staff don't have sufficient skills to treat alcoholics hunter with only a handful of we have clinics await a bow. iranians are turning to the other organizations. jaron gives you haiti is no stranger to the troubles of alcoholism, but he organizes of cortex anonymous meetings into iran, to provide a space for addicts to share their stories and get better. and my son was more. yeah, i forgot to be 19 years since i got sober and 15 since i started holding these metes . we make an effort to help people, but it's not enough. we should work on the issue culturally make the issue public. but our government turns a blind eye because our religion says alcohol is forbidden, but it also says it's mandatory to help others and save lives with nor could have government regulation, says of bootleg o'korley and iran are likely to thrive. but for door seeking a cure. there are, at least some places they can go. bristol said that al jazeera tara, ah,

i money in size with the headlines on al jazeera, french president emanuel macro has warned a could take months to resolve the crying crisis. of says, there is a clear path forward. him speaking, following talks with the cranium president in here, which came a day off the met with russian lead vladimir putin, the premier. the discussions i had with president putin were to look at ways to lower the instability and insecurity in the region. this will take time, in particular, lowering attention related to military buildup. we have to find ways of bringing viewpoints together and lowering the tension. obviously the geopolitical order that was built at the end of world war 2. we need to address that. i think our communications over the past hours have helped us to address this old position and go and how to change. though. the former head of the catholic church pope benedict, the 16th has asked victims of sexual abuse in the church for forgiveness. but he

rejected allegations he was involved in any cover up an inquiry found he knew about abuses when he was archbishop of munich in the ninety's, seventy's and eighty's. but failed to report that crimes 3 palestinians have been killed by israeli security forces from new york to point west bank. the military says they were responsible for recent attacks on soldiers. the accept motus brigade says the men were members of the armed group and is promising to retaliate. hong kong has brought in its toughest restrictions, yet as it battles a record number of coven 19 cases, people will only be able to meet one other person in public and invite one of the household into their home. as you headlines, needs continues here, not as they are often side story. ah

truck drivers normally keep canada moving are holding the center of his capital at a standstill. they and their supporters opposed, vaccine rules and other coven 19 measures. so is it just one battle in a bigger wall? this is inside story. ah hello, welcome to the program. hashem aha! barack canada has lost control of bars of his capital, according to otto as mayor,

whose declared a state of emergency hundreds of truck drivers are effectively blockading the area near parliament and protest against coven 19 rose prime minister. just than trudeau has strongly urged the truckers to and their blockade and has promised to provide support to city officials, we have a lot to cover with our guest. first, this update from priyanka gupta for canada seat of power ottawa occupied by truckers and the supporters for more than a week now, protest is call it a freedom convoy. the police say it's a siege on the capital. in the depths of winter truckers from across canada are off road, adamant that cove in 19 vaccine mandates for cross border drivers must end or at the prime minister should resign. on monday, just intruder accused then of trying to do

a democracy. it has to stop people with auto us don't deserve to be harassed in their own neighborhoods. they deserve to be confronted with the inherit violence of a swastika flying on a street corner, or a confederate flag or the insults and jeers just because they're wearing a mask. the police are turning off supplies the fuel on funds to put a break on the porter. a court has also put injunction on the loud sound of horns disrupting the life we went after the funding. our efforts combined with the cities efforts eliminated to go fund me. $10000000.00 are no longer accessible to the demonstrators. but the battle is far from one. the truckers are showing no signs of leaving. i would guy on the street for my kids in my grandkids

here. there's no like we saw people on the side of the street with their songs at o'clock at night 40 below in the weather, standing there with their signs and telling us that were the only hope a bunch of truckers with their hot sticks and flags that come on how could we get here? hundreds of glosses away from ottawa at the main crossing between the us and canada . there's heavy traffic as support as poor in from south of the border, prominent republicans including former president donald trump, tesla founder, ellen musk, and far right. boxy groups have shown best support for the truckers, but in canada most people are vaccinated, including many of the protest as why it is not because canadians love getting needles. is because canadians trust science, canadians trust each other. but these demonstrations show trust in the government.

i'm a thruth, maybe when for some bianca group there for it's i story. ah . lettering in august they are or joining us from canada, in brampton, ontario, man and gutter, editor of rhode to day magazine, focusing on canada, south asian trucking community. in otto or david amber is lawyer and individual rights and freedom of speech. advocate in toronto, carry bowman both assist and assistant professor of the department of family and community medicine university of toronto. welcome to the program, men and how should we describe the so called freedom convoy movement? is it cross border trackers who want to see the vaccine mandate lifted or there's more to it?

