Canada’s state broadcaster spreads bizarre conspiracy theory that ‘Russian actors’ are behind 50,000-strong ‘Freedom Convoy’ of truckers protesting Justin Trudeau’s vaccine mandate: Police threaten to ARREST truckers blockading the US border in Alberta
- Canada’s foremost news network is spreading a conspiracy theory that ‘Russian actors’ are behind the ‘Freedom Convoy’ trucker vaccine mandate protests in Ottawa and at the US border
- During a broadcast Friday on the Canada Broadcasting Corporation – which is funded by the Canadian government – anchor Nil Koksal offered Parliament member Marco Mendicino the theory
- ‘There is concern that Russian actors could be continuing to fuel things as this protest grows. Perhaps even instigating it from the outset,’ Koksal said, citing Canada’s support for Russia-enemy Ukraine as evidence
- Koksal’s comments quickly set off a storm of backlash on social media, with users criticizing the longtime CBC fixture for offering an unfounded theory based entirely on speculation as news
- The Freedom Convoy, a coalition of 50,000 drivers protesting Justin Trudeau’s vaccine mandate for cross-border truckers, has been described as a grassroots movement and has no known ties to Russia
- Royal Canadian Mounted Police have threatened to arrest truckers blockading the US border in Alberta unless they leave by Tuesday, a lawyer representing the disgruntled drivers says
- Calgary-based civil liberties lawyer Chad Williamson revealed that Royal Canadian Mounted Police officials handed members of the so-called ‘ Freedom Convoy’ the ultimatum Tuesday
- ‘The police have essentially shut down all negotiations, period,’ civil rights attorney Williamson said Tuesday
- ‘They have indicated that they are going to seize equipment, and they’ve indicated that they are going to reopen the highway,’ he added
- Trudeau called dissenters in the Canadian capital and along the US border ‘hateful,’ ‘violent,’ and ‘racist,’ labeling them a ‘small, fringe minority’
Canada’s state broadcaster, the Canadian Broadcasting Company, is spreading a bizarre and unfounded conspiracy theory that ‘Russian actors’ are behind the ‘Freedom Convoy’ trucker vaccine mandate protests currently being held in Ottawa and at the US border.
During a broadcast Friday on the CBC – which is funded by the Canadian government – anchor Nil Koksal offered Parliament member Marco Mendicino the theory, citing the country’s current relationship with the Ukraine, a former Soviet nation currently at odds with Russia, as evidence.
‘Given Canada’s support of Ukraine, in this current crisis with Russia, I don’t know if it’s far-fetched to ask,’ Koksal told Mendicino, the county’s minister of public safety, during the Friday interview. ‘But there is concern that Russian actors could be continuing to fuel things as this protest grows. Perhaps even instigating it from, from the outset.’
The Freedom Convoy, a coalition of 50,000 drivers protesting Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s vaccine mandate for cross-border truckers that formed last month, has been described as a grassroots movement and has no known ties to Russia.
Protests began in Ottawa last month on January 23 and at the US-Canada border in Alberta on Saturday and are still going strong, despite warnings from Royal Canadian Mounted Police that things will get ugly for revelers if they do not abandon their ‘Freedom Convoy’ campaign, where tens of thousands of truckers have blocked crucial roads at both locations with their parked vehicles.
On Tuesday, police threatened to arrest truckers blockading the US border in Alberta unless they leave immediately.
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During a broadcast Friday on the Canada Broadcasting Corporation – which is funded by the Canadian government – anchor Nil Koksal offered an unfounded conspiracy theory that ‘Russian actors’ are behind the ‘Freedom Convoy’ trucker vaccine mandate protests currently being held in Ottawa and at the US border
The anchor’s contentious comments come as Canadian police have threatened to arrest truckers blockading the US border in Alberta, pictured here on Wednesday morning, in protest of Justin Trudeau’s vaccine mandate unless they leave immediately
Trucks bearing banners which read ‘Alberta Freedom Convoy’ block the highway at the US border as demonstrators protest vaccine mandates
Another, larger group of protesters in Canada’s capital, Ottawa, are pictured protesting Prime Minister Trudeau’s mandate as dozens of trucks block a major road. Trudeau’s policy, put into effect on January 15, says that Canadian truckers must be vaccinated to leave and reenter the country on their routes
A trucker speaks with an Ottawa police officer Tuesday. RCMP officials announced that truckers who continue to protest as of Tuesday will be arrested
Protesters pictured outside the capital’s Parliament Hill as trucks block streets in the city’s downtown neighborhood
Mendicino responded by deflecting the question.
