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Comment by ars | Hacker News Reader

So basically protests are OK as long as they are easy to ignore?

Let's flip it - can your neighbour block the end your driveway and lay on their car horn 24/7 for weeks straight if they say they're protesting the government? Bonus points for harassing you if you walk by

I wouldn't like it, but I also wouldn't call it an illegal protest because I don't like it.

Truth be told I've rarely encountered a protest I liked - they are always annoying (even the ones I agree with are annoying - they block traffic to friends and foes equally).

It comes with the territory, and it's something you must tolerate to have a democracy.

> and it's something you must tolerate to have a democracy.

It's not for 21 days straight at noise levels capable of permanent hearing damage. It's really not.

If the government had stopped at halting the horns, very few people would object, and even then not seriously. A lack of a horn does not prevent a protest.

But that's not what Canada did, is it? They not just remove the protest they froze bank accounts of supporters. That's not democracy. That's a government very very threatened by the protest.

If Canada does not wipe the slate clean and vote away every single politician who was culpable in this, then Canada is not the place it's been advertised to be.

I mean, aside from the noise torture they shut down a city's downtown core for 3 weeks, continually threatened, harassed, and assaulted it's residents, released multiple statements and videos calling for overthrowing and arresting elected leaders (especially women / people of colour), and the municipal police force proved itself incapable of enforcing the law and keeping Canadians safe. Not to mention the other blockades that halted more than $300mil/day in trade.

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