The Editor:

I need to put some reality and sanity back into the trucker’s protest discussion from a Canadian Nationalist’s point of view.
When Covid became a threat, before being declared a pandemic, I participated in a ZOOM meeting of Public Health officials and the general public.

This was before the vaccines were approved, and masks and hand sanitizers were in short supply. All kinds of folks came together and made masks and sanitizers free of charge. I was able to speak at this meeting and suggested my ideas of how to build up the body’s natural immunity system. My suggestions were vitamin D and Sinus Rinses, which have helped me to avoid colds and flu for several years. There was no response to this idea.

Shortly after vaccines were approved with minimum testing, and the public health/government officials went into high gear trying to convince the populace that vaccines were the salvation for covid. No alternatives other than vaccines.
Then came the moving target of one shot…second shot…boosters…Phizer or Moderna or a mix?
Changing Public Health/government orders/advice changing almost daily, adding to my confusion, and most of the public.
I am trying to set the stage for the government edict of FORCING people to get “the JAB”, if they wanted to keep their jobs.

While the daily numbers of new covid cases, deaths by covid, ICU admissions threatening collapse of the hospital ability to function, were scary, there were no numbers to compare to the previous years of regular flu seasons. There were no autopsies to confirm that these deaths were caused by covid, or that the deaths had another cause and it just so happened that the person tested positive for covid.

I fully realize that we, as a populace, Public Health and government were facing an unprecedented in modern times, health emergency.
I also believe that authorities were negligent in not pushing natural immune system remedies in addition to vaccines.
When responsible people lost their jobs for not being vaccinated, while testing procedures were available to identify those with the virus, including truckers, this government overreach was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

To now call the trucker’s protest “Mob Rule” and worse, as most of “our” politicians are doing, is turning a blind eye to the reasons this protest was started in the first place. For sure, the forced vaccination rule, if constitutional, or not, has still to be decided, was the trigger for the process in BC , Newfoundland and all the places in between.

To ignore the legitimate grievances of the masses of responsible Canadian lining the highways and bridges in our GREAT country, will come to haunt our politicians.

To name just a few, federally, created by both Libs and Cons…
- Reneging on promised electoral reform.
- Ignoring decades long hospital overcrowding.
- How many times has affordable childcare been an electoral promise by the LibS?
- Closing scientific research into the melting arctic by Harper, and preventing our scientists to speak out about it ?
- Not to mention clean drinking water for our indigenous folks…
- Selling OUR Canadian Wheatboard to the Chinese by the Cons?
- Unaffordable housing… I could go on.

These are the reasons Canadians stood and waved in support of the passing trucks from coast to coast, not rioting or acting irresponsibly, in sub zero weather, to show government that they want RESPONSIBLE change and governing in the PUBLIC interest rather than corporate greed.

I saw thousands of Maple Leaf Flags along the highways the trucks travelled.. the ONLY Rebel/swastika flags were waved in Ottawa and NOT by the truckers.

Our War Memorial was NOT desecrated by truckers, but by professional troublemakers , hired by whom I do not know, but could make an educated guess….

While I agree, that life has to be brought back to normal for the poor citizens of Ottawa, this protest could have been brought to an end by Sunday night, IF our Prime Minister had shown the intestinal fortitude to face the truckers, covid or no covid…

Just a rant from a senior, in his chosen country, whose ability to take government orders on faith was destroyed when the Third Reich came to a terrible end in 1945…NEVER AGAIN….

With Respect

Karl Braeker