‘I’m gonna defer to our partners in the public safety of trained officials and experts in that area,’ the official said during the interview, which was held remotely.
‘What I can tell you is that we do have courses on site right now who are watching the conduct of this convoy very carefully. And we’re providing direction and guidance to residents to ensure that there is a peaceful protest but, at the same time, providing direction and guidance to residents,’ Medocino added.
Koksal’s comments quickly set off a storm of backlash on social media, with users criticizing the longtime CBC fixture for offering an unfounded theory based entirely on speculation as news.
‘Journalistic malpractice,’ one user tweeted Saturday, the day after Koksal’s brazen declaration. ‘This movement is just as much about that as anything else. We wouldn’t be here if they just did their jobs.’
Others slammed the longtime CBC News Network anchor for following fellow liberal US President Joe Biden’s example of blaming Russia for another nation’s problems.
‘When in doubt, blame the ever elusive “Russian actors!”‘ one user wrote Saturday.
‘Liberals have one beat: Russia, Russia, Russia,’ another added.
Another compared the state of the media in the northern nation to that of China, a socialist county often accused of curtailing the civil liberties of its 1.4 billion citizens.
‘The media in Canada clearly now have no more freedom or wish to report truthfully as the media in China. Laughable story.’
‘On a scale of one to ten, how stupid do they think we are?’ another stunned poster asked.
As of Tuesday morning, a clip of the exchange has garnered more than half-a-million views on Twitter.
Speaking to RebelNews, Calgary-based civil liberties lawyer Chad Williamson – whose services were contracted by by protesters in the town of Coutts after a successful crowdfunding campaign – revealed that Royal Canadian Mounted Police officials handed members of the so-called ‘Freedom Convoy’ the ultimatum Tuesday, a day after Trudeau slammed the dissenters for protesting a mandate put on the truckers on January 15.
‘The police have essentially shut down all negotiations, period,’ Williamson told the outlet Tuesday. ‘They have indicated that they got marching orders essentially to reopen the highway.’
‘They’re not going to discuss anything further with protesters,’ the legal eagle added. ‘They have indicated that those who leave now are free to do so; those who remain behind run the risk of being arrested.’
The anchor made the comments to Parliament member Marco Mendicino, the nation’s minister of public safety
A truck convoy blocks the highway at the U.S. border crossing as demonstrators protesting against COVID-19 vaccine mandates gather in Coutts, Alberta, Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2022
Truckers carry firewood for a stove they have in their trailer as a rally against COVID-19 restrictions, which began as a cross-country convoy protesting a federal vaccine mandate for truckers, continues in Ottawa, on Tuesday, February 1, 2022
Anti-COVID-19 vaccine mandate demonstrators gather as a truck convoy blocks the highway at the busy U.S. border crossing in Coutts, Alberta, Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2022
Anti-COVID-19 vaccine mandate demonstrators gather as a truck convoy blocks the highway at the busy U.S. border crossing in Coutts, Alta., Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2022.
A GoFundMe page to support the so-called ‘Freedom Convoy’ has reached 10,000,000 CAD – roughly half a million CAD more than combined efforts of the major Canadian political parties in the final quarter of 2021.
Williamson went on to explain that the law – at least in Canada – is not on the truckers’ side, and that police are ready to play hardball after four full days of protests.
‘There’s various pieces of legislation and charges that they can essentially lay against people who remain.
‘They have indicated that they are going to seize equipment, and they’ve indicated that they are going to reopen the highway.’
The lawyer added that he and his hundred or so clients have elected to take a wait-and-see approach to the RCMP’s gambit.
‘We provided the standard legal charter advice for folks, and we’re going to see how this plays out.
‘We’ve really tried to stress everyone to remain calm, remain peaceful, no matter what happens, but things are pretty tense.’
Williamson’s words proved prophetic later that day, when more than a hundred truckers engaged in a bitter stand off with RCMP Special Tactical Operations agents, who were called in to quell the crisis over the weekend.
Revelers gathered just off the Alberta-Montana border crossing Monday afternoon after they learned the officers would be making arrests, and began egging on officers by repeatedly chanting ‘Freedom’ as cops looked on. No arrests were made during the protest, which remained peaceful.
DailyMail.com reached out to rep for Alberta’s RCMP Tuesday to comment on the standoff and the ongoing protests. The force provided a statement, confirming Williamson’s remarks.
It said: ‘What may have begun as a peaceful assembly quickly turned into an unlawful blockade. While the Alberta RCMP has been in a position to conduct enforcement, we have been engaged with protesters at the Coutts border crossing in an effort to find a peaceful and safe resolution for all involved. We thought we had a path to resolution, the protesters eventually chose not to comply.
