The protest convoy could cast a long shadow in Canadian politics
CBC
The key lesson of Ottawa's siege might be that it's difficult to get populist, anti-democratic anger to leave once you've invited it in and allowed it to get comfortable.
It may have been inevitable (or at least foreseeable) that some kind of tumult would result from the imposition of vaccine mandates. In 1885, compulsory vaccination in Montreal to deal with a smallpox outbreak caused a riot. In 1919, loud public opposition scuttled an attempt to implement compulsory vaccination against smallpox in Toronto.
A century later, the vast majority of Canadians have trusted public health officials enough to get vaccinated against COVID-19. There is similarly high support for requiring vaccination for certain settings and occupations, as well as for people entering the country.
But those attitudes are not universal. And if there is deep disagreement, it's exacerbated and amplified by social media's power to cultivate resentment, the American tilt toward populism over the past decade and the simple fact that everyone has been living with the pandemic for two years.
An adviser to the government in Denmark — where officials are lifting restrictions — recently warned that the end of the pandemic could be harder than the start.
Canadian leaders must now figure out how to respond. Some of them seem to be figuring that out in real time.
Authorities may be unable to clear the streets in front of Parliament but Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was intent on putting some narrative space between the occupation and "the story of this pandemic" when he addressed the House of Commons on Monday.
"This blockade, and these protesters, are not the story of this pandemic," he said. "They are not the story of Canadians in this pandemic. From the very beginning, Canadians stepped up to be there for one another, to support their neighbours, to support the elderly and to support our frontline workers by doing the right things, by wearing masks, by getting vaccinated and by following public health restrictions."
WATCH | Trudeau defends pandemic restrictions:
Trudeau offered some empathy ("we are all tired of this pandemic") and perhaps a hint of encouragement ("these pandemic restrictions are not forever") as he aimed for a unifying message.
"We should not be fighting one another. We should be coming together to fight the virus," he said. "This is not a fight against one another. It is a fight against the virus."
But he was direct in his criticism of the past week's events in Ottawa and didn't retreat from the federal government's own vaccine mandates.
The Conservatives are keen to hear the prime minister apologize for his handling of the issue and for some of what he has said about those who protest against his government.
"Does he regret calling people misogynist and racist?" interim Conservative leader Candice Bergen asked on Tuesday night.
The amount of money it takes for people to earn a living wage has increased across the province, according to a new report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).
The new owner of Ontario steelmaker Stelco says his company "will not disappoint the people of Hamilton and Nanticoke," where the business's major facilities are based.
A Winnipegger is warning others about an intricate scam she says she almost fell for.
Fort William First Nation is opposing a planned redevelopment of the Ontario Power Generation's (OPG) 117 year old Kakabeka Falls Generating Station, which is located in their traditional territory.
A building that sits at the corner of Sussex Street and Brunswick Avenue has had many lives over the last century — being a church, a school and offices. Now it's set to become housing, at a time when the city sorely needs it.
A Waterloo, Ont., elementary school principal will be sentenced in the new year after pleading guilty to child sexual exploitation charges following a joint investigation that involved the London, Toronto and Waterloo police services.
Students at UPEI have let their student union know what they want from the province this fiscal year, and those priorities are reflected in a 2024-2025 advocacy document brought to the legislature on Wednesday.
Larger communities in the N.W.T. will soon see a boost in their territorial funding to maintain infrastructure and deliver services — like water and waste management — but the increase still falls short of what communities need.
The toxic drug crisis has taken more than 47,000 lives in Canada since 2016 and the synthetic opioid fentanyl has become a household name. But now, what's believed to be an even more potent class of synthetic drugs is showing up in drug busts across the country: nitazenes.
The Liberal government and the NDP have agreed to introduce a two-month GST vacation on certain items before the holiday season, Radio-Canada has learned.
Veterinarians are warning Londoners to make sure their dogs are vaccinated and keeping clean after a deadly virus outbreak was declared in London this week.