Notley argues Coutts blockade needs to end
By Lethbridge Herald on February 7, 2022.
Herald photo by Dale Woodard
A truck in an anti-mandate convoy is greeted by a small group of supporters Saturday afternoon along Mayor Magrath Drive.Alejandra Pulido-Guzman – Lethbridge Herald
Alberta NDP Leader Rachel Notley is calling on the UCP government to take immediate action to end the blockade near Coutts after 10 days of illegal protests.
“My message is simple, it’s time for this lawlessness to end. It’s time for every Albertan to be able to move around their communities safely and to spend time with their family in peace,” said Notley during a press conference Monday.
She added that it is time for people and goods to be able to move freely across the border.
Notley said there were events both at Calgary and Edmonton over the weekend that harmed small businesses and caused incredible stress for seniors, for families, for families with small children and many Albertans who are simply trying to go about their lives.
“Almost exactly two years ago the premier and his ministers had a lot to say about blockades… their very first bill of the legislative session was a law that supposedly prevents this from happening in Alberta,” said Notley.
Notley said on the very first full day at the legislature in 2020, the UCP government introduced a motion to ‘unequivocally denounce the illegal blockading of Canada’s core infrastructure including railways, pipelines, ports, and roadways’ and called for the law to be enforced without delay.
“Now let me be very clear about something, the right to peaceful assembly and peaceful protest is absolutely essential to our democracy, the right to gather peacefully in the streets and bring your message to the government is a sacred one. I participated in many such demonstrations myself,” said Notley.
She said that is why she opposed and continues to oppose the UCP’s Critical Infrastructure Defence Act, and she believes what is happening in Alberta today is not peaceful assembly.
Protestors affiliated with the convoy took to the streets in both major cities over the weekend, leading to reports of harassment and hate speech against health care workers as well as protestors harming small businesses.
“Health care workers, for heaven sakes, were harassed as they arrived at their jobs to save lives. That’s not a peaceful demonstration,” said Notley.
The blockade is now backing up Alberta supply chains, inhibiting an estimated $44 million dollars of economic activity every day.
“It’s time this UCP government remembered that these laws apply to everyone even if you happen to want their vote in a leadership review,” said Notley.
She said she fully understands that politicians do not direct law enforcement, however political leaders can ensure that law enforcement has all their resources and legal tools they need to get the job done.
Notley said the UCP has refused to take the step they proposed last week, to seek an injunction from the courts to disperse the blockade.
“Leadership also means using your voice. It’s time for UCP leadership to come out of hiding and denounce this illegal blockade with the same passion that their caucus members have displayed in support of it,” said Notley.
She said the UCP cabinet is surrendering in slow motion to those who are illegally blockading the highway at Coutts.
“I am calling on this UCP government—before they announce any changes to public health policy—to begin by upholding the rule of law and disperse these illegal blockades. When it is time to announce changes to public health measures, Albertans must be provided with an exhaustive presentation of all the data and all of the professional public health advice those decisions are based on,” said Notley.
She pointed out that 10 days ago the Premier said the evidence pointed to restrictions being lifted towards the end of March, but in the intervening time since the blockade began, that became later this month of February and in fact some UCP caucus members suggest it’s just a matter of days and it could be this week.
“Albertans must be completely certain that this timeline is driven by their best interests and the science that supports that conclusion, not the threat of people engaged in illegal activity,” said Notley.
She said that in the possibility of the UCP government using the fact that other provinces are lifting restrictions to do it in Alberta, Notley said every province is different.
“In BC there’s not a situation where they’re being bullied in any significant way like we are in Alberta, or where you’re seeing government caucus members align with the statements of illegal blockaders,” said Notley.
She said moreover, the situation in BC is different as their hospitalization rate is lower and in fact their fatality rate is too.
“They’ve just never been at the level that we have been in Alberta, so they’re in a slightly different position. An enviable position I would argue, in terms of perhaps being able to move a little bit faster,” said Notley.
And when it comes to Saskatchewan Notley said “we’ll see who ends up being the first to capitulate to the blockaders between Saskatchewan and Alberta.”
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27-26
Kenney aspired to be a Winston Churchill, but ended up as Neville Chamberlain.
So even if the Kenney UCP remove restrictions today, the requirement to be vaccinated to cross the border either way, will remain. Based on this, will the blockades/partial blockades/occupations, remain?
Also, research by a Caroline Orr Bueno, Ph.D (@RVAwonk) . Twitter, puts this anti-mandate action in perspective.
Her Twitter feed beginning, “I’ve been one of the only Americans covering Canada’s far right scene…..
and, further, “I wrote about the anti-vaccine movement in Canada and its ties to Bannon, Flynn, the PPC, Christian nationalism, and the global far right movement and why things could escalate after Monday’s election…..” she was well aware that this anti-vaccine movement was going to be used to “launder far right causes.”
The far right movement is now, using vaccines, masks, etc. to promote its cause, similar to their use of oil and gas.
Her whole Twitter feed on this is well worth reading. For me, it is disturbing, indeed, as to folks in my Alberta community are being used, to do this dirty work. One would wonder if they have insight into this or whether they do, and happily, be used.
