A new Leger poll has found that almost half of vaccinated Canadians agree with the frustrations expressed by the trucker convoy and its supporters that politicians share responsibility for the protest.
The survey was conducted from Feb. 4 to 6, just as protests in support of the original convoy were taking place in cities across Canada. A total of 1,546 adults were included in the online poll.
Canadians have come out in droves to stand alongside truckers and the convoy routes to call for an end to COVID-19 mandates and restrictions.
Among the poll’s respondents, 30% said they viewed the protests favourably while over 40% said they thought the protesters were selfish.
Additionally, another 44% of those polled said that the prime minister and Canada’s premiers “share the blame for the protest in Ottawa because of their condescending attitude toward Canadians who disagree with vaccine mandates and lockdowns.”
“The convoy has captured and crystallized some of these feelings,” said Leger executive vice-president Andrew Enns. “It is a bit of a message for leadership that this might be a bigger problem.”
Since the convoy first began making its way to Ottawa nearly two weeks ago, its message has spread internationally.
Ottawa politicians and the legacy media have attempted to smear the Freedom Convoy and its supporters as racists, extremists and white nationalists.
A CBC News anchor even suggested that the convoy was organized by Russia despite the fact that the bulk of the organizers were from Alberta.
On Tuesday, however, Quebec Liberal MP Joel Lightbound broke rank with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, saying that the concerns of the convoy were legitimate and that his party had effectively divided Canadians for political gain.
“I have enough respect for my fellow Canadians not to engage in these easy, absurd labels,” Lightbound said, referring to how the Trudeau government has painted the entire convoy movement as violent and racist.
“I can’t help but notice with regret that both the tone and policies of my government changed drastically on the eve and during the last election campaign.”
The Truckers for Freedom convoy entered its 17th day on Tuesday and had raised over $6 million USD on GiveSendGo.
If you followed Twitter like I did this past weekend, you would have thought the Freedom Convoy consisted of a host of anti-Semitic white supremacists.
This includes not only the original convoy that reached Ottawa on Jan. 29, but also the ones that came together in cities across Canada this past Saturday.
Having made it one of my missions to expose anti-Semitism – which in the current era is often dressed in the guise of anti-Zionism or hatred of the Jewish state – I paid particular attention to the messages of fear expressed by members of Canada’s Jewish community.
That was until I realized many of the tweets were from ardent leftists whose heads were exploding over the protests themselves. Like the legacy media, many of them seemed determined to malign the truckers and their message no matter how contrary the evidence, and no matter how transparent the leftist agenda was.
The most interesting thing about all of it was the sheer ignorance of the tweeters about one important fact – Benjamin Dichter, a co-organizer of the Freedom Convoy, is Jewish.
And he’s not a Jew who has sat on his hands. He has fought anti-Semitic extremism for years.
But first to give some examples of what was being said over the weekend – Marsha Lederman, the arts correspondent for the Globe and Mail, tweeted from Vancouver on Saturday.
Told my 13yo I had to go out to run an errand. He told me if I run into any of the protestors: “pretend you’re not a Jew.”
The sign, an exact reproduction of a flyer that emerged in Miami two weeks ago with names of American Jews, was apparently taken away and torn up by members of the convoy.
But that didn’t stop a Jewish writer by the name of Heather Rosen from obsessing about it, the trucker convoy, vaccines, the need to wear N95 masks and white supremacy on Twitter all weekend under the handle @sweetkeet.
The more I challenged Rosen’s comments, the more ridiculous they became. That is, until she blocked me, alleging the convoy’s members were my friends and that I was supposedly a lesser being for having written for the Toronto Sun.
A Torontonian named Julian Back also jumped on the sign issue.
Never did I ever think I would feel unsafe as a Jewish person going to Bloor & Avenue Road in Toronto. https://t.co/imBFdRzTRl
I replied to Back, telling him he might want to follow me to several of the highly anti-Semitic protests I’ve covered in Toronto in the past few years – including Al Quds day (‘the day of Jew hatred’), regular protests in front of the Israeli consulate on Bloor St. West and a recent protest that filled the Yonge and Bloor intersection with vitriolic anti-Jewish diatribe.
