how to use: brute force.
Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act. The government of Canada began using tools reserved for the most violent and dangerous criminal organizations, and turned them onto those committing parking infractions. They began freezing bank accounts of truck drivers and organizers. Donors to the cause having raised millions in support were dealt similar sanctions. Fundraisers were shutdown. Still, the peaceful rally went on.
Following days of financial lockdowns, the Canadian government gave the green light to use the heavy hand of the state. Windows were broken, people were arrested, some trampled by horse-mounted police until the gathering dispersed. Now, after the convoy was broken up and removed, Trudeau and the Canadian Parliament press on with extensions to the emergency powers. The goal of the state is now to hunt down organizers, attendees, and supporters to send a message: nonviolent protests are unacceptable.
I will follow up with another post on illustrating how shocking the Canadian government’s response is. The Emergencies Act violates almost a millennium of legal precedents in Western civilization. I suppose that’s why we live in “unprecedented” times.
The Canadian truckers were right to stand up in the way they did. Their peaceful conduct was admirable. It serves as a blueprint for how to frustrate the state by giving them no narrative or justification for use of force. Sadly, many sacrificed much as they face imprisonment and indefinite financial lockdown. The rest of Canadians must speak out to these injustices and not forget these heroic individuals.
In the meantime, perhaps this shifts the nonviolent civil disobedience into another stage. One that may not make headlines. As Étienne de La Boétie suggested, withdrawing consent is another avenue of protest. What happens when the truckers just stay home? There’s no remedy the government has beyond conscription. Given we’re in an unprecedented era, I suppose a return to mandating involuntary servitude wouldn’t be too far for the Canadian government at this point.