Excusé-moi, monsieur protestor.

Et regardez-moi, comme le père Trudeau.

In France a driver parked his car in protest, spurred by the so-called “Freedom Convoy” in Canada. The gendarme asked once if he would roll down his window, then twice, then…..

Still polite, but the point has been made.

In Canada meanwhile the national capitol has been shut down for three weeks. During most that time no government, and no police or armed force, was willing to step up and enforce the laws of the land.

For three weeks these idiots barricaded streets around Parliament Hill, threatened people who had the misfortune to walk by, and disrupted the lives of thousands of ordinary Ottawa residents. They marched, unmasked, into a local soup kitchen and demanded to be fed. And then there were the swastikas….

I’m watching this from a several thousand miles away, relying on CBC, the Globe and Mail, and various foreign outlets for news. Maybe it’s the distance, but I keep stopping in my tracks and asking “Why is no-one doing anything to shut down these idiots?”

And, to be clear, I’ve attended more than a few protests, and absolutely support people who attend them. This however is something very different. It’s about racism. It’s about antisemitism. It’s about insurrection, and complete lack of respect for a duly elected government; a government that I didn’t vote for, wouldn’t vote for, and have nothing but disdain for, but whom I must, of necessity, accept as the current leaders of this country.

Ultimately though the whole “Freedom Convoy” isn’t about anything more than a bunch of spoiled children spilling their milk cups and crying because mommy wouldn’t give them Cocoa-Puffs for dinner.

Or, given that these idiots weren’t five years old, it’s about a bunch of assholes who don’t give a damn about anyone but themselves.

And that, honestly, is the point where they lose any and all support from me.

And yes, swastikas matter.

Watching from the other side of the Atlantic perhaps I feel that flag has more resonance than might be the case in Canada. As I write this I’m watching Russia at the border to Ukraine (and if you don’t know the history of that story your really, really need to listen to Michael Goldfarb’s FRDH podcast this week) and am thinking about how many times various conquerors have swept across Europe and occupied other countries. I’m asking: is France a good place to be right now?

Perhaps this is why I just don’t understand how the government of Canada (and of the provinces) can sit on their hands for weeks while their capitol is occupied and threatened. Is it because Justin Trudeau really believed that these guys would just go home? Is it because he didn’t understand that he has an army and a police force that he can call on to move them out?

Or is it because somewhere deep down Trudeau, a classic “drama class in high-school” guy is honestly terrified by the big, bad boys in school with their lumberjack shirts and pick-up trucks. When I think about Trudeau’s school years in Montreal and Ottawa, and his time as a ski-bum and private school teacher, I have to think that this is a milieu that was never his.

And, if the truth were told mine either, which is why I also tend to give guys in F-350s a wide berth, and don’t spend my time in strip-clubs.

The difference is that I’m not the Prime Minister. I’m not leading a country. I’m not the role-model for ordinary people who want to know how to react to these dangerous fools.

To be perfectly honest I was one of those who had high hopes for Justin Trudeau. Part of that was because I remember his father, and part of it is because he said all of the right things. Canada finally had a young, hip, left-wing leader.

And then…. nothing. The many grand promises, the endless aspirations and lofty goals all disappeared into… well, I don’t know, and at this point don’t care.

Which is why, if you asked me what Justin would do about the “Freedom Convoy” I would have predicted pretty much what happened.

Bizarrely I’ve spent much of today having “Freedom Convoy” types mansplaining to me how the Prime Minster of Canada has no legal authority to shut down an illegal occupation.

Anyhow, I guess that I have no choice but to leave the last word to Trudeau senior. And yes, I drove all the way to Montreal to stand outside the church for his funeral.