Tamara Lich Is Articulate--When Finally Allowed to Speak

 

Tamara Lich Rearrested

 

I am amazed by the stupidity of the Canadian authorities in rearresting Tamara Lich just before Canada Day.

Perhaps they are hoping to stir something up so that they can crack down harder. It is certainly not the move you would make if you were trying for a peaceful and unifying Canada Day.

But how are they not going to come across as the villains? How are they not going to be remembered less fondly than Orval Faubus, Bull Connor, Lester Maddox, or Francis Bond Head when the histories come to be written?

You could not come up with a more attractive figure as the face of the opposition to government overreach if you were a PR firm. Lich is a woman, attractive without being so attractive as to provoke envy, and Metis. Can’t plausibly tar her with the usual “white supremacy” and “misogyny” lie. Unlike Rosa Parks, who was chosen for PR value, she actually was a leader of the protest. She has just received a Jonas Freedom Prize, and is reputedly being nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. And yet the government wants to give her more prominence, by arresting her, on no visible grounds, just before Canada Day?

And after their invocation of the Emergency Act against her has been shown to be fraudulent? Do they really want to remind everyone?

I suppose there are two possibilities here: either extreme stupidity and arrogance, or extreme fear. Of the two, I think it has to be stupidity and arrogance; for there is surely nothing worse for them to fear than losing power in a new election.

Monday Morning Regrets

 

We are getting conflicting reports on the effects of the police crackdown yesterday on the Ottawa protests. Ottawa police chief Sloly boasted this morning that they had completely shut down one of the truckers’ staging areas, were making arrests, the demonstration was shrinking, and they were making relentless progress. But several truckers have YouTubed that the police raids had no practical effect; that they really only seized a symbolic amount of fuel, and mostly left things intact.

I think the latter must be true. To begin with, Sloly combined his claims with a declaration that the city needed much more help from all levels of government. That does not sound as though he really thinks matters are under control. The police raids were made on Sunday evening: because people have to get back to work, the size of the protest is bound to shrink for Monday morning. It sounds as though the move was strategically timed so the chief could claim he was responsible for the decline.

Sloly said before there was no policing solution available. He is under immense pressure to do something, so he is concerned with looking as though he is doing something. 

One claim he made, that the funding for the protesters had been cut off, was demonstrably false. The Go Fund Me account was shut down, but donations are shifting to another platform, Give Send Go, and are already substantial. So he may be fudging or lying about the rest as well.

Possibly also the authorities hoped, vainly, that the truckers might be frightened away by a little intimidation.

The protesters have come up with a brilliant dodge for the police seizing jerry cans of fuel. Everyone has started to carry a jerry can at all times. The police cannot seize or check them all, so fuel is sure to get through.

It is hard to see how the police can get away with this tactic for long in any event. It is an obvious violation of the constitutional right to protection against unreasonable search and seizure. Since filling up your vehicle with gas is not a crime, there can be no legal justification for the police seizing private property like this. Even if they can get away with it for long enough to end the protest, surely the city is setting itself up for a lawsuit, or many. With the money donated, the truckers can probably afford the lawyers.

Meantime, the Ottawa mayor, until now uncompromising, this morning called for a mediator to negotiate with the protesters. This is an admission on his part that the confrontational approach cannot work. The little display of force on Sunday evening was probably just to give political cover for capitulating to the truckers’ basic demands. They don’t want it to look too obvious.

Theresa Tam, the chief government health officer, today stated publicly that it was about time to reexamine our approach to the pandemic, since circumstances have changed. 

Again, this sounds like political cover. The medical advice has changed.

The Tories at today’s Question Period seemed excited. Their benches looked pretty full. They gave Candace Bergen a standing ovation as she rose to demand the government drop the mandates. 

They smell blood in the water. They know the government will have to do this. They want to lead the parade.

 The government benches looked far less crowded. The question was fielded by the government house leader—a low rank to be in command. The bigger heads were ducking. 

Instead of responding by condemning the truckers as racists and terrorists who must be silenced, as had been the government’s wont until now, he insisted that most of the mandates were not the federal government’s responsibility.

Significantly, without defending them.

Who's Telling the Truth?

Justin Trudeau or your lyin' eyes?

Making the Important Distinctions

 

“Canadians have freedom to express ideas and freely to assemble. But not when it becomes an occupation, it should not be tolerated.”—U of Ottawa professor.

"The ideology behind the protests is grassroots authoritarian." -- U of Ottawa professor

“All animals are equal. But some animals are more equal than others.”-- Napoleon the Pig.

"Four legs good. Two legs better."-- Napoleon the Pig

Oceania Was Never at War with Eurasia

 

Evidence CTV realizes they are on the wrong side and are trying to pivot.

Still mostly misinformation, but you can hear the tone changing.

Truckers' Press Conference

 

Updates

 

I think it was Mike Huckabee who pointed out that there are more truckers in the Ottawa protest than soldiers in the Canadian military. 

The idea that the protest can be ended by strongarming the protesters seems unrealistic. It would only get bloody and permanently divisive.

If, that is, Canadian soldiers could be counted on to use violence against fellow Canadians peacefully having a good time.

Smalldeadanimals reports the rumour that some Ottawa police are joining the protest.

Significant if true.

Rocking in the Free World

 

I suspect Neil Young did not endorse this...

Manchester Joins the Canadian Freedom Convoy

 

Bolivia Joins the Canadian Freedom Convoy

 

The View from India

 

A Change in the Wind

 

I don’t necessarily have a great sense of the mood of the nation. But I think I detect a change in tone in the legacy media coverage of the protests around Canada this weekend. City News and Global do not seem to be so openly editorializing against the protests. 

I suspect someone in the newsroom has woken up and realized they were sacrificing their credibility. It reminds me of when Jean-Marie Le Pen made it into the French presidential runoffs, and The Economist suddenly shifted from referring to him as “that thug” to “that wily old paratrooper.”

Like the Vicar of Bray, those in power stay in power by figuring out where the parade is heading, then cutting through side streets to the front.

The protests have only grown and spread since last weekend. The atmosphere is party-like. They have music, they’re giving out free food, they even have saunas. The protests sound like the cool place to be. Those complaining about them sound increasingly like cranks and killjoys. It’s brilliant, and reinforces their basic message of ending the interminable lockdowns.

Assuming the truckers win, Global News and City TV may be able to pivot in time. But it seems to me that it is too late for the Liberal government and Trudeau. He went all in. He wanted to make the unvaxxed scapegoats. By making it confrontational, he has painted the target, deservedly, on his own back. For the sake of social harmony, it is now evidently he who has to go. Nor can Chrystia Freedland take over. She is too much his creature, and too identified with his anti-trucker stance, to be able to replace him under these circumstances.

Others who bet heavily against the protests and stand to lose badly: the Ottawa police chief; the CBC; GoFundMe; Doug Ford. The Ottawa mayor would be on this list, but he is not running again.

Trucker Report