Oh Canada Indeed

And now we get to watch what happens in a democratic country when the full weight of government, armed with a law for essentially wartime emergencies, is turned upon peaceful demonstrators:

MSN:

Police in Ottawa have begun to arrest truckers who have occupied the centre of the Canadian capital for three weeks in protest at Covid-19 restrictions and vaccine mandates.

The move comes after two of the protest leaders were taken in custody on Thursday night and much of downtown was designated a secure area behind 100 checkpoints. A third protest organiser was arrested on Friday during a Facebook livestream.

Canada’s parliament has shutdown and cancelled plans for a debate about the implementation of the Emergencies Act amid the ongoing police operation.

. . .

Police moved in on Friday morning and have been slowly, but steadily advancing, pushing protesters back towards the centre of the convoy. By lunchtime there had been 21 arrests and 21 vehicles towed — other trucks have reportedly left after officers threatened to smash their windows.

Charming, that.  Nothing says law and order like the Police openly threatening to performing acts of malicious destruction of property to peaceful demonstrators.

Also read that section again - Canada's Parliament - which should have met today to debate and decide on whether Trudeau's invocation of the Emergencies Act is lawful was ordered shut down.  Nice trick to extend these extra-ordinary powers without having any debate or vote on it.  It both spares Liberal Party members form having to vote for or against, and let's Trudeau run wild with it for longer, likely to make cracking down on the truckers a done deal before anything can be done about its invocation.

Meanwhile, as reported in the New York Post: Justin Trudeau sparks outrage after accusing Jewish conservatives of supporting swastikas.

Yes, he actually did that and has yet to apologize.  Schmuck.

The Intellectual Vanguard Of The Workers

Really, really,  hate that the Workers are uniting on their own without having the intellectual vanguard leading them.

Note that this person, Juliette Kayyem, is very much one of the elite.  

Married to a Federal Court of Appeals judge no less, and she was Obama's Assistant Secretary for Intergovernmental Affairs at the Department of Homeland Security and is currently the Senior Belfer Lecturer in International Security at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, where she is Faculty Director of the Homeland Security Project and Security and Global Health Project. 

She also presently serves as a CNN National Security Analyst.

So she's allegedly one of your betters and an "expert" on national security.

Yet, she doesn't know that draining gas from truck tanks and slashing tires results in trucks that are really difficult to move. She also does not know that that slashing a tire filled to 120 psi is really not a smart idea for the slashee's health - but could be fun for the rest of us to watch.

Obama really had the smartest people working for him, now didn't he?  And CNN and Harvard has her now - make of that what you will.

Meanwhile, the intellectual vanguard has managed to drive inflation to its highest rate in 40 years, with no signs of stopping, further harming the very workers they claim to champion.

The Canadian Trucker Protest Now Well And Truly Has Their Attention

After being totally ignored by the US Media, and downplayed by Canadian Media, the Truckers found a useful lever for pressure that could not be ignored:  Having slowdowns/blockades at the Blue Water and Ambassador Bridges from Ontario into Michigan.

The Detroit News: White House worried about Ambassador Bridge blockade disrupting auto production

As well they should be.  It's very cute how Psaki and the Democrats are now all publicly concerned about violent protests, when this isn;t a violent protest at all:

"We support peaceful protest, but we have concerns when those protests turn violent," Psaki said. "And certainly I think it's important for everyone in Canada and the United States to understand what the potential impact of this blockage is on workers, on the supply chain and that is where we are most focused."

Let's note the truckers themselves have not been violent, the violence has all been coming from the Ontario government side with police seizing demonstrating trucker's fuel and food and government officials making threats.

Well, both major Michigan papers are now reporting on it, and both are now accurately stating it is about the vaccination mandate for trucker cross-border travel:

The Detroit News: What to know about the traffic delays at Ambassador Bridge, trucker protest over COVID mandate

The Detroit Free Press: Truckers protest at Ambassador Bridge over COVID-19 vaccine mandates: What we know

Hilariously, the Detroit Free Press states:  

Truckers calling themselves the Freedom Convoy are opposing a Canadian mandate requiring drivers entering Canada to be fully vaccinated or face testing and quarantine requirements.

But it didn't just start this week. [emphasis added!]

Before the Ambassador Bridge was targeted, truckers also protested in Ottawa, Canada's capital. 

Seriously Freep, thanks for finally telling us that you only deigned to cover it this week and it's been going on for longer than that in Canada's capital. Sheesh, kinda important news, that.

Canadian Freedom Convoy Finally Gets A Mention in The Detroit News And Detroit Free Press

Finally we get a mention of the Canadian Trucker protest that has paralyzed Ottawa for a week, and scared Prime Minister Trudeau into leaving town and into claiming the reason he has gone into hiding is he's gotten Covid after 2 vaccine shots and a booster. 

But, this reporting is only because the protest has caused a delay at the Ambassador Bridge Border Crossing to Detroit:

The Detroit News: COVID protest sparks traffic delays at Ambassador Bridge

Note the article states the mandates by both Canada and the USA requiring truckers have the vaccine so they may be in their cabs alone for hours will result in a further crisis to the supply chain between the two countries:

He [Chuck Lippstreu, president of the Michigan Agri-Business Association] estimated the mandates left 30-50% of truckers on the U.S. ineligible to cross.

"We are very concerned frankly that these policies are threatening international trade and commerce with our No. 1 partner," he said. "We urge governments on both sides to rethink some common sense exemptions."

That's a supply chain crisis completely created by the governments of the US and Canada right there, and for absolutely no good reason.

The Detroit Free Press also finally covered the protest: Bridge to Canada in Detroit closes as Canadian protesters block the trade route

Canadian Forces Say No To Trudeau Request To Crack Down On Truck Protest

Apparently Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asked the Canadian Forces to help him get rid of the troublesome truck protestors and the Canadian Forces told him NO.

Good thing the Canadian Armed Forces have upheld their reputation as the Canadian Armed Forces and not tarnished it to become the Liberal Party's Armed Forces and interfere with peaceful protests.

Nova Scotia Targets The Law Right At The Trucker Protest

In Nova Scotia, Canada, the provincial government is running scared of the truckers' protest.

How scared?

Well they just passed an emergency declaration that bans not just blocking traffic in general,  but specifically bans a gathering of people beside a road from gathering and cheering in support of the trucker protest, and only the trucker protest and no other.  

Cheer by the roadside for BLM or any other favored cause?  Cool by them. 

Cheer on the freedom convoy? Fines for doing so range from $10,000 to $100,000 Canadian. Clearly the edict is designed to chill support for the trucker protest under penalty of law.

In the USA, this sort of law would be shot down pretty quickly in Court as a First Amendment violation in terms of not being content neutral and having massive viewpoint discrimination.

Canada, however, has no such First Amendment protection, and their Charter of Rights and Freedoms which declares it protects free expression - and standing by the side of a road doing nothing more than cheering on a protest is indeed freedom of expression - comes with a notwithstanding clause that the government can use to override Canadian's rights laid out in that document whenever it deems convenient.  This means freedom of expression in Canada and its provinces can be suspended whenever the government feels it may be inconvenient.

Clearly, the protesters simply need to rename the event to “Freedom in 2023” convoy and then section c of the law won’t apply and gathering and cheering by the roadside can take place so long as they don't announce they intend to interfere with the normal flow of traffic.   

That is one of the problems at making a law aimed at a specific protest only.

Talk about crafting a law directly at a single protest, sheesh. Methinks the Nova Scotia government really doesn't like the idea that  average Canadian is getting fed up with their arbitrary and capricious regulations.