Ottawa, Canada’s capital city, declared a state of emergency over the weekend after thousands of protesters descended on the city to demand an end to COVID-19 restrictions, The Associated Press reported in an unflattering, and dishonest, story about the ongoing protests and what sparked them.
According to the AP story, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his federal government are “responsible for few of the measures” that are being protested by tens of thousands in the city. That is quite a claim for the wire service to make considering Trudeau’s government set the January 15 deadline for its country’s truckers to get The Jab in order to continue cross-border hauling.
A similar rule in the U.S., imposed by the Dept. of Homeland Security, took effect January 22.
After both deadlines hit, and approximately 20% of Canada’s truckers had refused, the truckers started a “Freedom Convoy” in Vancouver that traveled to Ottawa, a city of 1 million that is the seat of power in the country.
On its way to Ottawa, the “Freedom Convoy” reportedly stretched more than 40 miles and had grown to an estimated 50,000 truck drivers and supporters.
Reacting to the “Freedom Convoy” protest from U.S. side of the border, Newt Gingrich told Fox News he is surprised by what he is witnessing. The Canadian people, the former House Speaker said, have a “long tradition” of being polite and nice, which appears is not the case any longer.
“Now that you have truckers challenging the government, the government is acting ferociously,” he warned. “More ferociously than you'd ever have for that kind of protest in the U.S., which to me is amazing."
No longer 'fringe minority'
When the “Freedom Convoy” first hit the road, Trudeau dismissed it as a “fringe minority,” but he pivoted from dismissing the protesters to warning fellow Canadians they pose a danger to the public.
"It would appear," Elon Musk, the Freedom Convoy-supporting billionaire, said Jan. 30, "the so-called 'fringe minority' is actually the government."
On government-funded Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), news anchor Nil Koksal suggested last week that “Russian actors” could be behind the protest because Canada supports Ukraine.
“Perhaps,” she said, “even instigating it from the outset.”
In more recent days, as the protesters have refused to leave, CBC footage showed heavily-armed police raiding a protest site to remove fuel and propane tanks from protesters. Police also cut off a “supply route” for them to get food and water.
Pete Sloly, Ottawa’s police chief, has told reporters police officers will be charged with a crime if they provide the protesters with “food, water, fuel, logistics, or funding.”
This week, in a Twitter post, Trudeau stated:
Canadians have the right to protest, to disagree with their government, and to make their voices heard. We’ll always protect that right. But let’s be clear: They don’t have the right to blockade our economy, or our democracy, or our fellow citizens’ daily lives. It has to stop.
That is quite a claim for Trudeau to make considering he is blocking truckers from keeping their jobs after he praised the trucking industry in 2020, for “working day and night to make sure our shelves are stocked,” during the scariest first weeks of the pandemic in Canada.
By now many Canadians have seen the 2020 footage of Trudeau telling a United Nations conference the pandemic has “provided an opportunity for a reset” in a country where province-to-province travel was restricted, businesses were forced to close, and church pastors were arrested for allowing too many people in the pews.
“This is our chance,” Trudeau, the wealthy son of a former prime minister, said, “to accelerate our pre-pandemic efforts to reimagine economic systems that actually address global challenges like extreme poverty, inequality, and climate change.”
That eye-opening statement is why many protesters are calling their effort “The Great Resist” and want Trudeau to step down.
“They will own nobody and are unhappy,” one protester’s sign said of globalist leaders such as Trudeau.
In the Fox News interview, Gingrich said what is happening in Canada is happening in other countries, too, where citizens who have obeyed pandemic restrictions are witnessing police powers being used against them because they are pushing back.
“It's all about a power struggle,” he said. “It hasn't got to do with public health. It has nothing to do about concern for you as a person.”
