Like some of you, I live in a border state, a couple hundred miles from Canada. And until COVID-19, we visited the Great White North every summer, driving across all lower provinces.
It’s a liberal country in terms of governance, but like the United States, millions still have common sense values. The past week proves it.
Tens of thousands of protesters demanding an end to draconian pandemic edicts descended on Ottawa’s Parliament Hill in recent days, alongside hundreds of trucks and personal vehicles.
Despite the media’s desperate efforts to portray this as Canada’s Jan. 6 riot, the protests have been peaceful — mostly honking horns and speeches in sub-zero weather calling for an end to perpetual coronavirus mandates.
Attendees of the “Freedom Convoy” picked up trash following the large truckers protest at Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada.
Video by @PuffinsPictures: pic.twitter.com/vuIkp3U3Kr
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) January 30, 2022
The massive pushback is partially in response to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s infamous quote: “The small fringe minority of people who are on their way to Ottawa, or who are holding unacceptable views that they’re expressing, do not represent the views of Canadians.”
The privileged Trudeau, known for donning blackface, also called the unvaccinated “racists and extremists.”
Monday afternoon, Trudeau emerged to say he’s “shocked and frankly disgusted by the behavior.”
Other leaders, like Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe, voiced support for the rallies in a letter posted to social media.
The convoy’s organizers raised over $8 million through a GoFundMe page, though rumors persist that the website is blocking the release of some funds.
“It’s not only about vaccine mandates, but mandates in general, like passports to watch your grandkids play hockey or eat inside,” a retiree in Thunder Bay explained to Alpha News. “It’s about reminding our government they don’t control the people and that fearmongering must end after two years.”
Reports say nearly 100,000 trucks rolled across Canadian highways, with small communities on the route supporting them from overpasses. The federal policy requiring all Canadian truck drivers to be vaccinated or face a two-week quarantine when returning to Canada began Jan. 15. Unvaccinated non-Canadian truck drivers are not allowed into the country.
MORE TRUCKS HEADED TO CANADA’S CAPITOL — this is just a small portion of the Freedom Convoy from Saskatchewan 🇺🇸🔥🇨🇦pic.twitter.com/5KF4Of01Sz
— Benny (@bennyjohnson) January 31, 2022
“For too long Canadians sat back and let a government cabal rule our lives. We’ve had enough,” a businessman from Calgary claimed. “Only 2% of Canadians are farmers; that’s a small fringe element, right? What happens in Toronto and Vancouver if they decide to go on strike? The same applies to truckers. Insult them at your own risk.”
The Canadian farmers are now joining the 50,000 Canadian truckers in their convoy for freedom towards Ottawa. #Canada #CanadaTruckers #TruckersForFreedom2022 #ConvoyForFreedom
🇨🇦pic.twitter.com/U3H1tuwcGo— James Melville 💜 (@JamesMelville) January 28, 2022
And insult they will.
In a disingenuous column, an Ottawa-based Washington Post columnist — undoubtedly comfortable with food and supplies provided by truckers — angrily scribed broad stereotypes and hyperbole.
“The convoy is, by and large, a fringe group. They are driven by a generalized rage and antigovernment sentiment. They’re too big to ignore and too unreasonable to placate insofar as they represent a broader challenge.
These types of groups are typically driven by attitudes, grievances and priorities of such a nature that they pose a particular risk to racialized folks and other groups that are traditionally the target of hate and violence.”
His solution? More authoritarianism.
“Canada’s response to the convoy should be a strict line of resistance that doubles down on, or in certain cases at least introduces, commitments to anti-hate resistance, pandemic supports, vaccine mandates and a media policy of refusing to platform, humanize, or, God forbid, glorify the convoy and its members.”
It seems the corporate media has a clear disdain for the working class and loves disobedience, until it’s from the other political side.
Organizers said truckers plan to remain in Ottawa until COVID-19 public health orders are eliminated.
A.J. Kaufman
A.J. Kaufman is an Alpha News columnist. His work has appeared in the Baltimore Sun, Florida Sun-Sentinel, Indianapolis Star, Israel National News, Orange County Register, St. Cloud Times, Star-Tribune, and across AIM Media Midwest and the Internet. Kaufman previously worked as a school teacher and military historian.
