Charlie Ebbs response to the statement:
“The reasons behind the freedom convoy were proven true”I am in my 60s and a professional researcher and I can tell you that much of what is said and thought about the “freedom” convoy is about as dead wrong as someone could be – including much of what you just stated.That would presuppose that you know the “reasons” for the convoy. And if you are going to respond to this you should include the links or magazines/papers (dates and issues) where you got your information.
There was NO reason for a protest to take place on Parliament Hill nor to occupy the downtown of the Capital on behalf of these “grievances.”
And as an aside – I have never voted Liberal and only once voted NDP – but I am sickened by what has happened to the Conservatives in this country and by the existence of knee-jerk demagogues like Mr. Poilievre who decries protests and blockades until he can go and serve coffee and donuts to the foolish occupiers of Ottawa as it will get the ignorant, knee-jerk vote.
So - now that I’ve had that moment - let’s tackle the idiocy of the convoy and it’s sadly delusional participants most of whom were being used to support the agenda of its leaders - NONE of whom were truckers.
I will touch on those “leaders” further along.
Please note the following:
Canada has three broad levels of government:
**Federal **— Borders, military, native affairs, federal taxes
**Provincial** — Education, health, criminal justice, provincial taxes
**Municipal **— Roads, policing, commercial establishments, building codes, land/property taxes
All things being equal, lower levels can ask the upper levels for help, but the upper levels cannot easily insert themselves into the business of a lower level. For example, the Feds could not force the provinces to teach a particular subject in school.
Now.
You will note that “health” is by and large a provincial issue thought the federal government does support it with transfer payments. Broadly speaking, almost everything that the “protesters” were “protesting” are provincial concerns. The feds have exactly zero control over masks and shopping and vaccine passports. That’s all a provincial matter.
So, mostly, not only did Trudeau not say anything, he couldn’t say anything. It would be extremely bad form for a federal leader to make negative remarks about how a province was handling a provincial matter. As an aside, this is a bit unfair, because the provinces spent at least 97% (made up number for the sake of humour) of their time bitching about the feds, but that’s another story.
The long and short of it is that almost none of the things people were bitching about was a federal issue. Mr. Trudeau’s job at that point was to say “We support our provincial premiers as they deal with this difficult situation.” 100% accurate, 100% not a false narrative.
Special bonus: Trudeau is a Liberal. The provinces which have do the worst on COVID are run by Conservatives. Ontario, where Ottawa is located, is run by a Conservative named Doug Ford, but despite his distaste for anything publicly-funded, he was a reasonable guy who has listened to medical advice and in fact worked closely with the feds. So not only are the feds ignoring the whiners, the Conservative premier of Ontario is also ignoring them. This is making them even more whiny (sadly - his environmental record is a disgrace, but again, that is for a different discussion).
Now - on to the “leaders” of the “freedom” convoy that had nothing to do with freedom.
Fundraising was tended by Tamara Lich, the secretary of the Maverick Party — a Western Canadian separatist party. I doubt that her agenda had very much to do with peaceful protest and making policy changes.
One of the "spokespeople" for this occupation was Benjamin Dichter - someone well known for making racist statements while running for office - many targeting Islam.
Perhaps the loudest people (and most ignorant) in the organizing group was Pat King, a man well known for his many racist and anti-Semitic statements and who has also called for violence against the government in the past. During the occupation he happily voiced the idea of “letting the bullets fly.” To say he is an enemy of the state would not be a fiction.
Another of the organizers of the group that's allied with the convoy, Canada Unity, is run in part by a guy named James Bauder. He's previously expressed support for a bunch of different hate groups. He said that “Prime Minister Justin Trudeau needs to be arrested and charged with treason.” For what - no one knows.
The idea for a convoy of this type had been circulating in the mind the above-mentioned, well known xenophobe and professional moron Pat King, for years. Again - his plans had nothing to do with the truckers.
Lich, the Mustang Party representative is just a foolish and selfish woman out for her own gain - in fact, all of the initial group of four behind this DID NOT AND DO NOT CARE about the truckers or their jobs.
And as an added bonus note on freedom:
I've read a book on what it was like for a Canadian animator working in North Korea for a few months. It’s a graphic novel called Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea - and every stupid SOB who is whining about freedom in Canada needs to read it - they'll see that they are little better than a child in a grocery store flailing about in a tantrum because his mom wouldn't buy him a box of Honeycomb.
To wit: North Koreans can be jailed for not bowing to any picture of a dead leader they pass on the street. They can be jailed for not smiling when foreign nationals are within eyesight. They can be jailed or executed or starved to death on work farms for ever saying a word against the leader or his government.
These "freedom" convoy occupiers and their supporters have freedoms and a quality of life that others would risk death for. There are many people from around the world who would willingly die for their family to be able to get even a taste of the freedoms that all of these boneheads - and the rest of Canada - already enjoy (though not the U.S. as they are not have a representative government).