Liberals should never have invoked the Emergencies Act in Ottawa

By Lethbridge Herald on September 1, 2022.

Editor:

 This is the letter I sent to the federal committee who is looking into the use of the Emergency Act – perspectives@poec-cedu.gc.ca:

My journey with new government regulations began when I started investigating the COVID vaccine. I found that anything that went against this vaccine was quickly taken down, or labelled as misinformation. Those doctors, nurses, immunologists, scientists, etc. who spoke up about their concerns with the COVID shots were discredited, lost their jobs, and reputations. It was an incredibly difficult journey to honestly look at both sides and at the end of it, I did not feel safe taking the vaccine. 

That decision meant my hoped-for trip to California was cancelled, and I could not even fly to my son’s house in Kelowna B.C. I am in a wheelchair, and flying is my only method of getting there. This move is unprecedented around the world; there is no other country that is taking the draconian measures that Canada did. 

I was not able to financially support the Freedom Convoy, but I certainly did in spirit with letters to the papers or posts on Facebook. I was quite frustrated when the convoy overstayed in Ottawa; even though I still supported their cause, I expected police action to start removing them. 

However, I watched in horror and disbelief when Trudeau and Freeland brought in the Emergencies Act! I had felt for some time that we were living in a dictatorship and was not sure what to do about it, but when I saw the police move in on non-violent protesters that were doing very little harm, I felt that I might as well be living in China. 

It disgusts me the amount of times that Trudeau has said how much he looks up to China and the fact that they can turn their power on in any area they wish, as quickly as they want. It also absolutely infuriates me that he is in power after he went through the whole Lavalin affair and nothing was done about that because he made sure the committee was shut down. Is that what is going to happen here as well? He lied in that scandal and he lied to bring in the Emergency Act. 

Bank accounts were seized and shut down on citizens across the country who supported this movement, some with irreparable harm. 

I keep thinking about all the ‘conspiracy theorists’ I have talked to and how all of this is totally falling in line with everything they’ve said. I watched as the RCMP, whom I had trusted all my life, did the bidding of this corrupt Prime Minister and accosted so many non-violent people and perpetrated unwarranted violence against them. 

There are a few American shows that I watch and I saw several news outlets interview Pastor Artur Palowski from Calgary who was thrown into solitary confinement for 25 days because he dared meet with truckers at the blockade at the Coutts border crossing in Alberta. The pastor talked about treatment that you would expect someone to have in a third world country but not in Canada. 

That is what the Liberal government under Trudeau has fostered, and the Emergency Act has put a first-hand experience on what communism feels like in a so-called democratic country. 

As far as I’m concerned, absolutely the only decision you can make is that there was a huge overreach of power by the Liberals, and the Emergency Act should never have been invoked.

Jill Skriver

Lethbridge