In some ways, it is hard to characterize the so-called truckers’ convoy and the mass demonstrations in Ottawa this week because it all comes together as the perfect storm.
In case you haven’t noticed, people all over this country are angry right now. They are tired of the pandemic, they are tired of the lockdowns, they are frightened about the future, and they are fed up with things as they are now. They want ‘normal’. They don’t see ‘normal’ and there most likely isn’t ‘normal’ as we once knew it on the horizon.
All of that is understandable. But it is also dangerous because our frustration and anger makes us all vulnerable to those who want to radically change the fibre of the way we live in Canada, under the guise of demanding more freedom when in reality they are seeking more control.
While peaceful protests and demonstrations are an important part of any democratic process, history records a number of examples where those with their own agenda have used demonstrations, protests, rallies, and indeed riots to achieve power and, once there, shut them down without remorse and without a second thought by any means at their disposal.
So, let’s not kid ourselves. This truckers’ convoy is not just about a group of drivers unvaccinated for COVID-19 being pissed off at government because they can’t cross the border. It may have started off like that. Truckers are like most of us: they do not enjoy being told what they should do. But also, like most of us, the vast majority recognize that sometimes circumstances make it necessary to toe the line and that is why 90 per cent of our truckers are vaccinated for COVID-19 and continue to work hard to maintain the critical supply chain of necessary goods for Canadians.
The hard truth is that the truckers’ convoy, however innocently it started, was hijacked by extremists who saw an opportunity to further their alt-right agenda by hitchhiking on the anti-vaxxer movement and taking advantage of the many currently frustrated Canadians who thirst for more freedom of movement than the COVID-19 pandemic has allowed.
It’s the perfect storm for those who want to disrupt our country. It has allowed them to branch out from harassing front-line health care workers, blocking critical care institutions, intimidating elected officials at their homes, and threatening those that disagree with them, to becoming a national presence on the back of what otherwise might have been a much more peaceful demonstration in Ottawa.
In a front-page Toronto Star opinion piece yesterday, columnist Bruce Arthur summed up the issue succinctly when he said in part, “The truck convoy was started to oppose the federal vaccine mandate for truckers to cross the U.S.-Canada border. It is [now] being organized by extremists with some deeply noxious anti-Islam, antisemitic, racist views and who have also written a document in crayon legalese demanding the removal of the government. The convoy has become a bug light for anti-pandemic, anti-lockdown, anti-vaccination, right-wing grievance, to the point that Donald Trump Jr. has made a video about it.”
We can be thankful that events in Ottawa this weekend, at least so far, have not amounted to lethal domestic terrorism. But there are signs that are disturbing.
James Bauder, president of the alt-right organization Canada Unity and a key organizer of the so-called Freedom Convoy, has called for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “to be arrested and charged for treason, and for participating in committing crimes against humanity.” That, combined with the rally, smacks of incitement to me and certainly justifies the prime minister and his family being held in safe quarters during the Ottawa demonstrations.
As well, there are the Nazi flags and Confederate flags—both symbols of anarchy and racism—prevalent in our capital this weekend. The National War Memorial and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier have been disrespected. At least one homeless shelter has been harassed for not feeding demonstrators food that was prepared for those who really need it. Statues were abused and dishonoured, including one for Terry Fox, a Canadian icon. Vulgar language and graffiti on signs, many of them threatening in nature. All of these are symbols attacking what we stand for as Canadians.
And yet, Maxime Bernier, leader of the alt-right conservative People’s Party of Canada, today described these events and others like it as a “handful of insignificant incidents”. Really?
Hopefully most Canadians will not feel that way because this is becoming a real problem folks. Alt-right extremism is not about freedom; it is about control. It often smacks of white supremacy, racism, and my-way-or-the-highway politics.
The terrifying thing is that extremism is gaining momentum in this country as it is gaining momentum in the United States. If you want confirmation of this, just see the latest national results from a Mainstreet Research poll which shows support for Bernier’s PPC movement at 13 per cent, an increase of eight per cent—almost tripled in a relatively short period of time.
