A community-oriented approach with a progressive editorial stance, striving for transparency and encouraging readers to consider multiple perspectives.

Friday, July 11, 2025
booked.netCall us at 613-935-3763
Eco-conscious : Print an issue, plant a tree! 

No products in the cart.

  • About
    • Contributors
    • Disclaimers
    • Terms & Conditions
    • Giving back
    • Mission Statement
    • Past Issues
    • Where to Find
    • Call us at 613-935-3763
The Seeker - Positively Local, Suporting Local
  • Home
  • News
  • The Soapbox
  • Columnists
  • Events
  • Advertise!
    • Online
    • In Print
  • Puzzles
  • Videos
Seeker
No Result
View All Result

Opinion: Twist and Shout

Louise Mignault by Louise Mignault
November 27, 2020
in The Soapbox, Louise Mignault
Reading Time: 5 mins read
0

Twist and Shout was the title of a great dance song written and performed by the Isley Brothers in 1963 and subsequently performed by the Beatles.

Today it’s an appropriate description of the freedom-from-tyranny-and-oppression-protest tactics. Twist the facts, deny reality and shout about it.

You might also like

LTE: Starving local news and awarding billionaires with huge tax breaks isn’t okay

LTE: Roll on Democracy!

LTE: Electoral Reform

Like everybody else, I’m reading about the local “freedom” protests including the recent Standard Freeholder opinion piece “Praise for Cornwall police officers came as surprise at rally” by Todd Hambleton.

Even if it was an opinion piece, I feel like the focus of this article was in the wrong place. In fact, I’m not sure it has one.

Rally speakers and organizers SHOULD be thanking the police for spending hours out in the cold protecting their right to protest. And, if rally speakers do so, it’s also a politically expedient thing to do. The protest organizers DO NOT want to clash with the police – anywhere.

And, what does it have to do with anything really?

Commenting on how nice someone is to the police or to the homeless does not address the dangerous and irresponsible messages being spread by “anti-tyranny/oppression” groups. An attempt to equate someone’s real right to an opinion with an assumed right to spread misinformation based on non-existent expertise is just wrong.

And it’s debatably wrong to legitimize that process.

There is a huge difference between opinion and expertise. Everybody has an opinion. But NOT everybody has expertise. For that you need education and experience – in your field of expertise.

For example: Ms. Richer is the local organizer of the “freedom” protests plaguing our city of late. I do respond to some of her comments (to me and to others). At some point while we were debating the existence of Covid-19 or its mortality rate (something I should know by now not to do), she pointed me to a video by a Covid-19 denier “expert”. The expert in question was a PhD professor – in physics.

In discussing the viability of wearing a mask she responded, to someone else, “While ignoring the hundreds of thousands collectively world wide who are speaking out against these measures —- ALL HOLDING THE EQUIVELANT EDUCATION”.

Equivalent education is not appropriate education.  I would not want a Doctor (PhD) of philosophy and/or religion to take out my appendix. Would you?

The “anti-tyranny, anti-oppression” movement regularly affirms that there is NO pandemic; that Covid-19 is a simple cold or flu causing 60 million cases of illness worldwide resulting in nearly 1.5 million deaths in roughly 10 months of spread. Their websites, social media pages and speakers regularly manufacture or distort statistics, reiterate outdated information and frequently quote unreliable sources because they don’t how to evaluate the information and/or it does not serve their purposes.

They maintain that “mainstream media” is a biased propaganda machine wielded by corrupt governments and yet they quote the very same mainstream media as authoritative sources to prop up their case if an opinion or statistic happens to align with theirs.

This is all in addition to asserting that our government is out to get us, out to control us; out to kill us in collusion with governments around the world trying to do the same.

Give me a break!

In the face of overwhelming evidence on the dangers of doing so, they gather in large numbers, do not physically distance and do not wear masks. A number of them travel to Cornwall from other places that may have larger Covid-19 exposure.

While their “hugs over masks” slogan sounds harmless, if any of these maskless huggers happened to be infected with Covid-19 and has passed it on to be spread here or to their communities: they are directly responsible for illness, community spread and resulting deaths; all at enormous financial cost to everyone.

A worrisome trend in Canada and elsewhere is the utter repudiation of all facts, warnings and statistics that are reported on through mainstream media and their social media streams.