Speaking to RebelNews, Calgary-based civil liberties lawyer Chad Williamson – whose services were contracted by by protesters in the town of Coutts after a successful crowdfunding campaign – revealed Royal Canadian Mounted Police officials handed members of the so-called ‘ Freedom Convoy’ the ultimatum Tuesday
Aerial photographs snapped Tuesday show dozens of trucks blocking the Alberta-Montana border crossing. RCMP officials said Tuesday that they will be making arrests of drivers who remain after Tuesday
Drivers are seen at the Alberta-Montana border as they protest the prime minister’s vaccine mandates
Thousands more protesting truckers have convened at the southernmost point of the province of Alberta, forming a blockade between the territory and the US state of Montana to the south
Roughly 50,000 Canadian truck drivers have showed up in Ottawa to protest against the prime minister’s new vaccine mandates and quarantine rules for drivers
‘As of this morning, further action is being taken by the Alberta RCMP as this blockade continues to impede the ability for emergency agencies to provide full services to area residents. It has also negatively impacted the flow of goods and services, and impedes the public’s freedom of movement.’
It continued: ‘A Highway is considered essential infrastructure. It is unlawful to willfully obstruct, interrupt or interfere with the construction, maintenance, use or operation of any essential infrastructure in a manner that renders the essential infrastructure dangerous, useless, inoperative or ineffective as per the Critical Infrastructure Defence Act of Alberta.
‘Anyone who actively blocks a highway—or aids, counsels or directs a highway to be blocked—may be subject to arrest and charge under this act.’
But the truckers seemed undeterred by the police’s warning Wednesday, continuing to set up camp in the town of Coutts despite frigid conditions.
Nearly 2,000 miles away, a much larger group of truckers also part of the so-called ‘Freedom Convoy’ camped out in the nation’s capital of Ottawa seemed similarly undeterred by police’s warning Tuesday, making themselves comfortable in the city’s Downtown neighborhood and even going as far as to cook up hundreds of pizzas in a pair of outdoor wood-powered ovens and hand them out to anyone who asked.
The growing tension between the two parties comes as Prime Minister Trudeau – who slammed the truckers Monday during a remote press conference as ‘hateful,’ ‘violent,’ and ‘racist’ and vowed to take action against the coalition – found himself embroiled in a storm of backlash after a two-year-old tweet he penned praising the truckers at the start of the pandemic surfaced Tuesday.
‘While many of us are working from home, there are others who aren’t able to do that – like the truck drivers who are working day and night to make sure our shelves are stocked,’ Trudeau tweeted on March 31 of 2020, during the early days of the pandemic.
‘Freedom Convoy’ truckers and protesters continued late Monday to block a border crossing into the US at a village in southern Alberta – one of the country’s busiest border crossings – in solidarity with their brethren in Ottawa who have shut down the nation’s capital
‘When you can, please #ThankATrucker for everything they’re doing and help them however you can.’
However, nearly two years later, the PM seems to have changed his tune, publicly criticizing the tens of thousands of his country’s truckers and other protestors in Coutts and Canada’s capital city, Ottawa, for their ‘hateful rhetoric’ and ‘violence to fellow citizens.’
Trudeau took the offensive against the truckers Monday during the presser, which was broadcast from an undisclosed location following the COVID-positive politico’s evacuation from his residence in Ottawa, after the city’s Downtown neighborhood found itself packed with roughly 50,000 rigs protesting Trudeau’s mandates that demand Canadians undergo a 14-day quarantine when they cross the border from the United States.
‘Canadians were shocked and frankly disgusted by the behavior displayed by some people protesting in our nation’s capital,’ Trudeau said.
Trudeau had called the truckers headed for the city a ‘small fringe minority’ before the convoy of hundreds of vehicles grew up to 45 miles long, as it made its way to the capital.
‘While many of us are working from home, there are others who aren’t able to do that – like the truck drivers who are working day and night to make sure our shelves are stocked,’ Trudeau tweeted on March 31 of 2020, at the start of the pandemic
Traffic was backed up Tuesday on a bridge between Gatineau, Quebec, and Ottawa, due to a road blockade formed by the tens of thousands of truckers
Vehicles continue to block downtown streets in Ottawa as truckers and supporters continue to protest Trudeau’s mandate
On Tuesday, a second convoy of truckers protesting the mandates went eyeball-to-eyeball with a SWAT Team at the Alberta-Montana border, and allegedly pressured staff at a nearby homeless shelter to give them food.
