Down With the Sickness: Canadian Politics 2022

Ottawa Police Chief Sloly: This is a siege. This is something different than I have ever experienced in my life … it’s not a demonstration, it’s not an occupation.

— Sarah Sears (@iamSas) February 5, 2022

I went to check out the City Hall counter-protest briefly. It was pretty small, just a few hundred people, with a few dozen OPS standing between the crowds on Laurier. I think the cold was keeping many people from sticking around.

Woot woot 👏 https://t.co/LTaVaTO1Zn

— NanaK (@NanaKCanada) February 5, 2022

I enjoyed seeing the counterprotesters in downtown vncouver this afternoon

I went to check out the City Hall counter-protest briefly. It was pretty small, just a few hundred people, with a few dozen OPS standing between the crowds on Laurier. I think the cold was keeping many people from sticking around.

Didn't know about this; will go to one if I hear about it.

Darn, I should have texted you. Next time. I found out about it on the Ottawa subreddit.

I hope no one gets hurt, but the Vancouver bikers story was really cheering to read about.

Just read this in a CBC story: "But acting Deputy Chief Trish Ferguson said both laws and judgment have to be considered, as police believe that situation could become dangerous quickly."

Ah, so when the police attack land defenders and people concerned about the homeless, it's because they're certain those people pose no threat but they prefer to use overwhelming violent force anyway—very cool!

State of emergency declared:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/convoy-protest-ottawa-sunday-impasse-1.6341548

I was going to pick up some some food at Orange Julep here in Montreal and when I approach the place I start hearing all these car horns going and I am dreading running into a bunch of these trucker protesters who decided to stop here to eat or whatever. I was so relieved when I start seeing a bunch of Senegalese flags (who apparently just won the African Cup).

Hate this fucking guy: https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/race-for-the-next-conservative-leader-begins-as-poilievre-announces-his-bid-1.5769778

He's been a nuisance since his mid-20s, when he was the MP for my parents' riding. Currently, he's the only Tory MP in the city of Ottawa, which makes his wholehearted endorsement and advocacy of this siege especially despicable. His riding consists of a couple of affluent exurbs plus all the rural/semi-rural towns and villages that were amalgamated into the municipality under Harris, which I'm sure contain plenty of people who've long dreamt of terrorizing Centretown and Lowertown.

And tbc he is driven and ambitious, more confident than the last two Tory leaders, more bilingual than any Tory leader since Mulroney, and could have a credible chance of becoming PM.

Ok if Charest counts as a Tory leader, replace "Mulroney" with "Charest" there.

And the only thing preventing us from that outcome rn is Justin Trudeau's skill at avoiding ethical scandals

arson, even?

I've been hesitating to post this publicly, but I feel I must for the safety of downtown Ottawa residents. Here are the facts:

Last night two arsonists brought a full package of firestarter bricks into our building's lobby at 5AM. The building is located at Metcalfe & Lisgar. 1/

— Matias Muñoz (@TiMunoz) February 6, 2022

Holy shit

In case you’re wondering why #centretown residents and the rest of urban Ottawa are losing our minds…my watch was showing dB readings hitting 105 dB at Bank & Queen. This occupation has ZERO sympathy from us anymore. #OttawaOccupation #GoHomeConvoy #ottcity pic.twitter.com/6aWZXYTN2H

— Sean Flynn (@sfyro) February 6, 2022

Had to close the bedroom window yesterday bc my wife felt like she was choking on diesel fumes.

(The worst of it has been contained to some blocks away from where we are, though.)

someone is keeping track of all the businesses associated with the truckers convoy occupation

https://convoytraitors.ca

I was wary of trusting that thread StanM posted, but goddamn:

Arson investigation: We are asking for help to identify two individuals as persons of interest in an arson investigation.

The incident occurred in the early morning hours of Feb. 6 at a building in the 200 block of Lisgar St. @CrimeStoppersOT https://t.co/Cd84K1g2sq pic.twitter.com/OW6H1LeW5K

— Ottawa Police (@OttawaPolice) February 7, 2022

Still not determined that the arsonists were with the convoy but yeah, guy wasn't making up video footage. The OP in StanM's thread used to be a part owner of a cool venue where a lot of improv gigs took place btw.

While there were a lot of predictable "antifa false flag" responses, my favourites were the ones that were positive that they couldn't be with the occupation since one of them appeared to have purple hair (?) in the original images:

There's no way the dude with purple hair is part of the trucker convoy. This is lib theater designed to create chaos and to force arrests.

— Lili von Shtupp (@LvS_Redux) February 7, 2022

I love all the people replying "have you tried just talking to them?" Clearly the people who are occupying the capital city for a week with "FUCK TRUDEAU" painted on their vehicles are just there to start a dialogue.

In addition to nearly 300 RCMP officers, tactical police troops, joint intelligence and operational teams and community liaison teams, the federal government is convening a table with relevant federal and municipal partners to further strengthen our response to this situation.

— Yasir Naqvi 🇨🇦 (@Yasir_Naqvi) February 7, 2022

Right. I'm just trying to get my head around how a Chamber of Commerce type or a moral traditionalist looks at that and thinks "OTM".

Meant to respond to this the other day...I don't think it's yet reached this point here--maybe I'm wrong--but in the States, as a zillion people before me have pointed out, the Chamber of Commerce and moral traditionalist Republicans who bowed to Trump were afraid of losing, of getting primaried, etc. If you're talking about office-seekers/holders, that is--or do you mean non-politicians?

