[adamc]

Not a Canadian, but no, a protest protests and gives voice to the disagreement. Blocking other people's rights is not just a protest and is likely to trigger action to protect others. That's how it goes everywhere that has rights. Normally, some effort is made to do it peacefully, but there are no countries where you can halt the economy whenever you want to force people to negotiate with you.

[throaway89]

A protest which isn't allowed to do anything other than raise voices is a powerless and toothless protest.

[adamc]

I don't agree. There were a bunch of university protests over Gaza (slapped down for stupid reasons by university administrators under pressure from government), and, really, they just made noise, but they got a lot of people to notice, including myself. And to ask ourselves, what do I think about this?

If you are expecting protests to force someone's hand, that isn't protest or protected political speech, that's coercion. Some forms of that are legal (e.g., strikes), but there are pretty sharply defined limits.

[throaway89]

That's a good point, but the Gaza protesters would of course counter that they were slapped down (for stupid reasons) and the war in Gaza (which is illegal and genocidal, though initially provoked by Hamas) continues to be supported. So their protest, while not useless, wasn't effective in bringing change.

[eastbound]

Preferably online, but not on a website that everyone sees. Something silent. On the side. Also please have the dignity to die in peace, not commit suicide in a place where everyone can see it.

[Khaine]

so you were okay with BLM blocking freeways, and city roads?

[parineum]

What are you going to say if the answer is yes?

[potato3732842]

I respect principled people a lot more than people who flip flop out of self interest even if I might agree with the latter some of the time.

[Khaine]

If you are okay with the Truckers doing the same, then nothing.

[kennyloginz]

Did this ever happen for more than a day?

[tlss]

I mean, this is the French way. SNCF striking (a yearly occurrence) is arguably halting the economy each time it happens.

As a sympathizer to the HK protests, I've heard all these talking points before -- that the protesters are ruining the economy and making things miserable for everyone. Usually the protests can really only get so big when there is a shared grievance that keeps getting ignored by the administration.

In the case of HK, the grievance was the possibility for criminals to be extradited to Chinese mainland.

In the case of convoy protests, the grievance was the vaccine mandate in order to work a trucking job that's mostly solitary with minimal human contact.

[bawolff]

I think a better comparison would be the jan 6 protests in usa in 2021.