# Canadian 'dopers, Freedom Convoy? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [February 10, 2022, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-dopers-freedom-convoy/959186 "2022-02-10T00:07:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2022, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-dopers-freedom-convoy/959186/141 "2022-02-13T01:29:05Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > As far as your continued accusations of communism I think you very much missed the point. > [@k9bfriender](#): > > I’d still like to see a cite on that. > **[46% of Canadians sympathize with trucker convoy, but many disagree with their...](https://globalnews.ca/news/8610727/ipsos-poll-trucker-convoy-support-ottawa-canada/)** > > An Ipsos poll published Thursday showed that nearly 46 per cent of Canadians sympathize with the frustration of the trucker convoy protesters. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2022, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-dopers-freedom-convoy/959186/142 "2022-02-13T01:30:27Z")
_Sympathize_? See my post two posts above. That is a loaded word. Of course many people sympathize with the frustrations of Covid restrictions. I do. Fewer advocate breaking the law, far fewer hurting the economy. Obviously the protestors include a hodgepodge of disaffected groups - including people unhappy with Trudeau, Trumpistas, contrarians, hippie types, anarchists, those whose identity is tied up with refusing vaccines, the frustrated, some truckers, American and foreign agitators, attention seekers, as well as those outside of mainstream politics. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2022, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-dopers-freedom-convoy/959186/143 "2022-02-13T01:35:42Z")
Looks like in Paris that copycat truckers are dealt with in the same way that Trump dealt with peaceful protesters that blocked his path to an upside down Bible photo op. With gas. > **['Freedom Convoy' protesters enter Paris and block traffic before they're...](https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/12/europe/france-freedom-convoy-truckers-protest-intl/index.html)** > > Protesters in a so-called "Freedom Convoy" made it past police checkpoints in central Paris on Saturday, with demonstrators completely blocking traffic in the French capital before they were met with tear gas fired by officers. Why in the FUCK does this link not show a preview? ---
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2022, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-dopers-freedom-convoy/959186/144 "2022-02-13T02:00:41Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > Of course many people sympathize with the frustrations of Covid restrictions. I sympathize with the frustrations and I’m ready to be done with all of this. The big difference between my attitude and the truckers is that they blame Trudeau and I blame SARS-COV-2. I would hope for it to be done today, but I want it to be done when science says it should be done. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2022, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-dopers-freedom-convoy/959186/145 "2022-02-13T02:55:13Z")
The _Washington Post_ website describes it thus: (Excerpt) “For many Ottawa residents, the last two weeks of gridlock, horn-blaring, intimidation, and reports of vandalism and hate crimes have been anything but friendly. Bus routes have been rerouted. Roads and businesses are blocked. Confederate flags and swastikas have made appearances. Monuments have been defaced. Far-right extremist groups and right-wing American media have taken up the cause. The protest was sparked by U.S. and Canadian rules requiring cross-border truckers to be fully vaccinated. But it quickly expanded into a movement against pandemic restrictions more broadly, which are mostly imposed by provinces, and against Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The Canadian Trucking Alliance, an industry group, has denounced the protest, noting that the vast majority of Canadian truckers are vaccinated and that many of the convoy’s organizers are not truckers. But the protesters are confident in their righteousness. Dismissing polls and scientific studies, they say they are tacitly backed by “the silent majority” — as well as millions of dollars raised online from donors, many of whom remain anonymous and some of whom have U.S. ties.” > **[Ottawa’s protesters celebrate as officials declare emergencies and threaten...](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/02/12/ottawas-protesters-celebrate-officials-declare-emergencies-threaten-fines/)** > > In the besieged streets of Ottawa, dance parties between fleets of trucks raged as the “Freedom Convoy” standoff sped into its third week. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2022, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-dopers-freedom-convoy/959186/146 "2022-02-13T03:24:44Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > …they say they are tacitly backed by “the silent majority” — as well as millions of dollars raised online from donors… Boy, are they in for a big surprise when they ask when they get their checks. ---
**Author:** ![Latimera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/latimera/32/497_2.png) [@Latimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Latimera)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2022, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-dopers-freedom-convoy/959186/147 "2022-02-13T03:30:50Z")
> [@FinsToTheLeft](#): > > I’ve made my views crystal clear: if you support this in anyway, you are either directly advocating or tacitly condoning violence against me and my family. I’ll second that… ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2022, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-dopers-freedom-convoy/959186/148 "2022-02-13T03:43:14Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Boy, are they in for a big surprise when they ask when they get their checks. At least one protester has been asking organizer Pat King for cash to cover a two-week hotel bill. King reacts like a deer in the headlights, states that he does not have that kind of cash on him, and suggests that the person go to the “war room” for reimbursement: [https://twitter.com/Mike\_L\_Bailey/status/1492311468456435716](https://twitter.com/Mike_L_Bailey/status/1492311468456435716) (Video in a tweet, about 1 minute long.) ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2022, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-dopers-freedom-convoy/959186/149 "2022-02-13T05:04:03Z")
