, 01.27.2022 02:20 PM

My latest: the choleric convoy

Anger.

Because let’s all agree that this weekend’s big trucker protest in Ottawa isn’t about anything else. It just isn’t.

Oh, sure, some claim that it’s about vaccinations. But that’s a lot of crap. The governments of Canada and the United States decided, jointly, to require truckers to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

And most truckers already are. And the trucker associations support that. Big deal, suck it up. It’s a little needle. It’s not like the truckers are being asked to donate a kidney or something.

It’s not some diabolical Liberal Party conspiracy, either. Trust me: The Trudeau Liberals couldn’t organize a decent conspiracy if their lives depended on it.

No, the vaccination requirement is the product of an actual bilateral agreement between Canada and the United States. That’s it. It’s a law, basically.

A so-called vaccination mandate was therefore never what this was about. It was, and is, about anger.

Anger is upon the land. And not just with some truckers, either.

Two years ago this week, a man was admitted to Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto. He had a form of pneumonia the doctors and nurses had never seen before.

And so began the upending of all of our lives. So began the biggest political, economic, cultural and personal disruption of our collective lifetimes.

All of us — including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who initially said it might be over in “weeks,” and President Donald Trump, who said it would be over by the spring — figured it would be finished with us before now. It wasn’t just Trudeau and Trump: Most of us believed we’d be back to normal by now, too.

Well, we’re not. Obviously. And that’s why so many are angry. Angry at the media, angry at governments, angry at politicians, angry at our neighbours. Angry at everything and everyone.

Someone came up with a poll this week. The poll said that only 10% of Canadians are happy. Ninety per cent aren’t. And, within that 90%, many are deeply pissed off.

It isn’t just an ideological thing, either. The anger is found on both sides of the political spectrum. Left and right.

To be sure, the convoy descending on Ottawa this weekend is mainly a conservative populist uprising.

Because they can’t help themselves, and because they are always so pathetically desperate to latch onto every whackadoodle populist movement that comes down the pike, a gaggle of Conservative politicians (and media) have hitched their proverbial wagons to the convoy. It’s their latest political pet rock.

I will wager, right here and right now, that these Tory MPs will come to profoundly regret getting cozy with kooks. I’ve been writing about the white supremacists and neo-Nazis who make up Canada’s far right for more than three decades.

Just as they did with the United We Roll protest that converged on Parliament Hill in February 2019, the far-right jerks are working overtime to insinuate themselves into this weekend’s events. They want a piece of the action.

Why? Because they see millions of dollars raised on GoFundMe. Because they see thousands of angry potential recruits. Because they see a public relations bonanza.

Protesters and supporters against a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for cross-border truckers cheer as a parade of trucks and vehicles arrive in Thunder Bay, Ont. on Wednesday, January 26, 2022.
Protesters and supporters against a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for cross-border truckers cheer as a parade of trucks and vehicles arrive in Thunder Bay, Ont. on Wednesday, January 26, 2022. Photo by David Jackson /THE CANADIAN PRESS

Not every conservative politician is playing with fire, however. Erin O’Toole isn’t. Some in his caucus may be turning a blind eye to the presence of extremists. O’Toole, to his credit, is refusing to be suckered into a meeting with them. He recalls that playing footsie with lunatics sank Andrew Scheer’s political career.

Justin Trudeau, however, is wrongly calling every trucker an extremist. That’s unfair and inaccurate. But it won’t hurt him with his base.

Will this weekend be Canada’s Jan. 6, 2021 equivalent of an assault on our seat of government? It could be. It might be.

Or will it be a peaceful and democratic protest of regular people who are just fed up? I hope so. I pray so.

Whichever way it goes, one fact is undeniable: This thing isn’t about vaccines.

It’s about anger.

— Warren Kinsella was Jean Chretien’s special assistant

28 Comments

  1. Robert White says:

    ‘The cage of every angry & hateful bird’ comes to mind, but to be fair our Chater Rights paradigm has been breached egregiously via the botched unprofessional Federal rollout of pseudoscience as replacement for Clinical Science vis-a-vis the Sars-2-nCoV-19 Fourth Generation Biowarfare Gain-of-Function deadly pandemic pathogen.

    We cannot disregard our Charter of Rights & Freedoms for an untested non-peer-reviewed rollout of mRNA technology via aborting Clinical Trials protocols established over decades via legislation on the books via Informed Consent legislation since the Second World War.

    The truckers inherently know that their rights are being infringed upon and they are least likely to participate in online Social Scientific discourses.

    Their display of opposition to federal ad hoc rule and serial assault of human rights via an imposed totalitarian regime of authroitarianism is appropriate in my opinion.