What we need now is for the prime minister and the leader of the Opposition to come together to face and resolve the reality of the tenuous mood of Canadians.
For his part, Mr. Trudeau needs to take his blinkers off. This is not a movement of a “small fringe minority” with “unacceptable views…[that don’t] represent the views of Canadians.”
It is becoming a growing consortium of people, who are frustrated and angry for a variety of reasons, finding compatible support for their concerns and fuelling a lack of confidence in government. Resolving that before it gets out of hand, as it has in the United States, requires leadership that is currently not apparent.
As for Mr. O’Toole, he needs to shave or get out of the bathroom. He cannot be all things to all people. He cannot on the one hand say he supports the importance of vaccinations and rejects violence and then meet with demonstrators who are part of a convoy that includes extremists. In addition, Erin O’Toole needs to lay down the law with his caucus and damn the consequences. There is a war going on right now for the soul of the Conservative Party. He needs to be the champion of that, and he needs to unequivocally demonstrate the difference between his party and that of Maxime Bernier. If he does not, he will lose many people like me who believe in smaller government, fiscal responsibility, and providing for those who need help, but who also firmly reject alt-right extremism. He will leave many of us without a political home and Mr. Bernier will rule the day.
We are at a pivotal point in Canada right now. The pendulum is swinging. When it swings too far in either direction, that is when all Hell breaks loose.
We cannot allow that to happen.
Hugh Mackenzie
Hugh Mackenzie has held elected office as a trustee on the Muskoka Board of Education, a Huntsville councillor, a District councillor, and mayor of Huntsville. He has also served as chairman of the District Muskoka and as chief of staff to former premier of Ontario, Frank Miller.
Hugh has served on a number of provincial, federal and local boards, including chair of the Ontario Health Disciplines Board, vice-chair of the Ontario Family Health Network, vice-chair of the Ontario Election Finance Commission, and board member of Roy Thomson Hall, the National Theatre School of Canada, and the Anglican Church of Canada. Locally, he has served as president of the Huntsville Rotary Club, chair of Huntsville District Memorial Hospital, chair of the Huntsville Hospital Foundation, president of Huntsville Festival of the Arts, and board member of Community Living Huntsville.
In business, Hugh Mackenzie has a background in radio and newspaper publishing. He was also a founding partner and CEO of Enterprise Canada, a national public affairs and strategic communications firm established in 1986.
Currently, Hugh is president of C3 Digital Media Inc., the parent company of Doppler Online, and he enjoys writing commentary for Huntsville Doppler.
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Do you ever stop to think what kind of example we are setting for our children and grandchildren watching and listening to “adults” on the streets of Ottawa as they make a mess of our capital city and infringe on the rights of law-abiding citizens who just want to live in peace, get to work and serve others?
Even children know that you don’t get what you want by “bullying”, destroying property or infringing on the rights of others. Children may whine and throw tantrums, but we don’t give in to this kind of behaviour or it will continue, as you well know if you are a parent. In this situation we have “adults” trying the same thing and expecting to get away with it! They whine about their “right to freedom” while blocking roads so innocent people are prevented from getting on with their lives, travelling to work or getting to hospitals. These “adults” honk their noisy horns all night in residential areas, disrupting again the lives of innocent people. Do you really think this is “adult” behaviour?
It’s time to stop the name calling, verbally abusive, adolescent behaviour and get back to work! Turning this into a political battlefield isn’t going to get the job done.
It’s time to show a little empathy toward each other. We’re Canadians and proud of it, so let’s show a little
respect for each other ….and respect for this beautiful country !
I think what many claim are ‘God given rights’ are the privileges that man expects earn or receive from his fellow man. Our parents gave us life and God gave us choice; after that we are on our own.
A rather ‘no frills’ viewpoint I suppose and certainly not in the ballpark with C.S. Lewis who made his name by trying to rationalize both God and the man who spoke in parables. Mr. Lewis made a lot of profound statements for sure.