I was at all of them, and I had to listen to anti-Israel protesters single me out for being there.
Evidently, though, Back didn’t much like me speaking the truth. He blocked me with a flourish, tweeting he found nothing more satisfying than doing so.
But to get back to Freedom Convoy co-organizer Benjamin Dichter.
Reached Monday in between interviews, Dichter said the swastika flag that had been spotted in Ottawa during the first weekend of the protests was a hoax. So was an anti-Semitic pamphlet Canadian Anti-Hate Network chair Bernie Farber claimed his friend found in Ottawa. So, too, apparently, was the sign that appeared in Toronto this past weekend.
Dichter said that because we live in an echo chamber, the efforts of some in the Jewish community to lie, fabricate and hate get repeated and perceived as accurate.
Would you ever see Back, Rosen, Lederman or any of the other hysterical weekend tweeters speaking out publicly about any of the anti-Israel protests that pop up in downtown Toronto regularly – including during the COVID lockdown, or that horrible anti-Israel rally at Nathan Phillips Square last May which saw some Jews cornered and terrorized?
A Liberal MP is speaking out against his own government’s pandemic policies and how Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has dismissed the concerns of the Truckers for Freedom convoy.
During a press conference on Tuesday, the Liberal MP for Louis-Hébert Joel Lightbound said while hate symbols such as Nazi and confederate flags have no place in Canada, the concerns of the freedom convoy are legitimate.
“I have enough respect for my fellow Canadians not to engage in these easy, absurd labels,” Lightbound said, referring to how the Trudeau government has painted the entire convoy movement as violent and racist.
Lightbound said he believes his government has divided Canadians in recent months, particularly on vaccination status.
“I can’t help but notice with regret that both the tone and policies of my government changed drastically on the eve and during the last election campaign,” he said.
"I can't help but notice with regret that both the tone and policies of my government changed drastically on the eve and during last election campaign," Quebec Liberal MP @JoelLightbound says it's time to stop dividing Canadians. #cdnpolipic.twitter.com/0RR8c5ZyGZ
The Quebec MP says there are other Liberal MPs who share his discomfort with how the Trudeau government has divided Canadians in recent months.
"I made my views known in caucus many times," Quebec Liberal MP @JoelLightbound says he's still hopeful that the government will change course. He says there are other Liberal MPs who share his discomfort with how the Trudeau government has divided Canadians. #cdnpolipic.twitter.com/Vn6I1bzaDE
Lightbound also took aim at provincial pandemic responses. Citing the impact of lockdowns on Canadians’ mental health and economic well-being, the Quebec MP said governments have failed to explain to Canadians the continued benefit of lockdowns and other public health measures.
“Some seem to forget that isolation is felt differently. Not everyone can still earn money using their MacBook while at the cottage. Some are suffering in silence and feel like they’re not heard,” he said.
Lightbound is calling for a clear roadmap from governments in Canada on when and how restrictions can be lifted.
Lightbound was first elected in 2015 and has held parliamentary secretary roles in the last two parliaments. He is currently the chair of the House of Commons Industry and Technology Committee.
The Truckers for Freedom convoy has entered its 17th day and has raised over $6 million USD on GiveSendGo.
The legacy media and Liberal politicians have used the spurious allegation that the Freedom Convoy has received funding from the US as a pretense to crack down on the grassroots movement.
Trumped-up claims by Ottawa officials that the peaceful protest has become an occupation convinced online funding platform GoFundMe to freeze the convoy’s fundraiser, which had at the time garnered over $10 million in donations.
Claims that the US was funding the movement were based on speculations by Ottawa Police Service chief Peter Sloly during an interview.
Now Sloly wants to go after other fundraisers supporting the protestors and has called on all levels of government to “deny funding” to the movement.