well, definitely from the visuals. what we are seen in the last few days, there is so many other elements. people want to get rid of restrictions, not only the cross border vaccine mandate, but also some of the restrictions which have been taken away due to this pandemic. so yeah, there are a lot of different angles already. girl angles as well as people as fighting to get out of this covered pretty david. are they a fringe minority as prime minister? just introduce this, dr. them, are they a fringe minority? was that the question as the other, what is try to reminisce adjustment rudo. i don't think i've ever heard of prime minister get something so wrong that the this protest is involved. canadians of all walks of life races. religion is political views that the government is overstepping their bounds and large numbers of canadians in so many different

cities, including ottawa, had been coming out speaking in favor of the freedom convoy carried. you see this movement building momentum in the near future because it seems to be now pushing for more of a broader approach when it comes to dealing with the pandemic itself. the saying that we need to see most of the public health restrictions lifted. and now, you know, there's many canadians throughout the country, they're really, really want to move forward in terms of winding down public health interventions. the problem is that the, this movement has really polarized a lot of people. so it's absolutely in a democratic society, legitimate for people to speak out. but, and again, you know, there are some sort of demonstrations around the country. but the concentrated movement in ottawa was originally at least associated with very strong and radical views. that i would argue as alienated

a lot of canadian. so i think many canadians are trying to figure out who really do want to move forward and really think it's time to rethink all the all of the mandates that we have, whether this represents them. but that situation and i do, i want to be very clear, most canadian, see it as, as something much, much worse are kind of an occupation. there is a credible noise. there's diesel pollution, it's had a huge economic impact. the city is feeling paralyzed and a lot of people do not feel it. it really meets legitimate standard. and it does alienate a lot of people that are actually supportive of the movement. so it's a bit ambiguous at this point, let me just say brief. i'll move on, you know, i town toronto and on the weekend there was demonstrations here and i went down to just to get a feel for nobody. you know, most people were simply saying, we want to move on as a society wasn't. i didn't see it really extreme views. so it's, it's quite ambiguous and that's, that's the challenge. okay. minute,

why do you think this is starting to polarize the nation? because when you listen to the, the, the, the truckers are saying is basically, we have had enough of the quarantine with the delays. some of us are dealing with transportations over the perishable products. and then this to be a solution by the government. we don't see it happening, but on the other side of the political spectrum we have people saying that these people are i jack in democracy in canada here, you know, and there are reasons for that because we look at the data asper latest data available from health canada, more than 82 percent of canadians eligible canadians have been fully vaccinated. so it's already, you know, it's a very vocal minority of it is getting there. so you know, situation definitely within the trucking community. also as we look at the numbers from canadian trucking alliance, which is the umbrella audio, all the visual booking associations as but their numbers more than 90 percent of

trucking community itself has also been vaccinated. so when i look at the larger numbers, when we look at the flow of our supply chain, a sector, definitely the major, the, you know, the silent majority. i must say they are still working. they are cooperating, and they have been doing so even that, you know, at the bright onset of and, you know, look back it 2 years from now in march 2020. when it all started, the trucking community has been at the forefront in delivering goods and making sure our grossey shells are always full and making sure our medical supplies are in there. so there have been a tremendous job, but it's just a minority off truckers in a couple of with other affected groups you know, which definitely want to you know, get out of the fatigue i mercy. recent polling gives us an idea of the political difficulties in this crisis. research firm found more than 50 percent of respondents believe the prime minister's response is lacking. other party leaders also fared poorly. and while most canadians oppose the convoy protest,

a large minority, 32 percent suppor, those taking part david, you get a says that the government is grappling with how to move forward. on one hand, the have the mayor of toronto saying that of otto, a sorry thing that the government needs to listen to those people add mediate a solution. there are people saying that the governor has to adopt a stronger, tougher stance when it comes to dealing with the quizes about the same time. if you get a sense of the government is willing to give it some time before moving towards any sort of aggressive approach. well, the government's approach is yet to be seen, but i just wanted to touch back on something. 2 of your previous guesses said, suggesting and, and even embedded in your question, suggesting that this is a small, a minority of, of canadians that are supporting the truckers ah, the, the main issue about vaccine mandates is not about the support for vaccination. a

majority of the people who are involved in the trucking movement, and in fact, i would even suggest in all among all the supporters are vaccinated issues, not about being vaccinated or not vaccinated. the issue is about the mandates and the broader consensus of canadians is that there is no longer a need for mandates. more than 50 percent are close, close to 60 percent of the canadian people that was pulled recently. do not want to see any more government measures in terms of coven 19. and so there's a, a wide spread group of canadians, of all stripes, who support the general consensus behind the protests that governments need to take action. this entire timed circle back to your question. justin trudeau has been in hiding. he's been popping out every now and then to demonize a people who don't see things his way. and it's not working out so well for him. and so we haven't seen much action from the government yet,

