The Maple Leaf Lounge

[Marc]

Pierre Poilievre has officially thrown his hat into the ring for leadership of the CPC. (Although in his campaign launch video, he claims he is running for "prime minister", but I'm sure that's just hyperbole, rather than him not understanding what the leadership contest is actually for.) He is apparently the frontrunner, just in general, not just because he's the only one officially in the race right now.

As a definite non-Conservative, I probably wouldn't have been too worried about O'Toole becoming PM (although I still wouldn't have wanted them to win because of others in the party). But the thought of PM Poilievre does worry me, a lot.

He famously decided not to run in the last leadership race because he wanted time to focus on his family. I guess they've had enough focus for now.

be interesting to see how his support for the truckers plays out long term. Might give him enough support to the win the leadership because of support from out west but in the federal election yeah he could worse then o'toole.

Heard on the news this morning that Ottawa police are starting to take action with an overnight raid that confiscated diesel and propane and there haven 7 charges and 100s of tickets.

Been on accusation of attempted arson with cctv footage handed over the police and reports they've been throwing rocks at ambulances
https://twitter.com/TiMunoz/status/1490473045965815812?t=Jo-gWIKQeKJijlap1wj-Iw&s=19
https://ottawacitizen.com/news/loca...lth-workers-patients-face-added-stress-delays

Tempted to post those to the facebook page of some-one I know who's claiming the media is lying about the protest and there's no racism etc (not that the media has made this the big headline) and she knows the truth. Don't give me that line when you don't watch the news or read the fucking paper.

Incidently, one tory mp has lashed out at media for down playing the protest and making it seem more like a winter carnival.

And I wonder how much of the $1mil that came from the now canned gofundme has actually reached the protestors. there are claims (though nothing really solid) that tamara lich has taken the money and scarpered.

https://celebideas.com/tamara-lich-missing/

 

[Owain Taggart]

Tempted to post those to the facebook page of some-one I know who's claiming the media is lying about the protest and there's no racism etc (not that the media has made this the big headline) and she knows the truth. Don't give me that line when you don't watch the news or read the fucking paper.

Yeah, seen a lot of comments along those lines. They all preach peace and unity and claim the media is focusing too much on the negativity, and well, there's a reason the media is reporting on the disruption and chaos and it's because it is happening and it is appalling. They don't get free passes for acting like they own the place and disrupting local businesses and people at home while stressing up everybody who actually lives there.

I forget where, but I saw an article mentioned one of the convoy leaders was planning on gathering a tribe of maskless to go shopping, but the joke's on him because the stores are closed due to the protests.

I was actually fairly impressed to see the Washington Post's level of coverage on this, with several well-written articles.

 

[Marc]

I forget where, but I saw an article mentioned one of the convoy leaders was planning on gathering a tribe of maskless to go shopping, but the joke's on him because the stores are closed due to the protests.

Another I saw shared from the same person above (who've I've snoozed from my feed for 30 days) was about why would they attack workers at homeless shelter when all these free food was there.

what free food given this happened on the second day after they arrived?

 

[Avro Arrow]

And I wonder how much of the $1mil that came from the now canned gofundme has actually reached the protestors. there are claims (though nothing really solid) that tamara lich has taken the money and scarpered.

Maybe I'm wrong, but wasn't her interest in founding this really just the vaccine mandate for truckers, before every white supremacist and far-right commentator across the continent got involved? I hope she is happy with what she has wrought.

I read today that a different fundraising company is now accepting donations for this, and it's being heavily donated to by right-wingers across the US and Europe, who are also planning to copy the whole "Freedom Convoy" thing. (I believe one is planned for Washington DC soon, and Brussels on February 14, IIRC.) Last thing we need is even more money being pumped in from outside the country to sustain this thing even longer.

 

[DEWLine]

Pollievre is - in my opinion - angling to be Trump's Canadian Lukashenko. I expect he will have competition for that role. Whether they can do better than him in the contest to become Conservative Party leader...?

