Fact check: Debunking false claims about the Canadian convoy protests

[Nevilledog]

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Tweet text:

Daniel Dale
@ddale8
No, there were nowhere near 50,000 trucks. No, Ottawa cops didn’t quit en masse. No, the Canadian and Ottawa governments didn’t instruct hotels to refuse protesters.

Debunking some of the convoy-related nonsense:

cnn.com
Fact check: Debunking false claims about the Canadian convoy protests
Canadian protests against vaccine mandates, Covid-19 restrictions and the Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have captured attention in the US and abroad -- and prompted a flurry of...
5:51 AM · Feb 9, 2022

https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/09/politics/fact-check-canadian-convoy-protest-ottawa/index.html


Washington (CNN)Canadian protests against vaccine mandates, Covid-19 restrictions and the Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have captured attention in the US and abroad -- and prompted a flurry of misinformation, including a false claim that was promoted by prominent podcaster Joe Rogan and on Fox.

We'll debunk some of that misinformation below. First, here's some quick background:

The protests involve a minority of Canada's truck drivers, some far-right activists and a variety of other citizens. The demonstrations began in late January as a "Freedom Convoy" of trucks and other vehicles. The convoy then turned into an ongoing demonstration in the Canadian capital of Ottawa, whose mayor declared a state of emergency on Sunday. It has also sparked protests elsewhere and inspired plans for a similar convoy in the US.

The protests have been touted on right-wing US television station Fox and have been cheered by some prominent Republican officeholders and conservative pundits; organizers have raised millions of dollars. Former President Donald Trump even weighed in with a statement praising the protesters and denouncing Trudeau.

The convoy started after Canada began requiring truckers who cross the US border to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 or have two-week quarantines upon returning home. The Canadian Trucking Alliance, the primary advocacy group for Canadian truckers, has opposed the protests and has said that more than 85% of Canadian truckers who regularly cross the border were fully vaccinated as of late January.

*snip*

[Tickle]

1. I'm wondering

how this is going to end. Hopefully peacefully but I can't imagine how it will conclude

[lagomorph777]

2. A vocal and violent minority within the trucking industry.

We have to avoid painting all truckers as assholes in our minds - that would be not fair and not smart.

[IbogaProject]

3. This is to distract from the new vaccine survival data

All a distraction as the death rate for the unvaccinated is 70 times that if the vaccinated and boosted. So all the harranginging about the vaccine mandates was bad advice for the MAGATS. So now w even the mask mandates ready to drop the Far Right are trying to line up to claim victory while further exposing their own ilk to more trouble ahead. I hate to hope for bad things but I hope this lowers their voter base directly and wakes even more people up to how bad the GOP is to any one not in the top 10-20% of income & assets.