Truckers Demonstration | The “freedom convoy” is organized in Quebec

As it gathers momentum in western Ontario, a convoy of truckers opposed to mandatory border vaccinations, which left British Columbia for Ottawa on Friday, quickly organizes in Quebec. Its leader, Albertan Patrick King, associated with the extreme right, is far from unanimous.

Tristan Peloquin
The Press

The truckers who take part in the “freedom convoy”, the length of which reaches about twenty kilometers according to the Toronto Starintend to block the surroundings of the parliament in Ottawa.

Departures are planned from several border crossings in Quebec on Friday morning, to join the movement in the federal capital during the day.

Participants oppose a policy that requires all unvaccinated Canadian long-haul truckers returning from the United States to quarantine for 14 days after crossing the border. The Canadian Trucking Alliance says it “strongly disapproves” of their intention to impede traffic with this convoy. She estimates that only 26,000 of Canada’s 160,000 truckers are unvaccinated.

Trudeau reacts

Asked Wednesday about the convoy, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that “the comments made by some of the people associated with this convoy are unacceptable, and they are unacceptable to the vast majority of Canadians”. Mr. Trudeau did not specify what exactly he was talking about.

“Canadians are concerned about their freedom, their rights, yes, and they know that the best way to protect their rights and their freedoms is to end this pandemic,” added the Prime Minister, believing that these truckers represent a “minority fringe” and not representative of the population.

A figurehead follower of the “great replacement” thesis

The convoy arrived in the Thunder Bay area on Wednesday. At its head is Alberta activist Patrick King, co-founder of the Wexit Canada movement (now the Maverick Party), a political organization that campaigns for the separation of the western provinces from the rest of Canada. He was also involved in the Yellow Vest Canada movement and openly defends the thesis of the “great replacement” and the “genocide of whites”, a conspiracy theory according to which white people are secretly replaced everywhere in the West by Muslims.

“We are being invaded. We are losing our culture and our religion. This is cultural genocide,” he said in a video posted on social media.

Last August, he falsely claimed, in a video seen by hundreds of thousands of people in alternative media, that he had won his case in court contesting a $1,200 ticket for non-compliance with sanitary measures. by demonstrating that the Alberta government had no proof of the existence of the virus responsible for COVID-19. His misinterpretation of a sworn statement by a government expert, at the heart of the imbroglio, was demonstrated in fact-checking reports from Reuters, Radio-Canada and Vice.

In recent days, Mr King has posted videos on Facebook in which he claims that Antifa, the anti-fascist movement systematically demonized by the far right, is trying to derail its movement with the help of “liberal minions” (Liberal minions).

Millions raised

A crowdfunding campaign launched on the GoFundMe platform to cover the costs of the convoy has raised nearly $5.7 million since January 14. Its initiator, Tamara Lich, is one of the administrators of the Maverick Party, which defines itself as “pro-choice” in terms of vaccination. On Tuesday, GoFundMe announced that it has frozen the millions raised until documents are provided explaining precisely how the money raised from some 60,000 donors will be redistributed to convoy participants.

Meanwhile, in Quebec, a group of truckers and anti-vaccine activists began to organize on Zelloan application that functions as a walkie-talkie or radio citizens band (BC). Several people have announced that they have prepared parking lots and are preparing to welcome truckers for the night on Thursday.

On the air, several calls were made to maintain a peaceful discourse. “I hear the comments raving. I don’t want to have to be labelled. When it becomes too conspiratorial, I have a problem, ”said the moderator of the channel intended for the organization of the Quebec convoy.

The organizers did not respond to our interview request.

Tory MPs support convoy

In Ottawa, several Conservative MPs showed their support for the convoy heading to Ottawa to protest the mandatory vaccination of cross-border truckers. This is particularly the case of the deputy leader of the party, Candice Bergen, who declared on Wednesday that she supported the right of truckers to demonstrate peacefully. Asked about it for the first time on Monday, Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole declined to say whether he supported the convoy. But in a virtual session with supporters on social media on Tuesday, he said he understood why truckers were frustrated and also reminded Canadians that they have the right to peaceful protest.

The Canadian Press