Canadians are witnessing an illegal occupation in this country supported by a significant amount of foreign funding, now being sourced from an American Christian Nationalist fundraising platform.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/02/07/canada-protesters-fundraising-platform/
https://nationalcouncilofchurches.us/common-witness-ncc/the-dangers-of-christian-nationalism-in-the-united-states-a-policy-statement-of-the-national-council-of-churches/
Christian Nationalism in Canada
https://www.amazon.ca/Armageddon-Factor-Christian-Nationalism-Canada/dp/0307356477
“Social-psychological insight teaches us that in times of rapid change, uncertainty, instability, economic strain, and cultural turmoil, people tend to turn to movements and ideologies that make them feel special and part of a safe, larger movement. That’s why people tend to become more religious and nationalist during times of hardship.”
https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/the-secular-life/202012/covid-19-and-christian-nationalism
“…good Christian women supported Nazism because it benefited them, and it seemed to reinforce the cultural values that gave meaning and purpose to their lives. They believed God was in control and had blessed their culture and their leader for special greatness—and that outsiders and foreign influence needed to be subjugated or eradicated in order for Germans to protect themselves.”
https://www.christiancentury.org/article/critical-essay/good-white-christian-women-nazi-germany
I imagine the following sign in restaurants and bars:
In accordance with public-health regulations: No shirts or shoes, no service. But if you’ve tested positive for COVID or think you have the virus, no problem — COME ON IN!
Elohssa, there are so many problems in what you say. First, most people with COVID today are vaccinated. COVID vaccines do not immunize people and do nothing to slow the spread of COVID. Vaxxed people are just as likely to give you COVID as the non-vaxxed. This is freely admitted by the CDD and the WHO. Also, think about this: in BC, vaxxed health care workers who test positive for COVID are allowed to work while non-vaxxed persons who test negative are not. Does that make any sense? No, it does not. There’s one more thing: there is very little evidence that non-symptomatic people spread COVID. If you don’t have cold symptoms, you don’t spread the cold virus. Same with COVID. Also, for the vast majority of the public, COVID is a negligible danger. COVID is NOT the big killer the public has been conditioned to believe. The average age of a Covid victim is well above eighty years. I would say the old common sense rules should apply: Protect the really vulnerable and stay home if you’re sick. Those two rules would have sufficed for dealing with COVID. Instead, we have done massive damage to our economy and social fabric by means of lockdowns, mask mandates and vaccine mandates. Thank God for truckers who are expressing what at least 35% of Canadians (a number that is growing every day) believe. A majority of Canadians now believe vaccine mandates should end. This majority is found in every age group except women over fifty.
Interesting, picking up on a central element in your post: “There’s one more thing: there is very little evidence that non-symptomatic people spread COVID. If you don’t have cold symptoms, you don’t spread the cold virus. Same with COVID.”
I wonder what you think about this statement? It comes from an article published in the JAMA in January, 2021.:
“Findings In this decision analytical model assessing multiple scenarios for the infectious period and the proportion of transmission from individuals who never have COVID-19 symptoms, transmission from asymptomatic individuals was estimated to account for more than half of all transmissions.”
Time to reel in this lawless fringe and deal with them like any other lawbreaker . If this was BLM or indigenous or “free Willy” it would have been shut down long before now.
The indigenous ‘blockade’ in Alberta of the rail line in 2020 had the government secure a court injunction and the rail line cleared within 12 hours. And then they rammed through the Critical Infrastructure Defence Act as an exclamation mark.
I just can’t figure what the difference is this time … Hmmm.
If you can’t figure out the difference, it’s because you aren’t thinking very deeply. Have you ever heard of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms? It’s part of the legal foundation of our nation. The government of Alberta is in violation of this Charter on many counts. So is the Government of Canada. When governments act outside of their mandate, nobody should obey them. Government is not ultimate. The constitution and the Charter are. You should thank God for people who are taking a stand for freedom, including your freedom. You should be ashamed of supporting anything that looks like medical coercion.
Charlene, relative to your claim that COVID restrictions are Charter violations, please tell us what you know about the “Oakes Test”?
The only lawlessness Rachel Notley should be worried about is that of the government of Alberta. For two years, it has violated the foundational law of our country which is the constitution and charter of rights and freedoms. When the government is itself lawless, the people need to reclaim their freedoms by peaceful protests. What part of “my body, my choice” does Ms. Notley not understand? What part of informed consent is too mysterious for her to comprehend? Using coercion in relation to a medical procedure is medical rape. If the government wishes to have normality restored, the onus is on the government: restore normal liberties which are God-given and inalienable. Liberties are not dispensed by governments; they are merely recognized. Besides all this, to the majority of Canadians, it is impossible to understand why a now very ineffective vaccine must be foisted upon all citizens at threat of job loss and exclusion from society. Until the government restores freedom, the protests will go on. We will not rest till we are enjoying again the liberties for which our ancestors shed their blood. Shame on the government for taking us down this path of tyranny.
Anyone besides me wondering what the colour of the sky is in Charlene’s world ?