Frankly, I’m hoping Trudeau will have his own “Just watch me” moment. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2022, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-dopers-freedom-convoy/959186/150 "2022-02-13T05:04:21Z")
I think the FCC will make their lives miserable if they pull this shit in the US. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2022, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-dopers-freedom-convoy/959186/151 "2022-02-13T05:29:20Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Boy, are they in for a big surprise when they ask when they get their checks. Wait until they try to renew their insurance. Or drivers licenses. (I hope). Are insurance companies ok with using your vehicle for an illegal road blockade? ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2022, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-dopers-freedom-convoy/959186/152 "2022-02-13T05:37:14Z")
In today’s Perfectly Peaceful Protest News, several Patriots conducted drills in how people will respond when someone tries to seal the doors to their condo building using handcuffs. > This is all, of course, perfectly normal, and not at all a cause for concern. ---
**Author:** ![phs3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8491ac/32.png) [@phs3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phs3)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2022, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-dopers-freedom-convoy/959186/153 "2022-02-13T06:46:38Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > The stereotypical “Canadian” accent isn’t really as widespread as the media tries to make it seem. As the son of a linguist and someone who grew up in Canada but has lived in the U.S. for 35 years, this. BUT if you have a good ear you can often tell a Canadian even if most people cannot. It’s those tense vowels… ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2022, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-dopers-freedom-convoy/959186/154 "2022-02-13T10:16:46Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Yes, that’s true, but a third is not “Fringe.” Never said they were “fringe”, I said they’re a minority. And it’s not a third of Canadians blockading an international border and screwing the economy on both sides, it’s a subset of the 1/10 of truckers who aren’t vaccinated and for some reason don’t want to be. If you don’t want to meet the requirements for a job too bad, so sad get a different job. No one is entitled to drive a truck for a living. Don’t want to get vaccinated? OK, no one is going to physically hold you down and force a needle into your arm but your choice will have consequences. If these people want to make that choice they need to put their big-boy pants on and deal with the consequences of that choice. > [@RickJay](#): > > Protests are not “not accepting democracy.” That’s just ridiculous. They are a fundamental part of a democracy. It’s not protesting that is “not accepting democracy”, it’s what the protests are about - wanting a special privilege so they don’t have to be responsible members of society without consequences. That’s not democracy. > [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > What now? They should be treated like any other person defying a court injunction. Police move in, make arrests, court date and fines. Normally they will be required to sign a legal document saying they will obey the injunction. If the return, bang into jail they go. Rigs can be dragged/scraped away. Insurance and licences may be revoked. Sure - when is it going to start happening? The court ruling came down on Friday. The protesters had until 7 pm to start clearing out. If I had a say, I’d have busted out the handcuffs the next morning, towing rigs, and slamming people in jail. Either the law has teeth or it doesn’t. It’s starting to look like yet another instance where conservative White men get away with things that would have anyone else up against a wall or face down on the ground with their hands behind their back. Arrest those remaining, confiscate their vehicles, tear up their CDL’s, and blacklist them. They can all get different jobs for a living, because I don’t want someone in charge of a multi-ton behemoth hurtling down the interstate who can’t follow the rules. > [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > The current us government might be persuaded by the “please don’t fund terrorism in your allies country “ argument. It’s not just Canada this is hurting - the auto industry in the US is shutting down for lack of parts coming across the border. The American idiots sending money are shooting themselves in the foot. > [@k9bfriender](#): > > Not only is that support sinking fast, the polling did not ask, “Do you support the shutdown of a major city, as well as international trade putting tens of thousands of jobs at risk?” Not “tens of thousands” - hundreds of thousands. Close to 2 million people (collectively in both countries) are directly employed by the auto industry. Which is shutting down due to lack of parts. That’s just the auto industry. NOTHING is crossing the border where they yahoos are. The remaining crossing points like the Blue Water Bridge just can’t handle all of what needs to be moved. > [@k9bfriender](#): > > This is more than a protest when they are shutting down an entire city, as well as international trade. > > A protest is when you want to be heard, what they want is their demands to be met. That’s not democracy. ^ This. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2022, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-dopers-freedom-convoy/959186/155 "2022-02-13T11:07:34Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > A protest is either legal or illegal, ethical or unethical. Whether I agree or not is irrelevant. I would be sick and tired of the trucker blockades if I agreed with them 100% up and down the line; they should have shown up, protested for a day, make some noise and been a little inconvenient, and gotten the hell out of town. The government should have done something about it long ago. I have exactly the same opinion despite not agreeing with them about, really, anything. How far a protest can go is a matter of the law, not of whether I support their position. OK - try this on for size: The protest HAS been deemed illegal by the duly elected government of Canada as of Friday evening. So what they doing is not legal. Also - and this is an important point - this is affecting not just Canada but also the US. I’m sitting here 400 km away from the Canadian border and the auto assembly plant in my area is shut down as of Monday and most of the workers on furlough because the parts they need never arrived from Canada. This is affecting MY neighborhood now. And a lot of other