Across the world, governments are putting an end to lockdowns and vaccine mandates in the face of protests and growing evidence that neither lockdowns nor vaccine mandates are effective tools in stemming the spread of COVID 19. Denmark announced all COVID restrictions ended February 1, 2022. The United Kingdom recently dropped COVID passports and masks. France, Ireland and The Netherlands and a host of American jurisdictions are abandoning these divisive and destructive policies, either admitting they don’t work or concluding even if they did they are no longer necessary.
Ontario has announced a plan to “gradually” ease COVID restrictions and in Quebec, Premier Legault, will still require vaccine passports and masking even after lifting most other COVID related restrictions in mid-March. Typical Canadian indecision in our two largest Provinces, who are tip-toeing towards a recognition that this pandemic is virtually over and no longer poses much of a public health risk.
The massive trucker protest is not a handful of “extremists, mysoginists and far right activists” as Trudeau has described them, but are simply a large number of main street Canadians fed up with his inept leadership and disrespect for Canada’s constitution and Charter of Rights. This is Trudeau’s opportunity to demonstrate some real leadership - he can simply announce the vaccine mandates are no longer needed since 90% of Canadians have already been vaccinated and the public health risks from the pandemic are rapidly waning. In the same speech, he can say he understands the frustration that gave rise to the trucker protests but make it clear his decision was made because it was the right time to end the mandates and not because of the protests. Show statesmanship, claim victory and march on.
He won’t do that however. As Candice Bergen has stated in the House of Commons recently, this is about Trudeau’s ego and not about public health.