MLA Report: Let courage of truckers and farmers inspire us all

By Drew Barnes on February 18, 2022.

If history teaches us anything, it’s that freedom is never free. The economic and democratic freedoms we enjoy today were not simply handed to us. Our ancestors worked for these freedoms and fought for them when necessary.

One of the reasons I strongly support the recent peaceful demonstrations springing up across Canada, especially here in Alberta, is because I took the time to get to know some of the people involved.

Governments have doggedly attempted to smear these folks as members of a small fringe minority, as racists, as bigots, and even anarchists. They have been accused of being professional protestors, and being hired by foreign powers including, most laughably, Russia. These claims were defamatory and desperate.

For the most part, these demonstrators are just hard working, taxpaying citizens who are sick of their governments infringing on constitutionally protected rights. They recognize that governments are attempting to cling to temporary powers on a permanent basis. They have been vilified for questioning the need for mandates and restrictions. They refuse to be silenced.

There is a misconception in our society that one must be somebody special or have some sort of official mandate to speak out. You really don’t. This past year I have repeatedly seen elected representatives choose self-imposed silence over publicly representing their constituents. Meanwhile tens of thousands of truckers and farmers, including many from our region of the province, have bravely stepped up to fill the void. They have crushed government narratives and inspired millions around the world.

I’m talking about people like Tamara Lich. One of the spokespeople of the protests in Ottawa has roots right here in Medicine Hat. She is a former energy worker of Métis heritage, a mother, and grandmother, and sometimes plays guitar in a band. So how did she become the known as, “the spark that lit the fire,” of the trucker protests? She did something simple but heroic: She stood up for principles.

Her story reminds me a lot of my friend and former colleague Rick Strankman. As you may already know, Strankman was jailed for transporting wheat across the U.S. border in protest of the Canadian Wheat Board’s monopoly. The government of the day was quite threatened by the dozen or so farmers who dared challenge their authority and attempted to vilify them. I think we all know how that ended.

People like Lich and Strankman aren’t special.

They’re just like the rest of us, and that’s why they inspire us. They recognized an injustice, realized that their silence was their consent, and opted to speak up. I know we are only one month into the year, but it seems to me that Lich should be the frontrunner for the Medicine Hat News Newsmaker of the Year. She, and the many thousands of truckers and farmers who stepped up with her, have sparked what is fast becoming a global movement.

The freedoms we most depend on: the right to assembly, the right to own and use property, the right to freedom of expression, and many more, are a legacy built generation after generation. None of these rights came about by people staying home and being silent.

I’m proud to recognize and support those who refuse to accept the status quo, even when they know they will be vilified for it. It’s this kind of courage we need now more than ever.

Drew Barnes is MLA for Cypress-Medicine Hat

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