The duty Thursday followed the “Freedom Convoy” towards the National Assembly alongside its two captains, Bernard “Rambo” Gauthier and Kevin “Big” Grenier. Foray into the heart of a confused but very real anger that is growing in Quebec.
Through the window of pickup, “Big” Grenier shouts to bury the storm of car horns and cheers blowing in his path. “We’re going to do everything to make you proud and to give you back your freedom!” promises the 32-year-old, 6-foot-4, 320-pound colossus to a crowd of worshipers gathered in front of the Mont-Valin hotel in Chicoutimi.
In the black Ford F-150 in which “Big” is seated, “Rambo” Gauthier is at the wheel. After eight hours on the road, the two men are about to cross the Laurentian park with, according to their estimate, “five to six kilometres” of supporters on their heels – and a journalist in the back.
“We are not heroes, we are loudmouths,” said the 56-year-old trade union veteran. “But people almost see us as saviors. The two men have channeled, in less than a week, a fed up that thousands of people are now promising to go and file at the foot of parliament.
On their way, the reception is indeed triumphant. Along the 175 and on the viaducts, people gather to applaud their passage. Placards hoisted high display here a heart, there a “thank you” addressed to the two leaders of the libertarian locomotive.
Words become less tender when addressed to power, the media and “medical tyranny”. From ” Fuck Legault”, middle fingers to Trudeau and ” Medias also punctuate this road which must, according to the protesters, lead to freedom.
“It’s not a demonstration, it’s a peaceful siege” which is being prepared in Quebec, assures “Big”. Their demands: nothing less than the return of “before” life and the lifting of all the measures put in place to curb “influenza-19”.
Unique thought
Phone in hand, “Big” scrolls through the hundreds of messages received over the past week. Citizens, he explains, who express a distress attributed to health measures. So-and-so mourns a loved one who died by suicide. Another lost his job because of his refusal of the vaccine. “It’s not normal that we have to do this to make ourselves heard,” maintains Mr. Grenier about the convoy.
The only son of “Rambo” has also lost his livelihood due to his vaccination status. Train driver for the federal government, he refused the injection and is no longer entitled to employment insurance. “It’s an attempted murder,” fumed his father. He has a seven-month-old son to feed! »
The vaccine, he says, does not displease him. “It’s the obligation that disgusts me. He doubts its virtues and worries about its long-term effects, despite pyramids of evidence erected by science. “I will take it, the vaccine, when my government will sign a paper which tells me that, if something happens, it will backer “, decides the trade unionist.
He, “Big” and the swarm of Internet users who support them denounce the single thought that they see interfering in Quebec. Anyone who opposes the consensus built around the pandemic, they say, is ostracized. Proof of this is Guillaume Lemay-Thivierge, one of the only guests of Everybody talks about itto have sounded a discordant note at the televised high mass on Sunday, they recall. “We no longer see him anywhere”, notes “Rambo”, for whom “everyone is entitled to their opinion”.
Even when it comes to a neo-Nazi displaying his swastika, as seen in Ottawa? ” Yes. First go ask him why he has a swastika,” says “Rambo” drawing a parallel between Hitler and the “sanitary dictatorship” put in place 23 months ago.
Class struggle
In the passenger compartment of his vehicle, “Rambo” displays his affiliations. Two poppies pinned to the ceiling and as many casings hanging from the rearview mirror recall its military past. A small drum hanging from the window shows the effigy of the Warriors, a symbol of Aboriginal resistance in Oka.
In the midst of this paraphernalia, “Rambo” speaks of his mother by calling her “mom” and shows, the eye shining with pride, a photo of his grandson, Dalton. “My phobia, explains the grandfather, is not being able to offer him a better world. »
Bernard Gauthier’s father was an executive at Arcelor Mittal. Dropped him out of school with a 5and secondary in pocket. At 76, “Big’s” father still works as a mechanic, while he is sometimes a lumberjack, sometimes a bar manager. “My worst nightmare, he says, is to die and wake up having to go back to school for eternity. Tabarnak that I hated that. »
In the midst of their health struggle, the two men also say they are waging a social fight against elites who look down on the rough-hewn of their kind. “We bother us, and we don’t speak well like you”, laments “Rambo”.
“I’ve seen so many fathers and mothers being abused because they didn’t dare put their foot down,” says the trade unionist. I am able to defend myself. I decided to fight for them. »
During the trip, the two organizers will struggle to find a room to stay in Quebec – a mission that proves difficult in the middle of the carnival, even counting on a nebula of volunteers on site. Do they intend to occupy the capital for a long time? In their suitcase, they have the necessary for three days. “We’ll decide when we get to the river,” says “Rambo.”
Their spoils of war—from donations—exceeded $30,000 in less than a week. The rental of a fuel tank intended to supply the convoy camped in Quebec was to swallow a third of the amount, specifies “Big”.
On several occasions during the trip between Chicoutimi and Quebec, “Rambo” and “Big” seemed to drink from the fear they inspire in the media. “We are little butts for the powerful,” they repeated over the miles.
Arrived at the gates of Quebec, the two captains still had no rooms in which to spend the night. However, a large contingent of supporters made up of families awaited them. Bathed in this support, “Big” and “Rambo” perhaps did not know where to sleep, but they had one certainty: that the little asses had pulled off a great blow, regardless of the outcome of their seat.