Ipsos: 46% of Canadians sympathize with Freedom Convoy

[Mika-El]

You’re really angry. I recommend Pilates

LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I just sound angry. Really come to Canada and I will kill you. Lol. Do not take me as snot faced as I sound. I just am blunt. I actually respect peoples' opinions to protest but all I ask is they do not hurt others with their actions. They have. They have been a nuisance and at times out and out rude. It does not help any cause they have.

 

[Mika-El]

LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I just sound angry. Really come to Canada and I will kill you. I have distinct opinions yes. Lol. Do not take me as snot faced as I sound.

Nobody was listening. Now they are.

I appreciate certain pro Trump Americans have a distinct view about vaccines and protesters. I do . However trying to suggest this display has done anything politically is a projection.

Here is a neutral article with no vested political interest in what has happened:

Truck protest against vaccine mandates is polarizing Canada — and clergy have mixed reactions

The main body of protesters continued a diesel-rumbling siege of Parliament Hill, igniting fire pits on city streets and sounding truck horns at all hours, driving local residents to despair.

www.americamagazine.org

The article points out something you might want to keep in mind and I quote:

"Ironically, the Freedom Convoy has formed in a country where the population has largely obeyed pandemic precautions. Nearly 89 percent of adult Canadians have been fully vaccinated, including about 90 percent of Canadian truckers. Canadians largely supported curfews, lockdowns and vaccine mandates throughout the pandemic—at least until the Omicron variant arrived."

The frustration you see started with a general anger that after3 years we seem no further ahead. It was a general anger not specific at having to take the shots or even stay at home. It was an anger about how nothing seems to have changed and the messages continue to change.

The gathering started with a minority of truck drivers who drive back and forth across the border and do not want to take shots. They were then joined by a larger group of angry unemployed people with many causes some not even related to the vaccine.

The people now left behind represent specific extremist groups many white nationalists who carried Nazi flags or Confederate flags and were protesting the country was becoming too brown.

The people who urinated on the memorials to soldiers who died or who defecated on Capital Hill, bullied homeless people. bullied people in malls, desecrated the Terry Fix statute please understand were not interested in rational discourse. They were an angry mob.

The vast majority of truckers and trucking associations have zero problem with drivers moving across borders having proper vaccines.

The last thing the trucking industry wants is truck drivers getting sick and unable to deliver vital supplies in the supply chain that keeps our economy going.

I also want to stress this which is why I may sound angry, the people at the rally in Ottawa deliberately have endangered people in hospitals blocking health care professionals from going to work and yelling and screaming at them. That is bullshit.

The health care professionals, paramedic, police, fire, must be able to do their jobs to save and protect lives and to block them from doing this is absolutely reprehensible. In fact what makes me angry is that those front line health and first line responders have been working overtime for over 2 years, suffering from stress and burn out to keep people clean, safe, alive. Those are the people we should have concern about as well as the vulnerable people who could needlessly die either being exposed to Covid 19, or who have other illnesses they can not treat because the doctors have been called away to treat Covid 19 cases with patients who refused to take the shot and now take up valuable hospital resources.

I have no time of day for selfish, self centered idiots with an attitude they everyone else can phack off only their immediate needs are relevant. Have a nice day and let me say Canadians are polite but up to a point.

 

[bluesmoke]

I appreciate certain pro Trump Americans have a distinct view about vaccines and protesters. I do . However trying to suggest this display has done anything politically is a projection.

Here is a neutral article with no vested political interest in what has happened:

Truck protest against vaccine mandates is polarizing Canada — and clergy have mixed reactions

The main body of protesters continued a diesel-rumbling siege of Parliament Hill, igniting fire pits on city streets and sounding truck horns at all hours, driving local residents to despair.

www.americamagazine.org

The article points out something you might want to keep in mind and I quote:

"Ironically, the Freedom Convoy has formed in a country where the population has largely obeyed pandemic precautions. Nearly 89 percent of adult Canadians have been fully vaccinated, including about 90 percent of Canadian truckers. Canadians largely supported curfews, lockdowns and vaccine mandates throughout the pandemic—at least until the Omicron variant arrived."

