Submission by the Canadian Association for Free Expression to the Public Order Emergency Commission, Inquiry into the Invocation of the Emergencies Act

Submission by the Canadian Association for Free Expression to the Public Order Emergency Commission, Inquiry into the Invocation of the Emergencies Act

SUMMARY:

 The Act is only to be invoked when all other measures have failed or when there are no other means or powers to solve a very serious emergency. The three week Truckers Freedom Convoy protest may have been a nuisance, an embarrassment, and affront to the Government but it was scarcely a dire crisis. It was a political problem which should have been solved by political means. These were never tried.

INTRODUCTION:

1. The Canadian Association for Free Expression Inc. (CAFE) is a non-profit educational organization incorporated under Letters Patent in Ontario in 1983. It’s brief is to promote the value of freedom of speech and to come to the support of those attacked for the non-violent expression of their political religious or artistic views. In pursuit of this goal CAFE has intervened in numerous legal and human rights cases over the years in Ontario, British Columbia and New Brunswick. http://cafe.nfshost.com

2. I wish to offer my observations on the freedom protests which led to the Truckers’ Freedom Convoy and which continue today in many cities across Canada, albeit with fewer numbers than before. This first hand and extensive experience may prove useful to the inquiry.

3. I am a veteran of close to 100 freedom protests in 18 different Canadian cities in two provinces from April, 2020 to the present. Those cities are: Ottawa (m), Toronto(m), Mississauga, Burlington (m), Hamilton (m), Brantford (m), Simcoe, London, Stratford, Niagara Falls (m), Niagara-on-the-Lake, Burlington (m), Kelowna (m), Penticton (m), Oliver, Osoyoos (m), and Vancouver. [(m) indicates many times.]

BACKGROUND TO THE END THE LOCKDOWN RALLIES & THE TRUCKERS’ FREEDOM CONVOY

4. The reactions of the federal, and the various provincial and territorial and municipal governments to the crisis caused by COVID (despite its 99.7% survival rate) resulted in the greatest restriction of the rights of Canadians at least since the Second World War.

5. At various times, gatherings were limited or restricted, businesses declared non-essential and ordered closed, persons forbidden to practise their faith by gathering to worship. For months, the Province of Quebec was placed under curfew.

6. People were compelled in many circumstances to wear masks. For months, people could not fly on Canadian airlines without showing proof of vaccination. A person’s right to determine what is introduced into his/her body (a vaccine) was negated. People were blackmailed into being vaccinated in order to keep or get a job. Thousands, including many medical people and civil servants were fired or put on unpaid leave of absence, if they wouldn’t take the vaccine or if they wouldn’t reveal their vaccination status [over 400 municipal workers in my home of Hamilton alone].

7. Pastors who felt a higher calling — to heed the Biblical injunction for the People of God to worship together communally — were, in some provinces, jailed or heavily fined. The Church of Aylmer Ontario Pastor Henry Hildebrandt was actually padlocked and chained closed by police.

8. Canadians who dissented from these measures as being wrong or an over-reaction to a virus were reviled in most the press and by most politicians as “conspiracy theorists” or selfish people who didn’t care if they killed grandma.

THE END THE LOCKDOWN PROTESTS & THE TRUCKERS’ FREEDOM CONVOY

9. Thus, starting in Vancouver in mid-March, 2020, spreading to Toronto the next weekend and then to cities and even towns across Canada was the largest mass protest in living memory. People frustrated by the various COVID restrictions and the deafness of most politicians gathered to stand up for their individual rights and freedoms. Theirs was very much a freedom protest.

10. At the July 1, 2020 Dominion Day rally on Parliament Hill, the sound of “”freedom, freedom” from a sea of Canadian flags and Red Ensigns was answered by “liberte, liberte” from a sea of Quebec blue fleur de lys flags and a few patriote flag from the rebellion of 1837. At a support rally at Queen’s Park in Toronto, the second Saturday of the Truckers’ Freedom Convoy gathering in Ottawa, I met a man wearing a Polish flag as a cape. We got talking and he explained his presence succinctly: “As a youth in Poland I marched with Solidarity for freedom; today, in Canada, I march for freedom in my new homeland. Both countries are threatened by totalitarianism.”

11. These protests became weekly events in cities across Canada and in many places continue to this day. There has grown a dedicated freedom movement from coast to coast. The weekly nature of these rallies and their persistence for more than two and a half years is unprecedented. There is outrage and dedication fuelling the freedom movement, outrage at the casual ways politicians and even bureaucrats and businesses have stomped on individual rights, and disillusionment with most politicians who were mute or went along with these violations as did most of the media.

12. In the 18 cities where I have attended these freedom rallies, I have never witnessed violence. Indeed, the atmosphere, as it was for much of the truckers’ three week protest in Ottawa, more resembled a 1960s era “happening”. People at these rallies, almost to a man or woman, were unmasked. Social distancing, of course, was not practised. People hugged and embraced complete strangers. Mary Lou Gutscher, a former leader of the Libertarian Party of Canada, greets all who attend the Sunday rallies in Penticton with a hug.

13. People revelled in practising the freedoms that had been banned. In Toronto, for months a Chinese lady brought her home baking and generously shared with one and all. Small groups of various faiths prayed together with their co-religionists. There might be brief speeches and often music and dancing.

