Things are getting a lot worse… the entire economy is getting shut down. Amtrak ceases services to Vancouver.
Prime Minister leaving for the Caribbean!
“Colonial expansion of the Corporation of Canada was made possible through the construction of railways like the one we block today,” organizer Herb Varley said in a statement”
This is sickening. Now I’m referred to as a settler! Greater Toronto area shut down.
How does the Canadian government break down in its support versus rejection of the goals of the protesters? I have concluded that the protests have nothing to do with a pipeline or the environment. These are minor causes being used to advance a revolution.
And none, I mean NONE of this seems to be reported in the American press, at all, or at least not in the news outlets I look at.
Maybe the American mainline media won’t notice unless a Kardashian or two are inconvenienced. Or some othe silly celebrity. [banghead]
At least “Trains” is reporting it, to their credit!
Frankly; I hope the US press doesn’t start reporting on these blockades.
God knows we have enough craziness on this side of the border already without publicizing this nonsense in Canada and giving our crazies any more ideas.
You may be right J-M, but here’s my point. There’s a big country to the north of us, a major trade and defense partner, and sharing a common language, that’s facing a governmental and economic crisis, and as far as our own press is concerned it might as well be happening on Mars.
I’m not saying the US should get involved, not by any means, it’s not our (for lack of a better term) business to get involved, and I’m sure they don’t want us involved, but it does bear watching.
Just wait until the caravans from Newfoundland, the Yukon and all the other areas of the far North form the cross the US border into the lower 48.
A little farfetched, but you’ve swerved into another important matter Balt. Unreported in this country are the rumblings of a secession movement in Canada’s western provinces like Alberta and Saskatchewan. The Maritime provinces have also grumbled about the insular and elitist attitude of Ontario and Quebec, i.e. acting like they are Canada and the other provinces may just as well not exist. A lot of provinces are getting sick and tired of being ignored.
A Canadian version of “Flyover Country?” I have to wonder.
I doubt Canada’s going to come totally unglued over this, I think they’re a lot stronger than that. I sincerely hope it doesn’t happen, but guess who’s likely to wind up picking up the pieces if it does?
Euclid wrote the following post 3 hours ago:
How does the Canadian government break down in its support versus rejection of the goals of the protesters?
I suspect that the Canadian gov’t is forced into a waiting game. Given sufficient time for actual shortages to accrue in stores, the general public will become more impatient to have something done to eliminate the blockade(s), and the Canadian gov’t can then assume the hero’s role and force dispersal, without appearing oppressive.
I am sure that U.S. media will be all over this as soon as they figure out how to take sides in how they present it. Here is an interesting editorial. I agree with the comments after it:
This is clearly dividing the country, and I am not sure who is left with the biggest piece. I have a feeling that it is the protesters. This could easily turn violent.
I don’t think the goverment cracking down would appear to be oppressive to those who see this protest as having gotten out of hand. This is imposing a great cost on the country that will be borne by everyone.
I suspect that the Canadian National and Provincial governments do not want a repeat of the fallout of the Ipperwash Crisis.
NY Times has a reporter in Ottawa, he doesn’t get a story published every day.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/07/world/canada/Trans-Mountain-Pipeline.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/10/world/canada/gas-pipeline-protests.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/12/world/canada/gas-pipeline-protests.html
Here’s an interesting opinion piece from Canada.
Precisely my point, by waiting for resultant shortages to become problematic, an ever larger segment of the general public will come to see the protest as “out of hand”.
Awaiting personal selfishness to outweigh sypathies is another way to put it.
In general I believe the general public in Canada is more sympathetic to splinter causes than we are down here, so the authorities have to allow time for human nature to take it’s toll.
“Personal selfishness” is putting it a bit harshly. It’s more like the old saying “Your right to swing your arm ends where it intersects with the end of my nose!”
Most people are sympathetic to protests over legitimate grievances, but only up to the point where you really, really make a pest and a nuisance out of yourself, then watch how fast the sympathy evaporates!
CN Layoffs
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/rail-shutdown-propane-supply-runs-low-maritimes-1.5465865
Now 1,000 CN Layoffs!
Getting to the “…pest and nuisance…” stage pretty quickly.
Niagara Falls border crossing closed as protestors block coming and going.
Flintlock76 wrote the following post 13 hours ago:
“Personal selfishness” is putting it a bit harshly
You’re right, it was. I was pressed for time and couldn’t think of a more diplomatic way to convey the idea.
My appologies to anyone I may have offended.
Would the term “intrinsic ambition” have been a better choice?
Personally, I thought ‘personal selfishness’ filled the bill quite accurately, which leads me to wonder if I misunderstood the point of the comment.
What I thought is that the protest will be ‘supported’ up until a sufficiently large number of people acquire the sense of being negatively affected for personal reasons – a kind of aggregate ‘where you stand is where you sit’ – and the resulting groundswell becomes the politicians’ call to action, or excuse, or whatever to bring down the boom. Which should be very effective once the Peace Enforcers get called in with permission, just as it would be for you or I if we set up a card table on a major main line.