Letter to Prime Minister of Canada

Dear Prime Minister,
We are writing to you as Canadian citizens of Czech and Slovak origin who came to Canada mostly after the invasion of Soviet troops to Czechoslovakia in 1968, when the Soviet army lasted 23 years until 1991.

The subject of our letter is our opinion on the Freedom Convoy of several hundred trucks, which occupied the main streets around the Canadian Parliament, which we do not agree with, even if we agree with the peaceful demonstration of truck crews and other supporters of the unvaccinated. Only 10-20% truckers were unvaccinated and 80-90% were vaccinated and supported their colleagues out of solidarity.

The Canadian government, the Ottawa City Hall and police must have known that a large number of trucks arrived in Ottawa from many western and eastern Canadian cities. It should therefore be known that parking spaces in the city center must be fenced off and cars must be diverted to off-street locations. The big mistake was that you, as Prime Minister, refused to meet with the demonstrators, perhaps even by video because you lived in an unknown place. If you would announce your plan to reduce Covid’s measures, when Covid is on a downward trend, the demonstrations might be canceled and the demonstrators left, which was their wish.

Instead, you invoked the Emergencies Act written by Conservative Prime Minister Brian Mulroney’s government against terrorism. Like most provincial prime ministers, we did not agree with this, mainly because 196 demonstrators were arrested, 115 vehicles were removed and the demonstrators‘ accounts were blocked including donors. These measures were revoked within a few days, but they left many people with a touch of dictatorial behavior and lowering democratic values, which we do not like to remember from our original homeland. We hope that a similar situation will not happen again. In connection with the invasion of Russian troops in Ukraine, we agree that the Canadian government should impose the harshest sanctions on Russia and advocate that the Russian government and Vladimir Putin himself be held accountable for their crimes to the international tribunal.

We are in support of the new immigration measures for people affected by the situation in Ukraine and fully support your government’s commitment to process Ukrainian refugees in fast procedure. Czech and Slovak Association of Canada is now urging our community to contribute financially as well.

Very truly,
Misha Gogela
President
Czech and Slovak Association of Canada