The Freedom Convoy made a tactical retreat to Ottawa recently as the government moved in to clear the Ambassador Bridge. The thinking appears to be that it does no good to have those protesters arrested and their trucks impounded when they can reinforce what’s happening in Canada’s capital.

That’s got Canadian PM Justin Trudeau, who is definitely not Fidel Castro’s son, lashing out again. The latest threat involves invoking the Emergency Act to give the government more power to crush dissent. Whether that will include declaring martial law is still an open question.

UPDATE: CBC News has learned Justin Trudeau will inform the provinces he will invoke the Emergencies Act to give the government extra powers to deal with the protests across the country. Trudeau said there were no plans to deploy the military. https://t.co/yFw9Hj1DhD

— CBC News (@CBCNews) February 14, 2022

There may be “no plans” as of now to deploy the military, but I’m not sure how they accomplish anything without doing so. Civilian law enforcement has already failed repeatedly to dislodge the Freedom Convoy from Ottawa via a myriad of tactics, and with more trucks and protesters still arriving, that task hasn’t gotten any easier. If martial law is declared, it will take the military to enforce it. Whether Trudeau will be willing to go there, though, is currently unknown.

In response, Tamara Leach, one of the leaders of the Freedom Convoy, has let it be known that they will not be backing down. Instead, they will “hold the line” per David Marcus, who is reporting from on the ground in Ottawa (and freezing his butt off).

Trucker Convoy leader Tamara Leach says if Trudeau imposes the Emergency Act truckers will “hold the line.”

— David Marcus (@BlueBoxDave) February 14, 2022

That sets up a tenuous clash between the government and the truckers who have made Ottawa the center of their protest. If the Freedom Convoy participants don’t bow to Trudeau’s demands, and I have no reason to think they will, things could spiral quickly. We’ve already seen police and those against the convoy get violent with protesters. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that on a larger scale.

This would all be over in an instant if the tyrannical Canadian government (man, that feels weird to say, but it’s true) would put aside its pride and admit they were wrong about vaccine mandates. The vaccines do not stop the spread of COVID-19. Thus, they only make sense as an individual decision at this point. If someone wants to get vaccinated, they should do so. If someone doesn’t want to be vaccinated (or has natural immunity from prior infection), they aren’t hurting anyone else. Besides, truckers work in isolation anyway.

Of course, many of the truckers in the Freedom Convoy are already vaccinated. For them, this entire ordeal is about standing on principle and putting a flag in the ground. The Canadian government is out of control, ignoring data in order to bend people to its will. That’s worth opposing no matter the situation.