Canada pushes back against GOP support for COVID protests

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Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is being accused of ‘blockading’ Canada’s democracy and stoking division across the country for branding anti-mandate protesters of the Freedom Convoy as ‘swastika wavers’ after some were seen waving flags during demonstrations that have paralyzed the capital city of Ottawa for over a week.

Demonstrations continued Monday evening into Tuesday as trucks blocked traffic on the Ambassador Bridge, the busiest border crossing to the United States, forcing police to close the bridge that links Detroit, Michigan and the Canadian city of Windsor, Ontario.

The bridge, which is normally traveled by approximately 8,000 big rigs and 68,000 travelers daily, remained closed on the U.S. side Tuesday morning, according Michigan Department of Transportation. 

The protests at the the Ambassador Bridge follows the week-long demonstrations in opposition to to vaccine mandates, that have paralyzed the Canadian capital’s business district and led the mayor to declared a state of emergency and call for 2,000 extra police officers to quell the nightly demonstrations.  

Police in Ottawa on Sunday said they have arrested seven people and opened 60 criminal investigations into ‘Freedom Convoy’ for hate crimes and mischief as they seized fuel and supplies for 1,000 vehicles. The hate crimes included an individual who urinated on the National War Memorial. One danced on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Several others carried signs and flags with swastikas. 

During an emergency debate in Parliament on Monday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke out against the trucker protests accusing them of trying to derail Canada’s democracy.

‘Individuals are trying to blockade our economy, our democracy, and our fellow citizens’ daily lives,’ Trudeau said Monday, while the protest continued outside. ‘It has to stop. The people of Ottawa don’t deserve to be harassed in their own neighborhoods.’

Trudeau added that he knows everyone is tired of COVID-19 but this is not the way. He said the restrictions won’t last forever and noted that Canada has one of the highest vaccination rates in the world. 

‘Canadians trust science,’ Trudeau said. ‘A few people shouting and waving swastikas does not define who Canadians are.’  

Now, conservative leaders, who have repeatedly questioned the prime minister for his handling of the pandemic, are slamming his remarks, accusing him of stoking division during the protests. 

‘We are at a crisis point, not just outside the doors and across the country, but the country overall,’ Conservative interim leader Candice Bergen said. ‘And so much of it is because of the things he’s said and done.’ 

Fox News host Tucker Carlson also slammed Trudeau’s response, claiming the demonstrators are being treated like terrorists. 

‘This is a peaceful, political protest. No one has shown any evidence to the contrary. It’s not a drug trafficking or human trafficking operation. It’s not Al Qaeda,’ Carlson said on Fox News’ Tucker Carlson Tonight.

‘These are Canadian citizens who drive trucks for a living, but they’re being treated like a terror group.’ 

The truckers themselves have strongly denied that they have ties to ultra-right-wing groups, insisting they are just ‘ordinary truckers,’ he said. 

Carlson added, ‘GoFundMe announced it would redirect the $10 million raised by supporters of the truckers to charities of its choice, presumably BLM, which it has supported since the very beginning. In other words, GoFundMe planned to steal that money.’

But GoFundMe have said that all donations made to the Freedom Convoy fundraiser would be refunded automatically.

They had previously outlined a plan to distribute the funds to verified charities selected by the Freedom Convoy organizers – not selected by GoFundMe as Carlson claimed – but the organization later decided to refund all donations to ‘simplify’ the process. 

The truckers are protesting rules that say that any unvaccinated drivers have to quarantine for two weeks after crossing the US/Canada border in either direction.

Originally, both countries allowed an exemption for truckers to ease the supply chain crisis that has developed since COVID hit, but Canada ended that exemption on January 15 and the United States followed suit a week later. 

The convoy, which organizers claimed stretched up to 45 miles long, set out from Prince Rupert, on the Pacific coast of British Columbia, on January 22 and arrived in the nation’s capital last week, blocking roads and disturbing the downtown area. 

The protests have infuriated people who live around downtown, including neighborhoods near Parliament Hill, the seat of the federal government. 

On Monday, Ontario Superior Court Justice Hugh McLean issued a 10-day injunction, effective as of yesterday, banning stationary trucks from honking their horns in the Freedom Convoy.

He said: ‘Tooting a horn is not an expression of any great thought I’m aware of,’ adding that the local residents’ right to peace and quiet outweighed the truckers’ right to protest. 

He said the restrictions won’t last forever and noted that Canada has one of the highest vaccination rates in the world. 

At Monday’s parliament meeting, Trudeau went on to insist that Canadians are united. He also praised the handful of Conservative lawmakers who have called for the protesters to leave Ottawa’s streets, while imploring others to follow suit.

‘I’ve seen members of the opposition call for an end to the blockades,’ Trudeau said. ‘I salute that. This is a time to put national interests ahead of partisan interests.’ 

Canada’s public safety minister on Monday also said that American officials should stay out of his country’s domestic affairs, joining other Canadian leaders in pushing back against prominent Republicans who offered support for the protests of COVID-19 restrictions that have besieged downtown Ottawa for more than a week.

A day after the city declared a state of emergency, the mayor pleaded for almost 2,000 extra police officers to help quell the raucous nightly demonstrations staged by the protesters.  

Protests unfolded elsewhere too.  

On Tuesday, hundreds of people drove in convoy to New Zealand’s capital and converged outside Parliament as lawmakers reconvened after a summer break.

The mostly unmasked protesters had driven from around the country, and their vehicles clogged the central Wellington streets for hours as they got out to meet and speak on Parliament’s forecourt.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern elected not to meet with them as she delivered a speech to lawmakers outlining her priorities for the year.

