Our television and social media feeds have been filled this weekend with images of people dancing and parking their cars on the National War Memorial; of a baseball cap placed on the head of the statue of Terry Fox, and decorated with signs and an inverted flag; of Canadian citizens marching with flags containing images of swastikas and many other symbols of hate.

We watched as a small portion of our population attempted to claim they were carrying the torches lit by those who died protecting Canadians over the past century in wars and battles around the world. We watched as a small contingent demanded that we “Mandate Freedom,” missing the lesson that Canadians earned their freedom by willingly sacrificing to protect each other – the exact opposite of the actions we witnessed this weekend.

What we didn’t see this weekend were the almost 90 percent of Canadians who have stood up for our country and for the safety of its citizens and our way of life by willingly getting vaccinated.

We didn’t see the almost 90 percent of Canadians who are vaccinated complaining they were tired, that working to keep older Canadians alive or keeping food on our tables was too much of a chore, or that their freedom to allow a disease to continue mutating and infecting their fellow citizens - overloading an already stressed healthcare system - was being infringed on and they didn’t think that was fair.

We didn’t see the almost 90 percent of truckers who continue delivering goods to shelves across our country and who made sure it was safe to do so by getting vaccinated.

We can all understand frustration; what we can’t allow is for ignorance to rule the day or for anyone to believe that the easiest, best way out of this is to give up on each other, or to sacrifice others to alleviate our own discomfort.

Vance Badawey, MP
Niagara Centre