The frustration you see started with a general anger that after3 years we seem no further ahead. It was a general anger not specific at having to take the shots or even stay at home. It was an anger about how nothing seems to have changed and the messages continue to change.

The gathering started with a minority of truck drivers who drive back and forth across the border and do not want to take shots. They were then joined by a larger group of angry unemployed people with many causes some not even related to the vaccine.

The people now left behind represent specific extremist groups many white nationalists who carried Nazi flags or Confederate flags and were protesting the country was becoming too brown.

The people who urinated on the memorials to soldiers who died or who defecated on Capital Hill, bullied homeless people. bullied people in malls, desecrated the Terry Fix statute please understand were not interested in rational discourse. They were an angry mob.

The vast majority of truckers and trucking associations have zero problem with drivers moving across borders having proper vaccines.

The last thing the trucking industry wants is truck drivers getting sick and unable to deliver vital supplies in the supply chain that keeps our economy going.

I also want to stress this which is why I may sound angry, the people at the rally in Ottawa deliberately have endangered people in hospitals blocking health care professionals from going to work and yelling and screaming at them. That is bullshit.

The health care professionals, paramedic, police, fire, must be able to do their jobs to save and protect lives and to block them from doing this is absolutely reprehensible. In fact what makes me angry is that those front line health and first line responders have been working overtime for over 2 years, suffering from stress and burn out to keep people clean, safe, alive. Those are the people we should have concern about as well as the vulnerable people who could needlessly die either being exposed to Covid 19, or who have other illnesses they can not treat because the doctors have been called away to treat Covid 19 cases with patients who refused to take the shot and now take up valuable hospital resources.

I have no time of day for selfish, self centered idiots with an attitude they everyone else can phack off only their immediate needs are relevant. Have a nice day and let me say Canadians are polite but up to a point.

Two thumbs up. Only that photo is misleading, making it appear some anti-vax trucker is drinking gasoline, as if they're that stupid. It's chlorine. Give'm a break.

 

[EMNofSeattle]

Two thumbs up. Only that photo is misleading, making it appear some anti-vax trucker is drinking gasoline, as if they're that stupid. It's chlorine. Give'm a break.

It’s water.

Apparently the point of protesting against fuel can seizures went over your head

 

[Mika-El]

LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I just sound angry. Really come to Canada and I will kill you. Lol. Do not take me as snot faced as I sound. I just am blunt. I actually respect peoples' opinions to protest but all I ask is they do not hurt others with their actions. They have. They have been a nuisance and at times out and out rude. It does not help any cause they have.

This response was challenged by a moderator/poster and I apologize if it appears I was threatening someone. I wish to assure them I was not. My intent was to laugh at myself and say I would never kill anyone or get violent over this matter when I talk of it. I should have put a question mark of the words kill you. I was responding to a reader being tongue and cheek about whether I was angry. No I was saying I would not get violent over this or kill anyone no. I repeat it again, my point is not that I am angry but that and of course have a right to freedom of expression I just think in this case m any of the protesters acted irresponsibly. Some urinated on war monuments and mocked a statute of young man who died running to raise money for cancer. Some stormed a shelter for homeless pushing in line for food. Some urinated and defecated on Parliament Hill. Some have carried Nazi and Confederate flags. Some blocked nurses and doctor and senior care workers and booed and yelled at them. I call that out as cowardly.

The protests were a lightening rod for many issues not just the Covid 19 issue and the vast majority of Canadians including most truckers have taken the vaccines and we believe we should do so to help prevent the spread of the illness to those less fortunate than us who could get very sick and die from it. We also are vividly aware of people who can not take the vaccines and we want to make sure they do not get sick as well.

We also want to make sure people in need of hospital services can't get it because we did not prevent using the vaccine to avoid having to use the hospital to take up the services needed by others in bad need of it. Its just common politeness and caring for others. That is not a political issue surely.

The position is anyone has freedom but yes its limited especially if your freedom means infringing on the health of someone else, of course.

