News Analysis Just before COVID-19 became the major crisis of the past two years, Canada was in the midst of grappling with railroad blockades by opponents of a pipeline development project in B.C. in early 2020. The weeks-long blockades crippled freight and passenger rail traffic in most of Eastern Canada. Early in 2022, Canada saw another series of protests, this time in opposition to COVID-19 mandates, with participants setting up camp in downtown Ottawa and others blocking Canada-U.S. border crossings. But there was a vast difference between how the government dealt with the anti-mandate protest and how it resolved the anti-pipeline protest as well as other protests in recent years. Here’s a look at some of the issues that arose around the various protests and the often conflicting response from authorities. Dialogue With Protesters In early 2020, besides the railroad blockades that caused significant harm to the Canadian economy, pipeline protesters …