Peter Stockland: Trudeau Called for Dialogue During Indigenous Rail Blockade, but Assailed Convoy Protesters With Emergencies Act

A rail blockade in Tyendinaga, near Belleville, Ont., on Feb. 16, 2020, in solidarity with the Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs opposed to the LNG pipeline in northern British Columbia. (The Canadian Press/Lars Hagberg)

Commentary

Well, at least Prime Minister Trudeau is in a state of calm. Indeed he has, we’re told, achieved an abundance of bliss.

“I am absolutely, absolutely serene,” he said on Nov. 25 during his testimony at the Rouleau inquiry into declaration of the Emergencies Act in February.

Not just “absolutely serene.” But “absolutely, absolutely.” No scintilla of quivering, quavering, or doubt. The man stands at the apex of oneness with himself. And I am absolutely-squared confident we can all agree that is a good thing.

Who would want a hair-trigger prime minister at Canada’s helm when the need is nigh to send club-swinging riot police into the streets to beat protesters into submission and throw a working-class mom into jail to be held without bail? In circumstances so dire, no second-guessers, no hand-wringers, no Hamlets, need apply.

Underscoring the amplitude of his certitude, the prime minister told the inquiry he is “confident that I made the right choice.”

Choice? Hmm. Now, “choice” as his chosen word is admittedly a little perplexing, is it not? Choice as in whether to watch Netflix or Amazon Prime on a Friday evening? Choice as in whether to spring for the $4,000 a night hotel suite for the Queen’s funeral, or something a little less, shall we say, flash? Choice as in whether to stay in Ottawa for the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation or, you know, go surfing?

After all, isn’t the whole gist of the Emergencies Act that there is really no “choice” but to invoke it? Isn’t its pith and substance to rescue the country from, well, an emergency so extreme it justifies use of what Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland called its “draconian” power of über state intervention, up to and including freezing the bank accounts of every Canadian citizen without explanation or warrant? Isn’t its deployment a matter of necessity, i.e., a circumstance for which there is no viable alternative, the onus of proof being on the state, which is precisely why the Rouleau commission hearings are being held?

In other words, the prime minister wasn’t being asked to say why he made a particular choice. He was obliged to show there was no choice but to act precisely as he did during the so-called Freedom Convoy protests in January and February of this year.

But, hey, why quibble over semantics, right? Right. Or maybe not so much. Because, thanks to the great Canadian failure of memory that seems to beset us so harmfully these days, we appear to have forgotten that in alarmingly similar circumstances, Prime Minister Trudeau was able to “choose” to deal with another protest without resort to the Emergencies Act.

Almost two years to the day before the PM invoked the Act on Feb. 14, 2022, he had called for “dialogue and mutual respect” to end an indigenous blockade near Brockville, Ont., that shut down rail freight and passenger transportation across Canada.

“The blockade of rail lines through Tyendinaga Mohawk territory has crippled much of Canada’s freight and commuter rail traffic, and the string of protests have been blamed for 1,400 layoffs at Canada’s main rail companies, propane shortages in eastern Canada and economic hardship for farmers,” reported the Guardian about the protests intended to stop a $6.6 billion gas pipeline project in northern B.C.

In fact, the rail blockade was preceded in early January 2020 by a posting on the “North Shore Counter Info” anarchist website that urged disruption and sabotage in support of the indigenous protest. For two months, sabotage in Toronto, Hamilton, Burlington, Montreal, and elsewhere disrupted rail service. Ferry service was disrupted in B.C., and the provincial government there declared its own emergency powers, which the RCMP declined to enforce in the interests of further dialogue.

By Feb. 13, 2020, Via Rail had shut down its national passenger service, leading to the layoff of about 1,000 employees. CNR shut down its rail lines east of Toronto, and five days later laid off 450 workers.

“I know patience is running short,” the Guardian quoted Prime Minister Trudeau in appealing for Canadians to let his government achieve a peaceful resolution to the rail shutdown. His choice of “dialogue and mutual respect” led to then Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller participating on Feb. 15 in a “Silver Covenant Chain” ceremony on the blockaded tracks, but his appeal for an end to the protests was rebuffed.

Three days later, Trudeau met with Opposition leaders to discuss the national crisis but refused to allow then Conservative leader Andrew Scheer into the meeting because he had criticized Trudeau’s handling of the blockade as “the weakest response to a national crisis in Canadian history. Will our country be one of the rule of the law, or will our country be one of the rule of the mob?”

Still choosing “dialogue and respect” over hair-trigger swinging into action unlike the reckless Mr. Scheer, the PM waited until Feb. 21 to call for the barricades to come down. It took three more days for the Ontario Provincial Police to move in, dismantle the blockade, and arrest some protesters.

Justin Trudeau, we can safely assume, was “absolutely, absolutely” serene in choosing not to choose the Emergencies Act. He knew he had a choice.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.