Politics of convoy protests 'here to stay,' and so are movement's leaders: experts
The anger and widespread distrust of media, governments and health authorities that fuelled the recent convoy protests in Ottawa are here to stay and will have a long-term impact on Canadian politics, say experts who monitor extremism and the far-right.
So will the convoy organizers, some of whom espouse far-right, extremist views, they said.
"This is something that we can't ignore," Kurt Phillips, a board member with the Canadian Anti-Hate Network, said in a recent interview. "We can recognize this as a problem here and deal with it ... or we could do what we did before and stick our heads in the sand and pretend it doesn't exist until we have another blow-up."
Billed as the "Freedom Convoy 2022," the demonstration began Jan. 28 as transport trucks and thousands of people converged on Parliament Hill and took over downtown Ottawa for about three weeks, ultimately prompting Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to invoke the federal Emergencies Act. Arrests began Feb. 17, and by the end of the following day, police charged more than 100 people with various offences.
Participants said their movement was largely in opposition to the country's COVID-19 restrictions and vaccine mandates.
Amarnath Amarasingam, an assistant professor at Queen's University's school of religion and senior fellow with the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation, said the vast majority of convoy participants were not extremists, adding that he doesn't think it's fair to categorize the entire demonstration as a far-right rally.
"I think the organizers are definitely far-right and definitely extremist, but the movement is a bit more eclectic and broader than that," he said in a recent interview.
Organizers and frontmen included Pat King, who has been on the radar of the Canadian Anti-Hate Network for some time. He's also seen in a video posted to Twitter in 2019 saying there is an "endgame" to "depopulate the Anglo-Saxon race."
King was arrested Feb. 18 and charged with several offences, including counselling to commit mischief. Last Friday, he was denied bail. Neither King nor his lawyer, Cal Rosemond, responded to a request for comment.
Another convoy organizer, Benjamin Dichter, is reported by the Toronto Star to have told a 2019 People's Party of Canada convention that, "Islamist entryism and the adaptation of political Islam is rotting away at our society like syphilis." He objected on Twitter to being called extremist when asked for comment, and he didn't respond to an interview request.
Dichter made an appearance on the popular Fox News show, "Tucker Carlson Tonight" on Jan. 27, and King became a kind of celebrity during the convoy demonstration, with protestors stopping to high five him and take selfies, Amarasingam said. King also appeared on Fox News's business channel, Fox Business, as a "co-founder" of the convoy.
"I think that convoy really boosted the profile of a lot of these people and made them celebrities across Canada," Amarasingam said. "We might start to see them organize a bit more formally or just continue as a grassroots right-wing populist movement that will have a voice in Canadian politics in some form or another."
Overall, Amarasingam said the convoy protests resulted in a "maturing and mainstreaming" of a right-wing Canadian populist movement similar to the Tea Party in the United States, which emerged in 2009. "It's much more about this groundswell of support for this 'people' against the 'elite' [narrative] and all that entails," he said.
Phillips is the founder of the Anti-Racist Canada website, where he tracked Canadian far-right movements for over a decade. He said he hopes the involvement and amplification of far-right influencers in the convoy protests serves as a wake-up call for the country to start taking the politics of these people seriously.
Canada has long punched above its weight when it comes to producing home-grown far-right influencers, Phillips said, pointing as an example to the Proud Boys, who were listed by the federal Liberal government as a terrorist organization following the January assault on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.
"My big worry is now that this has slowed down ... are we going to go back and pretend it doesn't exist?" he asked. "If we do that it's going to continue to fester and grow."
David Hofmann, an associate professor of sociology at the University of New Brunswick who studies extremism, says he has no doubt Canadian far-right groups saw the convoy as a success.
"There's energy," he said in a recent interview. Buoying that energy, he said, is a growing public tolerance for symbols and attitudes of hate and extremism.
