Both sides have to engage to find a way of ending the trucker blockade

By Lethbridge Herald on February 11, 2022.

Editor:

Here’s some advice from Eckhart Tolle.

“Whatever the present moment contains, accept it as if you had chosen it. Always work with it, not against it. Make it your friend and ally, not your enemy.”

This will miraculously change your whole life.”

Politicians, try implementing this advice; accept the blockade as if you had chosen it; then work with it! Your denial and head-in- the sand strategies are not working! More law enforcement and bringing in the army won’t work either!

All sides are dug into their positions and now it’s a matter of pride; no one is willing to risk losing face in order to solve the impasse. 

That’s childish and it’s how every confrontation escalates into tragic conflict.

Our elected leaders should know better; they should follow Tolle’s advice. Here are my suggested steps to a solution:

1. Appoint a negotiating representative from government and ask the convoys to do the same.

2. The convoy representative should list and prioritize their specific grievances. The government should exhaustively delineate the existing COVID mandates. 

3. Each side should agree to meet and discuss respective positions reasonably and respectfully. Threats or hostility would disqualify the negotiator.

4. The meeting should be held immediately with the commitment of both sides to really hear the other side’s positions and be willing to compromise!

The objectives of the meeting should be;

1. to end these blockades immediately.

2. to eliminate the mandates that are redundant, impractical or overly oppressive.

Solving problems means setting pride aside and actively and positively engaging with the other side!

Bob Ackerman

Lethbridge