Prime Minister Out of Control – Misogynistic and Racist: Is Trudeau speaking to Black Canadians, the most vaccine hesitant?

BY SIMONE J. SMITH

We are at a time when there is no shortage of topics to disagree on: masks, vaccines, we all have our opinions, and the risk of deepening our societal divides is as real as ever.

Unfortunately, Canadians have a Prime Minister whose words of, “We are in this together,” have been changed to, “If you don’t want to get vaccinated, that’s your choice. But don’t think you can get on a plane or a train beside vaccinated people and put them at risk!”

Justin Trudeau is doing everything possible to divide Canadians. When a leader with a large national platform decides to take that path, the result is that the nation ends up being bitterly divided.

Trudeau wants some Canadians to fear and hate other Canadians, because he sees this as being in his political interest.

This is why when you are scrolling through your newsfeed, and you come across a heated discussion thread propagated my mainstream media; you can’t help but keep scrolling. You see the emotional arguments, the uniformed opinions, and in your head, you think, “These people have no idea what they are talking about.”

Maybe you read something that day that has something to say about the current discussion; maybe you were just watching the CP24, or CBC News, and for a moment, you consider adding your comments to the feed, telling the dissenters they are wrong. They are so far off, so why bother? You have done your research, so if someone disagrees about something you care about, you tend to think of him or her not as having a different perspective, but as having the wrong perspective.

It is this thought pattern that has been encouraged by our government, pitting friends against friends, family against family. Meanwhile, Justin Trudeau pretends that he is a passive observer or victim of the rising level of anger in Canada. He has divided the nation for his own selfish political gain, and this is how we have gotten to where we are now.

A few weeks ago, Trudeau gave an angry and divisive speech where he demonized unvaccinated Canadians in what looks like an attempt to divide the country, turning a group of Canadians into a targeted group, and use that targeted group as an ‘excuse’ to deflect anger and hatred towards a ‘politically-convenient’ target.

“We are going to end this pandemic by proceeding with the vaccination,” said Trudeau in French.

“We all know people who are deciding whether or not they are willing to get vaccinated, and we will do our very best to try to convince them. However, there is still a part of the population that is fiercely against it.”

“They don’t believe in science and progress and are very often misogynistic and racist. It’s a very small group of people, but that doesn’t shy away from the fact that they take up some space.”

“This leads us, as a leader and as a country, to make a choice: Do we tolerate these people?”

What he did in a very aggressive nature is dehumanize those who are not going along with the vaccine mandate. This is a subtle form of dehumanization that happens all the time; “Things revolve more around me than around you,” which we also call egocentrism. It is that common, everyday narrative that is constantly being presented to us via social media and mainstream media that other people are “less” than you are if they have not decided to take the injection.

So, exactly whom is Justin Trudeau talking to? What I am about to share might shock you.

Why are people Vaccine Hesitant?
According to Abacus Data (https://abacusdata.ca/vaccine-hesitancy-canada/) hesitancy rates are influenced by concerns about side effects and are different depending on the specific vaccine in question. Since the beginning of March 2021 comfort levels with the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have increased, while comfort with the AstraZeneca and Johnson and Johnson products has declined.

The most important reason for hesitancy is a worry that the vaccines were created quickly and that the long-term effects might not be fully known. Second on the list of drivers of hesitancy is a fear of blood clots, followed by fear of flu-like side effects.

Different groups in society have different factors that rank higher or lower in affecting their hesitancy. As an example, fear of blood clots is significantly higher among women than among men and especially high among those aged 45-59. The idea that “If others take it, maybe I don’t have to,” is especially common among those aged 30-44.

What should not come as a surprise is that higher on that list of vaccine-hesitant individuals is African Canadians, and for good reason.

There is a dark history of Black people being robbed of their bodily autonomy; decades of systemic anti-Black racism and a healthcare system riddled with racial disparities such as lower access and poor treatment outcomes. This has resulted in an inherent distrust towards the government. This distrust did not disappear with the appearance of COVID-19. The lives and livelihoods of Black Canadians have been, and continue to be, disproportionately affected by the pandemic.

For African Canadians, making the decision to take the vaccination isn’t as simple. Twelve months into a national vaccine rollout, as employers and provinces mandate vaccination passports and amidst a fourth wave, African Canadians have remained the most vaccine-hesitant group.  As of June 2021 33%, of the adult African Canadian population reported vaccine hesitancy to some degree, significantly higher than the 19% of the White population and 25% of non-Black people of colour. This is not without reason.

African Canadians are also facing economic challenges: 56% of African Canadians have reported being laid off or have reduced working hours. 45% were worried about being able to pay the rent. African Canadians also have to wade through a barrage of ever-changing information, and oftentimes misinformation, from unreliable sources, including social media.

So, when our Prime Minister touts rhetoric like “They don’t believe in science and progress and are very often misogynistic and racist. It’s a very small group of people, but that doesn’t shy away from the fact that they take up some space. This leads us, as a leader and as a country, to make a choice: Do we tolerate these people?”

Again I ask whom is he talking to? If the numbers show that it is African Canadians who are the most vaccine-hesitant, are we a people who have to be tolerated? It has become glaringly obvious that we were not all in this together.

The great part of being Canadian is that we have personal freedoms in order to make choices surrounding issues like religion and our health. To call fellow Canadians who choose to make their own health care choices these kinds of vile names is not only unbecoming from neighbour to neighbour, it’s reprehensible for a sitting prime minister to Canadians.

Prime Minister Trudeau, you MUST DO BETTER SO WE CAN BUILD BACK BETTER!