The Canadian trucker convoy is an unpopular uprising

[Jilly_in_VA]

Since January 28, Canada’s capital city of Ottawa has been under siege by a convoy of angry truckers — a two-week running protest that has drawn support from right-wing extremists in Canada and abroad.

The so-called “freedom convoy” is nominally protesting a vaccine mandate for truckers, implemented in mid-January on both sides of the US-Canada border. But the demonstrations have swiftly ballooned into a broader far-right movement, with some demonstrators waving Confederate and Nazi flags. Protester demands include an end to all Covid-19 restrictions in Canada and the resignation of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

The demonstrators, which have included as many as 8,000 people at their peak, have terrorized Ottawa: blockading streets, harassing citizens, forcing business closures, and honking their extremely loud horns all night. Ottawa police, who have proven some combination of unwilling and unable to restore order, have even set up a special hotline to deal with a deluge of alleged hate crimes stemming from the protests. In the first week of February, it received over 200 calls.

Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson has declared a state of emergency, and Trudeau’s government has deployed hundreds of Royal Canadian Mounted Police to the protests. As the situation in Ottawa continues, the freedom convoy movement has expanded across the country. Demonstrators have shut down at least two border crossings between Canada and the United States.

But while the protests are generating a lot of noise and attention, the eruption actually points up a counterintuitive fact: The Canadian far right is weak and ineffectual, especially when it comes to pandemic restrictions.

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/22926134/canada-trucker-freedom-convoy-protest-ottawa
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It appears, from this, that it may have more in common with Jan. 6 than July 4

[Bernardo de La Paz]

1. Make them pay: take away livelihood they used for domestic terrorism. Use a weapon lose a weapon. nt

[uponit7771]

2. K&R, that's why a lil bit in me wishes these dumb ass would screw with the SB and stop traffic for

... a couple of hours and screw up SB proceedings.

Then the rest of the country will loath their asses,

jus a lil bit in me

[Bev54]

3. Premier Ford of Ontario has now declared a state of emergency

He has stated they will soon begin to take down the "occupation" (not protest) and will begin to relieve truckers of their licenses if they refuse to move. He still has to take this to cabinet tomorrow but I expect we will see something happening soon. It is tricky because so many of these assholes have brought their children along. I am wondering if social services might be brought in (just my own musing). I hope they get this right and are able to soon stop this across the country.

They have seized the money coming in to support them (GoFundMe was previously shut down by them) through a new Canadian fund raising app.

Incidentally yes the far right is weakened here as our government is able to declare domestic fascist groups as terrorists which cuts off their abilities to raise money, thus they are using this protest to raise money. We will not tolerate it and to many on this side of the border we have a difficult time understanding why the US cannot do the same.

[moondust]

5. "up to a year in jail and C$100,000 in fines"

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-60352980

[Bev54]

6. Thank you, I watched Ford's press briefing but couldn't remember if he said

how much fines would be.

[PortTack]

4. The truckers don't even realize what pawns they were in this!

[Bev54]

7. As Ford noted, but I have not seen this in our media because they suck

that the siege of the border crossing in Windsor there were only 3 trucks involved along with various other vehicles.

[BlueIdaho]

8. They are called "Useful Idiots"

And that’s just the way Putin wants them. Easily lead by their noses after a few well placed jingoistic fake patriotic phrases.