Well both insofar as the office-seekers are presumably trying to appeal to voters.

not to get too trenchant on here or anything but I think chamber of commerce/moral traditionalist types have been supporting violence that serves their interests for a long long time

Usually on the side of the state, though, right? Or perhaps against regimes viewed as radical in other countries?

I guess I was thinking of things like the riots during reconstruction or the tulsa black wall street massacre. those are american examples but canada has a rich history of anti-immigrant rioting as well (ie https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Oriental_riots_(Vancouver)

I think a lot of business interests have endorsed these kinds of attacks either tacitly or openly.

Ah, OK, yes. I do feel like supporting the use of force in a citizen uprising against the authority of the established government seems like a new one for conservatives - I thought this is the sort of thing conservatism was founded to oppose.

Michael Chong still seems to think so. Wonder how long he'll remain in this party:

The blockades in Ottawa and at the border must end.https://t.co/kgyJmzCaTe#cdnpoli

— Michael Chong 🇨🇦 (@MichaelChongMP) February 8, 2022

I do think that if the Cons try to go full GOP right now they’d be back down to 15-20% in the polls. If they can big-tent the PPC and the Harper-cons, though, they might not need the red Tory vote to gain power & keep shoving that Overton window rightward.

But if Trudeau could put aside his ego for a minute and step down as Lib leader before the next election - or even if he’s chucked on an ouster - we might be spared these goons a while longer.

I thought Libs are still ahead and Trudeau is still generally well-liked (though I've seen a poll saying Freeland is even better liked)? Most recent poll I saw: https://www.thestar.com/politics/2022/01/25/tories-gain-support-but-otoole-lags-trudeau-singh-as-best-choice-for-pm-poll.html

Why does he keep describing the pandemic as something that "sucks" btw?

I do feel like supporting the use of force in a citizen uprising against the authority of the established government seems like a new one for conservatives

I guess the conservative riots were targeted at racial groups that were perceived as threatening their privilege and economic interests, and in the case of reconstruction were tied to a government viewed as illegitimate.

I think many Canadian Chamber of Commerce-rs see the entire suite of pandemic rules and social programs as threats to capital and to their own power, ie ability to order workers around...and I think that's led to a lot of tacit and less tacit support of the convoys.

https://readpassage.com/p/the-trucker-convoy-is-not-a-workers-revolt/

Quiet!: https://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/meet-the-21-year-old-woman-who-got-the-honking-to-stop-in-downtown-ottawa-1.5772637

props to her for not only filing the suit but coming forward like this, she probably knows by now these assholes are already and will continue to make her life a living hell

Yeah kind of hilarious that while everyone (including the police and city council) sat around asking "how tf is this legal?", it took a 21yo to actually bring that question to the courts.

Ambassador Bridge shut down: https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/trucker-convoy-day-12-in-ottawa-as-local-transit-riders-call-for-action-protesters-paralyze-windsor-detroit-bridge

Most Canadians opposed to convoy: https://www.cp24.com/news/almost-2-3rds-of-canadians-oppose-trucker-convoy-protest-poll-suggests-1.5772347

Heard those poll numbers on the radio this morning. The one I really liked was, "Fifty-seven per cent thought the convoy was not about vaccine mandates but 'an opportunity for right-wing supremacist groups to rally and voice their frustrations about society.'"

It's like the old Mickey Rooney/Judy Garland films: "Let's get together and put on a grievance."

every time i think Jason Kenney can't be a more vile, slimy piece of shit, he slithers even lower

That’s his M.O.! “When they go low, we go lower.”

Did not know this:

Kenney has a personal tie to the issue, fighting in San Francisco in the 1980s to overturn a law extending hospital visitation rights to gay couples — a move aimed at preventing people from visiting their dying partners.

https://globalnews.ca/news/8606228/kenney-apologizes-covid-19-vaccine-comparison-aids/

A real charmer.

so canada doesn't have a national guard or anything like that to get these assholes to move on? is the city really being held hostage by a few hundred right wing dipshits?

i mean i suppose i should know this! but in america, they will send people to kill you if you sit in the park for too long so this is kinda unimaginable. if this was happening in jersey, it woulda gone waco already.

Army aren't been sent in and cops are being softly softly. These are decisions, obviously.

I think half of Canada would love a "just watch me" moment from Trudeau the younger here, but it would also probably be a boon to their cause, massively televised state repression would be quite the spectacle

In case you didn't get the "just watch me" reference, forks: https://www.cbc.ca/history/EPISCONTENTSE1EP16CH1PA4LE.html

Worth remembering that PET was dealing with kidnappers and murderers and even then only invoked the War Measures Act on the request of the Premier of Quebec. And it was probably still an overreaction. (I had thought most people agreed but then I saw some people basically calling for this on social media.)

Doug Ford, Premier of Ontario, has been pretty quiet about this. Ottawa is a little tricky since it's on the provincial borders and a good portion of the National Capital Region is in Quebec, also some land is under the jurisdiction of the National Capital Commission.

As mentioned on TVO's The Agenda, one fear may be the risk of explosions and fire if e.g. guns are fired around tanker trucks filled with diesel. Many tow truck drivers also seem to be siding with the occupiers. Obviously the police should have been more proactive when these people were arriving in the first place. Quebec City and Toronto seem to have nipped their convoy protests in the bud.

They are managing to progressively contain this thing. Horns have been greatly reduced. They're still blockading Kent St north of Somerset and I imagine are still camped out near the Rideau Centre.

Maybe this will turn out to be a model on how to resolve these things without deaths or serious injuries idk. I actually don't fault Trudeau too much. Refusing to negotiate or engage while avoiding an overreaction to what should have been mostly dealt with under traffic and noise laws seems like the right move to me.