Canadians across the country have thrown their hats behind the truckers, calling for an end to COVID-19 mandates and restrictions. There is no evidence to suggest that the bulk or even a significant portion of the donations sent to support the convoy came from outside the country.
On the other hand, there is undeniable proof that left-wing movements have received financial and other backing from American supporters. Although fully aware of US interference in Canada’s affairs in these situations, the media and Liberals have had no apparent problem with foreign funding, likely because that foreign support backed their own agenda.
True North has compiled some of the most egregious examples of where US funds or other resources were clearly being funnelled into left-wing causes.
Canadian environmentalists have received $1.28 billion in foreign funding
Canada’s far-left environmental movement has deep financial ties with its US counterpart. A 2021 report by the Commissioner of the Public Inquiry into Anti-Alberta Energy Campaign J. Stephens Allan found that over $1.28 billion in foreign funds were distributed to disrupt Canada’s energy industry.
“Total foreign funding of ‘Canadian-based’ environmental initiatives was $1.28 billion between 2003 and 2019. The commissioner states that these figures are likely significantly understated,” claimed the report.
$925 million of those funds were for “environmental initiatives” while $54.1 million was specifically put towards “anti-Alberta resource development activity.”
Black Lives Matter sent Canadian charity millions to buy mansion
American media recently discovered that Black Lives Matter (BLM) sent millions in cash to a Canadian charity to purchase a Toronto mansion as a base of operations for BLM Toronto. The headquarters was renamed the “Wildseed Centre for Art and Activism.”
According to the New York Posto, part of the funding for the $6.3 million purchase was funneled into a charity called M4BJ set up by Canadian activists.
“For BLM Canada to take money from BLM Global Network for a building without consulting the community was unethical,” tweeted activist Sarah Jama, who resigned from BLM Toronto over the matter. “For BLM Canada to refuse to answer questions from young black organizers goes against the spirit of movement building.”
Despite questions surrounding BLM’s lack of financial transparency, major media outlets throughout Canada paid no attention to the allegations, and the matter went entirely ignored by Liberal politicians.
American organized Wet’suwet’en blockades
In 2020, far-left activists claiming to represent the Wet’suwet’en First Nation held Canadahostage by illegally blockading railroads and other critical infrastructure. At the time, the media largely gave the protests favourable coverage and painted them in a sympathetic light.
Natalie Knight was among those leading the movement. A US citizen, Knight twasn’t born in Canada, but neither was she a member of any Canadian First Nation. While staging a sit-in in Vancouver, Knight claimed that “we are Indigenous people who’ve lived on this land for a very long time,” but waxed indignant when challenged about her heritage.
Other American groups including Global Greengrants Fund Inc. financially supported the Wet’suwet’en blockades. According to Alberta Commissioner Steve Allan, the “foreign organization” has “made grants that constitute funding for a stated purpose that could directly or indirectly delay or frustrate the timely, economic, efficient and responsible development of Alberta’s oil and gas resources and/or the transportations of those resources to commercial markets.”
US activists claim credit for shutting down Keystone XL
In 2019, American activists brazenly took credit for shutting down the Keystone XL pipeline and were celebrated by Canadian media outlets including CBC News for doing so.
The environmentalist organizers which included members of the Washington-based Natural Resources Defence Council colluded to shut down the project using funds and resources from abroad.
“Their fateful decision at that meeting to throw money and organizational effort into attacking the proposed pipeline opened a difficult new chapter for the oilpatch,” wrote CBC News.
US radicals extradited following G20 protests
Among the dozens charged with crimes during the 2010 G20 riots in Toronto, two Americans were extradited to face other charges back in the US.
The two radicals in question – Richard Dean Morano and Kevin Chianella – were from Pennsylvania and New York, respectively.
Alongside fellow anarchists, Morano faced 14 charges for causing approximately $25,000 in damages. Meanwhile, Chianella faced 53 charges for $30,000 worth of damages, including smashing 15 store windows.
Chianella was also accused of attacking a police car while an officer was inside and helping accelerate the burning of another cop car.
