After eight months that felt like a lifetime, Justin Trudeau has finally backed down and paused the ban on air and rail travel for unvaccinated Canadians starting June 20th. The operative word here is “pause.”.The Liberal Party are masters at misdirection. I have lost track of how many times they’ve moved the goalposts or changed the narrative in the past two years. The same day the government announced the repeal of the vaccine travel mandate, Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said they were also changing the definition of “fully vaccinated” from two shots to “keeping up to date.” With that kind of wording, the meaning of “fully vaccinated” is set to go from three to four to five shots and beyond..Not all mandates and restrictions are gone. For example, masks are still mandated on planes and trains. Unvaccinated travelers coming back into Canada still have to be tested and may still be forced to quarantine. Additionally, many universities have not announced whether they will keep their vaccine mandates..Quite possibly, Trudeau will bring the mandates back at some point. As I toured through the Maritime provinces in May, I heard the sentiment of unease and doubt over and over. People are afraid of another assault on our rights and freedoms and on our ability to simply lead a normal life by the federal and provincial governments. Former Liberal and NDP supporters, who have seen past the lies and corruption, make up the majority of the crowds at my events now..The battle continues to get rid of the remaining restrictions. I am still pursuing my lawsuit against the federal government, as is Brian Peckford, former Premier of Newfoundland and last living signatory of the Charter. We will not stop until all measures and mandates are gone permanently..However, It’s not enough to eliminate the restrictions and call it a day. The COVID-19 nightmare happened because our politics has become fundamentally dysfunctional. Traditional democratic safeguards are disappearing. We have to fight for more fundamental change..Most organs of the state, including supposedly independent courts, as well as institutions like universities and mainstream media, are now controlled mainly by people who all have the same politics. There is no real ideological diversity, no balance anymore. This is why under Justin Trudeau, the country has become unrecognizable in just seven years..It’s also why little changed concretely even during the Harper government before it. Government did not really shrink. And why the Conservative Party under its last two leaders often agreed with the woke, big-government and authoritarian policies brought forth by the Trudeau government, or at any rate, did not offer any strong pushback against them..The Conservative Party is an establishment party. It doesn’t have the will to upset the status quo and bring radical policies to downsize Ottawa. Including, I predict, under presumptive future leader Pierre Poilievre. That is why the different freedom fighter groups or the Freedom Convoy did not originate from the CPC—they were spontaneous organizations emerging from civil society.. The CPC and Mr. Poilievre only hopped on the bandwagon when the winds changed direction, and it became safer..All the work freedom fighters have done over the past two years is coming to fruition. My People’s Party team and I are proud to have been the first to stand up. Canadians, vaccinated and unvaccinated, can celebrate this small win for liberty. But the work for real political change has only begun if we want to break up the establishment consensus and fully restore our fundamental rights and freedoms..Guest columnist Maxime Bernier is the leader of the People's Party of Canada
After eight months that felt like a lifetime, Justin Trudeau has finally backed down and paused the ban on air and rail travel for unvaccinated Canadians starting June 20th. The operative word here is “pause.”.The Liberal Party are masters at misdirection. I have lost track of how many times they’ve moved the goalposts or changed the narrative in the past two years. The same day the government announced the repeal of the vaccine travel mandate, Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said they were also changing the definition of “fully vaccinated” from two shots to “keeping up to date.” With that kind of wording, the meaning of “fully vaccinated” is set to go from three to four to five shots and beyond..Not all mandates and restrictions are gone. For example, masks are still mandated on planes and trains. Unvaccinated travelers coming back into Canada still have to be tested and may still be forced to quarantine. Additionally, many universities have not announced whether they will keep their vaccine mandates..Quite possibly, Trudeau will bring the mandates back at some point. As I toured through the Maritime provinces in May, I heard the sentiment of unease and doubt over and over. People are afraid of another assault on our rights and freedoms and on our ability to simply lead a normal life by the federal and provincial governments. Former Liberal and NDP supporters, who have seen past the lies and corruption, make up the majority of the crowds at my events now..The battle continues to get rid of the remaining restrictions. I am still pursuing my lawsuit against the federal government, as is Brian Peckford, former Premier of Newfoundland and last living signatory of the Charter. We will not stop until all measures and mandates are gone permanently..However, It’s not enough to eliminate the restrictions and call it a day. The COVID-19 nightmare happened because our politics has become fundamentally dysfunctional. Traditional democratic safeguards are disappearing. We have to fight for more fundamental change..Most organs of the state, including supposedly independent courts, as well as institutions like universities and mainstream media, are now controlled mainly by people who all have the same politics. There is no real ideological diversity, no balance anymore. This is why under Justin Trudeau, the country has become unrecognizable in just seven years..It’s also why little changed concretely even during the Harper government before it. Government did not really shrink. And why the Conservative Party under its last two leaders often agreed with the woke, big-government and authoritarian policies brought forth by the Trudeau government, or at any rate, did not offer any strong pushback against them..The Conservative Party is an establishment party. It doesn’t have the will to upset the status quo and bring radical policies to downsize Ottawa. Including, I predict, under presumptive future leader Pierre Poilievre. That is why the different freedom fighter groups or the Freedom Convoy did not originate from the CPC—they were spontaneous organizations emerging from civil society.. The CPC and Mr. Poilievre only hopped on the bandwagon when the winds changed direction, and it became safer..All the work freedom fighters have done over the past two years is coming to fruition. My People’s Party team and I are proud to have been the first to stand up. Canadians, vaccinated and unvaccinated, can celebrate this small win for liberty. But the work for real political change has only begun if we want to break up the establishment consensus and fully restore our fundamental rights and freedoms..Guest columnist Maxime Bernier is the leader of the People's Party of Canada
