Proposal to Replace Blockaded Trains with Trucks Is an Attempt to Embroil Truckers in the Denial of Indigenous Rights: the Answer Is No!Radio-Canada reports that talks related to the rail blockades organized in support of the Wet'suwet'en Nation, are underway between the Quebec Ministry of Transport (MTQ) and the Quebec Trucking Association (ACQ), which represents the majority of the province's major transportation companies. The MTQ is positing an immediate need to transport goods deemed essential and wants truckers to break the effectiveness of the blockades. Radio-Canada says the talks are focused on logistics and the availability of trucks and drivers and quotes ACQ President Marc Cadieux as saying, "I had discussions with certain carriers and yes, I'm being told that there have been requests [...] There are costs associated with the reorganization of transportation logistics. It requires unusual moves." The MTQ has raised concerns about the transportation of propane in a hysterical fashion and asked carriers if they have suitable trucks, equipment and enough drivers available for long hauls throughout Quebec, Ontario and even the United States. The request from the MTQ to the ACQ has caused discussion amongst truckers who, like the Wet'suwet'en, demand a say in how life unfolds. The MTQ and the ACQ regard the thousands of truckers working in Quebec as a mere means of production available to the monopolies to do their bidding under all conditions and circumstances, who must jump to attention when summoned. Many truckers are saying, hold on a second; we have rights, as do all people. We have the right to conscience, to think and to decide for ourselves a course of action, and to speak out on the issues at hand and give our consent or not. At no point does it occur to the government authorities and financial oligarchy that truckers may very well support the cause of the Wet'suwet'en and say No! to this request. Working people have common cause with the Indigenous peoples and a social responsibility to demand that the situation be resolved on the basis of the recognition of the rights and the sovereignty of the Wet'suwet'en people. The MTQ and the ACQ have always collaborated in smashing the standards and regulations that benefit truckers. The ACQ, as a representative of large transportation companies, has consistently opposed the creation of an independent truckers' organization to represent workers' interests. Now the ruling circles want truckers to work to secure the transportation of goods held up by the blockades and in doing so undermine the cause of the Indigenous peoples for justice and new anti-colonial nation-to-nation relations. A growing number of truckers are opposed to capitulating to the ruling elite. They are speaking out in their workplaces and on social media. Many find despicable the government's request that the trucking industry rescue the financial oligarchy in its battle against the rights of the Wet'suwet'en. Truckers have long been dissatisfied with their working conditions and have been waging their own struggle in defence of their rights, particularly since the deregulation of the industry began in 1990. Many truckers are even saying that they themselves should block the roads in support of the Wet'suwet'en and show their strength vis-à-vis the economy.
Truckers, amongst themselves and on social media, are saying No! to the demand of the ACQ and MTQ. They are sending a clear message, "No Consent," to Canada's Minister of Transport Marc Garneau, Quebec's Minister of Transport François Bonnardel, and to the President of the ACQ. Truckers are telling them that they are unwilling to offer their capacity to work to perpetuate the denial of the rights of the Wet'suwet'en and the use of state-organized colonial violence against Indigenous peoples and their supporters and against working people, such as is being used against workers at Federated Co-operatives Limited in Regina. The refusal of the ruling elite to end the Canadian colonial order affects us all. Let us together seize this occasion to express our solidarity with all those who are fighting for their rights in Canada and thereby demonstrate in practice our determination to do the same for ourselves.
This article was published in   Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca |
Many truckers
consider the demand of the MTQ and the ACQ insulting, an affront to
their dignity, cooked up behind their backs without their consent,
similar in some ways to forcing a pipeline through Wet'suwet'en
territory without their consent. The situation reinforces their resolve
to build their own organization to defend their interests as a
collective of truckers with the ability to speak out in their own name,
rather than having others speak on their behalf.