Nearly five months after being forced out of Ottawa, Freedom Convoy protesters return to the capital this weekend, where along with a more determined police presence they will face questions about where the movement is headed. .
With many of the leaders who emerged during the winter occupation in prison or restricted by bail conditions, the current direction of the movement is unclear.
The issue that unified disparate groups in the first place, opposition to vaccine warrants, has lost its appeal since the federal and provincial governments lifted most public health measures.
In the absence of clear leadership, the groups have resorted to pushing their various preferred causes, from Alberta independence to invented legal concepts such as constitutional sheriffs.
Around them, meanwhile, a wide cast of characters compete to influence the various popular social media channels within the movement.
With many of the leaders who emerged during the winter occupation in prison or restricted by bail conditions, the current direction of the Freedom Convoy movement is unclear. (Patrick Doyle / Reuters)
In videos posted on Facebook, TikTok and other platforms, figures with large numbers of followers have been exchanging accusations of cheating supporters, fleeing Ottawa before arrests or being government agents.
Conspiracy theories, radical anti-government rhetoric, and homophobic and transphobic insults remain common in convoy online discussion forums, limiting the overall appeal of the movement.
The Canada Day weekend protests in Ottawa, along with the smaller meetings scheduled in Mirror, Alta., Salmo, BC and Winnipeg, are therefore coming at a critical time for the movement. Several groups see it as an opportunity to project a more unified and moderate image.
“We show Ottawa that we are respectful Canadians,” Amanda Haveman, organizer of Freedom Central Canada, one of Facebook’s largest convoy groups, said in a video message earlier this week.
“We just want our voices to be heard and we want Canada to be what it was.”
As part of the rebranding effort, Haveman instructed his group’s more than 100,000 Facebook followers to avoid raising the Maple Leaf upside down and to avoid waving Fk Trudeau flags, two symbols that were highlighted in previous protests by the convoy.
The Conservative leader agrees with lawmakers attending freedom events
The convoy’s events scheduled for this weekend include a march to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Thursday, a march to Parliament on Friday, and a pancake breakfast on Saturday, each organized by a different group.
Ottawa police have said they will not tolerate any attempt at prolonged occupation and have banned vehicles in the area around Parliament Hill.
The zero-tolerance policy became apparent on Wednesday, when statute agents announced they had issued 154 tickets and towed 44 vehicles as part of the city’s implementation plan.
In the minds of some supporters of the convoy, however, the police strategy is part of an attempt to drive the movement to violence.
“They want you to be the people who accuse you of being. They want you to be the terrorists,” said the anonymity of Live From the Shed, a webcast dedicated to the convoy movement.
In a recent interview with CTV, interim Conservative leader Candice Bergen said her caucus was welcome to attend the convoy protests this summer, rejecting the claim that the occupation of Ottawa was an attempt to overthrow the government. . Federal Conservative leadership candidate Pierre Poilievre appeared underway on Thursday with veteran James Topp
Several groups see Canada Day weekend as an opportunity to project a more unified and moderate image, and call on their fans not to flip the Canadian flag or wave it with “fk Trudeau” messages. (Blair Gable / Reuters)
These appearances affect Ahmed Al-Rawi, an assistant professor at Simon Fraser University who studies extremist movements online.
“We have seen in the past that many members of this movement showed some types of violence and harassed others … it would be like giving credibility to these people,” Al-Rawi said.
Within the movement, the civil opposition often coexists with extremist demands and actions that fall outside democratic norms, let alone the law.
A judge recently told CBC / Radio-Canada that he received offensive messages from supporters of the convoy, including a threat that sparked a police response, after presiding over hearings with the movement’s leaders.
“It’s intimidating,” the judge said. “He’s trying to influence a court decision, and that’s serious.”
This month, two pro-convoy groups have encouraged members to contact municipal libraries to protest Drag Story Time, events in which a drag interpreter reads books with positive LGBTQ messages to children.
At least seven libraries reported receiving a wave of comments and hate threats via email, phone and Facebook.
The movement, with its lack of clear leadership, makes it difficult to manage law enforcement, according to one expert. (Jennifer Gauthier / Reuters)
In his messages to supporters, influential figures in the convoy movement are often ambivalent about his commitment to the democratic process.
“[Prime Minister Justin Trudeau] he should be in jail for treason. RCMP, police officers, should arrest politicians for the crimes they are committing against their people, “Ron Clark told his 128,000 Facebook followers in a video this week.
Clark, who has been driving through central Canada attending various convoy supporters’ meetings, also criticized in his video “transgender shit” in schools and blamed chemical stars for causing natural disasters in British Columbia (this is based on a conspiracy theory that keeps the jet escaping). contains time-controlling chemicals).
A movement at a crossroads
While there may be people within the movement who pose risks to national security because of their violent ideologies, the movement itself is best treated as a matter of public order, said Stephanie Carvin, a business professor. internationals at Carleton University and former national security analyst.
But, he added, the movement in its current form is difficult to cope with law enforcement.
“I think one of the challenges for the police right now is that there are no leaders. There is no leader. There are different moves. There are jockeys. There are internal fights,” Carvin said.
Right now, some anti-mandate groups are trying to focus around the less polarizing figures of the movement, rather than specific issues.
Among the most popular are Tamara Lich, a key organizer during the winter occupation who was recently arrested again on charges of breaking her bail and Toppwhose march against the nationwide mandate culminated Thursday in Ottawa.
Tamara Lich, a key organizer during the winter occupation of Ottawa by a convoy, was recently arrested on charges of breaking her bail conditions. (Adrian Wyld / The Canadian Press)
But the future of the convoy movement probably depends on its disparate groups finding new grievances beyond their opposition to vaccine mandates and deciding what kind of relationship they want to have with democratic institutions.
Shadoe Davis, whose webcast mixes conspiracy theories and right-wing politics and is popular within the convoy movement, told his listeners this week to start running in municipal and school board elections. The anti-mandate group Stand4thee recently held an online briefing for aspiring candidates.
So far, however, supporters of the convoy have had little success at the polls.
Jason LaFace, a convoy organizer from Sudbury, Ontario, ran in the recent provincial election. He received 1.2% of the vote.