One thing we’ve in common with truckers
It’s often said trust is fragile; once broken, it is difficult to rebuild.
What we’ve witnessed in the streets of downtown Ottawa, in several provincial capitals, and at key international border crossings is a breakdown of trust — one that threatens to carry long-term consequences.
On the one hand, the “Freedom Convoy” demonstrators no longer trust governments’ handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. For some, that trust was perhaps never there. For others, it was lost for a variety of reasons: from a lack of communication and shifting messaging from government officials, to too much time spent confined at home surfing the internet listening to disinformation, to political leaders who have made decisions based on political calculations rather than data.
But the loss of trust goes far beyond the protesters.
For Ottawa residents, the city’s policing failures give locals few reasons to trust the competency of the force. Questions are asked about why trucks were allowed to park in front of the prime minister’s office without being screened; why protesters were allowed to blockade the streets, starving businesses of their livelihoods and residents of their sleep. Ottawa police Chief Peter Sloly’s response to the protests has ranged from the alarming — “There may not be a policing solution to this demonstration” — to the laughably untrue: “We have been enforcing the law since Day 1.”
Residents have noted how the law is applied unevenly. Two years ago, police descended on a small group of peaceful demonstrators in the middle of the night, 36 hours after they blocked a busy intersection. Twelve people protesting the acquittal of a police constable charged with killing a Black man were charged with multiple offences. At the time, the cops said their decisions were guided by “risk assessment,” “ensuring the safety of the public,” and the fact protesters were disrupting regular traffic and blocking an emergency route.
This week, the protesting truckers’ horns were silenced, not because of actions by the city but because of an injunction brought by a local lawyer and a 21-year-old federal public servant.
People feel abandoned. Provincially and federally, the lapse in leadership is striking. Last weekend, while protesters flocked to the streets of Toronto and Ottawa, Ontario Premier Doug Ford was snowmobiling in Muskoka and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took a day off. Both leaders chose to take a back seat rather than respond to an escalating crisis. Their ministers spent the past week publicly and privately arguing over jurisdiction, specifically over who should step in to remove the demonstrators blocking the Detroit-Windsor Ambassador Bridge. Nobody seemed to want to hold the bag in case police intervention — from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police or Ontario Provincial Police — went south.
For five days, the convoy choked off much of the $700 million in daily two-way trade between Canada and the United States. Not only did it shut down auto plants and send thousands of workers home, it threatened permanent pink slips throughout Ontario’s auto sector and undermined Canada’s reputation as a trusted trading partner. Why would an auto company now invest in Canada if the border poses a risk?
American allies urged Canada to get its act together. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer called on Canadian authorities to clear the roads, Democratic Rep. Andy Levin tweeted Ottawa should step in and “not treat this as simply a local police matter,” and President Joe Biden got on the phone to Trudeau to express his concern American jobs are on the line because of protests at the Detroit/Windsor crossing as well as in Sweetgrass, Mont./ Coutts, Alta., and Pembina, N.D./ Emerson, Man. The U.S. offered to provide tow trucks for the removal of Canadian protesters.
A readout from the White House said Trudeau “promised quick action in enforcing the law.” What an embarrassment. Our governments are failing at their most basic tasks: to keep people physically and economically safe.
Trust is central for the functioning of our democratic system. It underpins our institutions, is central to ensure social cohesion, and the acceptance of rules and authority.
Without trust, government can’t rely on the compliance of citizens. Declining trust means people are less likely to believe government information or support the government’s direction. The Institute on Governance points to research showing a lack of trust leads to populism, which leads to further distrust in government, including the far-right’s questioning of the legitimacy of elections.
Trust in government, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), is based on five main drivers:
■ Responsiveness (to provide or regulate public services),
■ Reliability (anticipate change, protect citizens),
■ Integrity (use power and public resources ethically),
■ Openness (listen, consult, engage and explain to citizens),
■ Fairness (improve living conditions for all).
It’s not difficult to see where Canadian governments at every level have failed. In 2020, the OECD reported that 60 per cent of Canadians had confidence in their national government. A recent poll suggests that figure has cratered to 22 per cent.
As I write this the border isn’t cleared and the downtown streets of Ottawa remain a parking lot for heavy trucks. But Friday, Ontario’s premier called a state of emergency, pledging tougher measures to secure critical infrastructure — even sidewalks. The prime minister addressed the nation, explaining what it will take for him to call in the army. The federal health minister, Jean-Yves Duclos, laid down benchmarks for when and why COVID regulations will be lifted. That’s a start.
What’s left is for the police to do their job. I wish them luck. If they have to move in with force, there is more than trust at stake.