Canada’s ‘Freedom Rally’ is watched around the world – and seen in many different ways

While supporters of a truck convoy with its sights set on Parliament Hill on Thursday roared their support in Canada’s largest city, heads kept turning and watching across this country and around the world.

Elon Musk, the richest man on the planet, declared on Twitter that Canadian truck drivers “rule”. American podcaster Joe Rogan called ours a “country in revolt”. Here at home, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau argues the convoy represents a “marginal minority with unacceptable views.”

Everyone, it seems, has their say on what it all means as the “Freedom Rally” plows its way to Ottawa, which arrives on Saturday.

When it launched in the West this week, it was with the relatively narrowly stated goal of protesting a vaccine mandate for cross-border truck drivers, the rule that they be placed in quarantine after crossing the border between Canada and the US.

As it approached its destination, the significance of the protest seemed to supporters and critics to become more ambiguous, and for that reason made its outcome less predictable.

Supporters with signs such as “You helped our future” and sang “Freedom” turned up at a rally on the edge of a Vaughan Mills mall’s parking lot on Thursday.

Some have waved Canadian flags, or signs that downplay the prime minister, the media or chief public health official, Theresa Tam. Other signs, as well as an inflatable sheep, displayed incorrect information about COVID-19.

“There are so many of us!” exclaimed one woman excitedly as she watched the crowd of a few hundred.

Evan Balgord, a researcher and executive director of the Canadian Anti-Hate Network, admits that many supporters probably believe it’s about vaccine mandates and “freedom”, but he sees something more ominous.

“A lot of people support it from the sidelines,” said Balgord. “There’s a wide range of grievances that bring people to this thing – but it’s really a far-fetched thing.”

In this protest, Balgord sees the latest iteration of 2019’s United We Roll convoy to Ottawa. The protest was launched as something of a yellow-vest movement in support of Western provinces and the oil and gas industry, but ended with a more sinister tone after being criticized as a platform used by some to spray hatred.

The difference between the United We Roll effort and this protest is the size of the movement and how well it was funded, Balgord said.

“This convoy is an evolution of what the far right has been doing since 2016,” Balgord said. “It just goes from one stunt, and one thing they call themselves, to another.”

“The organizers, they are not truck drivers,” he added. “The truck drivers condemned it.”

The “truck drivers” are obviously not a monolithic group, but the Canadian Trucking Alliance condemned the protest, emphasizing that nearly 90 percent of Canadian truck drivers have already opted to get the vaccine.

Mike Fabinski, who has been a truck driver for 20 years, said the federal vaccine mandate means he will no longer be able to work cross-border routes.

“You want to be vaccinated, go ahead, your choice. I do not want to be vaccinated, it is my choice, ”said the resident of Barrie, Ont. “I went non-stop until they started last Saturday. Now I can not go. I can no longer work. ”

On the sidelines of the convoy, critics say, more extreme anti-government forces jumped on his bandwagon without being ejected.

A CBC journalist covering the convoy posted a screenshot of a text conversation he said was a contact for the convoy, which used a racist phrase and said, “Traitors will swing.”

An Ontario convoy organizer, Jason LaFace, said the message did not come from him or anyone he knew, and he condemned the language as “junk.”

An early promoter of the convoy was Pat King, a right-wing provocateur who advocated ideas against government, freeman-on-the-land and who said Canada should have a “revolution”. The convoy’s GoFundMe fundraiser later added a note to distance their case from King, saying he is not an organizer of the movement. Nevertheless, based on his videos, it appears that he is traveling with the convoy while continuing his own fundraising.

Concerns about the rioting forces inside the convoy put police and Parliament Hill in Ottawa on alert.

Patrick McDonell, the gun sergeant in charge of the Security of the House of Commons, wrote to MPs on Thursday, warning of reports that some protesters were searching for home addresses for MPs in the Ottawa area. He said if their homes or constituency offices are targeted, they should not close and lock all exterior doors and get somewhere safe.

Ottawa police on Thursday warned that they would not tolerate criminal behavior.

“The police and our partners are focused on providing a safe environment for the community and protesters,” the Ottawa Police Department said in a statement.

“We are aware of inappropriate and threatening language on social media related to this event. We welcome peaceful demonstrations. That said, public safety is extremely important – there will be consequences for people involved in criminal behavior, violence and / or activities that promote hatred. “

Several valuable donors for the convoy fundraiser that the Star has achieved have meanwhile made it clear that they donated to promote “freedom” and protest against the mandates.

Len Sedge, a Chatham retiree who donated $ 15,000 to the campaign, wrote in a Facebook message to the Star: “My freedom is worth much more than that.” (He refused to speak to the Star over the phone because he said he did not trust the media.)

Zach Arnusch of Vanderhoof, BC, told the Star he would like to go with the convoy, but work and family responsibilities kept him at home, so he donated $ 2,500 instead.

“My understanding of it was initially the main goal was to end the mandates for truck drivers crossing the border,” he said. “And then they swung it to end mandates for everyone. I do not agree with the mandates and all that. ”

Yet a complete picture of the movement’s funding is not yet clear. GoFundMe on Thursday refused to share a complete list of all donations made, including how many of them were anonymous. An analysis of 1,000 recent donations obtained publicly through the GoFundMe page on Thursday showed that about a third of the donations were made anonymously.

Further donations were made under pseudonyms, with one person or entity donating $ 15,100 under the name of U or T-epidemiologist David Fisman, who posted on Twitter that it did not come from him, and another high-value donation appears under the name “Sophie Gregoire,” the name of Justin Trudeau’s wife.

The convoy began with a viral TikToker, and a coalition of freedom-oriented right-wing activists, including United We Roll supporters, jumping on its bandwagon.

Trucker Chris Barber, of Swift Current, Sask., Posted a video on TikTok about an Ontario truck driver who is about to lose her job due to the mandate. It was seen by Tamara Lich, an Alberta woman who works as the secretary for the Western separatist Maverick Party.

Lich told right-wing interviewer Marc Patrone that she had seen the videos, and was able to contact both Barber and some of the pro-pipeline activists working on the 2019 United We Roll campaign.

Together, they all started social media pages and a fundraiser.

The United We Roll organizers took the lead in organizing schedules and locations for the convoy, informed by the 2019 effort.

Lich launched the GoFundMe, which began $ 30,000 in donations on January 15 and raised more than $ 6.3 million from more than 80,000 sources as of Thursday afternoon.

Barber was adamant that the attempt was not against vaccines – but against vaccine mandates – and told the Star on Monday that he refused to speak to certain media outlets claiming the convoy was anti-vaccine.

“It’s just the truck drivers who started it,” he said. “Canadians have just joined us.”

Political support for the convoy, meanwhile, has come from conservatives in this country who have said they are concerned about supply chain issues due to the vaccine mandates that are in place for truck drivers.

Conservative party leader Erin O’Toole has vowed to meet with protesters, and Alberta Prime Minister Jason Kenney said on Thursday that “everyone has the right to democratic and peaceful protest in our country.”

“I hope those who organize the convoy do everything in their power to make sure it’s safe,” Kenney said. “I hope they disassociate themselves with anyone in the convoy who may have extreme or hateful views.”

With files from The Canadian Press