Summary
Pat King, a key figure in Canada’s 2022 “Freedom Convoy” protests, was found guilty on five charges, including mischief and counseling others to obstruct police, and faces up to 10 years in prison.
The protests, which blocked downtown Ottawa and key US-Canada border crossings for weeks, opposed COVID-19 mandates imposed by Prime Minister Trudeau’s government.
King was accused of inciting the blockade, coordinating disruptive actions like constant honking, and defying court orders.
He is the first protest leader convicted, while trials for other organizers are ongoing.
Everyone’s for the right to protest until it’s a cause they disagree with. This guy is a hero who fought the tyrannical Covid lockdown regime, but I’m not surprised he didn’t receive justice given how willing most Canadians were to give up their rights without a fight.
No way you’re this dumb. No way.
TLDR: The trucker protest was really just an anti-Trudeau protest and not about COVID restrictions
Time for a brief history of trucker protest, federal/provincial jurisdictions, and international borders.
Both Canada and the US exempted unvaccinated truckers when it came to crossing borders to help mitigate supply chain issues. Eventually, both Canada and the US decided that you need to be vaccinated to enter Canada or the US. The idea of a host country gets to control who enters their country is fundamental concept of international borders.
What this meant is that US truckers would need to be vaccinated to enter Canada and vice versa. As much as people think Trudeau is all powerful dictator, he doesn’t have the power to dictate to the US about their COVID restrictions.
The truckers should have protested at the US embassy or at the border to pressure the US to allow unvaccinated Canadian truckers in.
The protest morphed into general COVID restrictions. Cool, this is something that Canadian protesters can try affect change. The Constitution Act, doesn’t just lay out rights and freedoms. It lays out how governments are to operate (the legislative, executive, judicial), judges, the Courts, taxation, etc.
Section 92 lays out what is under Provincial jurisdiction.
The Supreme Court in Schneider v. The Queen, 1982 CanLII 26 (SCC), [1982] 2 SCR 112 dealt with the issue of public health and Provincial jurisdiction.
Public health squarely falls into the jurisdiction of the Provinces. Great, we know who have to protest. That would be the Premiers, so let’s all head down to the…Canada’s capital to protest the Federal Government who doesn’t have jurisdiction over public health matters outside very specific situations such as border controls and prisons.
Let’s all be clear that the trucker protest really was just an anti-Trudeau protest.
Tell me you weren’t here without telling me you weren’t here. Their right to protest was never in question. There is no attendant right to restrict the movements of residents leaving their homes for necessities, psychologically torture residents with blaring horns at all hours, harrass staff at restaurants and soup kitchens, and so on.
I basically had to evacuate my kid when they first rolled into the mall nearby, because screaming at a bunch of teenagers working a fucking food kiosk about mask policies (along with some lovely racial epithets to the black and indian kids) is apparently good praxis.
Once the trucks were finally cleared, no one said they had to stop protesting. Quite a few didn’t, actually. I don’t agree with those people, but I can respect them for a commitment to their stupid beliefs and almost willful ignorance of Canadian governmental structure when not holding residents hostage.
You want real heros? Look at the people who organized deliveries of food and necessary goods to people who couldn’t get out of the core. Look at The Battle of Billing’s Bridge, when we decided no one was coming to help and enough was enough. Look anywhere but the direction of this two-bit timbit terrorist.
yuck.
Section 2?
They freely associated in downtown Ottawa.
Section 6? They freely moved from one oprovince to another, could have left Canada at any time if any country would have taken them and returned at any time with the requirement to quarantine for a few days.
Section 8?
No one was forced to be vaccinated. The tantrumists were mostly non-vaccinated while complaining about forced vaccination.
It was all fucking nonsense.
It’s interesting all the psychopaths who loudly identify themselves by screaming that wearing a mask is too much of an inconvenience for them to help save peoples’ lives. Thanks for waving that banner so we know who you are.
Lol what rights were given up?
Hint: The answer is none.
“waaaaah I had to wear a mask for a little bit waaaaahhhhhh”
Damn, I hope you were this upset about giving up your right to not wear pants on the bus.
You’re not the sharpest knife in the drawer, are you?