It was suspicious from the get go. Trudeau insulting a movement which are peacefully against specific government programs (legit by any democratic standard), virtually disappearing (modulo sporadic casual insults) and then refusing to re-assess the mandates, or even talk to the organizers – despite the pandemic getting better and research showing vaccines being close to worthless for preventing spread. It's not uncommon that politicians are so tonedeaf and insulated from the people they govern, but with Trudeau's background, I find it hard to believe he would misjudge and respond to the situation so badly, if he genuinely wanted a resolution. It almost seems like they were welcoming civil unrest in order to suddenly show up as saviors once regular people with no dog in the fight got tired enough, and use the opportunity to expand their authority – a "bring it on" mindset. In either case, the timing of such reckless politics couldn't be worse, given the toll the pandemic has had on all of us.