14. These rallies brought together people from various points on the political spectrum. I encountered people who had voted Liberal, Conservative, NDP, Green and People’s Party in recent elections. What united people was a deeply felt sense of the loss of their freedom and frustration at a dismissive and unresponsive political class and a largely sneering media which, when it wasn’t ignoring these protests, demonized and dismissed participants as conspiracy theorists or anti-vaxxers. It was more complicated.

15. The disappointment and anger at the loss of freedom was what united people. Some, like followers of Pastor Henry Hildebrandt whom I met a Toronto rallies, were dismayed at the trampling of their right to practise their faith. Others opposed the forced closure of businesses. Some opposed all vaccinations on religious or medical grounds. More were skeptical of the vaccines introduced in late 2020 which had been developed, as President Trump said, “at warp speed”.

16. Many in 2020 worried about forced vaccination. Prime Minister Trudeau had said vaccination would be voluntary, but people noticed how policies changed from day to day. Early in 2020, Dr. Teresa Tam had said masks were of little use. My late Spring, masks were advisable and by Autumn, in many places, compulsory. Many at the rallies feared the same would be the case for COVID vaccines and, indeed, their fears came true.

17. Most people at the rallies were Old Stock Canadians or quebecois de souche in Quebec. Nevertheless, the rallies attracted a number of native Indians, people from Asia, Blacks and some Sikhs. (Many Sikhs are involved in small trucking firms.)

18. Many people at the rallies were furthered in their doubts about the various restrictive mandates by the unequal way in which they were applied. They noted that Prime Minister Trudeau had ignored social distancing and taken a knee at a large Black Lives Rally in Ottawa in June, 2020. Perhaps, the ever-present danger of COVID had taken a holiday that day so that the large gathering could occur. The then Toronto Chief of Police took a knee in a large crowd in the lobby of Toronto Police Headquarters. In June, 2020, a family of London Muslims was run over by a man in a truck. Various federal and provincial politicians, including Premier Ford and Prime Minister Trudeau, attended a large outdoor memorial, again in apparent defiance of mandates on the size of gatherings.

WHAT THE END THE LOCKDOWN FOLKS AND THE TRUCKERS’ FREEDOM CONVOY WANTED

19. When the Truckers’ Freedom Convoy began to take shape early in January, 2022, it was initially to oppose a new order to compel cross border truckers to be vaccinated. The convoy received enthusiastic support from dissenters across the country. It grew in size and its message was an end to all COVID mandates. At numerous rallies in January, I heard great enthusiasm for the convoy as the spearhead of the discontent with COVID restrictions.

20. People protest to get attention for their cause. There was a widespread disillusionment with being ignored by almost all politicians and most of the media when it wasn’t smearing the End the Lockdown and freedom rallies. It was hard to contact MPs. Few were available; many constituency offices were close. The universal excuse was COVID.

21. The goal of the Truckers’ Freedom Convoy was to be heard. They wanted the politicians in Ottawa to pay attention to them and to listen to their concerns.

22. One criticism made as the truckers converged on Ottawa was that they wanted to overthrow and replace the Trudeau government. Allegedly, they hoped to get the Senate and protest representatives with the Governor General to depose Justin Trudeau and form a new government. This foolish plan was the brain child of a tiny faction. Few people at the support rallies I attended had even heard of it and no one agreed. It was obviously unconstitutional and wildly impractical. There was no evidence even one senator agreed. The Governor-General is a creature of Ottawa politics and the federal civil service. That she would so rock the boat as to be part of such a plan is preposterous. Virtually nothing more was heard of this after the truckers arrived in Ottawa.

23. Along the way, from coast to coast, people rallied to feed and cheer the convoy on its way. Mostly, it was bitter cold. The crowds were huge. In Hamilton, a welcome rally was planned for Thursday morning, January 27. It was brutally cold. I expected the organizers would be lucky to muster 200 people to greet the convoy coming up from Niagara. In fact, almost 2,000 people lined roads and snow banks cheering and singing and waving Canadian flags. Station wagons drove up and gave boxes of food and bottled water to the truckers. I followed the convoy along the Queen Elizabeth Way to Mississauga. On every overpass, there were between 30 and 300 people, sometimes even coming down the ramp to the highway, waving flags and cheering the convoy. They had waited for over an hour in what was a frigid wind tunnel. Others told me this was the pattern all to way to Ottawa. There was huge grassroots support for the convoy.

THE REACTION OF THE GOVERNMENT

24. There has long been a rift in Canada between what is sometimes called the Laurentian Elite — the Montreal-Ottawa-Toronto Axis and much of the rest of the country, especially small town-rural-small city Canada. Many in the latter group believe they are looked down on as unsophisticated, backward people who must be directed and led, for their own good, of course.

25. The demarcation lines are not perfect, of course. Many of the freedom protesters came from big cities, like Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto and Montreal.

26. Perhaps, a hint of the reaction of much of Canada’s political class occurred in the wake of the first End the Lockdown ally in Toronto in late March, 2020. Premier Doug Ford dismissed the protesters as “a bunch of yahoos.” He had headed the populist Ford Nation and ridden to victory in the 2018 provincial election on a wave of populism. Ford Nation was to die from the totalitarian restrictions and lockdowns imposed by the premier is response to COVID.

27. As the convoy gathered and headed toward Ottawa, the reactions of the government were hostile and abusive. This was not very astute nor fair, passing judgments on people the Prime Minister had never met. Surely, in Canada’s system of representative government an MP must listen to his/her constituents and attempt to represent their views as best as possible, but at the very least the MP should respectfully listen. The same obligation falls upon the First Minister, who spectacularly did not listen.

28. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who refused to meet the truckers, denounced them as a “fringe group”, with “unacceptable” views, who were “misogynistic” and racist and adherents of unscientific ideas. These accusations were made before the convoy even got to Ottawa. This was quite a blast at a group he hadn’t met! There was also much fretting about “violence”.  There was much talk of bigotry and “hate”, although the issue of the truckers and their supporters was regaining freedom and an end to government mandates.

29. These accusations were false. As I have indicated, I noticed no violence or threats of violence at the close to 100 freedom rallies I’ve attended. Police testimony already before the Inquiry indicates there was remarkably little violence resulting from a three weeks protest by such a large crowd.

30. Representative government is imperilled when only certain views are deemed “acceptable” to even be heard. Similarly, whether an opinion is that of the majority or a minority (hence, perhaps, “fringe”) it should be heard. The government is loud in its loyalty to “diversity” and “inclusion”. [It even has a Ministry of Housing, Diversity and Inclusion.] One might hope that diversity and inclusion would apply to ideas as well.

32. The smear of “misogyny” was especially offensive and ludicrous. Women played a key role in the Truckers’ Freedom Convoy. One of the major organizers was Tamara Lich, who raised over $10-million in a Go Fund Me appeal within just a few weeks in January. It was subsequently stolen [that is, all but about $1-million, by a judge’s order did not go to the intended recipients, the truckers.] Women were often the majority at End the Lockdown rallies. Indeed, David Lindsay leader of the weekly C.L.E.A.R.-BC freedom protests in Kelowna said to me in the Fall of 2020: “Where are the guys? Seventy per cent of our supporters at these rallies are women.”

33. It would seem that the Prime Minister, much of the political class and many in the media sought to marginalize the Truckers’ Freedom Convoy with a torrent of baseless weaponized words.

34. The Prime Minister, instead of being open to hearing the convoy’s concerns, refused to meet with them and oozed a visceral disdain and contempt for them. In July, 2021, during the federal election the Prime Minister made a startling remark in French that was not reported in the English language press until January of 2022. The Toronto Sun (January 6, 2022) reported his comment: ““They are extremists who don’t believe in science, they’re often misogynists, also often racists. It’s a small group that muscles in, and we have to make a choice in terms of leaders, in terms of the country. Do we tolerate these people?”So, far from negotiation, the Prime Minister questioned whether COVID dissenters should even be tolerated. With such visceral rejection we may see why the Emergencies Act was invoked to smash the uprising of people he saw, in Hillary Clinton’s words, as “deplorables.”

35. Further to the Prime Minister’s mindset, in an article entitled “Convoy was no ‘occupation'”, Ottawa writer Rupa Subramanya says: “In the ultimate analysis, the narrative tone was set from the outset by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and it continues to this day. Commenting on the actions of Ontario Premier Doug Ford, Trudeau praised Ford for ‘standing with the people of Ottawa, of Ontario and of Canada, and not others.’ Unless the prime minister believes, contrary to the evidence, that members of the Freedom Convoy came from Mars, or at any rate from outside Canada, he’s quite literally “othering” fellow Canadians. Trudeau is no longer even bothering with the pretence that he governs for all Canadians, and not just the minority (not even a plurality) who voted for him.” (National Post, October 29, 2022)

36. With the exception of a small number of Conservative MPs who met with and greeted the truckers, Ottawa’s political class was decidedly frosty and unwelcoming in its approach. Former Liberal Cabinet member Catherine McKenna called for censorship of the Internet: “Time for Canada to regulate social media companies so they stop promoting violence and hate.” (National Post, February 1, 2022) The then Conservative Party leader Erin O’Toole flip flopped. At first, he refused to meet members of the convoy but eventually agreed to meet some truckers but away from Parliament Hill. Why, as if they were some disreputable people who could not be seen publicly in decent company? Still,  he had to scold those he hadn’t even yet met: “There are other groups using the plight of truckers to bring division, hatred, and we need to call that out and stamp it out,” said O’Toole, with no specifics as to what hatred or who those groups were. (CBC January 27, 2022)  NDP leader Jagmeet Singh leads a party that for generations has billed itself as the voice of the workingman. He, too, would not meet with these workingmen and women. Sounding a lot like Trudeau and O’Toole, he said  that “some of the people behind the demonstration are pushing ‘false information’ through ‘inflammatory, divisive and hateful comments.'” (CBC, January 26, 2022)

NEGOTIATIONS: THE ROUTE NOT TAKEN

37. The main goal of the convoy and its supporters was to the heard by the politicians and especially by the government, to be treated respectfully and seriously. This would have been a reasonable political solution. The government might have invited the convoy to send a delegation of spokesmen to sit down with the Prime Minister and/or a team of Cabinet ministers to discuss their concerns with a view to ending the protests. This was never done.

38.The Inquiry has heard testimony from then-Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson that he had, in fact, negotiated with the Convoy leadership to begin moving their vehicles out of residential neighbourhoods and that the agreement held. “In a statement released on Sunday, the Freedom Convoy Board said it agreed with the mayor’s request to begin moving operations out of residential neighbourhoods.

‘We have made a plan to consolidate our protest efforts around Parliament Hill. We will be working hard over the next 24 hours to get buy in from the truckers. We hope to start repositioning our trucks on Monday,’ reads a letter from the board.” (Global News, February 15, 2022) The conclusion is clear: Negotiations — that is a political settlement — were indeed possible.

