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FILE PHOTO: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau makes a housing announcement in Ajax, Ontario Canada November 30, 2023.
Judge delivers blow to Trudeau
Did Tucker Carlson and other conservative American critics of Justin Trudeau have a point? Canada’s Federal Court ruled Tuesday that the prime minister’s government violated the constitutional rights of anti-mandate protesters by cracking down on the convoy protests that paralyzed Ottawa in 2022.
By invoking the Emergencies Act, the government forced reluctant tow-truck drivers to tow the trucks that had paralyzed Ottawa for a month. The act also allowed the government to freeze bank accounts belonging to protesters and shut down much of downtown Ottawa while police cleared the streets.
On Tuesday, Justice Richard Mosley ruled for the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, which argued that invoking the Emergencies Act led to the violation of the rights of Canadians. It “led to infringement of Charter rights,” he wrote.
The ruling came as Trudeau and his cabinet were finishing a retreat in Montreal ahead of the winter Parliamentary session, throwing the government off balance as it attempted a much-needed communications reset. Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland defended the action and said the government would appeal the ruling.
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, meanwhile, welcomed the ruling, saying that Trudeau “caused the crisis by dividing people. Then he violated Charter rights to illegally suppress citizens. As PM, I will unite our country for freedom.”
When Trudeau ordered the streets cleared, some American conservatives, including Carlson, argued that the prime minister was being tyrannical. Republican congresswoman Lauren Boebert even called for Canada “to be liberated.”
On Wednesday, a day after the ruling, Carlson visited Alberta for two events with conservative Premier Danielle Smith. But before he arrived, he called Trudeau’s office to warn them he was coming to “liberate Canada.” At the event, he pressed Smith to intervene in the case of four convoy protesters charged with conspiring to murder RCMP officers. She expressed regret about the limits of her office.
A supporter during the 4th Day of Trucker's protest in 2022 against the mandatory vaccine policy imposed on the Canadian truckers returning from USA
Mischief managed, eh? Canada’s trucker convoy leaders stand trial
Yes, mischief is a criminal offense in Canada. It includes willfully destroying property or making it dangerous or impossible to use. But this case is bigger than the violation of a silly-named law; it has ties to the polarizing issue of vaccine mandates and implications for freedom of speech and assembly.
A recap: Upset about a federal law requiring unvaccinated drivers to quarantine when returning from the US, the truckers paralyzed Ottawa, snarling the streets around Parliament for three weeks. They also blockaded the Ambassador Bridge – the busiest international border crossing in North America. The Canadian government deemed it an “occupation,” prompting Trudeau to implement the Emergency Act for the first time in Canada’s history. This allowed the police to clear the streets, impose temporary bans on public assembly, and freeze protesters’ bank accounts. It also galvanized far-right activists on both sides of the border and inspired similar protests from Washington, DC, to New Zealand.
The convoy leaders, Tamara Lich and Chris Barber, pleaded not guilty to charges that could land them 10-year sentences. They argue that taking part in a peaceful demonstration does not warrant criminal action, but prosecutors highlight the disruption to city residents and cross-border trade. The outcome will likely impact an upcoming protester trial in November.
What do you think? Do the protests justify criminal charges? Let us know here.
The Graphic Truth: Land borders crucial to trade
Hundreds of Canadian truckers angry about vaccine mandates have paralyzed Ottawa, the capital, for more than a week. They’ve blocked roads, honked their horns, and called for Trudeau’s resignation. Now, they have obstructed access to the Ambassador Bridge — a crucial artery connecting Detroit, Michigan, to Windsor, Ontario, that accommodates the transfer of more than a quarter of US-Canada annual trade worth a whopping $137 billion. Here’s a look of how this route compares with a few other major land trade routes.
A truck sits near Parliament Hill as truckers protest COVID vaccine mandates in Ottawa.
Freedom Convoy or disorder fleet?
Canada’s picturesque capital isn’t known for high-stakes political protests and standoffs with police. But for many days, Ottawa has been paralyzed by the Freedom Convoy, a fleet of some 500 trucks whose drivers crossed the country to protest a new federal law requiring all unvaccinated truckers to quarantine when returning from the US.
Protesters’ demands have since expanded to include, variously, an end to all COVID restrictions and the ouster of center-left Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who refuses to meet with them. Although they’ve been “mostly peaceful,” the protests have been disruptive — a local court even issued a 10-day injunction against horn-blowing this week. The cops are overwhelmed, and the city is under a state of emergency.
Trudeau has dismissed the protesters as a “fringe minority,” though there doesn’t seem to be a clear plan for uprooting them. Meanwhile, his opponents in the Conservative Party are split over whether the truckers are promoting freedom or fomenting disorder.
Given that protests like this are almost always viewed through a partisan lens, here are a few questions to try and give them a fair shake, whatever your political leanings.
How popular is the Freedom Convoy? Polls show that about 30% of Canadians support the convoy, and 44% share the truckers’ frustration with pandemic restrictions. The Canadian Truckers Alliance says the “vast majority” of the country’s truckers are already vaccinated, and it has blasted the Freedom Convoy’s choice to occupy public roads and highways.
Is it having an effect? At the federal level, no. But provincial governments in Saskatchewan and Alberta — where many of the truckers live — have recently scrapped all local vaccine mandates and restrictions. Supporters of the truckers credit their #honkhonk convoy for tipping the needle out West, though plummeting cases and infection rates are also part of the story.
Do the truckers … have a point? The grand pandemic debate about individual freedom versus collective responsibility won’t be resolved on the streets of Ottawa. The idea of vaccine mandates was to incentivize the broadest possible protection for society, so that business and society could resume as normal.
But Canada has already vaccinated more than 80% of the population. And while the jabs are clearly effective at preventing severe illness, they aren’t containing the virus. So the benefit of being vaccinated is now mostly individual rather than collective.
Ought we continue to force vaccination on a small number of hardcore holdouts in a largely vaccinated country — particularly if the collective case for vaccination is now weakened?
Are they going too far? Civil disobedience relies on being disruptive enough to catalyze political action for a just cause without becoming such a nuisance that people broadly turn against the movement. This is the challenge that essential workers face all over the world when they protest about issues important to them — whether it’s farmers in India, construction workers in Australian, or truckers in Brazil.
Messing with the economy of downtown Ottawa is one thing, but on Monday some of the truckers took the extraordinary step of blocking the single busiest international border crossing in North America, the nearby Ambassador bridge linking Windsor, Ontario, to Detroit, Michigan.
At a moment when Canada, like just about everyone else, is struggling with soaring inflation, blocking a crossing that accounts for a quarter of Canada’s trade with the US — its largest commercial partner — was a risky move. The Trucking Alliance has already been sounding the alarm about shortages of cross-border drivers and deliveries. The Freedom Convoy’s actions could make that worse. If so, it certainly won’t help their cause, will it?
What do you think? Is the Freedom Convoy a justified reaction to outdated policies, or an unacceptable threat to public order? Let us know here.