When mainstream media notice the Freedom Convoy at all, all the attention is on the physical “disruption” in Ottawa. But I figured it has to be felt in other ways.
Canada, like America, has a trucker shortage. For three weeks, an admittedly small minority of those truckers have been sitting out in Ottawa. Thus, they aren’t moving cargo. You might think that’s no big deal, affecting an equally small minority of cargo.
Not so. Cargo still moves, but it gets delayed while brokers try to match cargoes to trucks. So everything slows just a little bit. But when stuff really needs to get from point a to point B now, folks will bid up for priority.
The effect has been to increase shipping rates for standard heavy-haulers by 44%. Delays were worst when the America/Canada Ambassador Bridge was blocked, but there are delays yet for cross-Canada loads.
Point to Freedom Convoy. That’s why, a few days ago, I suggest they advance to a new phase in the protest. Go home, stay home. Then let industries waiting on parts and materials doing the yelling at Truedope for them. Let consumers — you know, the folks those increased shipping costs get passed to — yell at Little Hitler for them.
Reports say the Ottawa police are massing to begin arrests. That plays into the Convoy’s hands, too. When they’re in jail, just like when they’re sitting at home, they aren’t moving goods. Better yet, if they were at home, and Trudeau somehow found two brain cells to rub together and capitulated, they could go back to work. Locked up in jail, that isn’t an option.
Authorities have also threatened to revoke commercial and personal driver licenses, and freeze bank accounts. If they really are that stupid — and the GoSendGo donor accounts freezers suggest they are — then those drivers will never get back to hauling. The shipping cost and delays increase becomes semi-permanent as the trucking industry tries to train and hire all their replacements; said replacements likely to be less efficient initially due to inexperience.
Canada’s Parliament was scheduled to debate Trudeaus’ invoking the Emergencies Act. Conveniently, that was cancelled because Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act and is sending the police to Parliament Hill to arrest truckers and cut Canada’s economic throat. So I really don’t see the moron suddenly coming to his senses.
Point to Convoy. And when the mass arrests happen, game.
Arresting a bunch of unproductive, protesting college students is one thing. Arresting a bunch of productive workers, upon whom everyone in the country is dependent, is quite another.