39. In early 2020, just before COVID hit, radical Indians and radical environmentalists occupied several railway lines. The most critical was the CN line across the top of Lake Ontario. The two week blockade cost over $300-million in losses for delayed deliveries. The government’s reaction to these manifestly illegal blockades was very different from its approach to the truckers. There were no angry denunciations. In the end, there were negotiations. Note the non-judgemental and conciliatory language used by Minister Marc Miller in regards to the blockades: “Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller says there is a clear ‘path forward’ to defuse the ongoing tensions caused by protests that have hamstrung the country’s transportation network, despite some Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs refusing to meet until the RCMP leave their territory.

‘I know that the recent events in B.C. and in various places across the country are deeply concerning to all Canadians. It is a very difficult situation for everyone — for those people who are non-Indigenous but especially if they are Indigenous,’ said Miller during an emergency debate in the House of Commons Tuesday night. ‘All of Canada is hurting, and we are all hoping and working for a peaceful resolution.'” (CBC, February 19, 2020)

40. Although the demands by the Indian and environmentalist blockaders might well be seen as extremist or fringe, there was no such denunciation in the minister’s language.

41. Similarly, while the Black Lives Matter protests in Canada during June and July, 2020, were mostly peaceful, their demand for defunding the police could be viewed as “fringe” or “extreme” but the Prime Minister was glad to greet BLM in Ottawa, meet with them and take a knee.

CONCLUSION

42. There was a political solution to the three week protest in Ottawa. An early meeting with the Truckers’ Freedom Convoy leaders might well have ended the protest after the first weekend. It is clear the truckers were amenable to negotiation and were reasonable. Their main goal was to feature their grievances in a mass protest (in that they succeeded) and to get the attention of the nation’s political leadership, especially the government. In that they got the equivalent of the bloody cavalry charge unleashed on peaceful protesters in 1905 in St. Petersburg by the Czar, at least as portrayed in the 1960s movie Dr. Zhivago.

The Prime Minister’s remarks, even before the convoy arrived dripped with hostility and contempt, as did much of the media coverage. This was politically clumsy at best.

The Emergencies Act is meant to be used as a last resort in a dire emergency In our submission, the peaceful  Truckers’ Freedom Convoy may have been an annoyance and disruption but it was not a dire emergency. The federal government had not tried other means, especially political negotiations, to resolve the situation Instead, their response was to reach for the nuclear weapon of responses — the freedom stealing, money thieving Emergencies Act.

Prime Minister Trudeau has, on occasion, expressed admiration for the Communist Chinese system because, being a dictatorship, it can make decisions quickly and take action quickly, without the messy interference of Parliament or laws. That may be their system but it is not the Canadian way!

Submitted by:

Paul Fromm, Director,

Canadian Association for Free Expression,

P.O. Box 332,

Rexdale, ON.,

M9W 5L3

Canada.

paul@paulfromm.com

416-428-5308

Rupa Subramanya: Ludicrous to call the Freedom Convoy an occupation

Rupa Subramanya: Ludicrous to call the Freedom Convoy an occupation

The protesters didn’t come from Mars, or from anywhere outside Canada Author of the article: Rupa Subramanya

(National Post, Oct 28, 2022)  

Protesters gathered around Parliament Hill and the downtown core for the Freedom Convoy protest that made their way from various locations across Canada, Sunday January 30, 2022.
Protesters gathered around Parliament Hill and the downtown core for the Freedom Convoy protest that made their way from various locations across Canada, Sunday January 30, 2022. Photo by Ashley Fraser /Postmedia

Article content

As the second full week of hearings by the Public Order Emergency Commission winds down, it’s becoming increasingly clear just how weak the government’s rationale appears to be for invoking the Emergencies Act. As I wrote last week, key witnesses, including the OPP’s intelligence chief Supt. Pat Morris, shredded the federal narrative that the protesters were a violent and dangerous fringe who posed an imminent threat to the nation’s capital. Morris’s point of view was reconfirmed by OPP Commissioner Thomas Carrique, who asserted categorically that there was no “credible threat” to national security posed by the Freedom Convoy.

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Echoing the OPP, Ottawa Police Service incident commander Supt. Robert Bernier made clear that the Emergencies Act was not required for the police to do their job. Added to this, interim Ottawa police chief Steve Bell said that while the emergency powers were “helpful,” they were not “needed” for the police, the OPP and the RCMP as part of their unified command to do their job.NP Platformed Banner

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It’s obvious that emergency powers being helpful is not an adequate criterion to invoke them, and it’s going to be very hard for the government to make a convincing case that there was no viable alternative except imposing an emergency. Presumably, the last straw for the government to grasp at is that they had lost faith in the ability of the Ottawa Police, something suggested in a text message exchange now made public between Carrique and RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki, who apparently relayed the government’s lack of faith to Carrique.

Leave the police aside — there’s ample reason to have little faith in Ottawa’s outgoing mayor, Jim Watson. One of his more outlandish suggestions after the protests had already been cleared was that protesters’ vehicles that had been seized be sold and the proceeds used for policing costs. City solicitor David White, in a memo that since been made public, shot down the idea, saying the city had no legal authority to permanently seize vehicles in such a manner. The fact that Watson, the mayor of a G7 capital, was apparently unaware of this and was proposing tactics that you would more usually find in a banana republic is flabbergasting and scary. Yet, this is of a piece with the federal government’s freezing of the bank accounts not just of the protesters but those who gave them a few dollars of support online.

