THE GREAT CANADIAN DIVIDE

 

I think one of the greatest tragedy of the restrictions and lockdowns is how it has divided Canadians. Some of us were so gripped with fear that we began to see other human beings as potentially lethal. The very human beings who before had helped us fulfill our social and emotional needs were now a threat to our very lives. I think this fear caused the breakdown of our social networks, and Skype and Zoom were not up to the task of replacing human contact and intimacy. For those of us who were lucky enough to keep our livelihoods intact, we could appreciate and follow all the restrictions and lockdowns and survive.

However, there were others who suffered dearly. They lost loved ones with cancer, heart and stroke, and other fatal diseases because their loved one's surgeries, test, or treatment were cancelled or delayed. 

Of course, many Canadians lost jobs, their businesses, their homes, their livelihoods, because of the impact of the medical strategy to deal with Covid-19. 

Others lost family, spouses, and friends through suicide or death from domestic violence as a result of the social isolation. Still others became part of the mental health pandemic, having to deal with overwhelming depression and anxiety that they had never experienced before. 

These are the Canadians who suffered so dearly under Covid-19 controls imposed by government at the demand of the medical community. Now as Covid-19 seems to be coming to an end, those who suffered the most and still suffer are very frustrated at the two years during which they faced total consternation and felt absolute abandonment. The protesters are part of this group. They want their concerns addressed. 

However, many of those who went through the pandemic mostly unscathed see the actions of those who suffered so greatly as anti-democratic and traitorous. These Canadians demean the right of citizens to protest.

In fact, on the contrary, these unfortunate Canadians are trying to be heard using their democratic right to dissent. Rather than ask the government to use the harshest measures possible, 

we should ask the government to talk to them and deal with their concerns. That is the way democracy works. Canada still is a democracy -- isn't it?