The Silver Lining
Many Canadians are upset with the disruption to our usual way of life pipeline protestors have thrust on us. They keep thousands of commuters (who were using energy efficient public transit) at home or resorting to carbon spewing private vehicles. Protestors are increasing carbon emissions.
The most profoundly inane comment I have read on the "protests" was by Tonda MacCharles writing in THE STAR who opined that calling in police and the army in to arrest protestors "would be profoundly undemocratic". No, Ms. MacCharles, allowing bands of brigands to disrupt an orderly, peaceful, law-abiding society and spite duly elected governments is profoundly undemocratic.
Protestors are showing us clearly and unequivocally what our future looks like if they and their fellow foreign funded environmental activists get their way. They are taking us back to the 1929 stock market and economic collapse. It's possible to recreate the "dirty thirties" in the 2030s.
Protestors have effectively shut down freight and passenger rail traffic with minor savings in carbon emissions offset by disruption in the delivery of goods with resulting losses to our economic output. Blocking access to ports hurts our exporters and our economy.
Our truckers can't pick up the slack. They too are victims of highway blockades. Fresh produce sitting in a reefer for an extra couple of days isn't fresh when it gets to our stores.
Protestors tying up traffic in city downtowns means a few thousand cars per city sit in a traffic gridlock spewing carbon. They have no commitment to the environment. The protests are a sham.
Blocking access to the British Columbia Legislature was an ultimate stupidity that got headlines Canada wide and internationally, but poisoned mediation talks to resolve land claims negotiations. Whose side are these
protestors on? Is their intent to destroy our economy and standard of living?
They want laws that that keep Canadian "dirty oil" in the ground forever but nowhere else. They want to increase taxes on gasoline and diesel fuel until we can't afford to drive cars, truckers can't afford to truck, trains can't afford to run, and ships can't afford to sail.
Our economy will collapse, and the dollar will be re-evaluated at about $0.20 USD. Millions of us will be unemployed and our social safety net will collapse.
When economies collapse, so do pension plans. There is no money for federal of provincial welfare plans. Our school systems from kindergarten to universities collapse under their administrative weight. We can no longer afford medical personnel we desperately need.
We now have a clearer picture of our future if foreign funded indigenous bands and ecological warriors (including those embedded in our government) have their way. Those of us struggling to pay the bills to keep Canada afloat need to tell these misguided brats to sod off and allow adults to deal with the issues.
The misguided brats include our federal cabinet ministers who failed to see the oncoming indigenous train that ran them over. They are in leadership positions and failed us. They must be tossed in the trash can at the first opportunity.
Quoting the words of British MP Leo Amery to PM Neville Chamberlain (May 1940): "You have sat too long for any good you have been doing lately. Depart, I say, and let us have done with you. In the name of God, go!"
John Feldsted
Political commentator, consultant & strategist
Winnipeg, Manitoba