Meanwhile, a GoFundMe page to support the so-called ‘Freedom Convoy’ has already surpassed its goal of 10,000,000 CAD as of Wednesday. The sum is roughly half a million CAD more than combined efforts of the major Canadian political parties in the final quarter of 2021.
Freedom Convoy organizers BJ Dichter and Tamara Lich say that the proceeds will go towards fuel for the truckers, who have been protesting for four days straight with no sign of stopping despite warning from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police that dissenters will be arrested, as well as food and lodgings ‘to help ease the pressures of this arduous task.’
‘Our current government is implementing rules and mandates that are destroying the foundation of our businesses, industries and livelihoods,’ the two wrote on the page.
‘We are a peaceful country that has helped protect nations across the globe from tyrannical governments who oppressed their people, and now it seems it is happening here.’
Drivers along the border are also raising money through a separate fundraiser spearheaded by Rebel News journalist Ezra Levant, to cover drivers’ legal fees if they end up incarcerated. As of Tuesday, Levant has received nearly 5,000 donations.
Levant was enlisted by truckers at the Alberta-Montana crossing Monday, after SWAT teams sealed off the motorists by setting up police check points around the town Coutts, which boasts a population of less than 500.
‘They asked me if we could help them right now,’ Levant wrote online to his news outlet Rebel News. ‘And I said, “of course.” I promised them we’d crowdfund a lawyer to fight any tickets or charges they face, no matter how large they may get.
‘I promised the truckers we’d take the case and crowdfund it all the way. Even if it takes years in court.’
Trucks sit parked Tuesday along a once-bustling street in Downtown Ottawa, creating a de facto roadblock
Trudeau had called the tens of thousands of truckers and other dissenters headed for the capital a ‘small, fringe minority,’ before the convoy of hundreds of vehicles grew up to 45 miles long
On Monday, Trudeau declared that he would not be meeting with truckers overrunning Ottawa due to their ‘hateful rhetoric,’ as hundreds more disgruntled drivers thousands of miles away formed a blockade at the southern tip of Alberta to block off traffic to and from the US.
Trudeau, 50, held the conference from isolation at an undisclosed location after testing positive for COVID-19 earlier that day. Two of the prime minister’s three children also tested positive for the virus.
When asked whether he was going to meet the protesters, Trudeau said he had no interest in going ‘anywhere near protests who have expressed hateful rhetoric and violence towards their fellow citizens.’
The politician went on to assert that he had personally attended protests himself when he ‘agreed with the goals’ being fought for, such as those championed by Black Lives Matter, but dismissed the truckers’ dissent – which was spurred by the politico’s own policies – as ‘racist’ and ‘violent.’
‘I have attended protests and rallies in the past when I agreed with the goals, when I supported the people expressing their concerns and their issues,’ Trudeau said.
‘But I have also chosen to not go anywhere near protests that have expressed hateful rhetoric, violence towards fellow citizens, and a disrespect not just of science, but of the frontline health workers and quite frankly, the 90 per cent of truckers who have been doing the right thing to keep Canadians safe to put food on our tables.’
Meanwhile, nearly 2,000 miles west, hundreds more protesting truckers have convened at the southernmost point of the province of Alberta, forming a blockade between the territory and the US state of Montana to the south.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau declared Monday that he will not be meeting with truckers currently overrunning Ottawa in protest of his vaccine mandate because of their ‘hateful rhetoric’ – a stark contrast from the praise he showered them with two years ago during the early days of the pandemic
The double-pronged effort from the coalition of more than 50,000 Canadian truck drivers – which has remained largely peaceful – was spurred by recent policies implemented by Trudeau’s office that declared that by January 15, all truckers in the country who are unvaccinated must take a COVID-19 test and quarantine when driving back from the states.
Per the progressive politician’s new guidance, Canadian drivers who are not vaccinated are barred from entering the US until they have gotten the jab, while American drivers are currently not allowed into Canada unless they produce a certificate proving that they have been inoculated.
The policy comes in stark contrast to that of the nation’s neighbor the south, with American drivers returning home to the US not required to test and quarantine.
During the address, Trudeau conceded that he understood the frustrations of the Canadian people regarding the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic but asserted that some of the behavior seen at the recent protests in the nation’s capital, including swastikas, Confederate flags, and the desecrating of memorials, was unacceptable.
‘I want to be very clear, we are not intimidated by those who hurl insults and abuse at small business workers, and steal food from the homeless. We won’t give in to those who fly racist flags. We won’t cave to those who engage in vandalism or dishonor the memory of our veterans.’
