QAnon
presence on Parliament Hill on February 3, 2022.
A mobilization called the Freedom Convoy converged in Ottawa on January
29. It is being presented as an initiative of truckers demanding the
revocation of the vaccine mandate applying to truckers entering Canada
from the U.S. that came into effect on January 15. However, it is not a
truckers' rally and our advice is Don't Blame the Truckers!
An organization
called Canada Unity claims to be the organizer of the convoy. It is
demanding the resignation of the Trudeau government, an end of all
mandates and that the Senate and Governor-General recognize their group
as representatives of "the people of Canada." Besides pushing their
ideological beliefs in the name of freedom and democracy with the aid
of not a few advocates of racism and misogyny, a cabal of Conservative
Party MPs and those involved in their own causes, such as the so-called
People's Party of Maxime Bernier and other such formations, they do not
permit any discussion on the working and living conditions of truckers
in Canada. For the media to call it a truckers' convoy is a misnomer to
say the least.
The demands of the promoters of the
convoy are suspect from the get-go. For instance, while they protest
the Trudeau government issuing mandates, those organizing the entire
affair behind the scenes in Alberta themselves rule by decree. This
includes the Premier of Alberta, Jason Kenney, whose approval ratings
have consistently been among the lowest, if not the very lowest, of any
premier in the country. Kenney himself was in Washington DC at the
National Governors Association Meeting at the time the convoy hit
Ottawa, where he raised with members of the U.S. Congress and Governors
the demand for the U.S. to end its vaccination mandate for truckers
entering the U.S., and for favourable deals for the oil and gas sector
his government represents.
A key organizer and
spokesperson of the convoy is Tamara Lich, based in Medicine Hat,
Alberta. She is secretary of the Maverick Party, a new federal party
that first called itself Wexit Canada. It became eligible for
registration on January 16, 2019 under that name then was registered
under its new name, the Maverick Party, on August 19, 2021. The party's
interim leader is Jay D. Hill, who was a Conservative MP from 1993 to
2010 and served as Government House Leader under Harper in the House of
Commons from 2008 to 2010.
The conception of
freedom Ms. Lich's party stands for can be seen in its stated mission,
which aims to "achieve greater fairness and self-determination for
western Canadians through fundamental change, or the creation of an
independent nation." A quick look at their platform shows that among
other things they promote the building of what they call national
energy corridors to develop Energy East, Trans Mountain Pipeline,
Keystone Pipeline, Northern Gateway, and new potential pipelines, which
are part of further integrating Canada into the U.S. and its war
economy. They also say they do not support the United Nations
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Instead they support
"meeting with Indigenous peoples" who in their estimation have
"conveyed progressive agendas and the need for change regarding the Indian Act" and
engaging in "an open dialogue with all Chiefs (Hereditary, Traditional
and Elected), Leaders and their councils" with an eye to coming up with
"a New Deal for the Indigenous people of western Canada." They also
want a review of Canadian funding of the United Nations to limit
support for what they call the UN's "globalization initiatives related
to climate change, refugees, immigration and WHO."
This so-called
Freedom Convoy is organized, in the words of Ms. Lich, to get the
federal and provincial governments to end vaccine passports, all
mandatory vaccination requirements and contact tracing throughout
Canada and to respect the rights of those who wish to remain
unvaccinated. She claims that she is defending freedom and democracy
against what she calls the divisive rhetoric and the coercive measures
of governments to censor those who hold different opinions.
What
has become clear is that the mobilization is a self-serving stunt to
push factional rivalries in the contest over control of the supreme
political power in this country which, at this time, lies with the
federal executive power. Whatever else they think they may have
achieved, one thing which has already been consummated is the ouster of
the leader of the federal Conservative Party Erin O'Toole. O'Toole was
removed on Wednesday, February 2 by the Conservative caucus following a
staged leadership review. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Trudeau and his
government have surpassed themselves as concerns their penchant for
throwing epithets around to blame their rivals for being backward and
the cause of every conceivable problem the Trudeau government is not
addressing.
