[Editor’s Note: While Canadians dig in to protest Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s increasingly tyrannical behavior, Liberty Nation’s Andrew Moran hit the streets of Toronto on February 19 to observe and report on the continuing demonstrations].
It might be cold in the Great White North, but tens of thousands of Canadians coast to coast are keeping the flames of liberty burning. “Freedom!” and “Hold the line” have turned into the battle cries for the Freedom Convoy as peaceful anti-mandate demonstrations metastasize into chaos, fueled by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s eagerness and temerity to invoke emergency powers against a movement he opposes. The protests have the world watching Canada, inspiring other nations to denounce the new normal of authoritarianism that has infected governments across the globe. From the United States to France to Australia, many are standing in solidarity with Canadians. But you do not need to search beyond the country’s borders to find dissidents. They proudly gathered in North America’s fourth-largest city at Queen’s Park.
‘We the People’
“We are the only solution: We the people. We have the sovereign authority to design our lives and future of our children,” Kelly Anne Wolfe, the CEO of the Canadian Democratic Defence Association, told the peaceful assembly in Toronto on Feb. 19. “Our individual freedoms will be wiped from us if we allow this to continue.”
This was the message shared by a fiery crowd that gathered at the feet of the King Edward VII equestrian statue outside the Ontario Legislature on Saturday. Hundreds of people showed their support for the truckers and reaffirmed their opposition to the plethora of federal, provincial, and municipal COVID-19 mandates that have plagued 37 million people for the last two years.
Indeed, the heavy police presence and recent events in Ottawa did not deter hundreds of individuals from braving the frigid air and peacefully marching the streets. They conveyed their contempt and frustration for the “stinking weasels,” including Premier Doug Ford and Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer, Dr. Theresa Tam, and the international faces of the coronavirus pandemic like Dr. Anthony Fauci and Bill Gates.
In usual Canadian fashion – and a tendency that has been the norm throughout these events nationwide, from Coutts to Windsor – the crowd took the time to sing “O Canada.” There were also many moments when they bellowed out “F–k Trudeau” in unison. Others carried placards with messages that included “to serve and protect us from the Great Reset,” “Mandate Freedom,” and “Who’s your daddy? God or government?”
“We are now dealing with despots and demagogues: Trudeau and Ford,” said Mike Jay, a speaker who has frequently appeared at anti-mandate events in Toronto. “They are the fraternal twins of tyranny. They divide Canadians. They play both sides as they thrust us into their Great Reset back into serfdom and servitude.” Some attorneys associated with the widespread efforts are prepared to “criminally charge every politician responsible for this oppression,” Wolfe added.
If this does not happen, perhaps the next best thing for the protesters will be an end to the Emergencies Act. Alberta Premier Jason Kenney revealed that he is set to submit a legal challenge in Federal Court in the nation’s capital to put the kibosh on the “overreach” action he purports is in violation of due process and “an intrusion into provincial jurisdiction.”
For now, whether it is in Ottawa or Vancouver, the newest initiative is holding the line and standing up to these esteemed leaders who, noted Jaye, underestimated the trucker protests spreading so fast. That said, when these protests will end is unclear. Despite a typical Canadian winter of freezing temperatures, gusty winds, and intermittent snow flurries blanketing Toronto, the demonstrations are expected to occur each week in the downtown core.
The World is Watching
All eyes are what is unfolding in Canada; the scores of truckers filling the streets and highways, the diverse array of Canadians lending their support, the federal government exploiting unprecedented measures to clamp down on a political movement the Liberals and New Democrats disapproved of because it did not define their version of the working-class, and law enforcement clashing with demonstrators. Although the country has had its moments of upheaval over the last 40 years, be it the Quebec separatist violence in the 1980s or the G20 summit in Toronto in 2010, this may be the most significant event that could lead to long-term consequences in the future. Whether those developments will be positive or negative remains to be seen. But, as the saying goes, “It’s always darkest just before the dawn.”
~ Read more from Andrew Moran.
