The self-proclaimed “freedom” fighters who captured downtown Ottawa have made the whole world wonder, “What’s happened to Canada?”
The insurrectionists’ big win in the news media is appropriating the word “freedom” for their cause. They have also hijacked the Canadian flag. From now on it might be impossible to look at the Maple Leaf and not recall the insurrection.
For those who want to cancel the rioters, it’s necessary not to inadvertently give them free advertising by using the rioters’ own words. This advice is central to the concept of framing. Like a frame around a painting, a verbal frame outlines a debate.
If you say the conquest of Ottawa “has nothing to do with freedom,” you’re repeating the frame. By doing so, you bring to mind images of freedom in your audiences when you really want to make them think of oppression, a war on peaceful citizens, and an attack on democratically elected governments.
When it comes to COVID, there are no alternatives to vaccines, vaccine passports, and mandates if we want to be safe again and resume life as it was before the pandemic.
What to say instead of “freedom?” Use “rights.” Say the lawbreakers jamming streets with trucks are stealing our civil rights. Say governments require proof of vaccination to protect our rights and safeguard us, our kids and our communities from severe illness and death.
Say those who object to mandates and other safety measures and tie up our highways, bridges and the economy should be called pro-Covid demonstrators.
Say the people resisting the assault on Ottawa are the real heroes who have kept us safe.
Vaccine mandates protect our human rights. Mandates especially protect those who are most vulnerable, kids who aren’t old enough for vaccines, low-wage workers who do some of society’s most vital jobs, public health employees who are protecting the people Covid has struck and helping them recover.
Instead of contesting the occupiers’ use of “freedom,” say those in the downtown Ottawa encampment have no right to be harming others. They should be sharing the sacrifices required to conquer Covid.
The illegal squatters in Ottawa are well-funded far-right extremists, which is a good thing to call them because it is undeniably true. They’re winning so far on the street. Don’t let them win the battle of words, too.
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Nick Seebruch, editor
