Canadian Politics: more than a truck load of covidiots, eh?

[Lord of Oop North]

PM Trudeau just started a press conference where he is invoking the Emergencies Act to deal with the blockades.

[TrueMetis]

18 minutes ago, Lord of Oop North said:

PM Trudeau just started a press conference where he is invoking the Emergencies Act to deal with the blockades.

Thread of someone watching for those who don't want to/can't.

 

[Fragile Bird]

I heard Jason Kenney explaining that Alberta doesn’t need it. I gather 4 provinces have objected to the invocation of the act, the ones you’d expect, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Quebec. Kenney said now that the RCMP finally arrested 11 people and seized weapons, the “dangerous element” is gone. Right. The border is still blocked. 

[TrueMetis]

I don't know if the police and towing stuff will help/work. But the financial stuff is big. (Some of which is the type of stuff I expect we'll see a bill to make permanent at that)

[Lord of Oop North]

18 minutes ago, Fragile Bird said:

I heard Jason Kenney explaining that Alberta doesn’t need it. I gather 4 provinces have objected to the invocation of the act, the ones you’d expect, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Quebec. Kenney said now that the RCMP finally arrested 11 people and seized weapons, the “dangerous element” is gone. Right. The border is still blocked. 

Honestly, I sort of agree but not for the same reason.

The Emergencies Act is supposed to be a final resort.

What about the situation in Ottawa shows they are at that point? They have not enforced the existing law at all. Nor have they tried to clear the protest as far as anyone can tell.

The same can be said for a number of other blockades. Have they tried? Once Windsor finally tried, they cleared it.

[HoodedCrow]

Fox “ news” entertainment smeared Dominion voting machines just to gaslight the American elections, so I’ve read. So, I guess their using Canada as their next tools. But, you know , we are now the fools for Tucker and Hannity. Wait, right wingers can menace people without bestirring themselves, they just have pump out enough nonsense. Thanks, eh.

[TrueMetis]

2 hours ago, Lord of Oop North said:

Honestly, I sort of agree but not for the same reason.

The Emergencies Act is supposed to be a final resort.

What about the situation in Ottawa shows they are at that point? They have not enforced the existing law at all. Nor have they tried to clear the protest as far as anyone can tell.

The same can be said for a number of other blockades. Have they tried? Once Windsor finally tried, they cleared it.

It does set a rather sticky precedent if for the purpose of the act unwilling and unable are considered the same thing.

[kairparavel]

*throws snowball at blockades and protesters*

*looks at watch*

Well, we tried *everything*. Not-quite-War-Measures-Act it is.

[Zorral]

Three Thoughts on the Freedom Convoy

Following the money and watching the police fail in Ottawa

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Jeet Heer Feb 15 https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_28,c_scale,f_png,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack.com%2Ficon%2FHeartIconRounded%3Fv%3D3%26height%3D28%26fill%3D%2523757575%26stroke%3D%2523757575%26strokeWidth%3D2 https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_28,c_scale,f_png,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack.com%2Ficon%2FCommentIconRounded%3Fv%3D3%26height%3D28%26fill%3D%2523757575%26stroke%3D%2523757575%26strokeWidth%3D2 https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_32,c_scale,f_png,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack.com%2Ficon%2FRecommendIconRounded%3Fv%3D2%26height%3D32%26fill%3D%2523757575%26stroke%3Dnone%26strokeWidth%3D2

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Protesters in Ottawa (Photo by Amru Salahuddien/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

The “Freedom Convoy” story remains in flux. Here are three points to keep in mind as the situation continues to unfold.

A policing failure. 

At least in Ottawa (where the city’s downtown has been paralyzed for more than two weeks) and Windsor (where the trucking lane of the Ambassador Bridge was blocked for nearly a week), we’re looking at one of the biggest policing failures in recent Canadian history. In other municipalities, notably Vancouver and Toronto, the police were more proactive and able to blunt attempts to disrupt downtown life. Speaking on the CBC radio program The Current, former Minister of Health Allan Rock claimed the Ottawa police was “massively outnumbered.” This isn’t a plausible claim since the protest was small in number (a generous estimate would be a few hundred vehicles and 5,000 protesters). This shouldn’t have been enough to paralyze a city with 1,500 police officers and the ability to call on provincial and federal help.

Counter-protesting and Citizen activism. 