Equally disturbing was some of Chief Bell’s verbiage during his testimony to the commission of inquiry. He repeatedly referred to the protests as an “occupation” and the protesters as “occupiers,” terms widely used by critics and opponents of the protests. Such terms are clearly intended to delegitimize what was in fact a peaceful disobedience movement, of a type that Canada or Ottawa has not seen much of, but which is common around the world, including in our neighbour to the south.

Likewise, when challenged under cross examination by Convoy lawyer Brendan Miller, Bell, who repeatedly invoked “violence” being done to city residents, conceded that his use of the term did not refer to actual violence as defined by the Criminal Code but a violence that was “felt” by Ottawa residents. Again, such an assertion might possibly make sense coming from a psychiatrist or a psychological counsellor, but seems rather bizarre coming from the chief of police, whose day job is enforcing the law, not psychologizing what some residents may or may not have felt.

If the rest of the hearings go like this, it’s hard to believe an impartial commission could conclude otherwise than the government failed to make its case for the invocation of the Emergencies Act. However, the Liberals have their waiting saviour in the NDP and Jagmeet Singh. Singh has said, while the inquiry is in progress, that even if the commission finds fault with the government, his party won’t pull the plug on Trudeau’s minority, thus propping them up until their term expires in 2025. Rationalize it however Singh may, this is nothing other than the most cynical political calculus, since an early election is likely to prove ruinous to the veto that a party unlikely to ever form a government has over the current governing party.

In the ultimate analysis, the narrative tone was set from the outset by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and it continues to this day. Commenting on the actions of Ontario Premier Doug Ford, Trudeau praised Ford for “standing with the people of Ottawa, of Ontario and of Canada, and not others.” Unless the prime minister believes, contrary to the evidence, that members of the Freedom Convoy came from Mars, or at any rate from outside Canada, he’s quite literally “othering” fellow Canadians. Trudeau is no longer even bothering with the pretence that he governs for all Canadians, and not just the minority (not even a plurality) who voted for him.

Conservative Candidate Roman Baber Slams Gov’t Propaganda Lies & Promises to Defund the CBC

Conservative Candidate Roman Baber Slams Gov’t Propaganda Lies & Promises to Defund the CBC

I know what real propaganda is. I lived under a communist regime for the first nine years of my life. 

Now I am seeing propaganda in Canada, in full force and like its definition – funded by Government.  

Look at this CBC news story from two days ago or see CBC’s tweet below. CBC wrote about an intelligence report that advised government that breaking up the Ottawa protest may lead to violence. Of course we know that this intelligence assessment was false. The protesters remained peaceful and not a single weapon was found near the site!

But instead of describing the intelligence assessment as false, or criticizing the Federal Government for its response, the CBC maintains the fear narrative and demonizes peaceful Canadians, much like the Federal Government that funds the CBC.This is precisely what propaganda is. Lies, funded by government, seeking to justify government action or political agenda. 

I will defund CBC on day one. I will spin it off and sell it before lunch time. And I won’t let Rogers or Bell buy it. I will end all bailouts and subsidies to the media. I’ll also end all the government advertising which kept the media alive in the last few years.

There is no free speech without free and independent media.I will end all financial dependency by media on government and challenge the radical left-wing ideologues that run it.If you haven’t already, I ask that you rank me #1 on your CPC leadership ballot and please help my campaign pay some bills at JoinRoman.ca.We’re in the home stretch and every dollar makes a difference. 

Yours very truly,

Roman Baber
info@joinroman.ca
 

Trudeau Liberals’ claim that truckers want to ‘overthrow’ government is false and dangerous

Trudeau Liberals’ claim that truckers want to ‘overthrow’ government is false and dangerous

English
French

Trudeau Liberals’ claim that truckers want to ‘overthrow’ government is false and dangerous

Posted On: April 5, 2022

John Carpay, The Post Millennial

Jody Thomas, the Prime Minister’s Security and Intelligence Advisor, declared on March 10 that “there’s no doubt” that the people who organized the peaceful protest in Ottawa in February “came to overthrow the government.” Oddly, Ms. Thomas then goes on to express grave doubt about whether the protesters had the ability to do this, or even knew how to do it. Indeed, the truckers brought neither guns nor tanks, did not storm the Parliament buildings, and made no effort to occupy even one government building. Some individuals called on the prime minister to resign, but nobody used force to try to make that happen.

Ms. Thomas credits the Emergencies Act with empowering the federal government to freeze bank accounts without a court order or oversight, and to have police horses trample unarmed protesters, “in a way that we would have not otherwise been able to do.” It appears that, for Ms. Thomas, no measures can be too harsh when suppressing what she describes as “domestic ideologically motivated violent extremism.

“Ms. Thomas refers to the February protest as the “occupation” of downtown Ottawa, although Members of Parliament (and many others) have stated publicly that they had no trouble walking through the city centre each day to get to their place of work. Article 42 of the Hague Convention of 1907 states: “Territory is considered occupied when it is actually placed under the authority of the hostile army. The occupation extends only to the territory where such authority has been established and can be exercised.” When the Romans occupied Britain, they were effectively in charge of Britain, to the exclusion of another empire or a local sovereign. When the Germans occupied the Netherlands and other countries during the Second World War, the Germans ruled. A large gathering of people in one area does not constitute an “occupation.

