CANADA’S trucker protests over domestic Coronavirus lockdowns recently ended this week, after the Canadian government declared the situation to be an emergency and forced them to disband.
Although the protests are over, it may have hurt Justin Trudeau in other ways, showing that his administration is so brittle that he has no choice but to turn to police power.
Canada has always puffed up its chest as a symbol of liberal and progressive values, but the truckers forced them to resort to hard power. There have been several images of police officers blocking or subduing the truckers.
Whichever side you are on, the truckers have shown that they mean business. Trucking is not just driving. It is also logistics operation, making sure that X number of goods make it to town/city Y at Z o’clock. Thus, they play an important role in any country’s economy. If they were to stop working over a political issue, they can cause a lot of economic misery.
Transportation and logistics have always been one of the most important economic activities. You can judge how a particular economy is doing by how much goods and travel it has relative to its capacity.
There are important lessons here for would-be dissidents. First unlike our own jeepney transport strikes, most of which consist of a portion of jeepney drivers and generally last only for a few days, the truckers protest have lasted for two weeks, ending only because Justin Trudeau invoked emergency powers.
Second, the truckers were protesting an issue that affected large swaths of society, and not just their own industry.
The coronavirus lockdowns – regardless of what you think of them – is a divisive issue in Canada, but one that is large enough to gain the truckers national and international support. Because of this, they became more than just truckers. They became the spear tip of something larger, and I think Trudeau knew that when he ordered them shut down./PN
