Blockades drawing strong response from across the province
By Al Beeber - Lethbridge Herald on February 4, 2022.
LETHBRIDGE HERALDabeeber@lethbridgeherald.com Southern Alberta trucker blockades have sparked strong responses in the province.In a joint statement, the Alberta Association of Chiefs of Police and Alberta Sheriffs said police will take enforcement action if necessary.
“Public safety has been our priority, and it will continue to be as we move forward. If necessary, however, we will take enforcement actions at events like these, responding accordingly to the risks to public safety. Our services are working together, and sharing information and resources, just as we do each and every day. Albertans can feel confident that their respective police services will maintain peace and security across this province – together,” their statement released Thursday.
The AACP said as demonstrations began in Alberta, the province’s police services have worked together to balance public safety with the right to stage legal and peaceful protests.
NDP leader Rachel Notley in a statement Wednesday referred to protesters at Coutts as a fringe group that has taken Alberta’s main border crossing with the U.S., and the province’s economy, hostage.
“The people conducting this illegal action claim they are in direct contact with members of the UCP government caucus and are being offered the removal of public health orders in exchange for reopening the border. The potential precedent being set here is deeply troubling and must be immediately disavowed by every elected member of the UCP government.
“Furthermore, we need the Premier to immediately address the people of Alberta to confirm that public health orders will only be removed on the advice of public health officials and that there will be no political interference in this critical decision,” Notley said in her statement.
“It is horrifying that any member of government caucus would think the public health of Albertans could be used as a bargaining chip to negotiate with people engaged in illegal activities. The premier must commit that this will never happen and that he will remove any of his Caucus members that believe it should.”
Also on Wednesday, the Athabasca Chipewayan First Nation chief and council in a statement said if the blockade had been organized by Indigenous protesters, police would have reacted swiftly.
“The Critical Infrastructure Defense Act, passed in 2020, was created in response to Indigenous railway blockades protesting pipeline developments on Indigenous territories. This law was used to end Indigenous blockades — so the question that must be asked is why the blockade at Coutts is allowed to continue?
“If this blockade was being organized by Indigenous people, we have no doubt that authorities would respond quickly to remove the blockade and utilize the law that has been created to do so. Yet in Coutts we see the inequities in our country when it comes to Indigenous people and the methods used to control our rights to peaceful protest. If the blockade in Coutts consisted of Indigenous people there would have been arrests and charges laid; instead, the Coutts blockade is being allowed to continue, even though it has at times become violent. We do not condone or encourage violence in any manner,” said the chief and council.
The statement said they were shocked to see “this blatant disparity” adding that if protests of infrastructure at Coutts is going to be allowed, then the same approach should be taken when Indigenous people stage similar forms of protest.
On Jan. 31, Alberta Federation of Labour president Gil McGowan stated the protesters in Ottawa don’t represent the majority of working Canadians, including truckers.
“The workers who I know and represent are at work today, not intimidating innocent citizens or rubbing shoulders with known white supremacists and other extremists. Instead of supporting what’s going on in Ottawa, all but a tiny sliver of Canadian workers are doing what they do every day: providing health care, educating our children, making our cities and municipalities work, producing and moving goods, working on construction projects, stocking shelves, serving customers and doing the myriad of other things that make our economy run,” McGowan’s statement read.
Paul Hinman, leader of the Wildrose Independence Party in a statement issued on Thursday, suggested public sentiment is now shifting in the direction of protestors.
“The people who are stepping up and supporting the convoy and all the protests are making a historical stand against a set of unconstitutional mandates that have been divisive, harmful and wrong. They are not backing down and they deserve our continued strong support. We’re seeing public sentiment shift, and many Albertans now are stepping forward to say that enough is enough. Many people who previously felt isolated now realize there are millions of others who are ready and willing to stand alongside them in the fight for freedom. Also, politicians who have strongly supported lockdowns and mandates in the past are wobbling under the pressure. They are starting to realize the people are not going to take their unconstitutional orders any longer.”
Hinman, who represented the former Cardston-Taber-Warner provincial riding as MLA from 2004-2008, argued Premier Jason Kenney needs to rescind Alberta’s mandates and then take the fight to Ottawa.
“Jason Kenney needs to end all the Alberta mandates immediately. The government of Alberta then needs to tell Trudeau that his government has gone way too far. Ottawa’s vaccine passport program and all other restrictions must be lifted. Wildrose has been pushing hard on Premier Kenney to admit he was wrong and choose Alberta over Ottawa. This is an absolute must, and we’ll keep hammering this home until Albertans are free again.” Follow @albeebHerald on Twitter 4
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