    As a signatory & charter member of the 2014 Cambridge Working Group Call-to-Action on deadly American manufactured Gain-of-Function pandemic pathogens purposed for offensive Fourth Generation Biowarfare I, for one, support the truckers’ lament of current governance at all levels.

    http://www.cambridgeworkinggroup.org/

    RW

  2. Westguy says:

    ooooh, so close.
    You’re right, it’s anger. Vaccine mandates are just the latest straw.
    But where you went wrong was to bring up the white supremacist and neo-nazi references. I don’t think you’re saying they all those but the inclusion of the references certainly does imply a perceived connection.
    It’s all about anger and it’s been brewing for a while. And sure, it seems to come out of the west but this is a government that has essentially written off the west. If something impacts Ontario and Quebec, it’s a national emergency.
    The US shuts down Keystone – nothing from the feds. The US threatens to shut down Line 5 – an immediate federal response.
    So no wonder anger seems to be coming from the west, their government isn’t listening to them.
    And this doesn’t even begin to get into the COVID thing which will be remembered as possibly the greatest failures by governments, both federal and provincial. People are told to close their businesses and stay home, right up until they lose their homes. And it absolutely is not lost on those people that the “experts” telling them to do this will continue to draw a wage and are in no danger of losing their homes regardless of how long the lockdown lasts.
    So you have a government that doesn’t seem to be listening surrounded by experts who seem to be insulated from the impacts of their advise. And you wonder where the anger comes from?
    Maybe it’s time to start looking past the labels look at why.
    After all, in the US, while there may have been thousands at the capitol, there weren’t all 75 million who voted for Trump.
    So clearly you can be a Trump supporter, or an angry Canadian, without being a white supremacist or neo-nazi. But you won’t hear that because it goes against the desired narrative.

    • Derek Pearce says:

      Whelp, O’Toole has almost laughably shot himself in the foot once again, and agreed to meet with the truckers’ leadership once they reach Ottawa. Lol and now if he backs out and changes his mind about meeting them, he’ll just reinforce how wishy-washy he is. Dumb dumb dumb move.

      • Derek Pearce says:

        Also, WK I don’t know why but lately every comment I post, even when clearly “original” and not a reply to someone, still shows up as a reply. So Westguy my comment wasn’t a reply to you per se.

    • Phil in London says:

      Westguy I believe you get it anger-anger-anger. A very controlled anger out of the west for a very long time. The west tried to give conservatives a go even after Brian Mulroney short changed the aerospace industry to reward Quebec. (Liberals haven’t been trusted in the west since the depression)

      The west does not feel listened to, much less respected

      I don’t doubt for a minute there are a bunch of racist scumbags that are derailing this convoy. I also get that western Canada has an equal hatred for the racist scumbags who are currently running the country.

      • Phil in London says:

        I had no intention of expressing any admiration for this protest I was just saying I understand the frustration.

        Tonight I am disgusted by protesters who commandeered the Terry Fox statue and danced on the tomb of the unknown soldier.

        Quoting Warren “ Will this weekend be Canada’s Jan. 6, 2021 equivalent of an assault on our seat of government? It could be. It might be.” I’d say it’s worse than that – it’s an assault on our identity

  3. There is no doubt the pandemic has been a significant challenge to all levels of government. Warren, you would know much better than I, the reliance of governments on polls and their inclination to try and rule in such a way that the least amount of people are offended (or upset). It seems to me that there has been hesitation to take any decision that might be too unpopular. Time will tell whether our approach was right. However, it would seem that in other jurisdictions they have decided to throw in the towel and just open up. The convoy (my youngest has advised me that it is being referred to by some online as the “Flu Trucks Klan”) will of course be a beacon for any crank with an ax to grind. All self respecting politicians should simply say they acknowledge the trials and tribulations Canadians have gone (and continue to go) through, but any form of extremism is not helpful, and will only make things worst. My parting thought is that we should all pray for better times ahead (and soon).

    • Gyor says:

      The Convoy welcomes truckers from all races, so Flue Trucks Klan is a nasty smear. It’s a ptotest to protect civil rights, it’s not about race at all, so of course the PMC smears them as racist for no reason at all.

      And I’m no Conservative, I vote NDP, I just believe in civil rights.

  4. Ronald O'Dowd says:

    Warren,

    I’m all for opening up but with conditions that stay in place until all COVID-19 variants are erased from the face of the Earth: vaccines and pills stay, mandatory masks stay, social distancing stays and so does frequent handwashing.

    For the dolts who just want to open up, here’s my response: hope you enjoy any future variants that will have a morbidity rates of 80-90%. Nope, the chances aren’t 1 to 2%. It’s more like 50-50. Enjoy your truck ride!

    This is a fucking bioweapon, period. It no doubt has been manipulated in a lab hundreds to thousands of times. It’s the prep course for WWIII, a future biowar.

    • Pipes says:

      We need Kevin Vickers at Parliament Hill for this one.

