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As a life-long news junkie, I used to think nothing could break me. No news cycle was too fast or too dense, but Tuesday broke me.
Between the new spin-off convoy in Windsor, a rapidly changing landscape at the OG convoy in Ottawa, a Liberal backbencher breaking ranks, western premiers rolling back regulations, and just the regular course of important local news unconnected to the country’s biggest story, it felt like my brain was bursting.
Fortunately, I have an opportunity to vent at the end of the week with this platform, and while I was hesitant to wade into these waters again so soon, I figured that if I was having trouble making heads and tails of developments, then there must be others in my community that feel the same. So let’s make sense.
First, I think we can all agree that COVID sucks. Wearing a mask when you go to the store sucks. Virtual school sucks. The uncertainty sucks. New variants suck. Changing advice sucks. Evolving science sucks. Essentially, this whole pandemic has sucked.
Having said that, we live in the worst possible time for a pandemic, and I don’t think we talk about that enough. You can’t attach ideas of sentience or malevolence to a virus, but we were sitting ducks for COVID-19 with our systemic economic inequality, politicians that enshrine ideology over evidence, wide-spread science denial and record levels of mistrust in authority, governments and the media.
That’s why we can’t dismiss the convoy out of hand. Yes, the harassment, the racism, the conspiracy theories, and the influx of American dark money are all fair game, but the kernel at the centre of the convoy can’t be ignored: There’s something desperately wrong in society.
The disgruntlement has grown and metastasized in the last 50 years as promises are made and broken. You’ve been told that getting a university degree will get you a great job when all it gets you is debt. You were told that if you work hard you will prosper, when the actual definition of “working hard” is holding down three jobs that still don’t pay all your bills.
Enter the pandemic, and while you might have once scraped by despite the gross economic challenges, you’ve been pushed off the fence you were once so delicately riding. While billionaires add zeroes to their account and launch rockets into space, your landlord’s jacking the rent, you can’t apply for any of the available relief, and everyone calls you a hero because you’re an “essential worker”, but your heroism is not reflected in your take home.
It's enough to make anyone rebel.
So let’s consider the rebellion, which was initially supposed to be about truckers and supply chains, but who and what are the blockades at the border hurting first? The convoy has long since removed the adjective “trucker”, but more than a few people in the media still use it even though the vast majority of truckers are the ones being blockaded and not doing the blocking.
Another thing I keep hearing in the media is “Why doesn’t Trudeau negotiate?” Counter: Who is he supposed to negotiate with?
By my count, there are at least five different leaders associated with the convoy in Ottawa, never mind the branch convoys in Coutts, Winnipeg, and Windsor. Also, one of the demands of (some) convoy members is the resignation of the government, so I find it curious how a prime minister is supposed to negotiate with people who might consider him illegitimate enough to depose.
As for negotiation as a tactic, consider Alberta Premier Jason Kenney who on Tuesday announced an immediate end to proof of vaccination requirements, which prompted the convoy members in Coutts to move back into position blocking access to the U.S. border. If the end of mandates is supposed to end the blockade, then why is the Coutts convoy still in business?
Now the pressure is on for Premier Doug Ford to accelerate re-opening and end mandates here in Ontario. While the fall in hospitalizations is good news, I would encourage us all to stop and think about something other than the economy. Political strategist James Carville once said, “It’s the economy, stupid!” but there are probably no four better words to describe the societal malaise we find out selves.
Think about this instead" “It’s healthcare, stupid!”
Or, “It’s mental health, stupid!”
“It’s sick days, stupid!”
“It’s a living wage, stupid!”
“It’s affordable housing, stupid!”
Making improvements in any of those areas will have a more immediate positive effect on society than ending masking mandates just because we’re sick of masks, which, by the way, still work to help prevent the spread of COVID according to every recognized medical authority.
Just because Jason, Doug, the convoy, or whoever wants the pandemic to be over, it doesn’t mean that it is, and if you do nothing else, think of your heroes in healthcare. Once the pandemic is over, they have two years of catch-up work to do, and telling them the pandemic is over, when they see every day that it’s not, is an insult to their dedication and sacrifice.
At the end of the day, we all want this to be over, but I can’t imagine anyone that wants this to be over more than all the staff members at hospitals, long-term care homes and other health facilities. Funny how we don’t hear them complaining.