“Ms. Thomas also referred to the peaceful protest as a “blockade,” when in fact the downtown was not in any way sealed off to prevent goods or people from entering or leaving. It was the police, not the protesters, who eventually erected a fence around the downtown core, after the Prime Minister had declared a national emergency. Certainly, some Ottawa residents were inconvenienced by the protests, but this does not turn the protest into a “blockade.”

If the protesters had been violent or had committed crimes, the Ottawa Police would have arrested those people, and publicized the arrests. To support the government’s narrative that the truckers were dangerous, racist, violent, criminal extremists, the police would have informed the public about specific crimes, detailing what happened, the names of persons charged, and which Criminal Code sections they had been charged with violating.

Yet during the first three weeks of the Ottawa protest, prior to the February 14 declaration of a national emergency, police did not charge any trucker with any crime. Some of the truckers’ leaders were in daily communication with police. Police even told the truckers where to park their trucks.

Moreover, if any protester had vandalized, stolen, or burned down property, or had assaulted anyone, or had uttered criminal threats, the CBC and other government-funded media would have gleefully reported on it repeatedly, around the clock, for weeks on end. Why were government-funded media not able to show Canadians footage of protesters committing crimes? Perhaps because the truckers were not engaging in illegal behaviour?

The accusations of Ms. Thomas about an “occupation” and “blockade” with intent to “overthrow” Canada’s government are as irresponsible and unfounded as the Prime Minister’s narrative about unvaccinated Canadians being “anti-science, racist, misogynist, extremists.”

There is a dark and very sinister side to accusing peaceful protestors who disagree with certain government policies of wanting to overthrow the government. It’s a move that comes straight out of the tyrant’s playbook.

A Cambodian court recently convicted 19 political opposition leaders of trying to overthrow the government, a verdict described by Human Rights Watch as bogus. The prosecution accused members of an opposition party of conspiring to topple the current government, run by former Khmer Rouge commander Hun Sen. Political opponents were also accused of undermining the current regime’s credibility by disseminating untrue and inflammatory information.

When Nicaraguan security forces violently put down anti-government protests in 2018, President Daniel Ortega claimed the protests were actually an attempted coup with foreign backing, and that foreign-funded organizations were part of a broader conspiracy to remove him from office. Nicaraguan authorities continue to prosecute and jail President Ortega’s opponents on charges of “conspiracy to undermine national integrity.” It is interesting that Ms. Thomas accuses truckers of wanting to overthrow the Canadian government and asserts that foreigners provided funding to the truckers.

Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, whose regime murdered an estimated 300,000 Ugandans during his eight-year reign of terror, was very offended when Archbishop Janani Luwum publicly criticized the government’s violence. Well, you guessed it: Idi Amin accused this archbishop of seeking to overthrow the government. Archbishop Luwum was arrested in February 1977 and died shortly after. Although the official account describes a car crash, it is generally accepted that he was murdered on the orders of Idi Amin.

Thus far, opponents of Prime Minister Trudeau have not been murdered and have not been jailed for long periods of time. But demonizing the unvaccinated minority, accusing opponents of wanting to overthrow the government, freezing bank accounts without a court order, and commencing criminal prosecutions against peaceful protesters are clear and direct threats to the survival of Canada as a free and democratic society.

Charles Lincoln Edwards & Paul Fromm Discuss the Colossal Failure of Mainline Churches During COVID & Update The Ongoing Trucker & Freedom Protests Across Canada & The State Dirty Tricks Used to Suppress Them

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Charles Lincoln Edwards & Paul Fromm Discuss the Colossal Failure of Mainline Churches During COVID & Update The Ongoing Trucker & Freedom Protests Across Canada & The State Dirty Tricks Used to Suppress Them
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https://youtu.be/TXRuvwcb22k

Court Gagged Political Prisoner Receives A Heroes Welcome Home in Medicine Hat

Court Gagged Political Prisoner Receives A Heroes Welcome Home in Medicine Hat
This news is too good not to share with you. Tamara Lich was an everyday Medicine Hat local just a little over a month ago when she departed to Ottawa.

Today, she was welcomed home as a hero. Lich was a personal political prisoner of Trudeau, held without bail for weeks in violation of her Charter rights, all to protect the ego of the most powerful man in the country. 

This 5 foot 49-year-old Métis woman brought Trudeau to his knees, sent him into hiding for a week and inspired millions of freedom activists across the globe. 

Tamara was the hero we all needed – and the freedom many Canadians are currently enjoying is thanks in large part to the sacrifice Tamara made. Prison is not a nice place to be, but she was hauled away by Trudeau’s agents with her head held high. 

You have got to watch our exclusive video of her return here. Medicine Hat came out in force, singing the national anthem, to embrace Tamara upon her return. A real Canadian Heritage Moment that will indeed trigger Trudeau and the CBC. 

The government and its media arm want us to believe them when they call Tamara a terrorist. That is why The Counter Signal exists – to fact-check the CBC and share the truth. 

There is more work to do, and we are here to help. Keep fighting for what is right,

Keean Bexte
Editor-in-Chief

The Witchhunt is On: Ottawa Top Cop Investigates Police Who May Have Donated to Truckers Freedom Convoy — “We need to deal with the people who supported it, because there’s no room for them.” — Chief Steve Bell. This is what political police look like.

