OTTAWA, ONTARIO — Camille Dagenais has learned some tough lessons since seeing her mother fired from her government job in Canada three months ago after refusing to get a COVID-19 vaccine, and now she is getting a practical education in civics.
Watching as her mother was shunned by her former colleagues and friends steeled the well-read 15-year-old for the new mission: braving subzero temperatures with her parents as they support the trucker convoy occupying Ottawa to protest vaccine mandates.
“I am here to fight for freedom,” she told the Washington Examiner. “Why should my family be forced to get a vaccine for a job? Freedom is freedom of choice, freedom of speech, and [Prime Minister Justin] Trudeau is just deciding to take all of that away from us.”
The 10th grader said protesters like her are getting a bad rap and that the narrative is being twisted in the media and exploited by politicians.
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“We’re good people, and we’re trying to send a message that it’s OK to fight for your freedom,” she said. “It’s OK to choose and say, ‘I don’t want to take a vaccine.’ Justin Trudeau wants to choose everything for us.”
She’s also got a problem with the prime minister’s depiction of the protesters.
“Justin Trudeau calls us ‘inside terrorists,'” she said. “They’ve said we’re Nazis. So does that means all these little 5-year-olds and kids that are coming here are now [domestic] terrorists?”
“Yeah, we’re being trained to be little mini-terrorists. Of course, Justin Trudeau. Of course,” she added sarcastically.
Trudeau sparked outrage for branding the anti-vaccine mandate protesters of the “Freedom Convoy” as racist “swastika wavers” — a fear that paralyzed much of the city, causing businesses and restaurants to close their doors.
Dagenais’s father, Junior Dagenais, told the Washington Examiner that he’s proud of his daughter’s determination to get involved and fight for what she believes. He said his older daughter is vaccinated and that while he doesn’t agree with it, he respects it.
“It’s about choice,” he said. “That’s the lesson.”
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Junior Dagenais dressed up in a black-and-white striped prison jumpsuit and held a homemade sign saying: “I want to break free! End all mandates!” He said it’s been frustrating for his family over the past few months in Quebec City.
Because he’s not fully vaccinated, he’s prevented from going to retail stores including Ikea, Canadian Tire, Walmart, and any store that is larger than 16,000 square feet, with the exception of grocery stores, pharmacies, and gas stations. Health Minister Christian Dube said the expanded vaccine mandate is meant to encourage more people to get vaccinated.
It hasn’t worked on Junior Dagenais. Instead, it has fueled his 15-year-old daughter’s curiosity about how the government works and the cost of personal freedom.
“I want to be free,” Junior Dagenais said. “I don’t care. Material, house, anything — they can take all that, but they will never take my choice.”
A few feet from where the Dagenais family was protesting stood an 11th grader named Isabelle.
The teenager was there with her uncle Robert, a mobile mechanic in Racine who has had his red pickup truck parked in downtown Ottawa for days.
It’s emblazoned with the word “FREEDOM” painted in white on the side. He’s also got four black flags flying from poles mounted on his vehicle with the words “F*** Trudeau.”
He told the Washington Examiner that he’s looking for a black-and-white checkered flag, the kind waved after a car crosses the finish line and wins the race.
“I’m going to wave that thing and honk as loud as I can when it happens,” he said confidently.
For Isabelle, 16, watching the dogged drive the truckers have had over the past two weeks has been a lesson in perseverance.
She said it’s also taught her about patriotism, standing up for one’s beliefs, and humanity.
Pointing to a white plastic table set up on the corner of Rideau Street near Parliament Hill, Isabelle said residents and other sympathizers have kept it stocked with food and water for the truckers and their families.
“This area is always filled with canned food, water, juice — anything you need,” she said. “People bring lasagna every day, shepherd’s pie, hot meals, and everybody is then allowed to take what they need from there. Every day this is full, and we encourage everybody to go. Everybody is allowed to go. Other times, people will bring socks, hot pads, anything really so nobody is missing of anything.”
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Isabelle said she’s acutely aware and appreciative of the front-row seat she’s had to the civics lesson playing out in Ottawa. And like the truckers, families of truckers, and scores of supporters, she’s not planning on going anywhere until the truckers are heard and the mandates are lifted.
