Canadians have done as they were told during the pandemic. They lined up for shots until the country had one of the developed world’s best vaccination rates, they endured some of North America’s longest lockdowns, and they’ve complied with a wide assortment of curfews and quarantines.
But even in a society known for its civility and deference to authority, many are reaching their limit.
In the middle of Paris’s third Covid lockdown last March, a hashtag appeared on Twitter with a photo of a lock on the Canal Saint-Martin that runs through the north of the city clogged with litter, plastic bags and bottles.
Images of Paris looking worse for wear are nothing new but, within days, dozens of pictures of overflowing bins, broken pavements and graffiti-covered walls appeared with the same hashtag – #SaccageParis – which roughly translates as Trashed Paris.
… City Hall maintains that the movement can be traced back to supporters of the far right and is orchestrated by Hidalgo haters. Like the rubbish on the streets, it is easy to see why, when a social media post about the state of Paris often sparks virulent, sometimes defamatory, attacks on the mayor.
Last week, thousands of Canadians stood on the side of the road, many in subzero temperatures, gazing into the cold abyss of tundra — waiting, hoping, that their boys, the so-called deplorables would emerge before dusk. They watched the foggy horizon intently, conspicuously, with waving flags and prepared foods, hoping to catch a glimpse of men in their overalls and wellingtons, sitting behind their wheels with their bad knees and aching backs, with soot-covered faces, with the windows rolled down, pumping their fists with one hand while steering to their glorious destination with the other.
Tucker Carlson said that Cuban communist dictator Fidel Castro was “for sure” the father of left-wing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
A Thursday evening Fox News segment featured Carlson quizzing Jeanine Pirro and Lawrence Jones on which famous dictator is rumored to be the real father of Trudeau.
The founder of the Black Lives Matter chapter in Memphis has been sentenced to prison for six years for illegally registering to vote in Tennessee, prosecutors said.
Pamela Moses, the 44-year-old activist, was ordered to spend six years and one day behind bars Monday for registering to vote despite felony convictions in 2015 that made her ineligible to do so, Shelby County District Attorney General. Amy Weirich said.
More than 1,200 people have now signed a petition calling for the resignation of Police Chief Peter Sloly and Mayor Jim Watson over handling of the trucker convoy.
“Ottawa is under siege and occupied by an unlawful group under the banner Freedom Convoy 2022. Despite the illegality, danger, and impact of having our nation’s capital taken from us, Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson and Ottawa Chief of Police Peter Sloly refuse to take action and have refused an offer of help from the RCMP.
“Citizens of our beautiful capital have become hostage to an extremist movement. Join in making it clear this is unacceptable and disgusting.”
“Nationwide insurrection!”? In Canada, you say? Really?
Ottawa police chief Peter “Moves” Sloly told his bosses, the Ottawa Police Services Board, that his “resources” are inadequate to evict the Freedom Convoy protesters now in their second week of peaceful demonstrations in the world’s second-coldest capital.
In Ontario, 2,230 people are hospitalized with #COVID19. Please note that not all hospitals report on weekends.
There are 486 people in ICU with COVID-19.
There are 2,887 new cases of COVID-19.
— Christine Elliott (@celliottability) February 6, 2022
Protests against COVID-19 measures continue in cities across Canada
Ottawa police are conducting criminal investigations into 50 alleged incidents connected to a long-running protest against COVID-19 measures in the city’s core.
Police say 11 of those alleged offences were hate crimes, and four people are facing charges.
Sometimes it’s what you don’t do, rather than what you are authorized to do, that keeps a potential nightmare from ever waking up.
This was on display Saturday. And Toronto set the standard of how to keep something with the potential to blow up from doing just that. While tempers continue to flare with civic leaders in Ottawa over the truckers protest, Toronto’s mayor and police chief set a different tone here.
Think they sent enough cops? #TaxDollarsHardAtWork#TruckersConvoy2022 #TorontoConvoy #ThankATrucker pic.twitter.com/pvkCunbqkF
— JV ⚡️ (@JV_crypto) February 6, 2022
Trucker convoy: Ottawa ‘under siege’ amid ‘nation-wide insurrection,’ officials say
The nation’s capital is a city “under siege” by the trucker convoy that has dug in over the past nine days amid what the chair of the police services board called a “nation-wide insurrection.”
“We are on day eight of this occupation. Our city is under siege. This group is emboldened by the lack of enforcement by every level of government,” said Diane Deans, chair of the board.
“This group is a threat to our democracy. What we’re seeing is bigger than just a City of Ottawa problem. This is a nation-wide insurrection. This is madness. We need a concrete plan to put an end to this.”
Over the years much has made about the lobbyists and advisors who prowl the corridors of power in Washington D.C. Many seek publicity profiles in the hope it will convince potential clients and countries that they have high-level “access.” Others cultivate their cable news appearances as pundits and commentators, relishing the limelight.
Yet what we have come to learn over time that the greater the media exposure, the less these individuals play a role in actually affecting the nation’s policies and politics.
Consider the role of Michael Podhorzer.
The new measures announced by the chief of Ottawa police against truck convoy protesters are those used by oppressive regimes around the world, says a lawyer representing organizers of the Freedom Convoy protesting COVID-19 mandates in Ottawa.
“He effectively announced that he is going to be taking away Canadians’ charter right of peaceful assembly and freedom of expression,” Keith Wilson, a lawyer with the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF), said in a video on Feb. 4.
Actress Susan Sarandon has apologized for a social media comment about the funeral of slain NYPD officer where she compared it to ‘fascism’ and called the event ‘insensitive.’
Sarandon, 75, posted a tweet about officer Jason Rivera’s funeral after he was shot and killed in East Harlem on January 21.
Rivera and his partner Wilbert Mora were shot dead after responding to a domestic call which involved a mother and son.
They’ve shut down the convoy’s campaign, reminding us that this is a fight for freedom
… This is an outrageously political move. The justification proffered by GoFundMe is feeble and deceives no one: they claim the demonstration has become an “occupation” and that “violence and other unlawful activity” is taking place, thus violating their terms of service.
But is it? Where and who are the bad actors? Surely the names of these violent offenders and the precise nature of their connection with the Freedom Convoy are all over the internet by now. Yes, we’ve heard a lot about a swastika flag and a Confederate flag, but if police have established their identities and their relation to the convoy, the world has yet to hear about it.
The Ripon Unified School District in California’s Central Valley warned parents this week about “potential actions” that could be taken against parents and students who do not comply with a mask mandate in place.
In a letter sent to parents this week, first reported on by Red State, parents are told to “remove” any children from campus who do not have face coverings. It goes on to say children who do not comply could lead to labeling the offending child’s presence as a “clear and present danger to the life, safety, or health of a pupil or school personnel.”