The display in Ottawa became boorish and immature. It hasn't won over anyone. Having tantrums and acting like a bafoon does not help. However to be fair, there are professional organizers in the crowds who have tried to control their own extremist elements as well.

The province of Ontario and federal government have initiated emergency procedures which means they can now order the protesters to move. Getting them to move will take time. You can't forcefully tow the trucks away without getting in the cabs and locking the breaks. No one wants to break windows and fight with truck drivers who do not want to voluntarily leave. Hopefully they will now. While no one wants the army involved it would have to be called in eventually if this does not end. Hopefully it will not come to that.

One last thing, the funding for these riots is now being traced back to extreme right wing groups. So I now ask who do these groups really represent when they incite people to protest and break laws? They don't help the average person. In no way does preventing nurses and doctors getting to hospitals or senior care workers trying to get to old age homes help anyone, it does though kill or hurt the vulnerable.

How does honking the horns of trucks loud late at night achieve a rational constructive response that provides alternatives to the governments to consider?

Here is what I have argued. Any government having to deal with the control and management of infectious diseases has a moral responsibility to engage in policies that protect the public and yes they cause inconvenience and hardship but that is part of the very essence of the issue. There is always hardship when we do things to protect the vulnerable in our society. Of course. If we are asked to engage in inconveniences the question is this-do you really think refusing to take the vaccine and crossing the border is something new? Countries have always restricted and limited movement across borders of anyone with potentially contagious diseases including tourists and workers who cross the border like truckers, airplane pilots, train conductors. Its not new.

The minority of truckers who did not want to take their shots were just that a minority. The truckers' unions all said take the shot, protect yourself and your fellow truckers, the people in restaurants you stop to eat in, your customers and people you come into contact with. Most people including truckers got that.

 

[Mika-El]

It’s water.

Apparently the point of protesting against fuel can seizures went over your head

The photo was tongue n cheek as are my comments and those of Blue...and that is no different than your calling me angry and in need of Pilates.

 

[bluesmoke]

No it’s really not. Remember most parliamentary majorities are won on far lower. Vote share then 40 percent

Your claim was "almost half of Canadians broadly support the protests even if not the tactics.", not of Parliament. What is the exact evidence in your linked article that supports your claim of broad support?

 

[bluesmoke]

It’s water.

Apparently the point of protesting against fuel can seizures went over your head

It's the total stupidity of the protest that went over your head. As if using a fuel can as a symbolic protest of fuel can seizures makes sense of the whole protest. Oh, and the contemptuous mockery of sarcasm, perhaps enough indirect to be called SNARK, that cleared your Death Valley of lowbrow.

 

[bluesmoke]

This response was challenged by a moderator/poster and I apologize if it appears I was threatening someone

A lengthy explanation, which followed the above partial quote of your post, to help others understand what they don't get becomes thereby extraneous and most often will fatefully fail.

Regardless of the context, seeing the words "I will kill you" gives one a natural feeling of threat, especially when coming from an opposing poster. Because of that feeling, if directed to me, I would have to reread to assure context, which would give me the excuse to give a pass to the poster.

As long as it was made clear in your exchange with the mod how you can knowingly avoid the same in the future, without compromising normal speech and vigorous debate, without you being conflicted about going forward, then, no problem. I've been pinked before, without first being given a warning, for having said what I had proof of, and for which I'd checked the rules to be sure of before posting. That, IMO, is uncool. I've seen others do the same thing without being pinked. But the mods can't cover everything and not everybody goes crying to mommy for being offended by words and hide behind her skirts.

Good luck.

 

[Dans La Lune]

The Trucker Convoy backfired BIG TIME as it secured Trudeau and the Liberal's power until 2025. As a direct consequence of the convoy, the NDP made an agreement with Liberals to prevent a No Confidence Vote, which would have potentially ousted Trudeau. In exchange, the NDP has been guaranteed progressive policies for Canadians.

LOL @ Trucker Convoy. Keep it up.

 

[gbg3]

I didn't want to start a new thread on this topic but I read this interesting article today.. Remember the pastor in Canada who was jailed (multiple times) over holding church services and then also spoke to the trucker protesters.

