Canada’s “Freedom Convoy” Is a Front for a Right-Wing, Anti-Worker Agenda
Workers in Canada’s trucking industry have suffered during the pandemic. The “Freedom Convoy,” a right-wing, pro-business social movement, purports itself to be the people’s champion of liberty — yet it couldn't care less about the hardships and burdens of its fellow workers.
How Doug Ford hid from dealing with the Freedom Convoy
We are now into the third week of the ‘Freedom Convoy’ that has besieged downtown Ottawa. What we have witnessed is a total abdication of responsibility by all levels of government, exacerbated by Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who has cowered in the face of any crisis that was not artificially manufactured by himself and his party.
Who’s Behind The ‘People’s Convoy’ To Washington DC?
Thousands of truckers are being hijacked by anti-vax loonies and encouraged to parade through red state America in search of any remaining Covid-19 restrictions to protest. The so-called “People’s Convoy” is scheduled to leave Barstow, California, on Wednesday, February 23, and meander eastward, picking up truckers as they go for a final jamboree and road-blocking in Washington, DC, on Tuesday, March 1, 2022 – the day of Joe Biden’s first State of the Union address. Are these the same organizers that brought us Canada’s “Freedom Convoy,” blocking the streets of the capital, Ottawa, for weeks and blocking border crossings to the U.S.? No, those organizers were arrested. Those trucks were confiscated. Those protesters have been debanked and uninsured. This is a whole new crop of American Made truckers.
Everything happening in the United States comes to Canada, only a little later and a tad more politely. The rage that erupted in a Presidential-endorsed riot in Washington on 6 January 2021 has now exploded to the north. Fueled by a confused swirl of resentment against the array of pandemic protocols that all advanced capitalist states have invoked to curb and contain Covid-19 – including vaccination passports, mandatory masking, business lockdowns, and cross-border restrictions – so-called “Freedom Convoys” have descended on the nation’s capital Ottawa, holding the city hostage. US-Canada border crossings have been blocked in Ontario, British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta, and the convoys have staged sporadic protests across the country, from Fredericton, New Brunswick to Surrey, British Columbia.
I have spent time listening to leaders and activists from across this country, and I have learned one thing: we as civil society must step up and provide courageous leadership in this time of crisis. Unions, racial and climate justice organizations, faith leaders, students, residents’ groups, health care activists – all of us have a role to play to help overcome this polarization, to bridge divides and to focus on crucial issues of social justice. We need to start organizing at the national and local level – bringing together people from all walks of life to determine strategies that will address the realities of each region of our country. There is no magic slogan that can turn this around. It’s about deep organizing. We know that public health measures are about saving lives, just as mandatory seatbelt laws save lives.
Why the Freedom Convoy Is More American Than Canadian
Conservatives in the U.S. have fallen in love with the fringe protests led by Canadian truckers. It is a cause that unites the libertarian and extremist wings of the GOP and offers a new front in the culture wars
Leading Republicans, right-wing influencers and white supremacist groups have jumped at the chance to promote the standoff in Ottawa to a global audience.
How anger, faith and conspiracy theories fuelled the trucker convoy - The Fifth Estate
Our investigation reveals how months of planning drew convoys to Canada’s capital, leading to an unprecedented weeks-long occupation of some streets around P...
'No air of reality': Judge shoots down private prosecution of Doug Ford over COVID vaccine 'crimes'
The case points to how authorities need to engage such individuals respectfully, to acknowledge that frustration at pandemic restrictions is felt even by the more s…
'So many angry people': Experts say online conversation around trucker convoy veering into dangerous territory
As a growing group of truckers and supporters make their way to Ottawa in a protest against vaccine mandates, experts say the rhetoric online concerning the convoy is getting increasingly worrisome.
Majority of Canadians disagree with ‘freedom convoy’ on vaccine mandates and lockdowns
Most Canadians support government measures to help control the spread of COVID-19, according to a public opinion study. But they’re growing weary of the pandemic.
Chris Turnbull on X: "Massive increases in Alzheimers Dementia in over 65s if they had Covid massive new study shows: Loss of sense of smell are the first warning signs of both Alzheimer's and Parkinsons... https://t.co/SGy5aAUahJ" / X
Massive increases in Alzheimers Dementia in over 65s if they had Covid massive new study shows:
Loss of sense of smell are the first warning signs of both Alzheimer's and Parkinsons...
Early childhood lower respiratory tract infection and premature adult death from respiratory disease in Great Britain: a national birth cohort study
In this prospective, life-spanning, nationally representative cohort study, LRTI during
early childhood was associated with almost a two times increased risk of premature
adult death from respiratory disease, and accounted for one-fifth of these deaths.
Nearly half of COVID patients haven't fully recovered months later, study finds
A study of tens of thousands of people in Scotland found that 1 in 20 people who had been sick with COVID-19 reported not recovering at all, and another...
What 2 new studies reveal about long COVID in Canada
Two new large-scale reports, one published by Statistics Canada and the other in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, are giving a clearer picture of the long-term impacts of COVID-19 infections on Canadians and the health-care system.
COVID raises risk of long-term brain injury, large U.S. study finds
People who had COVID-19 are at higher risk for a host of brain injuries a year later compared with people who were never infected by the coronavirus, a finding that could affect millions of Americans, U.S. researchers reported on Thursday.