And God. Well God is God. Believers know how to make an appeal to Him. At any time, in any quiet moment in the mind.
To expect me to accept that “proper grounding” will make it all right for me to impose my will on others is a reach at best or maybe just ludicrous.
Well Hugh, first of all allow me to respond to your comments to me by posting your CV:
“Hugh Mackenzie has held elected office as a trustee on the Muskoka Board of Education, a Huntsville councillor, a District councillor, and mayor of Huntsville. He has also served as chairman of the District Muskoka and as chief of staff to former premier of Ontario, Frank Miller.
Hugh has served on a number of provincial, federal and local boards, including chair of the Ontario Health Disciplines Board, vice-chair of the Ontario Family Health Network, vice-chair of the Ontario Election Finance Commission, and board member of Roy Thomson Hall, the National Theatre School of Canada, and the Anglican Church of Canada. Locally, he has served as president of the Huntsville Rotary Club, chair of Huntsville District Memorial Hospital, chair of the Huntsville Hospital Foundation, president of Huntsville Festival of the Arts, and board member of Community Living Huntsville.”
Now I may be a semi-literate truck driver , but your CV sure looks a lot like bureaucracy to me(noting of course, that bureaucracy is not solely confined to governments and their agencies).
Allow me to quote what CS Lewis had to say about bureaucrats.
“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies.”
Second, what you and your supporters fail to understand , is that this protest boils down to our individual right to liberty, as stated in our constitution and bill of rights… nothing more, nothing less. We believe that, like our constitution clearly states, that these rights are God-given. It is the responsibility of the state to uphold these rights. It may be understandable that some people would view the governments “protection” as the same thing, but these are far different concepts and to equate them is dangerous.
Part of being a free people means that we will encounter points of view that are opposite to our own. At any gathering the size of this protest you will undoubtedly run into such opinions. The thing is, if we have received the proper grounding in our families, churches and schools we will possess the tools necessary to critically evaluate any statement made by anyone at anytime. If we trust the legacy media and government to undertake that task for us, then we are active participants in the destruction of our freedom. It should not come as any surprise then, that alternate media such as True North, Rebel News, the Western Standard are experiencing growing support, nor should it surprise us that Jordon Peterson has such a huge appeal among that 20 to 40 year old male demographic. Nor should the efforts of the aforementioned legacy media and governments to de-platform and generally demonize the alternate media surprise us, simply because they offer a perspective opposite to the prevailing narrative.
With all due respect Hugh, you need to step back and take a look at the big picture. Dissenting views are an absolute necessity to a functioning democracy.
Nancy, I’d expect the store manager/owner to show the maskless person the way out the door! There is a manager of a store in Cobourg who tells the maskless person to mask up or leave – going so far as to call the police to escort non compliant individuals out the door. The police did come and indeed, escorted the unruly person(s) out of the store. Yes, it’s uncomfortable wearing a mask. But, it’s simply not our ‘right’ to needlessly put others at risk.
I agree with Rob Bowman , Curtis Bader , David Caswell , Terry Morin , Murray Mason , Jim Logagianes.
If you spot one anti-gay at a Liberal rally , do you then say all Liberals are anti-gay ?
Picking on one example from 1,000s to denigrate a protest is very lame reporting. Big picture anyone ?
1,000s of Canadians have braved the cold to support the Truckers and their anti-vaccine mandate protest
I have read that the masked person holding the Confederate flag in Ottawa was harassed into leaving .
1,000s of Canadians , denigrated by Trudeau as the fringe minority have been dis-respected by his government, as he does not have the gonads to appear and justify his position.
You quote the Toronto Star as the protest being anti- islamic , racist….??? Your basis ?
If you are not vaccinated …. you can get and spread Covid.
If you are vaccinated …..you can get and spread Covid.
How do you justify Vaccine mandates ?
Apparently there was an unfortunate harassment issue at a local food bank.
