Frontline Workers Deserve Respect And Protection
The Saturday Huddle is a weekly column that features opinion, analysis and reflections on Huddle stories, podcasts and business news in the region. Mark Leger is the editor of Huddle and the Director of News Content for Acadia Broadcasting.
On Thursday, there were reporters on hand in Enfield, Nova Scotia, in the early morning hours, covering the gathering of truckers and their supporters as local transport trucks joined the “Freedom Convoy” heading to Ottawa to protest a mandatory vaccine policy.
These frontline workers–which the reporters are–were on the job when it was still dark outside and freezing cold. They were also subject to the kind of abuse other frontline workers have experienced across the country since the onset of the pandemic.
On Twitter, Global reporter Graeme Benjamin shared video footage of a man shouting abusive comments at reporters through a megaphone.
“Fake News. Fake News,” the man screamed. “You hide [the] truth and you lie to the public. I’m being respectful…You’re Satan man. You hide the truth and lie to the public. You know it. I hope in your heart you feel it. I hope you feel guilty. You should. There’s not a journalist in the world right now…There’s not a journalist who can write a fucking story properly.”
Most people there behaved peacefully and respectfully, but no one intervened to halt the man’s abusive diatribe, and Benjamin was later shouted at when he did a live report for his station. He ultimately gave a fair-minded account of the send-off event for the morning show. No fake news.
I must admit, I don’t agree with people who seem most concerned about their personal liberties being violated; I can’t get behind the idea that respecting individual rights is more important than protecting the health and safety of Canadians. And I certainly don’t empathize with those who heap abuse upon perceived enemies of their cause, which apparently includes an innocent group of journalists.
Here’s who I do empathize with:
- People who have gotten Covid-19 even though they’ve done their best to protect themselves, their families and community members.
- Reporters trying to do their jobs even though they risk exposure to Covid-19 in a large gathering of rally goers on a cold January morning.
- Other frontline workers in education, healthcare, grocery stores, restaurants, and retail stores, many of whom received temporary “hero pay” increases that were taken away long ago.
- Owners of restaurants and personal services businesses like fitness facilities and hair salons that have had to scale down their operations or shut down entirely to help slow the spread of the virus.
- People who have worked at home during office shutdowns and endured extended periods of loneliness and isolation.
- Parents who have had to home-school their kids during shutdowns and do their own jobs at the same time.
- The kids who don’t get to see their friends and classmates as much, and have their extracurricular activities, so important to their health and wellbeing, curtailed or cancelled to help slow the spread of the virus.
I respect people’s right to choose not to get the vaccine or those who believe it’s a matter of personal choice. I try my best to hear them out when we have conversations about these issues and not attack their personal choices. I also respect their right to peacefully protest policies they think unfairly restrict their rights and freedoms.
But their choices do come at a cost. In this case, the government has decided a mandatory self-isolation period for truckers who aren’t fully vaccinated is the best way to protect the health and safety of Canadians.
I know all these policy prescriptions are debatable. We’ve all had our kitchen table conversations about what’s fair and effective. New Brunswick just loosened restrictions on businesses like restaurants and kids are going back to school Monday.
Some will say we’re ready for that, some will say we aren’t. But the greater good remains the goal, even if we disagree on the various measures.
What risks getting lost in the debate on the “freedom convoy,” by the way, is the fact that truckers are frontline workers too.
In the early days of the pandemic, Huddle did a series of stories called “Heart Beat” that profiled frontline workers. As part of that series, Trevor Nichols spoke with Jocelyn Guimond, a trucker on the road doing his job and trying to stay safe at the same time.
“I’m just a normal guy doing my job. There’s plenty of us out here just toughing it out,” Jocelyn told Trevor.
A trucker on the road. A journalist covering a rally. Both are frontline workers who deserve our respect and our protection for the essential work they do.