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> I don't see how this would grant the government permanent powers unless the Emergencies Act gets renewed in perpetuity. Label any protest you don't like an "

> I don't see how this would grant the government permanent powers unless the Emergencies Act gets renewed in perpetuity. Label any protest you don't like an "illegal protest". Then as long as there's less than one such protest every 30 days, it's not "permanent"... Yet it is.

_3u10 5y ago
Virtually all protests are "illegal". The problem is that the truckers figured out a way to make an illegal protest where the fines / jailtime is minimal compared to the effectiveness of the protest methodology. Honking a horn carries very little penalty but is massively annoying if done in front of the PM's house. Parking your truck infront of a border crossing is similarly not very penalized, yet killing 25% of the trade between two countries is very damaging to the gov't. The real reason we never saw these measures before is because of how brutally effective they are while being entirely non-violent.
- frabbit 5y ago
  This is very well put. The only acceptable protests seem to be those which are toothless. Somehow these people found an asymmetric cost situation and now the laws will be updated to take account of this edge case.
- mike00632 5y ago
  Not to mention that the protests were against vaccine measures to fight COVID while millions of people are dying from it. Context is important here.
  - baobabKoodaa 5y ago
    People's right to protest should not depend on whether you (or governing politicians) find their cause sympathetic.
    - mike00632 5y ago
      It's about whether there is a legitimate state of emergency. Therefore, the context of millions of people dying is relevant. But, you're right, their cause does seem rather counterproductive in this light.
  - _3u10 5y ago
    In BC more people died of elevated levels of overdoses (eg. just what was above average) than COVID. As of this post, 36,116 and not millions of people died of COVID in Canada, and the removal of vaccine mandates / mask mandates are inline with the recommendations of the Chief Public Health Officer. The people were pretty much protesting to get Trudeau to follow the medical recommendations of the Health Officer. In most countries where masks and vaccine mandates have been eliminated, infections have gone down. Denmark's peak was the last day of restrictions.
    - mike00632 5y ago
      20,000 people have died of overdoses in Canada since 2016. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2780379 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle... While that is a lot, it's far fewer from the number of people who have died from COVID. It seems like you're over-dosing on misinformation.
    - seanmcdirmid 5y ago
      Those countries already have > 90% vaccination rates, enough for the vaccines to be useful. They can get rid of their mandates because they statically are no longer necessary.
      - _3u10 5y ago
        Yes, many of those countries have lower vaccination rates than Canada. 84% vs 81% in the case of Denmark. I wholeheartedly agree with you that our mandates are no longer necessary.
      - Karsteski 5y ago
        Canada has one of the highest vaccination rates in the world.

_3u10 5y ago

Virtually all protests are "illegal". The problem is that the truckers figured out a way to make an illegal protest where the fines / jailtime is minimal compared to the effectiveness of the protest methodology. Honking a horn carries very little penalty but is massively annoying if done in front of the PM's house. Parking your truck infront of a border crossing is similarly not very penalized, yet killing 25% of the trade between two countries is very damaging to the gov't. The real reason we never saw these measures before is because of how brutally effective they are while being entirely non-violent.

frabbit 5y ago
This is very well put. The only acceptable protests seem to be those which are toothless. Somehow these people found an asymmetric cost situation and now the laws will be updated to take account of this edge case.
mike00632 5y ago
Not to mention that the protests were against vaccine measures to fight COVID while millions of people are dying from it. Context is important here.
- baobabKoodaa 5y ago
  People's right to protest should not depend on whether you (or governing politicians) find their cause sympathetic.
  - mike00632 5y ago
    It's about whether there is a legitimate state of emergency. Therefore, the context of millions of people dying is relevant. But, you're right, their cause does seem rather counterproductive in this light.
- _3u10 5y ago
  In BC more people died of elevated levels of overdoses (eg. just what was above average) than COVID. As of this post, 36,116 and not millions of people died of COVID in Canada, and the removal of vaccine mandates / mask mandates are inline with the recommendations of the Chief Public Health Officer. The people were pretty much protesting to get Trudeau to follow the medical recommendations of the Health Officer. In most countries where masks and vaccine mandates have been eliminated, infections have gone down. Denmark's peak was the last day of restrictions.
  - mike00632 5y ago
    20,000 people have died of overdoses in Canada since 2016. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2780379 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle... While that is a lot, it's far fewer from the number of people who have died from COVID. It seems like you're over-dosing on misinformation.
  - seanmcdirmid 5y ago
    Those countries already have > 90% vaccination rates, enough for the vaccines to be useful. They can get rid of their mandates because they statically are no longer necessary.
    - _3u10 5y ago
      Yes, many of those countries have lower vaccination rates than Canada. 84% vs 81% in the case of Denmark. I wholeheartedly agree with you that our mandates are no longer necessary.
    - Karsteski 5y ago
      Canada has one of the highest vaccination rates in the world.