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MPs worry anti-vaxxer convoy has taken a turn for the worse

Close to a thousand people lined the westbound lane of the Trans-Canada Highway at the Nevers Road overpass 10 minutes east of Fredericton in Waasis, N.B., on Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Stephen MacGillivray

A federal mandate that requires truckers to be vaccinated to get over the border sparked the cross-country drive, which is to end with a protest at Parliament Hill. Dubbed the “freedom convoy,” the protest is organized by Canada Unity and other anti-public-health-mandate groups. At first, the convoy opposed vaccine mandates imposed on long-haul truckers, which forces unvaccinated truckers re-entering Canada to quarantine and get tested, but now it is calling for a repeal of all COVID-19 health mandates.

The movement has also caught the attention of Donald Trump Jr., who praised the Canadian “freedom convoy’s” fight against "tyranny" and urged Americans to follow suit in a video posted to Facebook on Tuesday.

“Individuals have the right to safely and peacefully protest,” said Ottawa Centre MP Yasir Naqvi in a statement to Canada’s National Observer. “But from what we know about the protest that’s coming this weekend, it appears that some members of the group may be associated with racist, sexist, and xenophobic groups.”

The Liberal MP said his community “will not tolerate hate and vitriol and other acts of racism and violence,” and emphasized the need for the area to “remain safe from any kind of damage or destruction.”

Ottawa police are preparing for a variety of scenarios this Saturday, including violence, Chief Peter Sloly told the police services board Wednesday. Sloly added convoy organizers are co-operating and have disclosed their protest plans to police.

On Saturday, a truck convoy will arrive in Ottawa to protest vaccine mandates, but some politicians, including Ottawa Centre MP @Yasir_Naqvi, are concerned about possible violence as extremist rhetoric swirls. #cdnpoli #TruckersConvoy2022 #COVID

Police are also "tracing parallel groups" that plan to join the truckers, according to Deputy Chief Steve Bell.

Tamara Lich, a western separatist and organizer of the convoy’s GoFundMe, discouraged extremist actions and told protest participants to write down the licence plates of anyone seen “inciting any type of violence or hatred” in a video posted on the Freedom Convoy 2022 Facebook page.

Despite organizers’ assertions the event will be peaceful, messages promoting hate, violence and extremism have been percolating on Zello, a walkie-talkie chat app.

“Every Canadian should have the ability to make their voice heard, but there is also a very real concern about the threat of violence,” said NDP MP Taylor Bachrach. “The fact that we're hearing these kinds of deeply troubling messages is something I think all Canadians should be concerned about.”

Truckers have every right to protest, just like any Canadian, the problem is politicians on both sides encouraging deep division for political gain, said Kerry Bowman, a bioethicist and assistant professor at the University of Toronto.

“Us versus them” narratives “bring out the darkest parts of us,” and when politicians create these divisions, “these (movements) can take on a life of their own,” he said.

Bowman added the buzz around the truckers' protest is just another distraction from the greatest threat to all Canadians: the global pandemic, which he said we're doing next to nothing about.

Instead of waking up to the fact that we need to deal with COVID as a global community, “we’ve become nationalistic, populist, even, (and) inward-looking,” he said.

Last weekend, People’s Party of Canada Leader Maxime Bernier organized a rally in Waterloo, Ont., to support the cross-border truckers' movement and continuously tweets support for and information about the convoy.

Until recently, Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole kept quiet on the issue but broke his silence Tuesday evening in a Facebook Live event when he said he understands why many truckers, especially independent ones, are upset.

"You can understand why there's some frustration and why people are protesting," O'Toole said.

Other Conservative MPs have been more transparent with their views.

Former Conservative Party leader Andrew Scheer tweeted his support for unvaccinated truckers and said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is “threatening everyone's ability to get groceries because of his overreach on vaccine mandates.”

Earlier this week, MP Garnett Genuis tweeted it is “time to end Justin Trudeau’s nonsensical vaccine vendetta.”

The media resource for URL https://twitter.com/GarnettGenuis/status/1484983342227283971 could not be retrieved.

Meanwhile, Alberta MP Martin Shields recorded a video in front of Parliament Hill declaring his support for the truckers and their protest. When Canada’s National Observer contacted his office to ask how concerns of violence may impact his stance on the protest, staff only said members of Shields’ constituency can meet with him on Saturday if they wish.

“I support peaceful demonstrations against these mandates,” a statement from the Conservatives’ deputy leader Candice Bergen reads.

The media resource for URL https://twitter.com/CandiceBergenMP/status/1486104514964955145 could not be retrieved.

Another distraction being peddled by Conservative and People’s Party of Canada politicians is the myth that vaccine mandates for truckers will cause food shortages and supply chain issues.

On Tuesday, federal Transport Minister Omar Alghabra put those claims to bed and assured Canadians the small minority of truck drivers refusing to comply with the vaccine mandate has not affected trucking operations.

Bachrach, the NDP’s transport critic, echoed Alghabra’s message and added extreme weather events across the country have contributed to the few empty shelves reported at grocery stores.

MPs Shields, Genuis and Melissa Lantsman did not respond to a request for comment by deadline.

— With files from The Canadian Press

Natasha Bulowski / Local Journalism Initiative / Canada’s National Observer

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