Fact-checking the trucker convoy in Ottawa
This week, we're answering your most pressing questions and confusions about the trucker convoy in Ottawa, and the hate-fueled ideology associated with it.
Welcome to the 63rd issue of The Supplement, a newsletter that fills in the gaps of your other news intake. This is Sierra, one-third of The Supplement team!
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This week we’re checking the facts you were most interested in from the trucker convoy in Ottawa.
First off: I’d like to take a moment to recognize that the fifth anniversary memorial for the victims of the Quebec City mosque shooting was supposed to take place in downtown Ottawa Sunday evening but had to be moved for safety concerns around the convoy. It was held virtually instead.
Was the Freedom convoy taken over by extremist views?
For most participants, the convoy’s mission is to eliminate vaccine mandates for all Canadians (even though it started as a protest against mandates for only truckers to cross the border). However, a muddying array of messages have been associated with this and links to hate groups have been out in the open from the start.
For example, reporter Justin Ling pointed to Jason LaFace (not a trucker), from the far-right group Soldiers of Odin, who is listed as the Northern Ontario organizer. He has likened mask mandates to Nazi Germany, as in, the “oppressed” are those without vaccines. Yikes.
"We have a group of constitutional lawyers that have been working with our team," LaFace said in an interview with Kitchener Today’s Brian Bourke. "We're getting the rest of our signatures and we're having them compel the government to dissolve government."
"[Justin] Trudeau is a criminal in this country, he needs to go," added LaFace. It was reported that he then… hung up on Bourke, ending the interview.
A more well-known example of a leader with white supremacist ties is Pat King (who is not a trucker either). In fact, before the weekend, Ling tweeted:
King’s internet presence was reported in VICE as including “racist, far-right conspiracy theories, including one where he talks about the “depopulation of the Anglo-Saxon race” by global forces seeking to marginalize white people because ‘they’re the ones with the strongest blood lines.’”
Tamara Lich (yep… not a trucker) is a previous organizer of the Canadian Yellow Vest movement, which was linked to death threats against the prime minister. She’s also tied to the Maverick Party in Alberta, a far-right group formerly known as Wexit. She is behind the convoy’s GoFundMe, which is now at $9.5 million.
The movement was never “taken over” by anyone — it has remained in the hands of original organizers and the crowd that they intentionally targeted. The people, and the beliefs that are associated with them, simply have hateful undertones to their messaging.
PS: one reader also asked us how many people attended. We have not yet seen an accurate count, so will not be sharing until we are certain.
Do Indigenous peoples support the convoy?
There are Indigenous people who support the movement. There are also many people of colour who support ending vaccine mandates. Or ending vaccines. Or taking over the government, whatever part of the protests they chose to validate. There’s a whole Instagram page of POC who support the convoy.
But in asking this question, I believe you would be referring to the fake videos posted of Indigenous support. There was a stolen video of a round dance that was misappropriated as “evidence” of support from “Aboriginal Algonquin.” It was actually a Cree round dance in December 2018. Photojournalist Amber Bracken broke down the way she found out it was not true.
There were also protestors mocking Indigenous singing and drumming in blatant disrespect. The Instagram account mentioned above posted other videos showing Indigenous support, but refused to explain which communities were specifically offering support in the comment section.
Was there actually violence at the protests?
Though much of the protest was described as peaceful, one statement released by Ottawa Police said: “We have seen multiple cases of disruptive, inappropriate and threatening behaviour from demonstrators.”
There were reports of harassment all over the city, as the convoy sought places to sleep and eat.
Shepherds of Good Hope offers supportive housing, shelter and soup kitchens for people experiencing homeless in Ottawa. They released a statement that described experiencing pretty violent encounters with protesters who were trying to get food from the shelter. They said the demands for meals and other verbal altercations went on for hours, a member of the shelter community was assaulted by protestors and the security guard who went to his aid was threatened and called a racial slur.
Aside from that, violent ideology was not hidden. Like at all.
Why aren’t they getting parking tickets? City bylaw is 3 hours street parking.
Yes, they should be getting ticketed but they aren’t (though maybe they will soon).
In a Jan. 30 statement, police said that they “have avoided ticketing and towing vehicle [sic] so as not to instigate confrontations with demonstrators. Still, confrontations and the need for de-escalation has regularly been required.”
This difference was very noticeable to many who are seasoned in the world of protesting in Canada. You probably remember how police treated Indigenous protesters, or when BLM had protests for police brutality, or the violence at protests for homeless encampments in Toronto last year?
Did any politicians endorse it? Who?
At this point, some politicians have been very outright in their support.
Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole encouraged Trudeau to meet with the protestors. The move was seen as a gamble, one Globe and Mail columnist described it as “the biggest gamble of his political life.”
O’Toole is now “facing a caucus revolt,” including a make-or-break vote as early as Wednesday after nearly three dozen of his party’s lawmakers demanded a leadership review.
Others who voiced their support are Conservative MPs Pierre Poilievre and Brad Vis. Conservative MP Leslyn Lewis tweeted support.
Surprisingly/unsurprisingly, former President Donald Trump endorsed the protests as well. Some have pointed to the similarities between the convoy and the Jan. 6 Capitol Riots, for which Trump played a role in drumming up support and now says he would consider pardoning defendants who were charged in the violence. More than 700 people have been charged with federal crimes in connection to the Capitol riot.
Is the media covering this accurately?
A lot of protestors created the narrative that the media wouldn’t cover the convoy, which we now can see is very wrong. Media needs ad revenue, ad revenue comes from clicks. And let me tell you, people are CLICKING on stories about the convoy. The convoy has been the top story for a solid week. Across the country, many journalists have been dedicated to covering this in a nuanced and accurate way (just take a look at some of the links we included above). Like in people, you will be able to find reporting from multiple stances that you agree with and don’t.
However, there are some instances where the convoy has been extremely disrespectful towards journalists. It’s hard for “the media” to do their job when you are violent towards them.
Or when you don’t invite them to interviews…
So, I can say that journalists are doing their best under these circumstances. It’s normal to read stories and opinions you don’t agree with. You might not agree with everything you read this weekend, but intimidating reporters is a growing problem. It not only inhibits freedom of the press, but it also stops people from getting the full story.
By the way, please read the other trucking narrative out there. The Globe reported that almost one in five Canadian truckers is South Asian, but many don’t see themselves represented in the trucker convoy. Meanwhile, The Star reports that there are thousands of filed complaints from truckers over unpaid wages and other abuses. Read their reporting on drivers in Brampton who mobilized against a mounting crisis. We already have heard that the The Canadian Trucking Alliance doesn’t support the convoy.
Here’s someone to follow:
The NASH84 website is alive and well! Go look!!!
(That’s Canada’s largest student journalism conference, ICYMI.)
Here’s a story to check out:
To remain on the topic… check out The Toronto Star’s recent investigation: As Canada’s hate problem reaches new heights, its justice system has failed to dissuade hate spreaders who repeatedly target vulnerable groups.