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Editorial: Border blockade

Ironically, the blockade may very well exacerbate the supply chain issues the organizers of the Freedom Convoy claimed to be concerned about in the first place.
Airdrie Our View_text

It's ironic that many of the people who were outraged by the Wetsu'wet'en protests against a pipeline project in northern B.C. last year were probably cheering on the truckers who set up a blockade at the Alberta-U.S. border near Coutts earlier this week. 

As Premier Jason Kenney pointed out when condemning the blockade, the recent gathering of commercial trucks obstructing northbound traffic at the southern border was in violation of the Alberta Traffic Safety Act, as well as Bill 1, the Critical Infrastructure Defence Act.

Bill 1 outlines that essential infrastructure (including highways) must be “protected from damage or interference caused by blockades, protests, or similar activities, which can cause significant public safety, social, economic, and environmental consequences.”

Similar legislation was used to justify the arrests of protesters at a natural gas pipeline near Houston, B.C. last year. If you were against that demonstration but not the blockage of a crucial trade corridor in southern Alberta, that's hypocritical. 

The border blockade was almost certainly in response to and support of the Freedom Convoy and its subsequent rally in Ottawa. That protest stemmed from a recent federal government policy change that now requires truckers to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Or, if they are not vaccinated, they must get tested and self-isolate for 72 hours when crossing the U.S.-Canada border. 

While that policy shift was the spark plug, since the convoy started, it's morphed into a protest against perceived government overreach in general – everything from provincially mandated vaccine passports, to municipally mandated mask mandates, and other public health measures. 

As of our press time, police had started to make arrests at the Alberta-U.S. border blockade, which was resulting in dozens of truckers being marooned on the American side of the border, unable to pass through to do their jobs – transporting goods and services. Ironically, the blockade may have very well exacerbated the supply chain issues the organizers of these recent protests claimed to be concerned about in the first place.


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