🚨 When trucks stop, the country stops. So why are we forcing experienced drivers off the road over a language rule that’s more about politics than safety? Let’s talk about what’s really behind this policy.

On April 28, an executive order signed by President Donald Trump was put into effect. The order alters the penalty for violating a longstanding rule that requires commercial motor vehicle drivers to “read and speak the English language sufficiently to converse with the general public, to understand highway traffic signs and signals in English, to respond to official inquiries, and to make entries on reports and records.”

Under the Obama administration, the penalty for noncompliance was relaxed — violators received citations instead of being taken off the road. Now, the Trump administration is reinstating a harsher stance. As one official stated: “We are issuing guidance that ensures a driver who cannot understand English will not drive a vehicle in this country. Period. Full stop.”

Let’s call this what it is — blatant racism. This isn’t subtle. The order will impact truckers across North America. The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA), which includes Canada, the United States, and Mexico, provides guidance for enforcement across all three countries. Yet, you don’t see Mexico mandating Spanish fluency for foreign drivers operating within its borders. Consider places like Laredo, Texas, which are fully bilingual. And in Canada, bilingualism is enshrined in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms — just ask our French friends.

We welcomed these drivers through immigration programs to address a critical driver shortage. Now that the economy is struggling, freight rates are down, and profits are tight, the solution is not to push these workers out. As Canadians, we have a moral obligation to do the right thing.

If language truly is a safety issue, then why does Alberta offer its Class 7 (learner’s license) knowledge test in 25 languages? These include Amharic, Arabic, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), French, Hindi, Italian, Korean, Oromo, Polish, Portuguese, Tagalog, Ukrainian, Vietnamese, and more. If safety starts with comprehension, why not enforce language standards from the very first licensing step?

Currently, there’s no standardized test for “sufficient English.” It's up to each officer’s judgment — a recipe for abuse of authority, especially at a time when the U.S. Department of Transportation is undergoing a workforce reduction plan with DOGE.

Do some of these drivers need to be off the road? Absolutely. But the answer isn’t unemployment and potential deportation — it’s education. Teach them basic English. Put them through a commercial driver refresher. Alberta’s new Red Seal driver program would be a perfect starting point, put your money where your mouth is. If safety is the goal, invest in training. Personally, I’d feel safer sharing the road with an experienced driver who can drive rather than a brand-new driver who speaks the King’s English.

This directive will reduce the number of drivers on the road, creating less competition for what little freight is available. That should drive rates up — and hopefully, that revenue will go toward better wages, not just corporate profit. If drivers earned a living wage, they wouldn’t be forced to speed, drive tired, or risk dangerous weather just to make ends meet.

Poverty wages are a greater safety hazard than limited English. And when the economy rebounds, we’ll be right back in a driver shortage — especially with 48% of Canada’s truck drivers now over the age of 50. The industry isn’t attracting enough young Canadians because the pay simply isn’t worth the risk. Who wants to risk their life on icy highways for $1.00 per kilometre? Canada should not do this, be an example of basic human decency.

The Alberta government is once again overreaching enforcement powers.

Recently, the U.S.-Canada border has been making headlines, with American officials blaming Canada’s lax border controls for contributing to the U.S. fentanyl crisis and the influx of migrants without status. In response, Canada pledged $1.3 billion to bolster border security, appointed a Fentanyl Czar along with an accompanying staff, and allocated $5.3 million for two Black Hawk helicopters equipped with advanced surveillance technology. One of these helicopters is already stationed in Alberta and has seen extensive use.

The UCP government, never one to miss an opportunity for more “Made in Alberta” enforcement, has now rolled out the $29-million Interdiction Patrol Team (IPT). For that hefty price tag, Alberta gets 51 uniformed officers armed with carbine rifles, four drug-patrol dogs, 10 support staff, four narcotics analyzers, and surveillance drones. Not to be outdone, my favorite minister, Devin Dreeshen, announced three new highway traffic inspection stations for commercial vehicles, costing taxpayers another $15 million.

These inspection stations, located at the U.S. border, will allow sheriffs to monitor commercial vehicles entering and exiting Canada. Many drug busts start with something as simple as a blown taillight or expired registration—just saying. Truckers, no doubt, would prefer to see that $15 million go toward rest areas and better highway line painting, but this is about generating fine revenue and enforcement statistics, not road or community safety.

The Alberta government has also amended the Critical Infrastructure Defence Regulation, adding a two-kilometer-deep border zone north of the U.S.-Canada border to the definition of essential infrastructure under the Critical Infrastructure Defence Act. This change gives peace officers the authority to arrest individuals for trespassing, interfering with, or damaging essential infrastructure. Sheriffs can now arrest individuals suspected of illegally crossing the border or trafficking drugs and weapons—without needing a warrant. A friendlier way of saying “border wall.”

Adding to this enforcement expansion, the government plans to train highway maintenance workers to identify and report suspicious activity of commercial vehicles. There are 2 significant problems with this plan; first this Government is requiring, as part of their employment, highway workers to become informants for the Sheriffs and IPT, snitches in ditches. Secondly unless the Alberta Government is planning to implement implicit bias and racism training this program will end up being the “driving while brown” hotline.  

Racism is deeply embedded in all levels of enforcement across Canada, and commercial vehicle enforcement disproportionately targets South Asian drivers, given their high representation in the trucking industry. Institutional bias ensures that these prejudices persist through training and workplace culture.

Commercial drivers are already under near-constant surveillance—highway cameras, electronic logging devices (ELDs), driver-facing cameras, inspection stations, mobile enforcement units (RCMP, sheriffs, IPT, peace officers, bylaw officers, and city police), and now highway maintenance workers? Yes, drug trafficking and migrants without status are real issues, but cracking down on truck drivers is not the answer.

The real problem lies with trucking company owners and managers who enable this trafficking. If a driver goes off-route for three hours to pick up a load of drugs, someone in the company knows. If a driver did it without approval, the driver would be fired, time is money. GPS and ELDs track every movement, making it easy to pinpoint when and where illicit activity happens. Authorities already know which companies are problematic—those operating as “chameleon carriers,” exploiting work permits, or with prior smuggling violations. The issue isn’t a lack of knowledge but a lack of action by regulators and law enforcement.

This growing wave of enforcement highlights a more disturbing trend—government overreach. Warrantless arrests at the border, civilian informants, drone and helicopter surveillance—where does it end? Alberta already has the Immediate Roadside Sanction (IRS) program, which allows impaired driving charges without a breathalyzer or blood test. Without proper oversight, these powers will inevitably be abused. This is how civil liberties erode, how Charter rights are trampled, and how we edge closer to a 1984 Orwellian reality.