As for Lich, she's another of the "white wing" people. If I'm breaking rules by introducing this link here, so be it.

https://www.antihate.ca/the_freedom_convoy_is_nothing_but_a_vehicle_for_the_far_right

 

[Avro Arrow]

As for Lich, she's another of the "white wing" people.

Thank you for the information about Lich. I read the article you linked to; I hadn't seen that information before. And here I had thought she was an innocent person who got her original protest idea co-opted. I was clearly mistaken.

 

[DEWLine]

You're welcome.

 

[Owain Taggart]

what free food given this happened on the second day after they arrived?

The story I saw said they just took what they wanted from the shelter. Wasn't exactly free for their taking and it was for the homeless, but they did what they wanted, because of entitlement issues. I've also heard that some felt bad about what had happened and then donated food to the shelter, and picked up trash that others threw behind.

Maybe I'm wrong, but wasn't her interest in founding this really just the vaccine mandate for truckers, before every white supremacist and far-right commentator across the continent got involved? I hope she is happy with what she has wrought.

No, I don't think it was ever that simple. Basically, the agenda could have been a good one, given that most truckers in the trucking alliance are vaccinated, and given that all they've wanted to do is be able to use truck stops, eat-in and use showers. The idea itself is sound. But the problem with these convoy organizers is that they're basically run by extremist groups, and they've been rightly condemned by the trucking alliance themselves and anyone who claims they were doing so peacefully is deluding themselves. They're using the anti-mandate for something much deeper and uglier. And the fact that they're using funding from outside the country, something which I think should be illegal due to the way it interferes with a country's policies and politics. There's been significant American involvement.

From a Washington Post article:

The Canadian Trucking Alliance, an industry group, said Saturday that many of the people at the protests “do not have a connection to the trucking industry.” The alliance said the vast majority of its members are fully vaccinated.

The alliance said in a statement that it condemned “in the strongest possible terms” the desecration of what it called “sacred sites.” It said it had made donations to the Terry Fox Foundation and the Soldier On program, which is run by the Canadian armed forces to support the recovery of members and veterans dealing with physical or mental injuries from their service.

Trudeau, who said Monday that he and two of his children had tested positive for the coronavirus, criticized lawmakers for “exploiting people’s fears” and backing the convoy.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/01/31/canada-ottawa-protests-trucker-coronavirus-vaccine/

And in another Washington Post article:

Barricades of Canadian rail lines and oil-and-gas projects occur regularly in Canada, as do large rallies championing Black and Indigenous rights. But these liberal protests tend to attract highly sympathetic treatment from the media — unlike the Freedom Convoy, which was cast as suspect, and even dangerous, from the moment it started moving eastward. The anti-vaccine movement has no real mainstream political constituency in Canada, where more than 88 percent of citizens older than 4 have received at least one dose. And once convoy participants arrived in Ottawa, none of their scattered bozo eruptions could be explained away as mere byproducts of righteous social justice fervor.

Not surprisingly, a national survey released Thursday indicated that a majority of respondents thought that the protesters’ actions were (in the oh-so-Canadian phrasing of the pollsters) “offensive and inappropriate.” And the longer the thing goes on, even in a vestigial capacity, the less popular it’s likely to get: One-off acts of protest are part of life in a democracy. The creation of lasting urban encampments that spew noise and diesel fumes is not.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022/02/07/canada-truck-convoy-ottawa/

 

[Marc]

The silence form the Tories on the foreign money flowing in is deafening.

they were the ones who foamed at the mouth about foreign money flowing to left-wing groups and passed legislation to try and stop it.

my iPad is being a pain and won’t quote but post I saw was claiming they didn’t take the food from the homeless shelter because food had been supplied for the protesters thus one is fool for believing the story.