Can you now report that they have more food donated than they can store ?
Unfortunately this has spawned a group of people around muskoka who want to go into stores maskless. I guess some folks are just too impatient to ride this thing out!
Let’s everyone remember the proud boys were started in canada so perhaps people should watch what’s going on with right wing extremists.
There is no room for nazi swastikas, the star of david patches or confederate flags in MY Canada! Thos symbols disgust me and were used by thos set on destroying freedom, not protecting it.
The opposite of love is not hate, its indifference and SHAME on any protester who ignored or looked the other way when thos disgusting symbols were displayed…SHAME on any protester who watched as actual monuments to freedom and unity were made a mockery!
Canada has a long way to go, our gov’t needs to start taking care of ALL of its people (not rich ones!) but bullies and hate mongers have no place here….NOT WELCOME!
We need to work togthr so ALL Canadians can have a good life…we ALL deserve tht!
Very good commentary Hugh. Ontario had to delay 36,000 surgeries in January because Covid is still plugging our hosptals. The evidence is overwhelming that less than 1% of the population has a legitimate medical reason to decline vaccination, and that vaccination is the best way to ensure all segments of society can get back to normal ASAP.
The 10% of truckers that chose to do otherwise had 2 months to swap routes with the 90% who are fully vaccinated and can comply with both US and Canadian border measures. Route swapping is done all the time to accomodate sickness, mechanical breakdowns, vacations etc. This uninformed protest was clearly selfish, irresponsible, and unjustified in a country that, thanks to our predecessors of all political persuations, has the most freedom in the world. Who has more freedom?
Hugh,
I think your commentary on the protests was for the most part, reasoned and reasonable. Intelligent people recognize that the pandemic blindsided most of the world and that governments have had to grapple with an effective way to deal with the explosion of hospitalizations and deaths. Many of the restrictions, like the various closures have been devastatingly hard on many peoples’ livelihoods and that must also be recognized and addressed. However, vaccinations, access limitations and mask protocols (themselves an evolution) have been proven to save lives, and saving lives sometimes requires regulations that modify personal choice. I will not use the term “personal freedoms” because it is subjective and has become a rallying cry of the selfish, manipulative and just plain stupid.
This brings me to my point. I well remember a similar ranting and raving over the regulations about seat belts and alcohol consumption for drivers, and there is a valid parallel when it comes to protecting lives. The idiot chorus of “personal freedom” existed then too but didn’t have as wide a platform as it tragically has today. In a devastatingly acute answer to that idiocy, an American comedian (I can’t remember who it was, it might have been George Carlin or Jeff Foxworthy) gave the world this one-liner, “I’m going to die like an American, going through the windshield at ninety miles an hour with a bottle of beer in my hand.”
Sums up my sentiments exactly when it comes to the anti-maskers, anti-vaxxers and the whiners.
A recent contributor suggested that,,,,,
“overwhelming majority of these fellow citizens are intelligent, articulate representatives”..
I wasn’t aware that were were at least two “freedom convoys” arriving in Ottawa Saturday because the one that garnered most of the attention exhibited, but not limited to, the following.
1] Flying the Nazi Iron Cross
2] Flying the Confederate flag
3] People climbing on/over Remembrance Statues
4] Urine stains in the snow next to these Statues
5] Members demanding food from a “soup kitchen”
6] Russian Sickle was displayed
7] Skull and crossbones on one flag
8] Upside down Canadian flag flown.
You will surly understand when I most emphatically decline to follow/join your pack of intelligentsia.
What may have started as the presentation of a legitimate grievance has deteriorated to bullying tactics inflicted on the people of a city.
When I look at what footage and photos are available, I see a lot of ‘straight jobs’ and tractors, few vans and a complete absence of fleet trailers or logos.
These truckers seem to be mostly contractors and jobbers, but truckers never the less. They may have a complaint, but they have attracted ‘klingons’ that don’t.