The Witchhunt is On: Ottawa Top Cop Investigates Police Who May Have Donated to the Truckers Freedom Convoy

Ottawa police confirms it’s investigating officers for allegedly supporting ‘Freedom Convoy’

Investigations began during illegal protest’s ‘early days,’ interim chief says

CBC News · Posted: Mar 10, 2022 9:40 AM ET | Last Updated: March 10

An Ottawa police officer stands guard near a row of protest vehicles and signs during the weeks-long illegal occupation of downtown streets around Parliament Hill. The police service now confirms it’s investigating some of its own members for allegedly supporting the blockade. (Jean-Francois Benoit/CBC)

The Ottawa Police Service has confirmed it’s been investigating a small number of officers who may have supported the so-called Freedom Convoy since the early days of the illegal occupation in the downtown core.

Interim Chief Steve Bell told CBC Radio’s Ottawa Morning Thursday the force is committed to scrutinizing the matter fully, and the investigations are ongoing.

“Yes, in early days, we started investigations into individuals who may have been involved. Those will continue. I think it’s really important to note that it’s a very, very small number,” Bell said in response to a question about alleged officer donations.

“We need to deal with the people who supported it, because there’s no room for them, but the vast majority of this organization did everything within their power, in an absolutely professional way, to remove that demonstration from our streets.”

From Bell’s wording, it’s unclear whether the investigations pertain only to possible donations, or whether any officers may have had deeper links to the protest.

Interim Ottawa police Chief Steve Bell says there’s ‘no room’ in the force for officers who supported the illegal protest. (Kimberley Molina/CBC )

At least 6 Ottawa officers in publicly leaked list

Last week, CBC News matched at least two dozen current and former members of the Ottawa Police Service and Ontario Provincial Police with a publicly leaked list of names identified as apparent donors to GiveSendGo, a crowdfunding site that was used to support the weeks-long occupation in Ottawa.

The OPP said it had launched an investigation into alleged officer donations to the convoy, but wouldn’t divulge how many officers were under scrutiny. Ottawa police, meanwhile, wouldn’t confirm whether they were investigating.

After comparing the names of donors living in Ontario to publicly accessible salary disclosure lists of police officers, CBC found roughly 60 people with potential connections to law enforcement based on information they provided to GiveSendGo.

CBC then cross-referenced the information with other publicly available sources such as postal codes, social media accounts and archived news stories, and was able to match at least 26 donors to current and former police members — six with Ottawa police and 20 with the OPP.

For some Ottawa police officers, CBC was able to further confirm their names, and at times their donation amounts, with sources within the force. CBC is not naming the officers because they have not been charged nor disciplined, and none agreed to be on the record.

Their apparent contributions ranged from $50 to more than $1,000 each, and often accompanied a comment.

Paul Fromm on “The Political Cesspool” Reports on Trudeau’s Emergency Measures to Crush Dissent in Canada

Paul Fromm on “The Political Cesspool” Reports on Trudeau’s Emergency Measures to Crush Dissent in Canada

Hosts James Edwards and Keith Alexander set the stage for another busy show. Paul Fromm, Director of the Canadian Association for Free Expression, co-stars this hour when he delivers an update on the riveting fight for freedom in the Great White North.https://www.thepoliticalcesspool.org/radio-show-hour-1-2022-02-19/

Back the Truckers’ Freedom Convoy — Penticton, Kelowna, Ossoyoos

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Don’t miss these important dates!And Remember to bring two friends with you!  PENTICTON EVENTS & INITIATIVES

Sunday, February 13th Penticton at 1:00 PM Let’s Hold the line!!! Keep showing up! Music. Speakers. The most fun we have all week! 
BRING FRIENDS!!. They will leave inspired!
 RALLY LOCATIONMeet in the parking lot at the NE corner of Main St and Warren Ave across from Tim Hortons. BRING TWO FRIENDS!Lots of extra parking at BCAA garage, the strip mall adjoining our regular parking area, Winners (across the street), or overflow mall parking opposite the Warren Avenue entrance to Cherry Lane Mall.
Rally at Richard Canning’s office

Tuesday, February 15th, 11:00 am meet at his office   301 Main Street (Nanaimo Square).
Let’s show  Mr. Canning that his public comments denying us a voice are unacceptable and his accusations not fact-based. He is NOT representing the individual rights of his electors, according to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, but violating them with his public announcements.
Call Shawn for details at 250 490-8195 
 
Sloooow Roooolll  image.png


Vernon to Osoyoos and the border – Join in along the way!Vehicles from Salmon Arm will link up with the Okanagan Freedom Convoy in Vernon, then leave Vernon heading south at 9:30 a.m.
The first vehicles are expected to reach Penticton around 12 noon.or shortly after and could take an hour or more to pass completely.

MEETING PLACE FOR PENTICTON SUPPORTERS

Meet at 11:30 to show your support for the convoy at the end of the Parkway Channel.  There is lots of parking there immediately west of the bridge  If you have ever tubed the channel, you’ll recognize that this is where you get off the rafts. We’ll park there and cheer on the convoy as it goes by, then any who wish can join the convoy at the end of the line.

Those who can’t make it to the meeting spot can still join the convoy from wherever you have an entry point directly into the shoulder lane so you can avoid having to cross lanes of traffic to join up.

