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What is under threat are the basic freedoms of the Canadian people. It was one thing for the government to end the unlawful blockade of the Ambassador Bridge connecting Detroit and Windsor, Ontario �����Ƶ� something Trudeau was able to do without invoking an emergency law. But it is quite another for the prime minister to use those emergency powers to stifle the free-speech rights of peaceful protesters gathered in front of their country�����Ƶ�s elected Parliament.

And Trudeau�����Ƶ�s words are as worrisome as his actions. Not only has Trudeau threatened a crackdown, he has also claimed the demonstrators hold �����Ƶ�unacceptable views.�����Ƶ� He accused a Jewish member of parliament �����Ƶ� the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors �����Ƶ� who questioned his invocation of emergency powers of �����Ƶ�standing with people who wave swastikas.�����Ƶ� He called Canadians who oppose vaccine mandates a �����Ƶ�sect�����Ƶ� who �����Ƶ�do not believe in science,�����Ƶ� are �����Ƶ�often misogynists, often racists�����Ƶ� and �����Ƶ�are taking up space.�����Ƶ� And, he said that, as Canada�����Ƶ�s leader, he has to decide �����Ƶ�do we tolerate these people?�����Ƶ�

This is the stuff of authoritarian regimes. In a free society, the government doesn�����Ƶ�t get to decide whose views are �����Ƶ�unacceptable�����Ƶ� or whether it will �����Ƶ�tolerate�����Ƶ� them. In a democracy, the government does not get to intimidate people who protest policies they consider unjust by threatening to take away their jobs and their ability to feed their families. Those are actions one would expect from totalitarian regimes in China and Russia, not a Western democracy.

If you doubt Trudeau has crossed the line into despotism, ask yourself a simple question: If he were taking the exact same steps to suppress Black Lives Matter protesters, would that be acceptable?

Two years into the coronavirus pandemic, Canada is still one of the most locked-down countries in the world. When the omicron variant arrived, Americans groused about the return of mask mandates. But in Ontario and Quebec, Canada�����Ƶ�s two most-populous provinces, the government ordered full lockdowns. Restaurants were closed except for outdoor dining. (Who eats outdoors in Canada in January?) So were gyms, sport facilities, barber shops, museums, galleries and amusement parks. The government limited social gatherings to just five people indoors and 10 people outdoors. Children were yanked from classrooms, workers were required to work remotely, and all �����Ƶ�non-urgent�����Ƶ� medical procedures were canceled. For Canada, it was like 2020 all over again.

Except it is not 2020. Omicron is less dangerous than earlier coronavirus variants. Canada is one of the most vaccinated countries on Earth �����Ƶ� 84 percent of Canadians aged 5 and older have had two doses, and 46 percent have had a booster shot. Many Canadians decided the government had gone too far. They looked at the United States �����Ƶ� where more than 70,000 people sat together mostly unmasked at the Super Bowl �����Ƶ� and seethed as Canadian NHL teams were forced to play in empty arenas or not play at all. And then, when Trudeau added a vaccine mandate for truckers crossing the Canadian-U.S. border, for many, that was the last straw.

It takes a lot to push Canadians to civil disobedience. Canada is a country founded by Loyalists who refused to join the American Revolution. They were fine with King George III. They were fine with the Stamp Act. They refused to join the Boston Tea Party. When Canadians have been pushed so far that they�����Ƶ�re willing to launch this kind of protest, you know the government has become repressive. They say Trudeau is presiding over a COVID police state. He seems intent on proving them right.