The Canadian Dissident

A protest against covid-19 restrictions outside the Alberta Legislature, February 22, 2022. Every province in Canada, except for British Columbia, has announced a plan to drop vaccine passports. As of today, 7 provinces have already ended vaccine passport requirements. Alberta, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and PEI dropped vaccine passports in February. Today Ontario and Manitoba followed suit. Quebec and Newfoundland both plan to end their vaccine passport programs by March 14. This leaves British Columbia as the last province holding on to vaccine passports. Despite declining covid-19 hospitalizations and a high vaccination rate, the province has yet to announce any end to their vaccine passport program. However, the province's health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry has suggested some restrictions may lift by spring. "Looking ahead, as we expect transmission to continue to decrease and the weather gets warmer… we will likely no longer need those extra layers of protecti...

Supporters cheer on the arrival of the Truckers Convoy in Ottawa ( @steveglwalsh / Steve Walsh Photography) The ongoing "Truckers for Freedom" convoy is an example of a real populist protest and a genuine grassroots movement. It wasn't started by politicians or celebrities. It was started by truckers and other working class Canadians - insignificant "nobodies." It's not funded by big businesses or political parties, but $7 million (and counting) has been donated by thousands of individual Canadians. Politicians like Jason Kenney and Erin O'Toole only voiced their support after the convoy started and it became apparent that hundreds of thousands of Canadians were cheering the truckers on. But n o major politicians were involved in starting or organizing the convoy. Contrast the MAGA (Make America Great Again) "movement" in the United States, which was founded and funded by billionaire-politician Donald Trump. MAGA was never a genuine grassroots...

Before this year, vaccines were mostly apolitical objects. The vast majority of people viewed getting vaccinated as a morally right thing to do, to protect both yourself and those around you. There has always been a small anti-vaxxer minority, but before 2021 they were inconsequential in both public health and politics. Then in early 2021 murmurs began in the political world, mostly from the left, proposing vaccine mandates, including so-called "vaccine passports." The concept was roundly rejected by leaders as discriminatory, unnecessary, divisive, and counter-productive. In January Prime Minister Justin Trudeau argued against vaccine passports, calling them "extreme measures that could have real divisive impacts on community and country." In April the Biden administration also argued against vaccine passports.  The World Health Organization, which has consistently opposed travel restrictions throughout the pandemic , also voiced their opposition to vaccine passp...

In June the Trudeau government pushed Bill C-10 through the House of Commons. The bill  aimed to classify online content as "broadcasting," thereby  granting the government sweeping new powers to regulate and censor the internet. Fortunately Bill C-10  died in the Senate as they didn't have enough time to pass the bill before Parliament's summer recess. Later this summer Justin Trudeau announced plans to further restrict free speech by expanding the legal definition of hate speech and creating a new bureaucracy in charge of "digital safety." The new Digital Safety Commissioner of Canada would have the power to regulate, spy on, and censor social media. On August 13th, only 2 days before calling a federal election, the Trudeau government made another divisive announcement. Vaccine passports would soon be required for everyone travelling by air and train within Canada, everyone working for the federal government, and everyone working in federally regulated in...