As most of you have probably heard by now, Canada has announced it will end all covid-related border restrictions on October 1. The ArriveCan app will remain but will become “optional”. As usual, the government has walked back its patently unscientific, discriminatory, unjustified measures without any promises it won’t implement them again in the future, and the fact that ArriveCan isn’t being scrapped entirely is a concern.
While this is good news, it isn’t great news. Canada’s covid response has left much ruin and destruction in its wake over the past 2.5 years. There are no apologies, no admittance of wrong, and no promises of having learned and never doing it again. Just a sheepish walk-back of measures that never should have been implemented in the first place.
The government is not to be congratulated for no longer oppressing and discriminating against its citizens.
I believe this walk-back is due to the pushback of many thousands of ordinary Canadians. The brave truckers paved the way back in January, breaking through a seemingly impenetrable wall. There had been pushback before that, but only the convoy really began to get things moving. Little by little, all of our actions of resistance have turned into an avalanche that the government could no longer pretend to ignore.
But what’s next? While we could imagine the era of oppression is over, that would be naïve and foolish. It certainly would be nice to go back to a time of ignorant bliss where we just concerned ourselves with our own lives and were able to give the government the benefit of the doubt that they were basically benevolent, if occasionally misguided.
But that would be a mistake.
I would love nothing more than to go back to sleep where the government is concerned. I am in my early 40s. For all of my life, I have lived in unparalleled peace, security, and freedom. I never had to imagine my governments, either the US or Canadian, would make me their enemy and target me for discrimination and harassment. I never had to fear for my safety or imagine fleeing my country. Those things only happened far away, in terrible places where human rights abuses were to be expected. Never in North America.
But I can never again go back to that place of security, nor take the freedoms and rights I have for granted. Covid was a massive wakeup call for me, and for millions of us around the globe. We have long enjoyed the fruits of those who fought for freedom before us, and now it’s our turn.
I do not enjoy being a rebel. I much prefer to live a quiet, private life. I really hate people knowing what I think and believe, especially because it’s so at odds with what the current culture calls good. I dislike speaking out, I dislike confrontation and disputes. I am probably like most people in this respect.
But the past two years of oppression and injustice convinced me I had to speak up, I had to act, I had to resist. I watched norms I had always taken for granted, like treating people fairly and justly, slipping away, or more accurately, being snatched away. I saw a level of governmental and societal evil I had never experienced, felt it like a dark cloud massing over us all, and knew that no matter what it cost, I had to speak out.
I am not a hero. Many more did much more than I have. But like many ordinary Canadians, Americans, Australians, and people all over the globe, I united my small voice and my small efforts to a growing freedom movement. I am proud of all of us. We have stuck together and done our part and thanks to God above all, we have eventually succeeded in turning the tide.
But now is not the time for complacency.
The Canadian Liberal government currently in power is a never-ending fountain of evil ideas and initiatives. They are ever-active imagining new ways to steal freedoms and twist what God calls evil into their vision of the good. From internet censorship to transing children to misguided “green” initiatives, they will not stop. And neither can we.
Let’s keep going, freedom lovers.
Similar message to what I wrote about regarding the recent #TrudeauMustGo Twitter trend. I think it was the final straw regrading the removal of these mandates. However, the most important point is that we must not forget what was done to us and our fellow citizens!
https://seekinghealthtruth.substack.com/p/trudeaumustgo-trending-number-1-in
Also don't' forget that BC has yet to invite their unvaccinated healthcare workers back (in fact, they officially fired them even though we are in a healthcare worker shortage crisis) and one must still be vaccinated to serve in the military. Oh ya, and the ridiculousness of some post secondary schools requiring boosters for students.
Preach!!! And I’m glad to hear good changes are coming to Canada. You guys deserve it 💛💛💛