It has been nearly three weeks since the trucker convoy arrived on Parliament Hill with a clear goal of ending all vaccine passports and mandates in Canada at the provincial and federal levels. In that time, the legacy media has attributed a number of goals and motives to the convoy and its organizational team which do not align with what the protest seeks to accomplish.
Convoy spokesperson Benjamin Dichter delivered a statement on Jordan Peterson’s podcast outlining the convoy’s values and goals.
True North has transcribed it and is publishing it here in full.
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The freedom convoy is a peaceful and loving demonstration based on the principles of unity and respect for all Canadians. We have come to Ottawa with two very simple demands: One, the government end all COVID mandates, and two, the federal government remove its digital COVID tracking app called ArriveCan as a requirement to re-enter Canada.
We have not anticipated the thirst for freedom in all Canadians after two long years of restrictions and harsh lockdowns, which, in the minds of sensible Canadians are not in the spirit of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and our esteemed constitution. The supporters of our convoy have come from all walks of life, and have been a source of unification for Canadians from across all provinces and cultures. We are not a group interested in identity politics or racial divisions. We are, in fact, open to all people who want to share their love, and help with the revival of the Canadian identity.
The freedom convoy leadership spans the country and comes from various Indigenous, rural and urban communities, all who have an ambition for unification and freedom. Our demands have not changed from day one: End the mandates and end the passports, and we will all go back home to our communities and our businesses and help Canada heal from the COVID years.
There have been many demands attributed to us that are not our demands, primarily from the legacy media. We do not want to overthrow the government. We do not want to remove any of our elected officials from power – that’s what elections are for. We do not want to confront. We do not want confrontation with the good people of law enforcement, within our organization and within our crowds, we have countless first responders and military veterans who are all proud of the Ottawa police. We do not wish for military action. We want nothing other than for our peaceful and loving demonstrations, as well as our community outreach, to help inspire our fellow Canadians to have a voice and to appreciate the freedoms which we are fortunate enough to have and which many others in the world struggle to achieve.
We also would ask that our political class and the legacy media tone down their rhetoric. The era of slander and indiscriminately labeling fellow citizens with pejoratives or as racist needs to come to an end. We need to talk openly and respect one another. But we cannot achieve this if our political class continues to behave in such an unparliamentary manner, while the legacy media attacks the very people they’re supposed to reach.
The unifying goal that all Canadians have is we want to return to a normal life – a free life, no matter where one lies on the political spectrum. Now is the time, and the first courageous step would be for the federal government to remove these divisive policies of mandates, and data tracking of our citizens. Allow us all to heal together.
Peace, love and unity is the future of the Canadian identity. Let’s inspire the world to follow us on this journey of enlightenment.
