The "Freedom Convoy" has achieved a lot - and all of it bad

As the Ottawa "Freedom Convoy" grinds to a rather ignominious halt, people are as divided about what it has actually achieved as they have been throughout the whole sordid affair.

It did not being down the government, nor did it result in any changes to the vaccine mandate rules (which were in the process of changing anyway). However, there are those who think that the protest/occupation/siege/whatever-you-want-to-call-it did actually achieve something rather than nothing. 

One (American) professor opines that it "made a mockery of governing elites" (the wording of that gives you a good idea of where he is coming from), in that it "occupied a capital city of a G7 country". I'm not sure how that counts as an achievement. Canada, as a G7 country, could have taken a heavy-handed approach and squelched the whole thing in short order. But people would have been hurt, and Canada, as a NICE G7 country, chose to allow the protesters to demonstrate their fervour (however wrong-headed and illegality might have been). That is not necessarily weakness.

Furthermore, our American prof argues, it precipitated the resignation of the centrist Conservative leader, and will almost certainly lead to a much more radical right leader to come, probably a "Trumpette" right-wing populist. Erin O'Toole was probably on his way out anyway, but again, how is this a good thing? It is by no means clear that the rank-and-file Conservative voter in Canada is in fact more radicalized and extreme than it used to be, and it is by no means clear that a hard-right leader can either get elected or hold the party together.

Further furthermore, he argues, the protest has "eroded the evidence-based response to the pandemic", making high vaccination even more difficult to achieve and reducing the influence of scientists and medical experts. For one thing, that ship has already sailed - Canada already has a very high vaccination rate, and most people are right behind our medical authorities - but how is eroding this supposed to be progress? 

Only a very skewed and partisan viewpoint can find anything positive in anything the good professor has to say about the Ottawa occupation. If this is the best that the protest can be said to have achieved, then it has been an abject failure indeed.

What it has done is polarized an already- divided population still more, hardened positions, and shortened tempers. It has made the vast majority of the population extremely wary and suspicious of truckers in general (which is unfortunate), and certainly of anyone wearing a Canadian flag. It has set a damaging precedent, and emboldened far right zealots. It has given a black eye to Canada's international reputation and image. It has made overseas (especially American) traders much more wary about doing business with Canada, and will probably have a lasting adverse effect on our balance of payments. It has damaged our tourism potential. It has cost the city, the province and the country millions of dollars. I could go on, but you get the picture.

So, to say that the "Freedom Convoy" - and I continue to use quote marks advisedly - has achieved little or nothing would be far from the truth. It has achieved quite a lot, and all of it bad.