but hopefully we're going to see some action in the days to come. ok. can we do? is that any consent of this is something that could further escalate into a full blown crisis in canada? yeah, i think there is, and what i think our governments plural and when i say plural, i mean the liberal party of canada and the conservatives are, you know, i'm not going to say responsible for this, but they really contributed to this problem enormously early in the pandemic tone in canada. it was, we're all in this together which i don't know if that ever was but, but that was the tone they have use. this is political fodder and they battled it out and you know, with the conservative really, really encouraging, very, very strong reactions. the liberals, absolutely insulting and demonizing what was i think, to some ext legitimate political action and discourse. and that is so wrong. they created this leave, they fed it,

and i see both parties is equally responsible for this. and you know, the common ground mediation, the common ground of democracy, was lost with many canadians fear, you know, our neighbors or the united states, which has a struggle, you know, like many fear, the kind of january 6, you know, riots essentially on the white house. i think that's over it, i don't feel that but, but it's been a fear with in canadian society that this could really become a very dangerous populace movement that has no relation to science or reality. and part of that's fair, but we're really stuck on this really in a struggle nationally, men and you have just to care. we talk about the responsibility for both from both the liberals and conservatives. that is the general sentiment among the liberals that what they are seeing on the ground is a replica of exactly the same conservative narrative that was prevailing under

trump, about cove, it and handling of code. and the thing this is spreading across the border and the governors in some sections of the conservative part of people in canada. melina, did there is some thought to that because we have seen this are movement, are spreading over different border crossings just earlier today. we saw that ambassador, which is one of the major in a busiest cross border look or bridge connecting canada and usa was shut down for a few hours. even now the traffic is moving very slowly. so when you see these kind of protest movements affecting our supply chain in the flow of goods, definitely be it impacts everybody. so who server is the, you know, igniting the sentiment, are not opening the door for dogs. i think everybody, please equal responsibility. david, i mean, when you look at the political landscape in canada with the liberal government anyway, given you the impression that they seem to be confident,

this is not something that is likely to further erode there. but voter and support base as far as the conservative party, which is facing a leadership vote is this something which is linked is something which could potentially have a knock on effect on the outcome of the vote on the outcome of the leadership. mm hm. yep. well, i think one of the problems has been for the last 24 months or 23 months. the conservative party has been sitting in opposition to the liberals, has been, has not been much of an opposition, as it's pertained to coven, written response. and cobit measures, and so i think one of the things you're going to see, and i think it dovetails quite appropriately with the situation we're in right now, is that we're 2 years out from the beginning of the pandemic. most of the measures that the government is taken at all levels, right. talk about the measures. a lot of the measures aren't taken by the federal government. but the leadership that comes from the federal government and opposition is important as part of the political discourse. and most until only

recently, all of the measure there's that have been taken were supported roundly by the conservatives. and here we are 2 years in now with measures that were meant to be only temporary or, or very short term that have been in for quite some time with no end in sight. and so i think a lot of the debate between the leadership candidates and the conservative party is to what extent they will need to push back against that, the liberal approach to doing things. and i think that that's a good thing because for the last 2 years we've not had much of an official opposition. carry a conservative hellion brace the grassroots approach to politics. is that any risk for them to be underlined in the near future as they decide you know what this could be our chance to move forward and consolidate our base, but ultimately the price could be a more, radicalized conservative party in the future. yeah, i mean,

anything could happen at this point. i think this has really, really leading to quite a sea change within the nation. and you know, as we have a lot of respect for the united states, but we're also very fearful of the struggles that they're facing. and a lot of people feel that it could become, you know, more of a populous movement. i do think both are government, you know, as i said, have been quite wrong about this. i mean, the greatest threat to us all is canadians is the global academic. we have not left up to our commitments globally at all in relation to this pandemic. and a lot of this is a huge distraction from the greater threat that we are facing. it is affecting that conservative leadership debate. and it's radical, i think people and, you know, one of the benefits of canadian societies is we tend to coalesce on most issues where we don't really battle it out the way the americans do. so it's really a threat to our, to our political and social fabric and a lot of wise men. and do you think the government will ultimately have to take

a cautious approach in the future? it's a minority government. it does understand that sometimes positions continue to shift because just because of the fact that many people are saying it's about time to move forward. you know, it's a very important question, but i don't think the federal government will make any decision. because any unilateral decision from their side is, are going to have the cost border, you know, vaccine mandate because we have the same mandate from the u. s. 8 as well. but having said that, lot of restrictions are almost, you know, getting or what, because many of these are no semi distinctions or semi long don't have been put in by the provincial government. and we need to know the root cause behind it because our health care system is not enough to sustain hospitalizations, especially the id badge in ontario, news, and you shorted of you know, those kind of infrastructure needs. so really need to talk and tackle and you know, handle those situations only than the restrictions can go away. in reality. yeah,