    • Phil in London says:

      Ronald, I fear you are being “Chineesed”. Covid-19 will be eradicated not one day before stupidity is eradicated. This virus will become endemic than something we learn to live with.

      I’ve not objected to the public health responses to date but from very early on the idea has been not to get to zero Covid but to get to manageable Covid.

      I am not a Covidiot by any means, but please know you will NEVER get 100% vaccine rates (I’m at four – just one more to the free toaster if I don’t lose my loyalty card) If you believe the solution is to continue lockdowns till this is gone, you will never walk outside again.

      I do feel it’s time to open up, not because I’m convinced it’s over but because we need to get on with life. We need to accept that our health care system is not the envy of others but a national disgrace. We need to let other sick people get treatment they need and hope that not every idiot that won’t get vaccinated will succumb to Darwin theory.

      I don’t belong to some made up elite group I am just a guy who sees people everyday who are near wits end. Don’t go rushing out to large crowds but for fucks sake don’t expect this to magically go away.

      • Ronald O'Dowd says:

        Phil,

        There is very little daylight between us in the end. I just want them to inevitably open up responsibly. Not like that idiot BOJO in the UK and the other fools in this country who will open up without mandatory conditions still in place. That’s begging for another death spike when most of our health workers thanks to all ofUS are already practically on the road to collective suicide.

        • Phil in London says:

          Ron, I think there is a fair bit of daylight between us. I am saying that the latest lockdowns and fear mongering have done nothing but delay the inevitable.

          When our case count gets to an acceptable level, reopening slowly will simply mean the case count WILL rise as we get back to doing what we all wish to do.

          I believe Albert Einstein defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over (and over) again and expecting different results.

          Some leaders are coming to messaging that was out there in June of 2020 if not earlier, “we will all need to learn to live WITH covid-19”. It is not June of 2020 we have many tools that were not there at that time.

          I could get Covid-19 tomorrow and die. I could be minding my own business in an intersection and someone blows through a light collides with my car and kills me. You know what? I’m dead either way.

          What I am talking about is living with risk. I got my fourth shot a week ago because I am willing to follow medical advice but I am not willing to make others do something they don’t wish to at this point.

          I believe that consequences are the remedy for actions. If you have thus far failed to get a vaccine you have every right to view my ass as you wait at the back of the line for health services – triage is for those who have played the game.

          I believe that those who choose to be selfish are best taught that there are consequences like vaccine passports and being denied services.

          I do not believe it is time to push education to this group it is time to turn them out.

          Let me live, if I choose to go out for dinner, knowing that the restaurant is following protocols, preventing unvaccinated patrons and some reasonable crowd limits are things I can accept. There is still a risk a deranged gunman may come in and shoot us all. If that deranged gunman is a person with a gun or a virus with an infection I could be dead either way.

          I am just not willing to live in fear any more. That is not to say I waive my rights to condemn the covidiots.

  5. STFU says:

    I am into kids. My IP is 149.202.98.191.

    I dare you to find me.

  6. Gilbert says:

    How many people know that the rate of infection for the control group in the Pfizer trial was .84%? That’s under 1%. In the experimental group, it was .04%. It was much smaller in the experimental group, but in terms of absolute risk, it was small in both groups. Also true is that the senior population was underrepresented in the experimental group.

    Who produced the vaccines? It’s the same people who created the genetically engineered virus. They have legal immunity, so it doesn’t matter how many die or are injured.

    Many Canadians now want Justin Trudeau out. They’re absolutely tired of him. He has divided the country.

    • Ronald O'Dowd says:

      Gilbert,

      Fort Detrick wasn’t shut down to do redecorating. It came from there and how officially authorized it was is still up for debate. Some say it was authorized at the highest level for dispersion in China but the true answer in way beyond classified. We will never, ever, know for sure otherwise it’s an act of war.

      What gets me is those stupid truckers blaming Trudeau when it’s a joint decision. Replace Trudeau with O’Toole and those truckers still don’t get across that border if unvaccinated. Those dummies need to face reality and wake the hell up.

      As for O’Toole, he’s now a total waste of time, politically speaking. He’s now so pathetic, he actually makes Himself look competent…

      • Robert White says:

        O’Toole is a really good man, and he comes from a really good family too. He’s behaving appropriately IMHO.

        In no uncertain terms he is not ‘pathetic’, Ronald. You are getting far too emotional via partisan investment. Moreover, you are myopic if you think you would fair better if you were in his shoes right now.

        O’Toole is an excellent lawyer and he has not screwed up yet.

        I’m still in his corner and I voted for Singh’s NDP.

