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Last weekend, I was covering the Canadian women’s curling championship from the relative quiet of my living room, media not being allowed in the Thunder Bay bubble. And when Kerri Einarson won a key playoff game, I did one of the things a journalist has to do when news is underway, which is that I tweeted what had just happened.
“Shut the f— up about sports,” a random reader replied, and began lecturing me that as a journalist, I needed to be focused entirely on the anti-mandate occupations and blockades going down in various Canadian cities and border crossings.
Truth is, we need other things. We do. All of us need somethings to enjoy that isn’t hard news, because if all you consume is news of conflict and disorder, then you will lose your grip on joy, and that won’t help anyone navigate the world’s problems. That’s why I wrote a love letter to climbing. That’s why I’m incredibly glad that the convoy mess is happening right in the middle of the golden season for curling, which is, in my undying opinion, the world’s most beautiful sport, and one that is the most reliably satisfying for Manitobans.
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To wit: on Sunday, Einarson completed her march to her third consecutive Scotties title. Jennifer Jones got yelled at by a robot in Beijing as she prepared for her second Olympic quest, one in which she sets a meaningful record as Canada’s oldest female winter Olympian. And in Selkirk, the men’s provincials are underway, with some young talent and all the familiar names.
Team Canada skip Kerri Einarson, third Val Sweeting, second Shannon Birchard and lead Briane Meilleur (from left) pose with the trophy and medals after winning the Scotties Tournament of Hearts Sunday in Thunder Bay, Ont. (Andrew Vaughn / the Canadian Press)
Thank goodness we have bright moments like that, because the rest of the week’s news has been all convoys, all the time. The anti-mandate protesters have hunkered down for the long haul in Winnipeg, and the mayor is sick of it. Meanwhile, police arrested a man accused of a hit-and-run against several protesters last week. Thank goodness no-one was seriously hurt.
All of this tension is starting to bubble over. It’s becoming obvious that the convoys’s disruption, and the either inability or refusal of law enforcement to do much about it, has emboldened more people to flout public health rules, especially in Winkler. And Niigaan Sinclair had some pointed words for how the convoys have been using Indigenous ceremony, against the stated wishes of community and in at least one case with known white supremacist in attendance.
MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSMany of the vehicles packed into Twister’s parking lot displayed signs and stickers indicating support for anti-vaccination protesters and the “freedom convoy” blockades in place across Canada, including downtown Winnipeg.
It’s a mess, that’s the long and short of it. And we’ll still be talking about it next week.
Until then, may the next days bring some clarity, and some peace.
P.S. I had no idea Thompson had its own style of pizza, but it does, and these Métis brothers have brought it to Winnipeg, and that story absolutely sold me on trying a pie.
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