david, i guess the backdrop of the portal reservation that we've been seeing not only in canada, in different parts of the world, particularly in the a, in the us, canada and europe were suddenly grappling with this debate about who should, what should prevail, 1st person liberties as the conservatives like to, to, to the tone they like to use most of the time, or should it be science, which says that a less organization's, like the world health organization says it's about time to, to the chapter of coven 90. we cannot both continue to use the same at preventive measures. what part of the premise you re question and a lot of the perspectives that some of the other guests, the pad is that there is a lot of polarization going on in canada. we're close to 90 percent fully vaccinated across the board in all states, and informing all provinces were we're doing much better than the united states

were i was going to say. and we have most canadians who are of a like minded view. most canadians who have participated in the measures who have warned masks, whoever, listen to lockdown, shut down, their businesses suffered greatly. so when we talk about polarization, yeah, that's one way of looking at it. but for the most part, canadians are unified. and we're unified in wanting our government to have a short term, temporary emergency power. when the pandemic was new to everybody, when the pandemic had a lot of unknowns to everybody. and when there was a sudden spike in hospitalizations that our health care system wasn't ready to deal with when here we are now 2 years out. and i would suggest that the only polarization is that that's being, that's being fed by some in the media and some of our politicians, yet, canadians are much more unified. and the only reason we're seeing the politicians

speeding this so called polarization is because they're drunk on power and clinging on to it carry. when you look at the of the canadian society, so the majority is vaccinated. but pause continued to suggest that while millennial for millennials, for example, want to see the sang of the, the, the, the mandates lifted, you have something like 40 percent of the people saying that basically this has to come to an end by the end of 2022, or at least 2023. and this makes the question, what should be the most sensible, rational, rational way to move forward in a place like canada. you know, i'm an advisor, so things have to be proportional. and one of the things that's driving this is the, is the fact that, you know, that the pandemic itself is ambiguous, in terms of how we should move forward with oma kron and the new data. like it's not what it used to be. i would agree absolutely,

that canadians have been really when you can compare canadian society to americans, the americans at 3 times a desperate canadians have been on board and sacrificed a lot. the question now is, is, you know, is the truck or movement of legitimate democratic statement because it feels very radical and dangerous and threatening to a lot of people. and it's, it's a radical representation of it. i actually think we absolutely must move forward. i'm not convinced that a lot of our public health measures are really evidence based at all the travel restrictions and candidate don't make a lot of sense. any more and you know, canada is quick to adopt these measures, but very, very slow to back out of things that aren't working well and you need to move forward and that, that we have consensus on. but it's true. the polarization is on what to do. now, and i think the ambiguity of the pandemic at this point, his driving part ok,

and we look at nation, i get a look at there, go men. and do you think that by some a time when we get most sense of clarity about about about any upcoming variant or whether this is just going to be confined to on the chrome that that's where governments will decide which way to go. yeah, absolutely. it all depends upon any future radiant off concern or what kind of worried or have been damaged election is you know, seen in the coming few months of that also depends on the mandate from one has always asian. so yeah. candidate, the looking at all those things i believe. and definitely, since it's of pandemic, canada, you literally cannot make any decisions because ultimately, you know, or the flow of boards and people we need to look at the larger picture. david, we're this polarization that we've been extensively talking about. if the political divide continues than many people would just argue that there's absolutely no way

the government will work out a consensus. well, i mean the government will never work out a complete consensus. that's the nature of politics and party politics, particularly in canada, which is a federation. and so you've got, you know, a minority government at the federal level and then most of the measures that are being done at various provincial levels with a, for example, in ontario, the largest province an election coming up this year. so you're never going to have a full consensus on what to do, but there should be some are some general values that all canadians share. i mean, to a certain extent, we've all agreed to some degree of exceptional measures being taken in the face of the pandemic. in the early goings, we should all agree it in the, in the liberal value that people's decision about their own bodies should be made by them and them alone and should not be and can't result of any origin. so i mean

to certainly green just and judo and doug ford, ontario and lego and come back, they're going to act based on the polls. and i mean, that's just a natural part of party politics. david, i'm a carry, bowman, and man and god, i really appreciate your insight. thank you very much indeed and thank you to for watching, you can see the program. i got any time by visiting our website, al jazeera dot com for further discussion. go to our facebook page, vast facebook dot com, forward slash ha, i sorry. you can also join the conversation, what a 100 is as a j inside story from the house on the entire team here, into how bye for now. ah,

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the university college of science and technology is not only a repository of knowledge but an access point to the world beyond ah, this is al jazeera ah hello, i money inside. this is the news ally from de la coming up in the next 60 minutes. the french president says it could take moments to sort out the ukraine, russia crisis soft and meeting the leaders of both countries. the corruption trial of israel's former prime minister is on hold as a spy. west scandal deepens but benedict. the 16.