In 1905 philosopher and essayist George Santayana wrote Reason and Common Sense. The book included the statement: “those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
What is currently happening with the truckers’ Freedom Rally 2022 reminds me of another Canadian protest movement.
In June 1935 a large contingent of single, unemployed and homeless men boarded boxcars in Vancouver and began a 5,000 kilometre journey on the rails to Ottawa.
Their goal was to present demands to Parliament and in particular Prime Minister R.B. Bennett for “work and wages”.
For five years these men had been frustrated in their attempts to end lives of idleness and unemployment. In 1932 the federal government began operating relief camps, most in isolated and rural areas.
In return for manual labour, the camps provided the basic necessities of life. However, by early 1935 the men were fed up with the camps.
Led by organizer Arthur Evans, some 1,800 men left B.C. camps and descended on Vancouver. Despite a May Day parade numbering 20,000 and the support of civic, labour, ethnic and political groups, Premier Duff Pattiullo and Vancouver Mayor Gerry McGeer refused responsibility for the camp workers’ welfare.
At this point, the men decided to take their cause to the nation’s capital and along the way inform the public about their plight.
On June 3, 1,000 “rail riders” left Vancouver on top of cattle cars and began the On-to-Ottawa trek. At stops along the way, the public showed support and encouragement.
More men joined. Soon the trek numbered 2,000 and became front-page news in the country’s major newspapers.
The trekkers made it as far as Regina, before Bennett ordered the railways to deny access to their trains by the men. While the trekkers encamped in the city’s Exhibition Grounds, eight leaders were taken to Ottawa to meet with the prime minister and his cabinet.
The meeting was a disaster with Bennett and Evans engaged in a shouting match. Eventually the trek leaders were escorted out of the building and onto to the street.
Having decided to abandon the protest, the eight men returned to Regina to hold a final rally in Market Square on July 1.
Unknown to the speakers, however, Bennett had decided to arrest them. More than 300 RCMP and Regina police officers moved into the rally of 2,000 trekkers and citizens. Provoking a riot, the police fired guns into the crowd and used tear gas; the trekkers and citizens retaliated with rocks and clubs.
The Regina Riot raged in the city for hours, led to two deaths, hundreds injured, 130 arrested and thousands of dollars of damage to property.
Fast forward 87 years.
Last week, Freedom Rally 2022 truckers left Vancouver for Ottawa to protest the federal government’s mandate that rig drivers be vaccinated if they want to avoid a 14-day quarantine after crossing the border from the United States. The rule came into effect on Jan. 15.
What are the similarities between Freedom Rally 2022 and the On-to-Ottawa Trek?
Both left Vancouver for a cross-country journey to Ottawa. Both are protest movements. Both wish to place demands before the government/prime minister. Both are well organized, disciplined and decry violence.
Both have public support (with the truckers recipients of GoFundMe donations of more than $8 million). Both have spokespersons. Both have garnered national media attention.
Both have been conflated with fringe elements – the trekkers with communists and the truckers with extremists.
If Santayana is correct and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his government act to end the protest, let’s hope it will be with a peaceful solution.
Let’s hope history will not give us as repeat of what happened in Regina so many years ago.
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