Liberal minister wooed New Yorkers for campaign funding
American money – allegedly speaking – doesn’t just go into the pockets of lucrative left-wing activists. As recently as 2019, Liberal cabinet member Marc Miller faced scrutiny for holding a private fundraiser for his re-election campaign in New York City.
As exclusively reported by True North founder Candice Malcolm, the organizer of the event was none other than former Hillary Clinton aide Justin Cooper. Among the New Yorkers who donated to Miller’s campaign were two who had also donated to Clinton in 2016. A total of 27 donors were listed at the event.
Although cleared by Elections Canada, it was revealed that Miller had never been interviewed by officials during the investigation into the matter.
On day 16 of the Truckers for Freedom Convoy, the Ottawa Police Chief made a request for 1800 additional staff, an Ottawa judge ordered a ten-day halt to the truckers’ honking and protesters started carrying around empty gas cans to flout the police’s confiscation efforts.
Monday began with a special meeting of Ottawa City Council where police chief Peter Sloly said he wanted to double his police force to “turn up the heat” on the truckers’ protest.
The same meeting saw Ottawa mayor Jim Watson accuse the truckers of a weekend arson that police had barely begun to investigate, saying it was “a horrific story that clearly demonstrates the malicious intent of the protesters occupying our city.”
Meanwhile, an Ottawa judge granted a ten-day injunction against the truckers using their horns downtown. The interim order concerned a $10-million class action lawsuit launched against the convoy by a 21 year-old government worker who claimed to have been subjected to “trauma” by the noise.
After reports Sunday night that police had begun confiscating fuel and arresting people who tried to bring “material supports” to the truckers, numerous protesters were spotted on Monday carrying jerry cans around the protest site.
One protester appeared to be arrested for mischief for carrying an empty jerry can.
I took this 15 min ago down town Ottawa Canada 🇨🇦 He was carrying and empty Jerry can and he is hand cuffed. That is why we are here, for Freedom for all including you Sir! What are they going to do next?? 2 years now and it’s getting worse. IMO! It’s time the World has Freedom! pic.twitter.com/St8Pz0t34H
Another protester can be heard offering a police officer a drink from his, saying it was “Kool-ade.”
I find this amusing almost entirely because the legal basis for seizing Jerry cans seems bogus to me to begin with. https://t.co/73JlXeCT38
— David Anber, Criminal Lawyer 🇨🇦 (@DavidAnber) February 7, 2022
Meanwhile on Parliament Hill, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau emerged from hiding for the first time since the convoy began to address the House of Commons during an emergency debate over the protests.
“Individuals are trying to blockade our economy, our democracy, and our fellow citizens’ daily lives—It has to stop,” Trudeau said.
“Individuals are trying to blockade our economy, our democracy, and our fellow citizens’ daily lives—It has to stop,” asserts Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as he speaks in an emergency House of Commons debate concerning the ongoing trucker protests in Ottawa.#cdnpoli | #COVID19pic.twitter.com/8MiFqhjcLR
Acclaimed author and psychologist Dr. Jordan B. Peterson and Trudeau crony Gerald Butts engaged in a battle of threats Sunday on Twitter after Butts made unsubstantiated claims about the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC).
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s former principal secretary Gerald Butts began the duel by indulging in a bit of misinformation, accusing the so-called “MAGA wing” of the Conservative Party of being “funded from abroad” and that they “staged a hostile takeover” against former CPC leader Erin O’Toole. MAGA – “Make America Great Again” – refers to the campaign slogan of former US president Donald J. Trump.
When this week is seen from a bit of distance, the story will be that the MAGA wing of the Conservative movement in Canada — funded largely from abroad –staged a hostile takeover. Ottawa first, Edmonton next. https://t.co/iUwZTmlel3
Like his former boss, Butts has been a vitriolic critic of the Freedom Convoy since before it arrived in Ottawa, alleging its connections to far-right groups.