"He remains under house arrest and is subject to curfew from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. and can only leave his residence to conduct worship services or for medical emergencies. He must not participate in any protests. He still faces a slew of charges related to the fallout of keeping his church open during the pandemic.

Pawlowski, who grew up in communist Poland and has been warning of growing tyranny in Canada for 17 years, lamented that "Canada is going from bad to worse," but he remains hopeful that the veil has been lifted on Canadian authorities in recent months. His situation prompted protests at Canadian consulates throughout the United States and moved thousands to sign a letter to Congress urging a resolution condemning his treatment.

In March, a resolution was introduced in the Ohio State Legislature urging the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) to add Canada to its special watch list because of how pastors have been treated in the country, echoing a similar call from Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo.

Churches throughout Canada have faced imprisoned pastors, locked facilities, steep fines, and continued interference from government officials."

MSN

 

[Callen]

He broke the law multiple, multiple times. He refused to honour his bail conditions. He is bloody lucky to be under house arrest and not in jail. The Fox article is incredibly biased and skewed...quelle surprise. Of special interest, but conveniently left out, is that he was arrested, prosecuted, jailed and put under house arrest by the Province of Alberta not the federal government. The Premier of Alberta is a staunch Conservative, about as far from Liberal as one can get. Even pastors are not above the laws....not even when you support their cause.

 

[bluesmoke]

Another case of a Christian nut case throwing themselves up on a cross for attention, begging for someone to drive in the last nail, over a Much Ado About Nothing matter.

Echos Josh Hawley is not a reverb I want to get stuck in. I can still hear Trump designating Canada a threat to national security.

 

[Callen]

Another case of a Christian nut case throwing themselves up on a cross for attention, begging for someone to drive in the last nail, over a Much Ado About Nothing matter.

Echos Josh Hawley is not a reverb I want to get stuck in. I can still hear Trump designating Canada a threat to national security.

Another example of people demonstrating that they support illegal behaviour as long as it favours their political narrative. If it was a BLM supporter or a voter suppression activist who did the same thing they would be screaming house arrest was too lenient!

 

[bluesmoke]

Another example of people demonstrating that they support illegal behaviour as long as it favours their political narrative. If it was a BLM supporter or a voter suppression activist who did the same thing they would be screaming house arrest was too lenient!

Please clarify, flesh-out a bit, what you mean by "voter suppression activist" role in what you say.

 

[Callen]

Please clarify, flesh-out a bit, what you mean by "voter suppression activist" role in what you say.

It became apparent to me not long ago that some on the right base their support for, or against, illegal behaviour by protesters on whether they support or oppose the fundamental issue being protested, not the behaviour of the protester.

If a protester acts illegally BUT they support the reason for the protest they immediately decry any lawful action against that protester as interfering with freedom of expression.

On the other hand, if the protester acts illegally BUT they do not support the reason for the protest then they scream for the maximum penalty under the law.

I simply used a voter suppression activist, more correctly worded an activist opposing voter suppression, as an example of a protester they would want the book thrown at should they block a roadway, or some such thing because they would not support that protest.

Clearer?

 

[bluesmoke]

It became apparent to me not long ago that some on the right base their support for, or against, illegal behaviour by protesters on whether they support or oppose the fundamental issue being protested, not the behaviour of the protester.

If a protester acts illegally BUT they support the reason for the protest they immediately decry any lawful action against that protester as interfering with freedom of expression.

On the other hand, if the protester acts illegally BUT they do not support the reason for the protest then they scream for the maximum penalty under the law.

I simply used a voter suppression activist, more correctly worded an activist opposing voter suppression, as an example of a protester they would want the book thrown at should they block a roadway, or some such thing because they would not support that protest.

Clearer?

That was my assumption, but I was not clear. Thx for the clarity. It also confirms that by "people demonstrating" you mean, in this context, the RW, and not, necessarily, all people. Just as "voter suppression activist" could mean an activist that favors more restrictive voting rules, but not in your context.