According to media reports, Trudeau
said the convoy was comprised of a "small fringe minority." He
dismissed their views as "anti-science, anti-government and
anti-society," which pose a risk not only to themselves but to others
as well.[1]
While the media made the issue his refusal to meet "the truckers," all
of it served to suggest that the Trudeau government which has
distinguished itself for privatizing everything, including government
itself, and pushing the anti-social offensive through rule by decree,
is scientific, not anti-social and not a "fringe minority."
Taking
their cue from the neo-liberal ideology and the positions of the
factions within the ruling class, the media promote the mobilization as
being a truckers' convoy despite the fact that all discussion on the
worrisome working and living conditions truckers face is taboo.
All of it -- the
divisive stunts and expenditure of vast amounts of money to pay for
policing, and the algorithms designed to portray "thousands" of rigs on
the march -- adds up to a massive disinformation campaign to hide the
fact that it is up to the Canadian people themselves, in action in
defence of the rights of all, to define what is democratic and what is
not, what is pro-social and what is not, what is needed and what is
not. All the hooting and hollering seems designed to imitate the
theatrics of the failed January 6, 2021 coup at the Capitol in
Washington DC so as to drown out the workers speaking in their own
names about what must be done regarding their living and working
conditions.[2]
The so-called Freedom Convoy had essentially the same aim as
one called the United We Roll convoy from Red Deer, Alberta to Ottawa
that was organized in February 2019, with Jason Kenney as one of its
main proponents. That convoy largely fizzled when a lot of people
jumped off the bandwagon in opposition to the shady way in which the
money that was raised was being used and because the convoy was a tool
in a sectarian fight for power and privilege between the Conservatives
and the Liberals. It had nothing to do with discussing and solving the
problems of the economy, especially of the oil and gas sector, let
alone the problems the truckers and other workers face in making a
living.
The United We Roll convoy took place two
months before the Alberta general election which was held on April 16.
At the time, Jason Kenney's United Conservative Party (UCP) was in the
opposition and Rachel Notley and the NDP were in power. The April 16
election resulted in a win for the UCP manoeuvres.
As
with the 2019 convoy, facts show that rank and file truckers have not
jumped on this bandwagon either. Concerns over how the money has been
raised and where the money is going indicate the necessity for a police
investigation. There is no doubt that the funds are being used to push
ideological beliefs Canada's truckers have had no role in adopting.
By February 2, in
just a few weeks, over $10 million was raised with no public
accountability. A few days earlier the Freedom Convoy 2022 GoFundMe
page showed the largest single donation to be $25,000, from an
anonymous donor, with several other five-figure amounts showing as
well. A note on the page at the time said only that "funds will be
spent to help cover the cost of fuel for our Truckers first and
foremost, will be used to assist with food if needed and contribute to
shelter if needed." For all Canadians know, the hotel industry in
Ottawa could have had something to do with organizing people to
converge in the city in the middle of a pandemic when business is slow.
The fact that organizers of this so-called Freedom Convoy
won't even permit discussion on the living and working conditions of
truckers, which are very difficult, is significant in getting to the
heart of the matter of who is behind this convoy and who it represents.
With much nastiness, they opposed the just cause of the truckers in
Vancouver who, before this so-called Freedom Convoy got underway,
organized some 350 rigs in a rally and convoy from Surrey to Vancouver
on January 22 to draw attention to their working conditions. Those
truckers demanded that the BC government take responsibility for the
conditions of the roads in BC which are extremely dangerous. They have
been handed over to private contractors for whom paying for maintenance
is not money-making. The government's social irresponsibility is
putting the lives of not just truckers but also every other driver at
risk.