As journalist Nora Loreto and I have emphasized in our two podcast conversations, one viable way to challenge the convoy’s program is counter-protesting. Some of that is starting to spring into action. On Sunday, a remarkable counter-protest organized at the spur of the moment gathered at the intersection of Riverside Drive in Ottawa and stop 25 downtown bound cars and trucks. Despite opposition from the police and criticism from the mayor, this counter-protest, which drew in hundreds of citizens, was a much more effective response than anything the police could muster. The same story played out in Kingston, Ontario earlier that weekend, with convoy supporters trying to enter the city and being blockaded by counter-protesters. The key point is that the “Freedom Convoy” is a political problem requiring  a political response (like counter-protesting), more than just a police or military response. Of course, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau declaring a state of emergency, we’re likely to get a police and military response soon. 

Follow the Money. 

Thanks to a hack of GiveSendGo, we have a better idea of where the funding of the Freedom Convoy is coming from. This information challenges the comforting idea spread by some Canadian politicians that this is just a foreign intervention in Canadian affairs. It’s true that 55% of donor are from the United States, with 39% from Canada and 6% from other nations. But Canadians donated more, so 51% of funding (about $4.3 million) comes from Canadians as against 43% (or $3.6 million) from Americans. In other words, this is very much a Canadian-based movement juiced by support from the transnational far right. That support is not just financial but also media cheerleading and social media elevation. It's crucial to see this a Canadian manifestation of a global phenomenon rather than an American intervention in Canadian affairs. 

https://cdn.substack.com/image/twitter_name/w_36/ctv_jon.jpgJon Woodward @ctv_jon

Who is funding the #FreedomConvoy? If the leak of @FreedomConvoy donations data from @GiveSendGo is accurate.... The majority of donors to the #FreedomConvoy -- 55% -- are American, which is more than the number of Canadian donors -- 39%.

https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_600,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fpbs.substack.com%2Fmedia%2FFLhwkJvXsAAWpTW.png

 

[maarsen]

I was just reading on CBC about what motivates some of the protesters. Apparently God is telling them to do this. I think this God should have voiced an opinion before the election in September to a much larger group rather than to a small collection of fools.

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

3 minutes ago, maarsen said:

I was just reading on CBC about what motivates some of the protesters. Apparently God is telling them to do this. I think this God should have voiced an opinion before the election in September to a much larger group rather than to a small collection of fools.

It feels like people on the far right believe the loudest and whinyest should get to control the State.

[Lord of Oop North]

4 minutes ago, maarsen said:

I was just reading on CBC about what motivates some of the protesters. Apparently God is telling them to do this. I think this God should have voiced an opinion before the election in September to a much larger group rather than to a small collection of fools.

God has long history of this strategy

[maarsen]

You would think a losing strategy would be rethought after a few millenia.

Personally I think this is a loser's strategy of saying his dad can beat up yours. 

[A Horse Named Stranger]

55 minutes ago, maarsen said:

I was just reading on CBC about what motivates some of the protesters. Apparently God is telling them to do this. I think this God should have voiced an opinion before the election in September to a much larger group rather than to a small collection of fools.

God also tells so many GOP hopeful to run in the GOP primaries every few years. In conclusion God is one big troll (shout out to Rick Santorum, who fell for it twice).

[Fragile Bird]

Well hell.

The Ottawa police chief resigned. He was such an utter failure.

I hope the mayor gets the boot in the municipal election as well.

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

1 minute ago, Fragile Bird said:

Well hell.

The Ottawa police chief resigned. He was such an utter failure.

I hope the mayor gets the boot in the municipal election as well.

Resigned because the Police Chief was refusing to take action against the jackasses in Ottawa?

[JGP]

Hard to say, though I'm sure it's not entirely unrelated. I read an article this morning about how Sloly's been catching grief from the rank and file since he took the position. 

Police associations are another thing that's got to go, imo. 

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

3 minutes ago, JEORDHl said:

Hard to say, though I'm sure it's not entirely unrelated. I read an article this morning about how Sloly's been catching grief from the rank and file since he took the position. 

Police associations are another thing that's got to go, imo. 

Law Enforcement Unions are problematic.

[Fragile Bird]

5 minutes ago, Ser Scot A Ellison said:

Resigned because the Police Chief was refusing to take action against the jackasses in Ottawa?

I think that he was so incompetent he had no choice. Toronto and Vancouver both made sure this bullshit didn’t happen. The legislature building in Toronto is in a circular piece of land at the top of a broad avenue that has seen thousands of people march on it in protests. It’s also hospital alley, with four huge and important hospitals a few hundred metres south of the building. No fucking way could truckers be allowed to block those roads, block ambulances, to those hospitals.

Do you realize the US embassy has the prime piece of ambassadorial real estate in the capital? It’s across the street from the Parliament buildings. The secret service must be going nuts with security details. This should never have been allowed.

And also, the Coutts border crossing in Alberta has now been cleared. I am shocked that actually happened.

[JGP]

My expression as I watched a video of police and Coutts protestors hugging as the latter cleared out. 

There's a lot of people in this country that need fucking slaps.