Make as good as an estimate as you can of when the convoy might be coming by your chosen resting spot.
Please respect the following Convoy Etiquette.  image.png



OLIVER EVENTS Saturday, February 12 at 1 PM in front of Town Hall. Bring friends and signs! Those who wish can join the Okanagan Freedom Convoy as it passes by the rally location. Either way, be there with your support signs for the truckers. And remember to say thank you to all truckers, whether in the convoys or around the town delivering products to their customers. We’re all in this together!
Show up with your smiles and your signs!  image.png

If you are in a neighboring community, join them, support them, WE ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER!!

OSOYOOS EVENTS

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Bring signs and two friends. The most fun you’ll have all week AND you’ll be standing up for freedom!
“March to the Border” walk is every day at noon from the Baptist church, except Sunday.
 This is a great opportunity to create visibility and intention so please bring any signs and/or flags along for the walk! There has been a great turnout daily so please feel to invite others along with you!

Monday Osoyoos Meets  Osoyoos Baptist Church from 7:00 to 9:00. There will be guest speakers, strategy planning, and general discussions about current and future plans.

Let’s do this Osoyoos/Oliver!!

 KELOWNA EVENTSWeekly on Saturdays – Kelowna C.L.E.A.R. Rallies @ Stuart Park at the Bear 12:00 noon- Every Week!Longest running B.C rallies – with David Lindsay. Visit https://clearbc.org/events for Kelowna and other city updates. Special instructions for the convoy rally, too!

Mary Lou Gutscher

780-908-0309

Penticton4Freedom@gmail.com logo-colour for email signature.jpg

Bernie Farber, Chairman of Trudeau-funded ‘anti-hate’ network, spreads antisemitism hoax to smear Canadian Truckers

Chairman of Trudeau-funded ‘anti-hate’ network spreads antisemitism hoax to smear Canadian truckers

The image is identical to the photo posted on Twitter two weeks ago by someone in Miami, Florida. Advertisement Chair of Trudeau-funded ‘anti-hate’ network spreads antisemitism hoax to smear Canadian truckers The Post Millennial The Post Millennial February 6, 2022 7:30 PM 3 mins reading

In an apparent effort to smear the truckers, Chair of the “Anti-Hate” Network Bernie Farber has spread disinformation on social media regarding the ongoing Freedom Convoy. Advertisement

In a Sunday tweet, Farber posted a picture of an antisemitic flyer and said it was “taken by a friend in Ottawa at the Occupation. Apparently in plain sight.”

Taken by a friend in Ottawa at the Occupation. Apparently in plain sight. pic.twitter.com/Q21DyuhWi5— BernieFarber (@BernieFarber) February 6, 2022

However, it appears the image is identical to the photo posted on Twitter two weeks ago by someone in Miami, Florida. As pointed out by Jonathan Kay who said, “Wow Bernie, isn’t it incredible that the picture your ‘friend in Ottawa at the Occupation’ sent you is identical to the photo posted on Twitter two weeks ago by someone in Miami, right down to the ceramic design in the background?”https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?creato

Upon further investigation, it appears Kay is correct. Cleveland Jewish News confirmed the flyer was from weeks ago and completely unrelated to the Freedom Convoy.https://platform.twitter.com/embed

Despite the flyer being a hoax, Farber’s tweet was retweeted by numerous politicians and journalists. Angie Seth of CTV said “this is both disgusting and horrifying,” in reaction to the fake photo.

“This is sick,” said Kyle Harrietha, Deputy Chief of Staff and Director of Parliamentary Affairs to Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources. Advertisement

NDP MP Charlie Angus also fell for Farber’s hoax. “The #ottawaoccupation gang came to Ottawa with swastikas scrawled on Canadian flags. This sh*t isn’t hidden its right there in the open” he said.

Some have already deleted their retweets as the hoax quickly became obvious. Images of their retweets can be found in Kay’s Twitter thread.

Farber replied to Kay’s tweets saying, “Jon, respectfully, antisemitic and racist flyers are produced and too easily accessible online to be copied and distributed. This particular flyer is not new to me either.”

“You told us the image was from the Ottawa Occupation. The photo you tweeted was taken in Miami two weeks ago,” replied Kay, putting pressure on Farber.

Yes in fact that photo has been reproduced numerous times I’m told over the last few weeks,” Farber replied, seemingly contradicting himself.

“But that’s not what you said. You posted the photo and said it was from the Ottawa occupation. Instead it was a photo that someone took in Miami, and then you got it and told everyone it was taken in Ottawa,” Kay replied.

“The pic sent to  me was of a copy of this flyer allegedly seen in Ottawa where the picture I posted was taken. And yes its been seen elsewhere as well. Apologies for my unclear language,” said Farber.

“It wasn’t ‘unclear’ You said the photo was ‘taken’ by your friend at the Ottawa occupation, which started 8 days ago, But the photo you posted was taken at least two weeks ago…. in Miami. I’m really interested in the explanation,” Kay said, continuing to mount pressure on Farber.

“Jon, last time. The pic sent to me was taken in Ottawa as I understand it. It could have come from social media originally. Don’t know. That’s it my friend. Have a good one,” Farber concluded, dodging any accountability.

Outside of the fake photo promoted by Farber, leftists on Twitter also shared a photo of a man holding an antisemitic sign. However, they completely neglected to point out that this individual had his racist sign torn up and was lambasted by the convoy.

Bernie Farber is the Chair “Anti-Hate” Network, which receives $250,000 in annual grants from the Trudeau government. Despite holding such a serious position, Farber is openly spreading disinformation in order to besmirch the truckers.

Farber’s false tweet still remains active at the time of publication.