You would have to be living under a rock to not have heard about the Freedom Convoy movement in Canada and the sister convoys around the globe. For more than 2 1/2 weeks now, Truckers, farmers, and their supporters have clogged Ottowa's streets, interrupting international supply chains and gridlocking the city. But while the situation is difficult, Canada's government refuses to listen and is taking alarming steps.
Justin Trudeau, Canadian Prime Minister, enacted the Emergencies Act after Give Send Go, A US-based crowdfunding site, refused to bend to the foreign government's demands they cease allowing money to be sent to protesters. According to Insider, "With no need for court orders, banks can freeze personal accounts of anyone linked with the protests."
The world has watched Canadian citizens rise up in peaceful protest against 2 years of vaccine mandates, fear instilled by the media, and government mismanagement that has led to inflation, mass job loss, and more. However, the steps the Canadian government is now taking, including brute force against protestors and seizure of assets, should worry everyone.
The steps Canada is taking set a dangerous precedent for any future protests, no matter the cause. It allows other countries to respond to similar protests with the same level of brutality (or worse) without fear of retribution.
It doesn't matter which side of the vaccine debate you stand on, the seizure of private property without due process should worry everyone. What is to stop government entities from doing the same to protesters for women's rights in Afghanistan and Iran? Or what about those fighting to legalize medical cannabis? Once the precedent is set, there is no going back, and if there is a way it will not be an easy one.
Historical moments like these define our future. Allowing cowards like Trudeau to steer towards dictatorship while hiding sets a dangerous precedent that cannot be easily reversed.