To wit, these protesters and their leaders fail to grasp that the doctor who is talking about his direct experience with Covid-19 patients, the epidemiologist who tells us of his data on the pandemic spread, and the government official who explains the availability of resources, have nothing to do with mainstream media beyond using it as a delivery vehicle for information.

Mainstream media IS mainstream because it is a reliable source of information that has balances and checks though independent reporting by a many correspondents from many media outlets. As well, I think most journalists seek real news. If they were interested in fantasy they could easily write fiction. It’s easier.

Not all governmental responses have been perfect. Nor have all medical approaches been effective. This is an evolving situation and one can always find examples of inconsistent and ill-advised measures both locally and further afield.

It IS important to question and highlight these issues; but not by spreading misinformation, unfounded conspiracy theories and paranoia as a way of getting attention to these situations.

I am writing to encourage non-protesters to express their opinions. Politicians are human and they pay attention to the voice of the people. Protest marches are noisy and attention getting. It’s important for politicians and government agencies – including the police, to know what the non-protesters are thinking because it helps guide their actions. One way to do so is by signing this petition.

If you don’t support the protesters, don’t let them speak for you.

Louise Mignault

Louise Mignault

Louise is an independent artist and writer. She writes opinion and editorial pieces about current events, politics and social issues. You can read more on her website at www.louise-mignault.com

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this column are the author's and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Seeker or any of its other authors.

Next Post
building metal house architecture

5 Things to Do When You're Locked Out

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Categories

  • Business & Finances (15)
  • Columns (636)
    • Archived (116)
      • Filter-Free Zone (10)
      • For What it's Worth (37)
      • Fostering Change (2)
      • Memo from the Mayor (2)
      • Men Writes (26)
      • Mortgage Tips (1)
      • Seeker Snippets (22)
      • Take Note (6)
      • Which Witch is Witch? (10)
    • Current (397)
      • Appreciating Contemporary Art (3)
      • Discover SD&G (36)
      • Fashionably Marlene (13)
      • From Sharyn's Pantry (7)
      • Gardening – Ask Anna (28)
      • Grant Spills the Gravy (10)
      • Jay's Tech & Cyber Insights (4)
      • Keeping it Reel (27)
      • Local Spins from Bud's Records (9)
      • Louise Mignault (58)
      • Mental Health Matters (11)
      • Out and About (51)
      • Outdoor Club (24)
      • Reality Bytes (8)
      • roadSIGNS (32)
      • Smart Move with Sondra (4)
      • The Resilient Life (5)
      • Transition Cornwall+ (16)
      • What I'm Reading (2)
      • Wondrous Life (34)
      • Yafa Arts & Craft (22)
    • Friends of the Cline House (2)
  • Douris Deliberations (6)
  • Events (1)
  • Health & Fitness (11)
  • Home & Garden (11)
  • Interviews (159)
    • 5 questions with… (106)
    • Business Profiles (2)
    • Locals in the Loupe (49)
  • Leisure & Lifestyle (736)
  • News (2,578)
    • Ontario (1)
  • Politics (24)
    • Federal Elections (10)
    • Provincial Elections (10)
  • Science & Technology (46)
  • Sports (4)
  • The Adventures of D.B Cooper (1)
  • The Soapbox (260)
    • Agree to Disagree (114)
  • This May Also Interest You (1,596)
  • Travel (52)
  • You May Also Like (971)
Facebook Twitter Instagram Youtube TikTok
Don't miss anything!

Get notified of all our new news by ringing the bell at the bottom left corner!

Content Safety

HERO

theseeker.ca

Trustworthy

Approved by Sur.ly

2024
Disclaimers
Stock Photos partially provided by our partner Depositphotos
The Seeker Newspaper is located at 327 Second Street E., Cornwall, ON K6H 1Y8 -- All rights reserved
The Seeker does not accept responsibility for errors, misprints or inaccuracies published within.Please note that the views and opinions expressed in news article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of The Seeker. The content provided is for informational purposes only and has been written from the authors’ perspective, aiming to engage and inform readers. The Seeker is committed to presenting a wide range of viewpoints and encourages readers to conduct their own research and exercise critical thinking when considering these opinions in the context of their own perspectives.
ISSN 2562-1750 (Print)

ISSN 2562-1769 (Online)
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • The Soapbox
  • Columnists
  • Events
  • Advertise!
    • Online
    • In Print
  • Puzzles
  • Videos

© 2023 Reducing our footprint!   For every issue we print, we plant a tree!

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.