"What we need to do as Canadians is push back, and push back in a non-violent way," Hofmann said. "We need to ... make it clear that this type of hateful rhetoric, these types of viewpoints are not acceptable here in Canada or elsewhere. And what it takes is individual Canadians stepping up."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 3, 2022
IN DEPTH
Jagmeet Singh pulls NDP out of deal with Trudeau Liberals, takes aim at Poilievre Conservatives
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has pulled his party out of the supply-and-confidence agreement that had been helping keep Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's minority Liberals in power.
'Not the result we wanted': Trudeau responds after surprise Conservative byelection win in Liberal stronghold
Conservative candidate Don Stewart winning the closely-watched Toronto-St. Paul's federal byelection, and delivering a stunning upset to Justin Trudeau's candidate Leslie Church in the long-time Liberal riding, has sent political shockwaves through both parties.
'We will go with the majority': Liberals slammed by opposition over proposal to delay next election
The federal Liberal government learned Friday it might have to retreat on a proposal within its electoral reform legislation to delay the next vote by one week, after all opposition parties came out to say they can't support it.
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn’t be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Conservatives call on Elon Musk to step in after Liberals provide loan to Ottawa-based satellite operator
A $2.14-billion federal loan for an Ottawa-based satellite operator has Canadian politicians arguing about whether American billionaire Elon Musk poses a national security risk.
Sunken superyacht believed to contain watertight safes with sensitive intelligence data
Specialist divers surveying the wreckage of the US$40 million superyacht that sank off Sicily in August, killing seven people including British tech tycoon Mike Lynch, have asked for heightened security to guard the vessel, over concerns that sensitive data locked in its safes may interest foreign governments, multiple sources told CNN.
Myths busted and lessons learned: John Vennavally-Rao on his surgery to reverse his ostomy
Twenty-seven year Â鶹ӰÊÓ reporter and anchor John Vennavally-Rao shares his story of what it was like to have an ostomy bag as part of his health-care battle. 'I’m grateful for what it did to extend my life,' he writes in a personal column for CTVNews.ca.
The British Columbia election campaign is set to officially start today, with Lt.-Gov. Janet Austin issuing the writ for the Oct. 19 vote.
A northern Ontario man is facing a $12,000 fine after illegally shooting a moose near the Batchawan River.
Heavy metal exposure could increase cardiovascular disease risk, study finds
A new study is adding to emerging research showing that exposure to metals such as cadmium, uranium and copper may also be associated with the leading cause of death worldwide, cardiovascular disease.
Unusual flippered feet are making their way into the Saint Lawrence River this weekend. Led by underwater explorer and filmmaker Nathalie Lasselin, volunteer divers are combing the riverbed near Beauharnois in Montérégie to remove hundreds of tires that have been polluting the aquatic environment for decades.
Hezbollah targets base near Haifa after Israeli strike in Beirut killed 37, including top commander
The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah announced that it fired a barrage of missiles at a military base deep inside Israel early Sunday following an Israeli airstrike more than a day earlier that killed at least 37 people, including one of the militant group’s senior leaders as well as women and children.
A sea lion swam free after a rescue team disentangled it near Vancouver Island earlier this week.
Local Spotlight
Cole Haas is more than just an avid fan of the F.W. Johnson Wildcats football team. He's a fixture on the sidelines, a source of encouragement, and a beloved member of the team.
Getting a photograph of a rainbow? Common. Getting a photo of a lightning strike? Rare. Getting a photo of both at the same time? Extremely rare, but it happened to a Manitoba photographer this week.
An anonymous business owner paid off the mortgage for a New Brunswick not-for-profit.
They say a dog is a man’s best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.
A growing group of brides and wedding photographers from across the province say they have been taken for tens of thousands of dollars by a Barrie, Ont. wedding photographer.
Paleontologists from the Royal B.C. Museum have uncovered "a trove of extraordinary fossils" high in the mountains of northern B.C., the museum announced Thursday.
The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.
It's been a whirlwind of joyful events for a northern Ontario couple who just welcomed a baby into their family and won the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot last month.