Editorials - Feb. 24, 2022

Let love lead  

Last week, the St. Marys Independent published a story about a local business owner who bought gift cards from downtown businesses forced to close due to protests that took place during their usual busy Friday night. He then gave away the gift cards as a way to help the businesses recoup some of their loss. The interview closed by saying that there was a huge desire in the community to help local small businesses emerge from the pandemic and encouraged everyone to “lead with love”.
   

We think it goes without saying that “Leading with Love” is evident in all of our communities and has never been more important than during this fractious time. This week’s Citizen cites two instances of this type of community support: a letter to the editor from a local business owner about two individuals who came to her aid to clear heavy snow from the sidewalk to enable customers to safely reach the premises and a pair of good Samaritans from a neighbouring business taking the time to clean Huron-Bruce MPP Lisa Thompson’s constituency office when it had been hit with paint by vandals.
   

While many of the headlines making the news these days are pointing out our differences, we feel that it's important to celebrate our decency and community spirit - the things that bind us together and make us human. Let us know when you see those gestures and moments of kindness so we can share the best part of our communities. – DS

Respect my authori-Tweet

Even the most ardent supporters of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau must be frustrated and disappointed in his handling of the occupation of Ottawa. As the semi-permanent demonstration entered its third week in the nation’s capital, Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act, which many criticized as heavy-handed. Meanwhile, nothing was actually being accomplished. Day after day, Trudeau would send another Tweet castigating the illegal protests and insisting they needed to end. Surely the most powerful man in Canada could do more than Tweet about what he’s classified as an emergency, rather than playing into the “Coward of the Cottage” criticism and leaving many to read those Tweets and wonder if he was planning to actually take any action.
   

While Canadians may have chuckled at the notion of being led by a Tweeter-in-Chief when Donald Trump was wearing out his thumbs during his presidency down south, this doesn’t feel much better.
   

It’s clear to many that the very reason this situation grew to be uncontrollable is because it was allowed to go on for so long. While “Freedom Convoys” have sprung up around the world, they’ve been tidied up within a day or two. Ottawa, however, has been left to languish as the occupation entered its third week and the longer it lasted, the harder it was always going to be to clear up in a peaceful manner. This is the same criticism that had been levelled at the Ottawa Police, leading to the resignation of Chief Peter Sloly, as the protest’s growth had been enabled by inaction to the frustration of residents.
   

Perhaps there was an effective middle ground between simply Tweeting and invoking the Emergencies Act, but Trudeau couldn’t find it, and he clearly couldn’t Tweet his way out of it. – SL 

Who are [we]? Who? Who? 

The best way to describe Canadians used to be to talk about what we aren’t and what we didn’t do: unlike our neighbours to the south, we don’t let politics get in the way of being a good neighbour, we don’t buy into the gun violence that runs rampant in other parts of the world and we know how to poke fun at ourselves. As a matter of fact, Canadian songstress Alanis Morrisette may have said it best in an interview with Reader’s Digest: “It means one is conversational, curious, filled with self-deprecating humour and internationally minded, if I dare generalize. Polite until we aren’t [and] an empathic bunch.”
   

However over the past weeks the question has become, what does it mean to be Canadian? We have groups (allegedly) plotting the murder of Royal Canadian Mounted Police. We also have people (allegedly) considering bombing elected officials. All of this because of politics.
   

Some people may blame the pandemic, but the catalyst for all of these events seems to be the protests going on across the country, which started with a stated demand of undoing vaccine mandates and telling Prime Minister Justing Trudeau, our duly elected Prime Minister, to vacate his position. So yes, it’s because of politics. As a matter of fact, Mayor Drew Dilkens of Windsor, the target of that bombing plan, reminded everyone that regardless of people’s opinions on himself, vaccinations, Trudeau or Premier Doug Ford, we all need to remember that, across the aisle from us, are people. People with different beliefs, yes, but people.
   

Great message, but the fact remains that the Canada of the recent past (and the Canadians of the past) didn’t need to be reminded of that. We never let these kinds of issues divide us, instead remembering that, every few years, we get a chance to change who is in charge. Remember what it means to be Canadian. We need it now more than ever. – JDS