Ottawa resident tells Lethbridge MP what protestors are causing

EDITOR:

Open letter to Ms Rachael Thomas, Member of Parliament, Lethbridge:

I read your opinion piece in the Toronto Sun on Friday 4 February 2022 in support of the “protesters”. I’m a resident of the beautiful City of Ottawa. My adopted home since 1981! It’s an amazing city that my wife and I love dearly. We’ve raised two children here. This is our home.

First, and foremost, to the CPC Members of Parliament who have disavowed the illegal activities of a small but very vocal group of militants within Ottawa and other places in the country, thank you. We, the people of Ottawa thank you for your support.

Let’s be clear, the vast majority of Ottawans, Ontarians, and I would say Canadians, have gone about their daily lives over the last 14 days: They’ve done grocery shopping to well stocked shelves. Taken the kids sledding, skating, tobogganing. Helped-out neighbours shovelling snow. Gone to work or worked from home. And, yes, some have gone south for winter holidays (against the advice of public health officials) but using precautions and done testing when they return.

Ms. Thomas, total deaths from Covid between January 15 2020 and February 3rd 2022 in Ontario are 11,836. That’s an average of 500 per month. From January 4, 2022 to February 3rd, 2022 (one month) Ontario had 1,381 deaths from Covid! That’s almost 3 times the monthly average over the previous 2 years. Many of those deaths are people who are vulnerable: the elderly, the imuno-compromized and the poor. None of us want to have mandates imposed upon us and our fellow citizens. But we look at the broader community: If one of isn’t safe, none of is safe. Masks and vaccines protect all of us. The sooner masks and vaccine passports are gone the happier all of us will be. But we base our decisions on science. I would hate to think what the deaths would have been had we not had science based mandates. We can imagine, though, when we look at some other countries and the way they’ve handle this crisis. Could it have been handle differently? Certainly.

Looking after the vulnerable in the community seems to be diametrically opposed to the few involved in the illegal activities in downtown Ottawa and other places across the country who seem to believe in “me first” and “might is right” with weaponized trucks. Make no mistake, these people who are terrorizing their fellow citizens are in the minority. Most Canadians are good, honest, patriotic, law abiding citizens who help their communities.

Ms. Thomas, I’m a resident of the neighbourhood adjacent to the occupied area of downtown Ottawa. Let me tell you it’s not a joyous walk down the country meadow that you portrayed in your opinion piece, with sunshine and lollipops and everyone holding hands in joyous song.

Let me give you some facts as opposed to your alternative facts.

After an argument about masks with some residents of an apartment building in the “red zone”, some people came back to the building at 5 am on Sunday morning, lit a fire in the lobby and then taped the doors closed so that the occupants couldn’t leave. Thankfully someone spotted the fire and put it out. Ottawa Police have initiated a criminal investigation. Were those individuals just a few bad apples?

Retail store clerks have been harassed and spat on, to the point that many businesses have had to close their doors until this ends. Again, were those just a few bad apples involved in those events?

A clerk, on her way to work a few days ago was assaulted by an anti-masker. Bad apple?

A friend of mine, who is in her 70s was helping a visually impaired person do some errands last Saturday. They live in the “red zone”. Both were wearing their masks while walking down the street. Not so much because of Covid, but to block-out the diesel-fume stench that fills the downtown from hundreds of idling trucks. An anti-masker with a megaphone screamed at them to take their masks off. Yet another bad apple?

I’ve seen pickup trucks driving around my neighbourhood with Canadian flags flying out the back. People in flag-flying trucks are yelling at mask wearers. More bad apples I guess. Ms. Thomas since when did patriotism and waving the Canadian flag get co-oped by outlaws?

Ms. Thomas, when does a few bad apples become a rotten barrel? In fact, the barrel was rotten from the beginning, with an overt attempt, complete with a manifesto, to replace a democratically elected government: In fact to replace all democratically elected governments that don’t subscribe to their manifesto. The barrel was rotten: The events of the last 13 days have simply made it putrid.

Ms. Thomas I walked in the Climate Change protest in September 2019 in downtown Ottawa along with thousands of other people. I went to the Black Lives Matter protest in June 2020 on Parliament Hill with many others. I was at the National Day of Reconciliation on 30 Sept 2021 on Parliament Hill and marched down to Confederation Park. I didn’t hear one single racial slur at any of those protests. I saw no harassment of residents or public defecation or urination. No desecration to Canada’s fallen soldiers or the Canadian hero Terry Fox’s monument. Nor did I hear the blaring sounds of horns disturbing residents for hours and days. In fact there were no horns.

We had our peace, order and good government protest and then dispersed without incident and continued our activism back in our communities: Writing our MPs, MPPs, city councillors. Advocating for change within our communities through democratic institutions and participatory democracy. We didn’t blockade a city or international trade routes and terrorize communities or hold then hostage under threat. That’s what the small group of people you are supporting are doing in Ottawa and other places in Canada. Ms. Thomas it’s reported today that these people are using children as shields against a police operation. Do you support children as shields? Shouldn’t these children be in school? Or is this “home schooling”?

Ms. Thomas, you’re a guest in our city. Please do us the decency of respecting our home just as we would respect yours. Thank you Don Lalonde Ottawa