neighborhoods. $300 million a day in trade crosses the Ambassador Bridge and none of that is happening now. This bullshit is inflicting real economic damage on both sides of the border now. Damage just as real as burning down a dry cleaner during a riot, even if it’s less obvious. > [@FinsToTheLeft](#): > > You try explaining to your Jewish teenage girls that the nice people marching along with the white supremacists with the Nazi, Gadsden, and Confederate flags mean them no harm and most of the people just don’t want to have to get vaccinated. This is organized by hateful people to spread hate. If others are so susceptible to the BS that they are happy to march alongside, they are carrying the same message. > > This isn’t about being “woke”, but you come from a place of privilege here. They don’t want to “send you back from where you came from”. ^ This. I hear too many people these days saying “it’s not like that”. Yes, it IS like that. It doesn’t help when my White friends repeat bullshit from those types then amend it with “but not you, I didn’t mean you.” Well, maybe you personally didn’t but the people you’re associating with sure as hell do. Good people doing nothing is the start of the slide into hell. > [@FinsToTheLeft](#): > > Here’s Pat King, one of the organizers and a “Proud member of the White Race”. A fine young man /s Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay-um! It’s a Canadian Nazi! Sub-species bald-headed bearded jackass. Never seen one of those before. Heard of 'em, but not seen one. _::: lowers binoculars ::::_ I’ll make a note in my Nazi-watching notebook. _::: scribbles in battered spiral bound :::_ > [@bobot](#): > > Looks like in Paris that copycat truckers are dealt with in the same way that Trump dealt with peaceful protesters that blocked his path to an upside down Bible photo op. With gas. > > [https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/12/europe/france-freedom-convoy-truckers-protest-intl/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/12/europe/france-freedom-convoy-truckers-protest-intl/index.html) > > Why in the FUCK does this link not show a preview? To annoy you? Anyhow - for those who know French, know how to translate a website, or just up for a linguistic challenge, here is Le Monde on the affair: > **[Client Challenge](https://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2022/02/13/convois-de-la-liberte-une-centaine-de-personnes-interpellees-samedi-a-paris_6113468_3224.html)** In sum: 97 arrests, 513 warnings, tear gas, and a definite nipping in the bud of a similar attempt to blockade/shut down Paris. Apparently another group is going to try on in Brussels on Monday. Apparently the Europeans are less tolerant of this sort of foreign-inspired “protest” than we are. Good for them. > [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > I think the FCC will make their lives miserable if they pull this shit in the US. Yeah? When 40% of the US population has bought into the Trumpist/Qanon/right wing crap? I am no longer confident that I can trust the rule of law to protect me in my own country. Not when people who hate what I am seek to usurp elections, hold insurrections, and otherwise display authoritarian traits. ---
**Author:** ![Keith1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6de8d8/32.png) [@Keith1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keith1)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2022, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-dopers-freedom-convoy/959186/156 "2022-02-13T11:16:53Z")
Hope I don’t get caught J-walking. The penalties for that are enforced with much more severity than shutting down a continent. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2022, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-dopers-freedom-convoy/959186/157 "2022-02-13T11:44:33Z")
On a more positive note, here’s some video of the Pro Ottawa Protest today. > ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2022, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-dopers-freedom-convoy/959186/158 "2022-02-13T11:45:35Z")
Ford and Trudeau have both managed reasonably well through these challenging times. Even working together when needed. Canada in general has fared pretty well as a result. But it’s starting to look like the both of them are willing to lose it all, rather than act with decisiveness. They are literally sitting on their hands as Trumpism infects our politics full on. And it’s spreading like a plague around the world because these bozos are too timid to use the powers they have. The time for tough talk, threats, chastising, is LONG past. I don’t believe any of the good they’ve managed, will matter in the end, if they don’t get this under control. I’m doubting either will see office again if they don’t stop talking tough and get some results. The Prime Minister, the Premier, the city police, the OPP, and the military on scene all appear inept and ineffective. More so with each day that passes. Meanwhile, Canadians are left to wonder exactly how every level of enforcement/government is being out maneuvered by THIS group? ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2022, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-dopers-freedom-convoy/959186/159 "2022-02-13T12:37:33Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > Meanwhile, Canadians are left to wonder exactly how every level of enforcement/government is being out maneuvered by THIS group? Canadians need to wake up to the fact that Conservatives are infested with and beholden to white supremacists and neo Nazis, as are the institutions of law enforcement, and even the military. Just like they are south of the border. If reading this thread tells me anything, it’s that what’s true in the US is true above the 49th parallel as well. Scratch the polite veneer off a “conservative” and you find a swastika tattoo. It’s hard for the Law & Order crowd to crack down on skinheads because their concept of Law is to keep out-groups in Order. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2022, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-dopers-freedom-convoy/959186/160 "2022-02-13T13:04:58Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > On a more positive note, here’s some video of the Pro Ottawa Protest today. Kids, these are the people we call “The Good Guys”. Notice how they were able to make a statement without requiring any symbols of hatred like a confederate flag or a fucking swastika. Let’s hear it for the good guys, teach your children well, eh? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-dopers-freedom-convoy/959186.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-dopers-freedom-convoy/959186.md?page=9)