        RW

        • Ronald O'Dowd says:

          Robert,

          With respect, O’Toole’s compulsion to constantly find or make excuses for the unvaccinated is at the very best nauseating and at worst, disgusting. O’Toole cares not for the general welfare. All that drives the man is his myopic compulsion to beg for every vote he can scrounge in hopes of having the CPC voted into power in the next election. He’s phoney baloney just like Trudeau: one day he’s a PC, the next a True Blue Tory and after that a PPC wannabee. Ask the man who the real Erin O’Toole is and all that will ultimately come out of his mouth will be a long pause and incredibly awkward silence. O’Toole actually makes Scheer look good. And if you think I’m mad, that’s nothing compared to the Right Honourable Stephen Harper. Don’t believe me, just give Harper a call. Think what you like about Harper and believe me I DID, but at least he was a true leader and even a statesman when he chose to act that way.

          • Robert White says:

            Ronald, you can’t put me in a headlock and prompt nice words for Harper. I would rather die than say something nice about Harper. Harper is anathema not unlike Mike Harris. Harper bet Athabasca Oil Sands long on a short bet that pipelines would enhance the price speculatively until the day traders nickled & dimed us out of profit.

            Harper did not balance the books. He cooked the books.

            Erin O’Toole is safeguarding Informed Consent legislation given that that undergirds our Charter Rights & Freedoms coast-to-coast-to-coast. The Canadians that refuse an untested pseudo-vaccine so-called ‘therapeutic’ messenger RNA have not been accorded Informed Consent via the emergency rollout of this untested unqualified pseudo-therapeutic that has not demonstrated efficacy vis-a-vis amelioration of this disease constellation.

            From an Epidemiological standpoint O’Toole is acting professionally via medical ethics whereas the Liberals are not, and neither is Singh or the NDP he leads.

            O’Toole ROCKS IMHO.

            I’m in complete disagreement with you on the Cons & their leader. O’Toole is blowing the doors off of Singh & NDP.

            RW

          • Ronald O'Dowd says:

            Well, Robert, one of us will be right and one wrong. All both of us can do is stay tuned. But I’m 1000% in agreement with what Warren said. O’Toole has quite literally conceded before the fact the next election to Trudeau. No other CPC or PCP leader has ever been foolish enough to do that before. It’s way beyond insane and O’Toole needs to lose his leadership because of that. As for his OLO staff, they all need to get the heave-ho and look for lines of work other than politics because they are like the leader, political know-nothings.

      • Ronald O'Dowd says:

        How comforting. China, Russia and The WHO are watching NeoCoV. They say it’s unlikely to be transmitted to humans. But yes, it’s a Corona Virus related somewhat to MERS-CoV.

  7. Doug says:

    A few random thoughts:

    1) It should suprise no-one that grassroots types of movements attract some crazies because by default everyone is invited. Unfortunately, this will discredit many of the potentially legimate grievances

    2) The hyprocrisy from some of the critics is laughable. They decry the inconvience to Ottawa commuters but had no sympahty to people impacted by the rail blockades in early 2020. Righteous environmental and indigenous protests disrupting the economy out in the colones is OK, but adding 30 mins to bureaubots’ commute is a travesty

    3) The Americans also have a vaccine mandate on cross-border truck drivers, so trying to force Ottawa’s hand will not solve the problem. Perhaps reaching out to US politicians to pressure the American Federal government to relax the mandate would which would in turn pressure Ottawa would be a better appraoch

    4) This mandate is nothing more than the Canadian government reaching for relevance. Long haul driving is a solitary occupation where drivers are highly motivated to stay on task, interact with as few people as possible and turn around as quickly as possible. Does any data support singling out this activity?

    5) At this point in the pandemic, COVID is everywhere. Restricing travel makes no sense

    6) Why is Trudeau isolating? Public Health guidelines do not call for that course of action unless a person exhibits symptoms after contact with someone else who is positive. The wizards, most likely now a singular wizard, must need some time to craft divise talking points devoid of meaningful content

  8. Paige says:

    Warren
    You are so right, this is not about vaccines. The anger is about government overreach, arbitrary suspension of Charter rights, and ultimately about the profound loss of trust we have in politicians and public health bureaucrats due to their incessant misstating of scientific consensus with scientific fact. It is hard to find any public figure commenting on anything related to infection control that hasn’t publicly stated the exact opposite at some other time. It’s OK to change your mind as more information comes forth, it’s not OK to state whatever currently popular consensus is fact.
    The absolute worst thing to happen in this epidemic was leaving thousands of elderly demented seniors to die in extreme isolation without the support of their family. There is no forgiveness on this matter.
    Ronald
    Your tinfoil hat is too tight this morning, Please adjust the rabbit ears.

  9. Gilbert says:

    Have you seen the video where Klaus Schwab boasts about training Justin Trudeau and having penetrated over half of his cabinet? Canadians don’t want a globalist puppet. They want a leader who serves them and not just the elites.

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