*Edit: Shortly after publication, the Canadian press reported that Saskatchewan, Quebec and Prince Edward Island will join Alberta in lifting COVID restrictions.

The Canadian Freedom Convoy has endured a lot over the last few weeks. The amount of propaganda and misinformation fed to the Canadian public by their government (via their state-run media) has truly been of communistic proportions. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has accused the convoy participants of being everything from racists to racist Americans disguised as Canadians to racist Americans not bothering to disguise their racism at all. The trucker protest has been maligned viciously by their own media, the same media who praised Antifa and Black Live Matters protesters who were out in full force in the heat of the pandemic, before we even had vaccines.

Trudeau seems to be digging in his fancy Christian Loubitin heels, refusing to admit that he’s out over his skis on this one, but is there a sign that the dam is breaking, or the dominos are falling or insert your favorite metaphor here?

Alberta is considered one of Canada’s most conservative provinces, with a large blue collar workforce attached to the oil and gas industry. Many of the original Freedom Convoy truckers were from Alberta, and mere days ago RedState reported that Alberta Premier Jason Kenney was considering a drawdown on COVID restriction in his province, including their vaccine mandate. Kenney told Canadian press that he felt perhaps Canadians had been a bit too cavalier about violating civil rights over the last couple of years. He was sure to stress that the Freedom Convoy played no role whatsoever his decision.

Now, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney has announced that they would be moving to end restrictions, starting with dropping the restriction exemption program (Alberta’s vaccine passport). Kenney said they would be reviewing all the data and trends, but that they were working on a plan to drop almost all restrictions over the month. He said he wanted them to prioritize lifting damaging restrictions on kids. He of course said this was due to “public health” and not the protests. He said he believed they had passed the Omicron peak about three weeks ago.

The protests have raged on despite his announcement, and on Tuesday, Canadian press outlet Rebel News reported that Alberta would be dropping their vaccine mandate at midnight.

But not because of the truckers. Obviously.

BREAKING: Alberta drops their vaccine mandate starting at midnight tonight

The HONKING has won! https://t.co/DEN7zzT6Ze! pic.twitter.com/2zH7CGeIHn

— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) February 9, 2022

Of course, we know it absolutely is because of the truckers. Guys like Kenney and Trudeau aren’t sitting around completely unbothered by the protests. They are having an effect on morale, supplies and international reputations. It is grossly naive to believe that the Freedom Convoy truckers haven’t played a huge part in the speed at which this has developed. Perhaps Alberta – like everywhere else – would have eventually gotten around to it, but who knows how long that would have taken without pressure? That’s not to mention the fact that had the truckers simply not bothered, it would have served to further embolden the tyrannical instincts of their parliamentary overlords. They would have seen that Canadians would tolerate tyranny indefinitely, and they would remember that for the next ‘crisis.’

The Freedom Convoy isn’t easy on anyone. It’s cold, uncomfortable, and the residents affected are surely outraged at the disruption to their lives. There’s no doubt it’s an inconvenience for all involved.

But freedom is mighty inconvenient. We here in the U.S. wish our trucker friends in the Great White North every success. They fight for all of us. Hopefully Alberta is a bellwether.