Among the protesters’ grievances is the requirement in New Zealand that certain workers get vaccinated against the coronavirus, including teachers, doctors, nurses, police and military personnel.

Many protesters also oppose mask mandates – such as those in stores and among children over about age 8 in school classrooms – and champion the ideal of more ‘freedom.’

New Zealand was spared the worst of the pandemic after it closed its borders and implemented strict lockdowns, limiting the spread of the virus. The nation has reported just 53 virus deaths among its population of 5 million. 

But some have grown weary of the restrictions. Ardern last week said the country would end its quarantine requirements for incoming travelers in stages as it reopened its borders.

With about 77 percent of New Zealanders fully vaccinated, Ardern has also promised she won’t impose more lockdowns.

Health officials have been reporting about 200 new virus cases each day as an outbreak of the omicron variant grows. Fourteen people are currently hospitalized because of the virus.

Police said Tuesday afternoon they hadn’t made any arrests and that protest organizers had asked protesters to move their cars and trucks by 5 p.m., ahead of the evening rush hour.

Wellington council officials had earlier indicated they were reluctant to issue tickets or order motorists to move, saying on social media, ‘We must consider the safety of our staff and do not want to put them in harm´s way.’ 

In Alaska, more than 100 truck drivers rallied in support of their counterparts in Canada by driving the 10 miles from Anchorage to Eagle River.

Hundreds of supporters of the convoy also marched across the Brooklyn Bridge Monday in protest against the vaccine mandates. They showed their support by waving the Canada flag and carrying signs that echoed the sentiments of the ‘Freedom Convoy’ mission as they marched to protest their own mandates.  

They marched from Downtown Brooklyn, over the Brooklyn Bridge, to City Hall, chanting, ‘No medical tyranny, no vaccine mandates’ and ‘My body, my choice. The vaccine you will not force.’

Many members of the GOP have made comments supporting the demonstrations, including former President Donald Trump, who called Trudeau a ‘far left lunatic’ who has ‘destroyed Canada with insane COVID mandates.’

 

Protesters have said they will not leave until all vaccine mandates and COVID-19 restrictions are lifted. They also called for the removal of Trudeau´s government, though it is responsible for few of the restrictive measures, most of which were put in place by provincial governments.

Prominent Republicans including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton complained after crowdfunding site GoFundMe said it would refund the vast majority of the millions of dollars raised by demonstrators.

The site said it cut off funding for protest organizers after determining that their efforts violated the site´s terms of service by engaging in unlawful activity. Ontario Provincial Premier Doug Ford has called the protest an occupation.

In response, Paxton tweeted: ‘Patriotic Texans donated to Canadian truckers´ worthy cause.’ Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said on Fox News that ‘government doesn´t have the right to force you to comply to their arbitrary mandates.’

Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino shot back: ‘It is certainly not the concern of the Texas attorney general as to how we in Canada go about our daily lives in accordance with the rule of law.’

‘We need to be vigilant about potential foreign interference … Whatever statements may have been made by some foreign official are neither here nor there. We´re Canadian. We have our own set of laws. We will follow them,’ Mendicino said.

In a letter to Trudeau and the public safety minister, Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson said ‘what was initially described as a peaceful protest has now turned into a siege of our downtown area’ with 400 to 500 trucks. 

He asked for 1,800 additional police officers. That would nearly double the existing resources of the entire Ottawa Police Service, which has 2,100 police and civilian members.

Dominic LeBlanc, the minister of intergovernmental affairs, blamed the GOP interference for inciting disorderly conduct and helping to fund entities that are not respecting Canadian law. Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair said Paxton was wrong for commenting on it.

Bruce Heyman, a former U.S. ambassador to Canada, said groups in the U.S. need to stop funding and interfering in the domestic affairs of America´s neighbor.

On the street in front of Parliament Hill were thousands of signs ranging from ‘no more mandates’ and ‘freedom of choice’ to ‘truck you Trudeau’ as some compared vaccine mandates to fascism.

Trudeau had previously called the protesters a ‘fringe,’ but he faces calls by the opposition Conservative party to extend an ‘olive branch’ to them. 

Some Conservative lawmakers, including one running to lead the party, have met and posted for pictures with them.

Embattled Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly called the demonstration an ‘unprecedented protest never seen in Canada’ and acknowledged that authorities failed to plan for it to last more than three days.

Steve Bell, the city’s deputy police chief, said a person from Ohio was arrested in connection with a threat against Ottawa police headquarters.

Meanwhile, Ottawa police were investigating a fire at an apartment building that was apparently set by protesters. Matias Munoz said residents of the building south of Parliament Hill were already at their wits´ end Saturday night as the noise of the protest blared through their homes for the ninth night in a row.

When he came downstairs Sunday morning, Munoz said the carpet and floor were charred, and there were blackened fire-starter bricks strewn across the lobby.

Surveillance video showed two men light a package of the bricks in the lobby and tape or tie the front door handles together before leaving through a side door before dawn. The video also showed a different man entering the building and putting the fire out a short while later, Munoz said.

‘Somebody trying to do something as insidious as taping the door shut so people can’t leave if there’s a fire in the main lobby – it´s terror, is what it is,´´ Munoz said.

Ottawa police declined to release details, citing the ongoing investigation.

In other developments, Ontario Superior Court Justice Hugh McLean granted a 10-day injunction to prevent truckers parked on city streets in downtown Ottawa from honking their horns incessantly.