Opinion: It’s time to end the sedition in Ottawa by enforcing the law and following the money
The protesters’ actions are making residents’ lives hell and if left unchecked would undermine our democracy and the rule of law
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英文原文在谷歌中文翻译之后：
是时候通过执法和追钱来结束渥太华的“自由车队”了
在我们的首都，许多人被恐吓了一个多星期。 逃离虐待的妇女受到骚扰。 许多老人太害怕出门买杂货了。 由于 100 分贝的噪音持续不断，家庭连续数天无法入睡。 对包括议会区在内的市中心核心区的控制权被警方让出，并由警察局主席所称的“起义”接管。如果加拿大人认为这在渥太华永远不会发生，他们是可以原谅的。
所谓的自由车队领导层的目标从一开始就很明确：推翻加拿大人在不到六个月前选出的政府。他们公然的背叛被认为是滑稽的，这意味着许多人没有像他们应该的那样认真对待他们。当然不是我们的公共安全当局，他们的谈判促进了车队进入我们首都的中心，并看到其危险的基础设施得到稳步加强——这种接触政策已成为绥靖政策。
在第一个周末，许多参加示威的加拿大人无疑有着和平的目标。过去两年来，我们都经历了前所未有的破坏，我们都感到疲倦，许多人想来渥太华抗议是可以理解的。这是一个自由的国家，每个人都应该能够不受国家干预地表达自己的意见，就像媒体应该能够在不担心骚扰或恐吓的情况下进行报道一样。
但现在是第二周，没有人应该有任何疑问。这是煽动。这是我从没想过会在加拿大使用的词。它的意思是“煽动抵抗或叛乱合法权威”。
周日，当局开始划清界限。宣布进入紧急状态是正确的做法。
从今以后，占领我国首都市中心的人应该是毫无疑问的。他们不再只是倡导一种不同的策略来结束 COVID-19。他们不是爱国者。这不是关于“恢复自由”，而是开始无政府状态。这不会在集会上被冲昏头脑。这不是头部的血液。这是深思熟虑的，因此，他们必须知道，从现在开始，他们的行为将会有后果。
警方一直不愿执行最基本的章程。但这些“违规行为”——无时无刻都在鸣喇叭、骚扰人们、恐惧文化——已经让居民的生活陷入困境，将使我们的企业破产，如果不加以制止，将有助于实现车队的目标：破坏我们的民主和法治。
必须查明那些仍在帮助扩大这一职业的人，并以法律的全部效力予以惩罚。
划清界限意味着扼杀资助这一职业的资金。同样，许多最初捐助者中的加拿大人可能是善意的。也许他们不知道车队的既定目标，或者像渥太华的许多权威人士一样，他们没有认真对待这些目标。也许他们想要的只是限制较少的新 COVID-19 政策。
但到现在为止，任何向车队汇款的人都应该毫无疑问：你正在资助煽动叛乱。叛乱的外国资助者从一开始就干涉我们的内政。加拿大当局应在法律范围内采取一切措施查明并彻底惩罚他们。外国政府和任何与他们有关的官员的参与应该被识别、揭露和解决。
我从经验中知道，危机不会自行结束。你无法摆脱失败。您必须认识到挑战的规模，制定清晰的计划，然后有条不紊地、有计划地实施。您这样做的决心永远不会受到怀疑。只有这样才能恢复秩序。在这种情况下，这意味着执法并追随金钱。个人必须为他们的违法行为负责，必须劝阻那些资助他们的行为的人不要再这样做。
我们的宪法以和平、秩序和良好政府为基础。我们必须遵守这一基本原则，以保护我们的所有自由。
It’s time to end the ‘freedom convoy’ in Ottawa by enforcing the law and following the money
In our capital city, many people have been terrorized for more than a week. Women fleeing abuse have been harassed. Many elderly have been too afraid to venture outside their homes for groceries. Families have been deprived of sleep for days on end by the constant barrage of 100 decibel noise. Control over the city’s downtown core, which includes the Parliamentary Precinct, was ceded by the police and taken over by what the chair of the Police Services Board describes as an “insurrection.”
Canadians can be forgiven if they thought this would never happen in Ottawa.
The goals of the leadership of the so-called freedom convoy were clear from the start: to remove from power the government that Canadians elected less than six months ago. Their blatant treachery was dismissed as comic, which meant many didn’t take them as seriously as they should have. Certainly not our public safety authorities, whose negotiations facilitated the convoy’s entry into the heart of our capital and have watched as its dangerous infrastructure has been steadily reinforced – a policy of engagement that has amounted to a reality of appeasement.
On the first weekend, many Canadians who joined the demonstrations undoubtedly had peaceful objectives. Tired as we all are with unprecedented disruptions that we’ve all endured over the past two years, it’s understandable that many would want to come to Ottawa to protest. It’s a free country, and everyone should be able to express their opinions free of interference from the state, just as the press should be able to report without fear of harassment or intimidation.
But now in its second week, no one should have any doubt. This is sedition. That’s a word I never thought I’d use in Canada. It means “incitement of resistance to or insurrection against lawful authority.”
On Sunday, authorities began to draw the line. Declaring a state of emergency was the right thing to do.
From now on, those who are occupying the downtown of our country’s capital should be in no doubt. They are no longer simply advocating a different strategy to end COVID-19. They are not patriots. This is not about “restoring freedom” but beginning anarchy. This isn’t getting carried away at a rally. It’s not a rush of blood to the head. It’s deliberate and calculated, and because of that, they must know that from now on, there will be consequences for their actions.
The police had been reluctant to enforce the most basic bylaws. But these “infractions” – the constant blaring of horns at all hours, the harassment of people, the culture of fear – have been making residents’ lives hell, will bankrupt our businesses, and if left unchecked, would help achieve the convoy’s goal of undermining our democracy and the rule of law.
Those who are still helping to extend this occupation must be identified and punished to the full force of the law.
Drawing the line means choking off the money that financed this occupation. Again, many Canadians who were amongst the initial donors were likely well meaning. Perhaps they were unaware of the convoy’s stated objectives, or – like many in positions of authority in Ottawa – they didn’t take them seriously. Perhaps all they wanted was a new COVID-19 policy with fewer restrictions.
But by now anyone sending money to the convoy should be in no doubt: You are funding sedition. Foreign funders of an insurrection interfered in our domestic affairs from the start. Canadian authorities should take every step within the law to identify and thoroughly punish them. The involvement of foreign governments and any officials connected to them should be identified, exposed and addressed.
I know from experience that crises don’t end by themselves. You can’t spin your way out of failure. You must recognize the scale of the challenge, devise a clear plan and then implement it methodically and deliberately. Your determination to do so can never be in doubt. Then and only then can order be restored. In this case, that means enforcing the law and following the money. Individuals must be held responsible for their lawlessness and those who financed their actions must be dissuaded from ever doing so again.
Our Constitution is based on peace, order and good government. We must live up to this founding principle in order to protect all our freedoms.