This is the program of privatization the
organizers of the so-called Freedom Convoy advocate, which is why it
has the endorsement of arch reactionary Jason Kenney, and why Maxime
Bernier of the People's Party, federal Conservative MPs and their
leading lights all jumped on the bandwagon.
In this
regard, monopoly-owned and controlled media, including social media,
have been pushing disinformation in the most irresponsible manner.
False photographs seek to create the impression of a huge convoy of
trucks amassing. One such photo showed a lineup of trucks crossing the
Ambassador Bridge between Detroit and Windsor -- an everyday occurrence
-- that was said to be a photo of the so-called Freedom Convoy. How
many media saw fit to bring out the endorsement of the protest by
Quebec neo-nazis and others of their ilk known for promoting racist and
anti-immigrant views? It is quite something to see the official media,
including the "very responsible" CBC making out that the cause of the
convoy's organizers is catching on as if it was a popular movement when
it is well known how social media is used to create such false
impressions for self-serving reasons.
Photo of normal truck
traffic on the Ambassador Bridge. The Canadian flag has been
superimposed on the image.
So too, the
definition of the police In Ottawa as to what constitutes a disturbance
of the peace is very self-serving as they bend over backwards to
accommodate alleged truckers in the name of freedom to protest and
speak.
The fact is that
Trudeau's intervention further divides the polity while claiming that
everyone's freedom of expression is protected so long as they do not
engage in violent acts. In this way he attempts to portray himself as
the hero who represents real freedom and democracy. What is covered up
by the fight over whose views on democracy are valid, is the support of
both sides for the integration of Canada into the U.S. economy and war
machine. Controlling energy corridors, building pipelines without
consent on Indigenous territories, manipulating regulatory regimes to
turn environmental standards and requirements on their head and
sacrificing the human and natural environment are par for the course
for both sides in this factional fight to control the federal power.
For the rich and powerful, at stake are the bonanzas that
competing global private interests behind these parties are vying to
control, lucrative contracts for infrastructure builds and other
pay-the-rich schemes governments are putting forward in the name of
"building back better" after the pandemic. What is at stake for the
Canadian working class and people is the fight for their own
empowerment which begins by speaking out in their own name. These are
the voices across the country these divisive stunts and disinformation
campaign are designed to silence in the name of high ideals.
It Must Not Pass!
Notes
1. On
January 26, at a press conference, Trudeau said: "The small fringe
minority of people who are on their way to Ottawa, who are holding
unacceptable views that they're expressing, do not represent the views
of Canadians who have been there for each other, who know that
following the science and stepping up to protect each other is the best
way to continue to ensure our freedoms, our rights, our values as a
country."
Earlier, on
September 16, he said on a Quebec talk show: "But there are also people
who are fiercely opposed to vaccination, who do not believe in science,
who are often misogynistic, often racist too. It's a small group but
it's taking up space. And here we have to make a choice, as leaders, as
a country. Do we tolerate these people, or do we say: let's see, most
people, almost 80 per cent of Quebeckers, have done the right thing,
have been vaccinated. We want to get back to the things we like to do,
and these people are not going to stop us."
2. A story in the Globe and Mail
titled "Almost one in five Canadian truckers is South Asian, but many
don't see themselves represented in the trucker convoy" quotes some
truckers and those connected to the trucking industry who are of South
Asian origin. One long-haul driver from Brampton said he had no desire
to be part of the convoy because he didn't believe in the issues they
were raising. Another, the president of the Ontario Aggregate Trucking
Association, told the Globe
that nobody invited him or any South Asian truckers he knew, or asked
them if they agreed with their demands. A third person who publishes a
magazine for truckers said there was no anti-vaccine sentiment among
South Asian truckers, but rather a desire to get vaccinated and boosted
as soon as possible. Many live in places like Mississauga and Brampton,
in multi-generational families, he said, and they do not want to catch
COVID only to bring it back to infect the grandparents.
This article was published in
Volume 52 Number 2 - February 6, 2022
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2022/Articles/M520022.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