I question what portion of the industry these ‘truckers’ represent. They must be cash flush to park for days burning ‘dinosaur bones’ and not working. Or are they some of the very people receiving funds from a government and tax payer they seem to disregard. I wonder how many of their attendant civilian ‘supporters’ are sucking up government money.
There are people out there trying to get to work, to do their job and earn their pay. I appreciate that. I appreciate that the truckers may have a beef. I’m not fond of the performance of the ‘klingons’ that have hijacked their cause.
Just an opinion.
To: Hugh Mckenzie.
Thank you for pointing out a global problem and that is alt-right extremism. And, you are correct it is growing in Canada. This protest in Ottawa is just an example of it. For those who made a negative comment on your article obviously missed your point. Democracy is in trouble and will be so for many years to come and to not recognize this just further entrenches the problem. To use COVID as an excuse to further alt-right extremism gives us all an insight into just how far those involved will go to further their cause. COVID has hit us all, some more so than others, but all of us nonetheless. To politicize this pandemic just makes it worse. And to use it to push radical ideas does not help anyone in the long run. In fact, to encourage it or give it any credence at all, will only help those who want to tear down our democracy.
Here is the letter I emailed Conservative Leader Erin ‘O’Toole yesterday evening re “Truckers’ Freedom Convoy” to Ottawa .
Freedom Truckers`Convoy
John Barltrop
Jan 31, 2022, 8:29 PM (13 hours ago)
to erin.otoole, pm, chrystia.freeland, candice.bergen, jagmeet, yves-francois.blanchet, andrew.scheer, melissa.lantsman, omar.alghabra, premier, premierministre, premier
Dear Conservative Leader Erin O’toole ( Mr. Flip Flop ! )
You and your party are on the losing end of the issue ” No Vaccine Mandates For Truckers” .
Truckers (10 %),who are refusing vaccinations, are imperiling the mental and physical health of nurses and doctors as it is the unvaccinated that are clogging our hospitals .Over 50% of Ontarian hospital beds / ICUs are caused by anti vaxxers getting COVID-19 .
After the Ottawa weekend protest, which still continues and was largely peaceful , Canadians are not talking about vaccine mandates and harmful lockdowns (provincially mandated ).
WHY ?
They will remember the unsavory acts of a few individuals associated with the “Freedom Convoy ”
1) We saw people dancing on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier .
2) We saw people urinating at the base of the National War Memorial .
3) We saw the iconic statue of Terry Fox used as a political prop.
4) We saw the Confederate flag and Swastika flag flown
5) We heard disgusting vitrial rhetoric from some of the protesters .
From my perspective , as my wife and I drove from Markham to Toronto across Hwy 401, to babysit our grandchildren last week, we saw hundreds of truckers going about their business of delivering products to their customers . Also we saw no BLIC citizens out to support the ” Freedom Truckers’ Convoy ” .It was a diminishing Conservative white base of voters who crowded the overpasses in the GTA ( Milton , Vaughn , Keele, Pickering . Whitby ) .
You certainly have internal problems, as MP Andrew Scheer , Deputy Leader Candice Bergman ( MAGA Lady ) , MP Michael Cooper ( Swastika flag in background of a photo op ) ,MP Melissa Lantsman , MP Pierre Poilievre , MP Leslyn Lewis and others who have come out in vocal support of the truckers` “Freedom Convoy“which turned into an `Anti-Vaxxer Convoy `.
In conclusion,you and the Conservative Party of Canada, who came out to support the truckers who are protesting Ottawa`s vaccine mandate are on the wrong side of this political issue .
John Barltrop
Markham, Ontario
Most diverse, inclusive city in canada
So tired of the beating of the chest, “I did it my way” individualism. This fringe have reduced the concept of “freedom” to a base level of understanding and appreciation. It appears to be “my freedom above anyone else’s” is the norm. “I’m doing this for my children” just doesn’t cut it for me.
E.O’T. is not out of the leadership woods yet – though he may strive to bring the Conservatives from the brink of the fringe alt-right, some of the same elements of white fundamentalist evangelical momentum continue to fuel this particular toxic mix of politics and religion.
