Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by earth_walker 1514 days ago
No-one got their bank accounts frozen for "saying mean things".

People did get their bank accounts frozen for playing key roles in protests that shut down critical infrastructure for a prolonged period. Protests that were at least partially funded by foreign interests. Protests that cost Canadians millions of dollars and posed a safety risk for many people.

Whether you like JT or not, at least on the surface the government had justification to do <<something>> to stop the protests after so many weeks. Some governments would have gone in with clubs, rubber bullets and teargas. Ours elected to shut off the funding tap. And it worked.

Whether the emergencies act should have been used here is definitely up for debate. For what it's worth, an independent inquiry has been established to look into this. I for one hope they recognize the slippery slope that such a blunt tool represents and put in better controls and oversight.
1 comments
tekknik 1514 days ago
> Some governments would have gone in with clubs, rubber bullets and teargas. Ours elected to shut off the funding tap. And it worked.

Sure, one can’t survive without money. And they shut that dissent down real quick. Like they controlled speech quite well. Now that they’ve found the button, I wonder how many times in the future they’ll push it. You’re basically bragging about your loss of dissent.

link
earth_walker 1514 days ago
I definitely do not think it's something to brag about - in the very next paragraph I point out that I believe this was too blunt an instrument. I do think it's worth contrasting with other recent responses to dissent, though, if anything to think about what and when would be appropriate.

Also, the government did not "shut down the dissent real quick". The protests went on for weeks without any reprisal. The shouts were shouted, the horns honked, the memes posted, the swastikas flown. The protesters got their fifteen minutes of fame and more. We all heard them speak, unfortunately it turned out they didn't have anything interesting to say.

link
tekknik 1512 days ago
You should reword some of your posts then, as it reads as though you’re gleeful.

So they let it take it’s natural course? Or did they force it to stop by using power wielded only by a gov?

link