Freedom Convoy: From Ottawa to the World
The convoy protest against vaccine mandates grows and expands worldwide.
What began as a small border protest has evolved into a protest of thousands. A Canadian trucker protest against vaccine mandates began on Jan. 22nd and continues even now. A group of truckers gathered their semis in protest of a mandate Prime Minister Trudeau put in place on Jan. 15th. The mandate stated that any essential workers, such as truckers, must be fully vaccinated to cross the Canada-US border. As the protest grew in size, a ‘freedom convoy’ was formed en route to the capital city Ottawa. The convoy aimed to arrive in the capital by Jan. 29th, gathering more and more followers along the way. Before the convoy arrived, Prime Minister Trudeau was moved to a non-disclosed location.
On Jan. 29th, protestors arrived in Ottawa and began their anti-mandate protest. People and trucks filled the streets in front of the city’s Parliament buildings despite the freezing weather. Vehicles honks and chants such as “F*** Trudeau” were incessant throughout the weekend. There were some protestors carrying flags with swastikas and others who left trash by the tomb of the unknown soldier. This group seemed to be in the minority as the rest of the protest has stayed mostly peaceful with only one arrest by Sunday. "That was to make sure that a situation that could have evolved into a violent situation was alleviated," said Ottawa police Chief Peter Sloly. The protest slowly shrunk in size throughout the week as some returned home. However, multiple smaller convoys are due to arrive in Ottawa this weekend. Thus, the protest this weekend has the potential to grow even larger than the previous weekend.
The ‘Freedom Convoy’ has inspired others across the world to plan their own convoys. As of Feb 3rd, 34 countries have groups that plan to launch their own version of a ‘Freedom Convoy.’ Some groups formed in countries where Covid-19 restrictions have been exceptionally strict such Austria, Australia, and New Zealand. Another group in the United States plans to start a convoy driving from California to Washington, D.C.. However, this group has already been targeted by tech corporations. Facebook removed the group’s protest page and allegedly removed the personal page of one of the organizers.
Potential Biases: Note, the subjects below are simply my interpretations/opinion and are not meant to be taken as a statement of fact. My opinions will discuss only the framing/bias I believe to be present.
The largest framing I found came from the Canadian government. Many in the Canadian government and media have framed the ‘Freedom Convoy’ in a horrible light. Prime Minister Trudeau has been especially ruthless in his framing of the protestors. News in Canada has published most of his statements as headlines in an attempt to frame the public opinion. He has criticized the protestors for allegedly flying racist flags and stealing food from the homeless. This is Trudeau’s attempt to paint the convoy’s image as criminal and evil. No one wants to associate with racists, so Trudeau is saying this to prevent public support for the group from growing. The issue is that these negative issues are allegations. In fact, there is a counter-story that states those with racist/hateful flags were immediately removed by the rest of the protestors.
Trudeau also mentions that the convoy is a fringe minority since 90% of truckers are vaccinated. Trudeau is seemingly saying that because the convoy is not the majority opinion, it is not valid. However, there are two sides to every coin, every story. Being in the minority does not make an opinion automatically false. In addition, the convoy includes protestors from all careers, not only truckers. Thus, Trudeau’s 90% statement only works as a misdirection.