Today, I learned of an elderly neighbour who has died in local hospital with COVID. He attends a faith community service and little else. There masking is not mandated.
Hugh saying we live in a society where differing opinions are still welcomed and encouraged is very misleading and is actually very dishonest considering your appetite to deny opinions in a public forum is very apparent.
Mr. Mackenzie, with regard to your opening comment to Mr. Morin, I respectfully disagree. Respectful comments, opinions and even research studies that do not follow the media narrative are actively suppressed. That has been my experience locally with letters to both the Doppler and to The Forester. It is also the observation of people I know who attended the demonstration in Ottawa over last weekend. Their experience is quite different than what is reported by the legacy media. We need to restore open honest reporting and dialogue.
To : Terry Morin
Murray Mason
David Caswell
Curtis Bader
Rob Bouwma
Thank You, All Good Comments.
Mr. Morin: Thankfully we live in a society where differing opinions are still welcomed and encouraged. In relation to yours, I do have a couple of observations about the personal comments you made about me. First, for almost all of my working life I have been a self-employed entrepreneur. I have taken the odd foray into politics and public service but I have never (I am sure much to their delight) been a bureaucrat..Hard work and risk-taking have been part of my life and I am deeply aware of their value. Second, contrary to what you have said, I do not believe that all truckers are “hotheads and ill-informed” As I said in my article, I believe that 90% of truckers are well enough informed to be vaccinated and “continue to work hard to maintain the critical supply-chain of necessary goods for Canadians” I applaud, respect and honour them for that. The point of my article and my main concern, is that alt-right extreminism is slowly but surely, creeping it’s way into this country as it has in the United States.There were many people in Ottawa last weekend, and indeed still there, who latched on to some trucker’s concerns about COVID-19 vaccinations, with a a much more dangerous agenda of disruption, rebellion and destruction… That is not about freedom, that is about control. To dismiss these actions as trivial or only a handful of people, is turning a blind eye to reality and the growing consequence and potential danger of extremism in Canada.. It is there and it is gaining ground, and that sir, is what scares and motivates me.
WE MUST LISTEN OR IT WILL GET WORSE
Im not a trucker but I am an essential worker that crosses the border regularly to work. Although I am fully vaccinated, the anxiety of crossing the border for work, as the truckers do, is much higher now than it was even 6 months ago. When returning to Canada, conversations with border agents often include their ability to impose thousands of dollars in fines, 14 day quarantine or even prison time, raises the anxiety to a very high level when we are not doing anything wrong, just trying to make a living which in turn increases the stand of living in Canada. I firmly believe the vaccine mandate is “the straw that broke the camel’s back” related to government intervention and changing rules without proper consultation or due diligence.
The trucker convoy has a message that needs to be listened to by our elected politicians and they must look beyond the fact that some people have joined this protest for other reasons. Mr Trudeau has refused to listen to them, claiming they are illegitimate protestors that are abusing their right to protest by inciting hatred etc.
Mr Trudeau must find a listen to the legitimate organizers and not just find a reason to shut them down, otherwise we will see more of this unrest.
Thank you Hugh MacKenzie for clearly delineating what divides us as citizens of this country. your commentary suggests that you have had little or no contact with those fellow citizens of this country who are engaged in the type of work that keeps everything running. Nor do you give any indication that you have experienced any hardship as a result of the never ending carousel of regulations, as so many of your fellow citizens have suffered. You claim to represent the sentiments of the majority but you don’t even come close. A cursory viewing of the footage of tens of thousands of folks standing out in the cold and wind in every province of this dominion, cheering on this group of fellow citizens , for most people would be a sign that this is no “fringe” movement.