He added: ‘Freedom of expression, assembly, and association are cornerstones of democracy. But Nazi symbolism, racist imagery, and desecration of war memorials are not. It is an insult to memory and truth. Hate can never be the answer.’
Trudeau then called on the protesting truckers – and the thousands supporting them – to put a halt to their actions.
‘There is no place in our country for threats, violence or hatred,’ he asserted. ‘So for those responsible for this behavior, it needs to stop. To anyone who joined the convoy and was rightly uncomfortable with the symbols of hatred and division on display, join with your fellow Canadians. Be courageous, and speak out. Do not stand for, or with, intolerance and hate.’
In his speech, Trudeau went on to slam conservative politicians from his country for supporting the truckers’ protests, warning them to ‘think long and hard about the consequences of your actions.’
After the address, the prime minister doubled down on his stance in a series of posts on social media.
The progressive politician pleaded for the protests to cease Monday afternoon, both in his address and on social media
Trudeau’s speech, delivered more than 24 hours after the prime minister fled his home in Ottawa as protesters convened on the capital, came as another formidable force of protesters more than 1,800 miles away, in Coutts, Alberta, were met with backlash from local law enforcement, who ordered the drivers Monday to stand down and stop blocking trucks and other international commuters from crossing the currently gridlocked dividing line, RebelNews reported.
After a vote, the outlet reported Monday afternoon, drivers stationed along the border refused to budge, and for now, the border remains closed, despite heavy police presence.
Earlier that morning, after fleeing his home with his family Sunday as thousands of truckers descended on the Canadian capital to protest the country’s vaccine mandate and COVID lockdowns, Trudeau revealed he had tested positive for COVID-19.
Trudeau, 50, held a press conference from an undisclosed location Monday after testing positive for COVID-19 earlier that day. During the address, broadcasted remotely, the politician bashed truckers protesting his recent vaccine mandate
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Monday that he has tested positive for COVID-19
‘This morning, I tested positive for COVID-19,’ the woke politician wrote on social media that morning.
‘I’m feeling fine – and I’ll continue to work remotely this week while following public health guidelines. Everyone, please get vaccinated and get boosted.’
Trudeau, who is vaccinated and has received a booster, is currently self-isolating at an undisclosed location after fleeing with his family from their home in the Canadian city as protesters convened, a four full days after the politician found out he had been exposed to the virus.
‘Last night, I learned that I have been exposed to COVID-19,’ Trudeau wrote on Twitter Thursday morning.
‘My rapid test result was negative. I am following @OttawaHealth rules and isolating for five days. I feel fine and will be working from home. Stay safe, everyone – and please get vaccinated.’
The progressive prime minister provided no details on when or how he was exposed to the virus at the time, and his office has since not commented further on his positive test, which he said came early Monday morning.
The politico also did not divulge whether or not it was a rapid or PCR test that garnered the positive result, and has not yet updated the public as to his location.
Trudeau’s revelation comes as the ‘Freedom Convoy’ of trucks – joined by thousands of demonstrators – brought Ottawa to a virtual standstill for a third day on Monday, as they protested the prime minister’s vaccine mandates, forcing the prime minister to flee the city with his family due to ‘security concerns.’
The decision to move the prime minister Saturday was spurred by a warning from the sergeant-at-arms of the Canadian Parliament that protesters might show up at the homes of politicians, CBC reported.
The protesting truckers say there is no ‘end date’ in sight and plan to stay in the capital ‘for as long as it takes’ and until the Canadian government flips and withdraws its policy on vaccine mandates.
Vehicles displaying protest signs are seen outside Parliament Hill, as demonstrations by truckers and their supporters against COVID vaccine mandates continue in Ottawa
The decision to move the prime minister Saturday came after the sergeant-at-arms of the Canadian Parliament warned that protesters might show up at the homes of politicians
Nathan (Jacko) Jack waves flags in front of trucks that are parked in front of Parliament Hill at a rally against COVID-19 restrictions on Monday
The protester removed the tires from his pickup truck stands in front of Parliament Hill during the proceedings on Monday
Parliamentary Protective Service officers were forced to don headsets for hearing protection during vaccine mandate protests Monday, against the blaring horns of thousands of trucks participating in the cross-country convoy
Trucks participating in the ‘Freedom Convoy’ protest against Trudeau’s vaccine mandates carry hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of goods meant to be transported throughout the country and to the US. Participating trucks have been there, parked, for days – many since Saturday
The truckers say there is no ‘end date’ in sight and plan to stay in the capital ‘for as long as it takes’ and until the Canadian government flips and withdraws its policy on vaccine mandates
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