Butts provided no evidence to support his allegation that the CPC was being funded from abroad, nor was he able to legitimize his claim that the CPC has a “MAGA wing.” Contrary to Butts’s remarks about O’Toole being voted out as CPC leader, CPC MPs including Garnett Genius have made it clear that O’Toole’s ouster was non-ideological, and that it was an attempt to unite a party that had become heavily divided.
Peterson, who has been an outspoken supporter of the truckers’ convoy as well as a scathing critic of Trudeau, took the former Liberal staffer to task, saying, “You are a stunningly corrupt and incendiary fool @gmbutts and the story will be the cowardice of your leader @JustinTrudeau and the lies of your damnable lying calumnous cronies.”
You are a stunningly corrupt and incendiary fool @gmbutts and the story will be the cowardice of your leader @JustinTrudeau and the lies of your damnable lying calumnous cronies. https://t.co/FP15mNZtPS
Many have interpreted the tweet as some sort of threat, with one Twitter user pointing to Butts’s involvement in the SNC-Lavalin scandal as a complicating factor in any subsequent legal action.
Interesting. Are you proposing legal action against @jordanbpeterson?
Certainly actions such as that would open you to questions on your involvement in the SNC-Lavalin affair, no?
Peterson replied to Butts, saying “I’ve been threatened by people a lot more terrifying and able than you @gmbutts and your calumnious compatriots. So watch yourself and your loose mouth.”
I've been threatened by people a lot more terrifying and able than you @gmbutts and your calumnious compatriots. So watch yourself and your loose mouth. https://t.co/aSkPiTFx3j
Butts went on to clarify his threat, saying that Peterson’s accusation of corruption is defamatory, and that his previous statement should be retracted with an apology.
At least you spelled calumnious right this time. But calling me “corrupt” is accusing me of the crime of using my former public office dishonestly for personal gain. That’s defamatory. Perhaps you’re not aware of that, so I’ll give you another chance to retract and apologize. https://t.co/D6glhkkIZh
A number of studies indicate that the harms of lockdowns outweigh the benefits. Meanwhile, a number of public health officials in Canada are telling Canadians to “learn to live with COVID-19.” Further, jurisdictions around the world are dropping their COVID-19 measures.
Unfortunately, this hasn’t stopped the lockdown authoritarians from continuing to advocate for lockdowns.
Without any evidence, Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson said during a Monday council meeting that a weekend arson attempt at an apartment building in the city “clearly demonstrates the malicious intent” of the truckers’ convoy on Parliament Hill.
Police have only begun to investigate the matter and have provided no evidence to suggest the suspects were involved with the freedom convoy protests.
“Yesterday we learned of a horrific story that clearly demonstrates the malicious intent of the protesters occupying our city,” said Watson.
“On Sunday morning, two young men entered the lobby of the building on Lisgar St. where they proceeded to light fire starter bricks near the elevators before taping up the door handles so residents would struggle to get out during a fire.”
Without evidence, Watson says last night's arson attempt in Ottawa was tied to the #FreedomConvoyCanada2022 protest.
Photos of the attempted arson were first posted by Twitter user Matias Munoz who claimed to have been shown the security footage by the building’s manager. According to Munoz the police were not called until the next morning.
The fire was reportedly put out by a bystander who forced his way into the building to extinguish it.
“For anyone wondering how I got the footage, the building manager is a cool dude and let us see it. Police were called once the fire remnants were noticed in the morning and they are investigating,” tweeted Munoz.
Munoz also alleged that the event was a “blatant reprisal by protesters” but then backtracked on the comment.
“To be clear, the protesters created the unsafe conditions under which this event was allowed to transpire. I’m not saying it was a big burly trucker. I think it’s a bad actor related to the protests who wants to hurt people. It started with the swastika on day 1. Period,” tweeted Munoz.
According to the Ottawa Police Service arson unit, no further details about the incident are being provided.
A statement on the matter made no mention of connections to the ongoing protests.
Watson declared a local state of emergency on Sunday. The same day, Ottawa Police began to confiscate fuel from the convoy’s distribution hubs, warning that anyone who provided the protesters with “material supports” would be subject to arrest.