 

[Owain Taggart]

Yeah, the news is that the shelter was being harassed and the protesters were demanding food. Of course, the other side's going to claim the food was being provided because they're feeling entitled.

 

[DEWLine]

I tend to trust the Shepherds of Good Hope on this one over the Convoy Coup Crowd.

And then there's the companies owning the trucks that were brought to Centretown. The people running convoytraitors.ca caught them out and now they're scrambling to escape both the legal and PR consequences.

And what kind of longer-term fallout are we all going to face?
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/otta...uck-companies-ottawa-convoy-protest-1.6343705
Also, the local Inuit community is trying to cope, too.

Friends of mine who still have to live and/or work downtown are not much happier either, because of various consequences of the occupation...

 

[Marc]

I tend to trust the Shepherds of Good Hope on this one over the Convoy Coup Crowd.

And then there's the companies owning the trucks that were brought to Centretown. The people running convoytraitors.ca caught them out and now they're scrambling to escape both the legal and PR consequences.

And what kind of longer-term fallout are we all going to face?

Also, the local Inuit community is trying to cope, too.

Friends of mine who still have to live and/or work downtown are not much happier either, because of various consequences of the occupation...

I'm not sure that operators of that website are doing themselves any favours by linking the truck drivers to the companies when they're independent contractors with the company name on the truck.

That said I think a few of those truck drivers are going to find their contracts terminated.

 

[Owain Taggart]

I tend to trust the Shepherds of Good Hope on this one over the Convoy Coup Crowd.

Yep, same here. Plus, as an organization out to help the homeless, there's no incentive for them to lie about what happened to them.

That said I think a few of those truck drivers are going to find their contracts terminated.

Yeah, I have to think there will be some fallout from this on the end of the companies. If the convoy thought it could get away without any repercussions, they have another thing coming. I wouldn't be surprised if they found themselves blacklisted by the industry. The trucking alliance has already condemned their actions and have already pointed out that most of them don't speak for the industry.

 

[DEWLine]

Fallout is being tracked. I'm sure of that.
More news:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/ottawa-council-special-meeting-motions-convoy-1.6342350
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/ottawa-city-police-protest-feb-9-1.6345175

 

[Avro Arrow]

And then there's the companies owning the trucks that were brought to Centretown. The people running convoytraitors.ca caught them out and now they're scrambling to escape both the legal and PR consequences.

And what kind of longer-term fallout are we all going to face?

Also, the local Inuit community is trying to cope, too.

All three links go to the same article. Was that intentional?

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Now, the Coup Trux Klan is blockading Ottawa's fucking AIRPORT!

 

[DEWLine]

They've backed off after two hours, per CBC News.
That said, we've also got Ali Velshi talking with Timothy Snyder about the situation and the goals of the backers of the Convoy Coup Crowd on MSNBC. I still have my copy of Prof. Snyder's On Tyranny, well-read after five years' ownership, and not as worn out as I expect it to become in the weeks and months ahead.

No, @Avro Arrow, that was an editing error on my part, I believe. I will try to recover the correct linkages later tonight or tomorrow.

 

[Marc]

so the tories are now calling on the truckers to pack up and go home.

bergen seems to have changed her tune after initially being out there meeting and supporting them.

Either they've discovered this protest isn't playing well with vast majority of voters or they're looking for another way to blame in on trudeau.

 

[DEWLine]

And now we have an offer that could turn to poison if the help is still here in Canada at any point where Trumpists resume power in Washington.

 

[Owain Taggart]

so the tories are now calling on the truckers to pack up and go home.

bergen seems to have changed her tune after initially being out there meeting and supporting them.

And it took this long for them to realize it's a bad look for them to be supporting the convoy? The ironic thing in all this is that if the truckers want the mandates gone, they shouldn't be in Ottawa as the PM can't do anything about them, as they're Provincial mandates. They should theoretically be in Toronto. But I guess the idea is they want Trudeau to wave a magical wand across all of Canada to remove the Provincial mandates.