I realize for a career bureaucrat such as yourself, this may be a difficult concept to grasp, but it is crystal clear that ordinary Canadians are sick to death of petty non-elected government officials who bear no responsibility for poor decisions and likewise bear no consequences for those decisions. Any trust in public institutions that once existed is rapidly eroding. The same applies to our elected MP’s and MLA’s who willingly float along on this sea of inertia. And as far as the simplistic view that this protest is only about cross border regulations, it ought to be clear by now that trucking is only the tip of the iceberg.
Despite your attempts to paint these truckers as ill-informed hotheads, well buddy it ain’t cutting it. These people have a clearer view of what is needed to turn this country around than you and your fellow board members could ever have. Since both you, governments and the legacy media both want to take the worst possible examples of bad behavior and try to represent that as the prevailing mindset of the protestors, that is dishonesty of the highest order and arguably the primary reason why the trust mentioned above is disappearing. I would suggest that you remove your head from the sand in which it is buried and realize that overwhelming majority of these fellow citizens are intelligent, articulate representatives of a part of society that you and your compatriots have ignored for far too long.
Hugh I think your blog is off centre. This protest started as a response to vaccine requirement placed on trucker. It has however morphed into something like a referendum on the handling of the pandemic. The media which is pro liberal want to fragment it and try to say the the anti government fringe groups are in control. What I see is a anger with how the pandemic has undermined some of our rights during a time that parliament has been virtually closed. Everything seem to be run out of the PMO.
This protest has been going on for a few weeks from coast to coast. To my knowledge no statues have been pulled down. No windows broken. No vandalism. It seem the the media are upset that has not happened.
Regarding Bernie’s party he has never advocated gaining power other than by the ballot. We have had splits in the Conservative party before, Reform,Social credit to name a few.
I believe the messaging by the government during this whole pandemic has been poor. From first saying masks were not necessary. Then when we get vaccines all will be good. Then when 80% are vaccinated we will be good. To where we are today.
I find it unusual the restaurants in Person airport are open and very little social distancing but restaurants in Huntsville have restrictions.
I have empathy for the trucker, who up to now were being praised as an essential service. I am also sure that many of the protestors are vacxed. They are just feed up.
Shame on this LUNATIC FRINGE !
Thank you for this great article, Mr. Mackenzie.
If this is the alt- right, xenophobic, misogynistic, homophobic, racist, pedophaelic, extremist terrorist movement the author wants you to fear there sure seems to be a lot of inclusion from atypical alt-right demographics such as First Nations and other racial minorities. Of course he would probably know that if he made an attempt at honest reporting instead of regurgitating the CBC narrative.
Wow ! To repeat the rhetoric of the mainstream media is shameful. I’ve been watching videos of this protest since the start and it was not just about the vac mandate for truckers. Since the start it has been about all mandates and infringement on our civil liberties. To repeat the lie that it’s racist, anti Islam and antisementic is just sad. CBC went one farther and tried bring in a Russian angle! As with any big movement you are going to have some people over the top but that is not the whole rally. Did you report that that a reward was offered for people to find the one Nazi flag carrier. Did you report that the organizers asked people to be respectful of statues and memorials. Curious everyone thought it was great when a Terry Fox statue was adorned in Pride bling but that’s a whole other issue of hypocrisy!
This rally started out as a peaceful protest to ALL our freedoms and that is how the organizers have continued to steer it. The fact that media outlets continue to try smear this thing is just further proof of why we need it.
I’m hopeful the Doppler still recognizes free speech and allows this response
Excellent editorial, Hugh. Never—even in our darkest moments—did I think I would live to see the day when the swastika and Confederate flag were wantonly displayed on Parliament Hill, wherein beats the heart of our hard-won and precious democracy. I agree with your warning that we must wake up before it’s too late to turn the alt-right extremism tide that is rising elsewhere and threatening our country as well. The only winners in the truckers convoy fiasco are Maxime Bernier and his ilk whose lust for power knows no boundaries. Wake up Canada. The enemy is at the gate and it is well-funded and growing fat feeding off the anger and frustration of Canadians who have suffered most during the pandemic.
I miss Progressive Conservatism. I too am without a political home.