The Freedom Convoy in Ottawa entered its 16th day on Monday.
The Ontario Liberal Party is telling Premier Doug Ford to threaten to seize the Freedom Convoy protesters’ trucks if they do not leave Ottawa.
“The residents of Ottawa are victims of a dangerous antivax mob holding their city hostage,” said Ontario Liberal leader Steven Del Duca in a press release on Monday. “It has gone far beyond what can be considered a protest and the occupation must be dealt with using strong action.”
Del Duca also said that Ontario should declare a provincial state of emergency and called on Ontario attorney general Doug Downey to request Crown attorneys follow their prosecution manuals to seek forfeiture of any assets used in serious offences.
Using “Criminal Asset Forfeiture,” police are able to seize the assets of those committing criminal offences, including both property and money.
“Leave now or you will lose your truck is the message our premier should be sending,” Del Duca said. “Doug Ford needs to come out today and announce a strong provincial response to end this occupation swiftly.”
The Ontario Liberals, said Del Duca, will continue to request Ford pass former Liberal interim leader John Fraser’s Bill 2 to create safe zones around hospitals.
Del Duca added that Bill 68 should be enacted to require organizers to pay the millions of dollars in policing costs incurred during the protest.
The Ontario Liberal leader’s remarks come after Ottawa mayor Jim Watson declared a local state of emergency on Sunday.
“Declaring a state of emergency reflects the serious danger and threat to the safety and security of residents posed by the ongoing demonstrations and highlights the need for support from other jurisdictions and levels of government,” said the City of Ottawa.
Ottawa Police also announced Sunday that they would be arresting anyone who helped the truckers by bringing them “material supports,” including gasoline.
“We’ve really focused and targeted on removing the access of gasoline to the area and we’ve had several seizures and several arrests related to that,” said Ottawa Police.
The Freedom Convoy in Ottawa entered its 16th day on Monday.
A report of an anti-Semitic document supposedly found at the Freedom Convoy in Ottawa has been debunked as a hoax, despite being pushed by legacy media and politicians as fact.
In a now-deleted tweet, Canadian Anti-Hate Network (CAHN) chair Bernie Farber posted a photo of an anti-Semitic flyer he claimed “a friend” had found at the site of the Ottawa freedom protests.
“Taken by a friend in Ottawa at the Occupation,” said Farber in a since-deleted tweet on Sunday. “Apparently in plain sight.”
Quillette associate editor Jonathan Kay debunked the flyer, however, pointing out the photo was identical to one from the US.
“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?” said Kay in a tweet.
Farber tried to justify his previous tweet, saying a friend saw a similar flyer at the protest.
“The photo itself was old and originally from Miami,” he said. “However, they said they saw the same thing.”
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://t.co/s4Xf3IbFrIpic.twitter.com/OJGEgrariZ
Kay compiled a list of various legacy media journalists and left-wing politicians who had fallen for the hoax by chiming in to voice their displeasure.
CTV News anchor Angie Seth tweeted about the leaflet, calling it “both disgusting and horrifying.”
Hill Times columnist Erica Ifill also fell for it.
“There is no white supremacy that doesn’t start with anti-Semitism and anti-Blackness,” said Ifill.
Toronto city councillor Joe Cressy said the flyer has no place in Canada, saying “people need to “call it out, condemn it, don’t associate with it and shut this type of hatred down.”
“Don’t look away,” said Cressy. “This vile anti-Semitic hate is being distributed in plain sight.”
NDP MP Charlie Angus also attributed the document to the Ottawa protest.
“The #ottawaoccupation gang came to Ottawa with swastikas scrawled on Canadian flags,” said Angus. “This shit isn’t hidden, it’s right there in the open.”
Rebel News reported in 2020 that the Canadian government gave the CAHN $268,400 in funding for a project called Containing and Countering Hate Groups.
This project, said the Ministry of Canadian Heritage, would help CAHN fight online hate “by hiring four team members to carry out the monitoring of extreme-right groups, report on their activities and file complaints with law enforcement.”
