I am heartsick.
Monday is Valentine’s Day. Many will be expressing their affection for loved ones, be they spouses, partners, family, friends. I wish to express my love of Canada.
In 1535, at his trial for refusing to take the Oath of Supremacy recognizing King Henry VIII as supreme head of the church in England, Thomas More contradicted the prosecutor, Oliver Cromwell, saying “Not so. Not so, Master Secretary. The maxim is ‘Qui tacet consentire’: the maxim of the law is ‘Silence gives consent.’ If therefore you wish to construe what my silence betokened, you must construe that I consented, not that I denied.” He was convicted of treason and executed.
This maxim in English Common Law originated with the Greek philosopher Plato, circa 429–347 B.C.E.
I will not stay silent while a small minority holds the majority hostage to their demands by trampling on the rights and freedoms of others.
I do not approve of the continued occupation of the City of Ottawa, nor the blockading of Canada-US border crossings. Hundreds, if not thousands of people are being denied their right to go to work; to live without fear of being accosted because they are wearing a mask; to cross the Canada-US border in compliance with current health orders. Who is obstructing these peoples’ rights and freedoms? A small minority who have been allowed to think they are above the laws of our country, Canada.
What we are witnessing in Canada today is no longer a protest. It is an advocating of lawlessness to obtain the ends of a minority who hold themselves above the law, and outside the realm of the common good.
I am asking every municipal and provincial government in Canada to bring every legal option at their disposal to bear on dispersing all blockades and occupations within their jurisdictions. I am asking the federal government to bring to bear every legal option at its disposal to clear all blockades at all border crossings between Canada and the US. I am asking that this be done before there is bloodshed.
I love Canada. I fear for her future.
Read more: RCMP arrest 11 people, seize weapons at Alberta border crossing
Read more: Windsor, Ont. mayor says protest over at Canada-U.S. border crossing
Ineke Hughes,
Salmon Arm