The responsibility for the emergency declarations by the City of Ottawa and the province of Ontario, the traffic snarl in Windsor and the Coutts blockade in Alberta lies at the feet of the federal government.

The chaos can be specifically attributed to the federal lack of leadership and failure of moral authority. Canadians are exhausted from two years of COVID. They are tired, frustrated and want to get on with their lives. The blockades and occupations are . . .

sapping the energy and vitality of Canadians. They are confused by the affront to authority and by Canada’s lack of action.

Poor federal communication has caused the divisions in our country. Trudeau has failed to explain how the end game of the pandemic will be played out in Canada. Canadians are at a loss as to what to expect in the coming months and want to get on with their lives. Trudeau’s inflammatory rhetoric and inactions have given rise to a protest that is destructive to the social fabric.

The pandemic has revealed serious shortcomings in the health care system and in the way we care for our seniors. It has derailed us from following positive objectives such as transitioning to a Green economy. We have failed to deal with the increasingly huge economic inequality in our country. Canadians have followed mandates and tried to do the recommended preventative measures, including such non-friendly actions as going into isolation.

Prime Minister Trudeau’s hard line on truckers forcing them to be vaccinated comes after two years of enduring COVID. Ironically this provocative stance comes at a time when there are signs that COVID is on the decline. A number of provinces have indicated they are preparing reductions in mandates. Trudeau has shown he is more interested in finding wedge issues for electoral purposes than in talking with people and getting on with a progressive agenda.

The Canadian government has shown an inability to read the mood of the people, this is clear by their dogmatic stance on truckers. What other workers at this point have been told to get vaccinated or lose their jobs? Has the government explained with facts how having vaccinated truckers is an urgent public health situation? Nurses, technicians and other health workers have not had to put up with these kinds of strictures. Indeed, some have been allowed to return to work even with COVID. Canada has dealt with the COVID pandemic better than some of its G-7 partners but the run of the illness in our society is not over yet. More managing, clear communication and leadership is required as we enter a new phase.

Canadians are demoralized because they have seen front line health service workers exhausted and even intimidated for doing their jobs. In many provinces hospitals began treating patients with COVID symptoms already understaffed, because the health system has been seriously under-funded by the federal government. Seniors cared for in residences at private institutions were summarily neglected and left to die. Where was government oversight on them? Has the government enunciated new stricter guidelines, with promises of the necessary funding to make things better?

Canada is at a cross-roads. No one predicted the COVID pandemic. But what is needed now is for Canadians to seriously examine their choices as the two major parties spar over national media. Do we need more of the same? More than ever we need new voices, conciliatory tones, with ideas on healing the divisions by tackling the faults in the system. We need leaders that will work on solving the issues that matter to people, on making sure no one is left behind.

Carl Hager, a retired educator, is a community volunteer and Pontiac NDP activist.