What is Freedom Convoy Culture in Downtown Ottawa?

Living in the downtown core of Ottawa during the ongoing Freedom Convoy has been overwhelming for civilians this weekend. With hours of honking, hundreds of people swarming and blocking off streets, and a gridlock in the city, locals have been encouraged to stay in their homes for their own safety by the police.

Many people have been sharing posts on social media to show support for the truckers, assuming this movement stands with those who have worked throughout the pandemic to ensure we have supplies we need. While these sentiments are in the right spirit, the truth of the matter is that the truckers who are present on the Hill are currently preventing other vaccinated drivers from continuing their frontline work. The truckers at Parliament want to see the removal of vaccine mandates that prevent truckers from crossing the border if they are unvaccinated. This protest seemingly evolved into a fight for the freedom to choose not to be vaccinated against the deadly virus, COVID-19; this is a freedom everyone has had from the beginning of the release of vaccines. You can have freedom of choice, however, that does not remove you from the consequences of that choice. The restrictions in place for those who remain unvaccinated are the same safety measures that were in place when we were without a vaccine. Those who chose not to get vaccinated made the choice to stay within those protective restrictions and uphold their civic responsibility to maintaining a healthy community. While protesters have been demanding “freedom for all” they have been ironically cutting off the freedoms of individuals living in the city.

From the planning to the launch of this protest, the organizers were named as follows: Tamara Lich, Chris Barber, and Benjamin Ditcher, while also centralizing Pat King for a period of time. So who are these organizers? Firstly Tamara Lich is a member of the Maverick Party of Alberta, she was previously involved in the oil and gas industry – so perhaps this is her tie to trucking as trucks would be a high consumer of the products? The constant idling of these vehicles to make a point would also be a great financial boost for the oil and gas industry, but also have a terrible impact on the environment, not to mention the wasting of resources resulting in approximately 15,260 metric tons of CO2. Perhaps it is worth asking what Tamara’s motives truly are behind her involvement in this movement.

Chris Barber is a trucker on the convoy’s organization panel who has spoken out against the Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) and referred to them as “spineless” after the organization publicly stated they strongly disapprove of the protest. In a TikTok, Chris Barber notes that he has seen racism and misogyny in the protest, but visibly shrugs it off and says, “hey, why not,” validating it because “it comes right from the Prime Minister’s mouth.” Regardless of where people believe this type of violence is coming from, it should not be condoned. Chris Barber stands to represent the approximate 10% of truck drivers who have chosen to protest at the capital instead of adapting and continuing to work. To my understanding, truckers are still free to continue their work, they simply cannot cross the border without vaccination unless they are willing to take a PCR test and quarantine for two weeks upon return.

Benjamin Ditcher, the third organizer has little to no information about his affiliation to truckers, he is a failed Conservative Party and People’s Party candidate and has been linked to an anti-Muslim conspiracy page. In a conversation on Twitter, however, he was asked about the waving of the swastika and the confederate flag. He claimed that the swastika was “a false flag operation carried out by the federal government”; but he did not criticize the presence of the confederate flag. He removes his responsibility of keeping the protest peaceful by saying that he is “not going to police people’s ideas,” he even adds that displaying the Confederate flag may be a good thing as he “wants to hear unacceptable opinions because [he] wants to challenge them.” While this may have ended as a more positive sentiment, the flags continued to wave for days after, showing no signs of their threats being challenged, or perhaps in the confrontation of these groups, both parties agreed that the flags were appropriate for the protest.

Lastly, Pat King, whether or not he was actually a part of the organization of this protest, is a known white nationalist and right-wing extremist. He is a member of the Yellowvests and, for a while, acted as some kind of spokesperson for the event. Regardless of his affiliation to the three main organizers, he reached the ears and eyes of many who are now involved in the protest and has been quoted numerous times spewing white supremacist rhetoric and conspiracy theories that endanger the lives of countless individuals living in the city. This lack of control and the shifting of motives for this movement has grossly distorted any respectable part of this movement. Glimpses of the “good behaviour” in this display are now weak attempts at controlling the outcome. Due to this unfortunate turn, truckers who have continued to do their job, trying to remove themselves from this group may now be feared on the road by individuals who have felt targeted, afraid, and threatened by the disrespectful and dangerous aspects of this event.

Close to $10,000,000 was donated to initial GoFundMe created by Tamara Lich, one of the organizers of the protest. In an article from CBC News, Lich says that she has had her bank card disconnected from the account that will receive the money. She said all the money raised will go to cover convoy participants' costs. Despite this claim, protesters in Ottawa have invaded soup kitchens and harassed volunteers for free food, taking the food that was intended for those experiencing homelessness. There were also reports that protesters were violent and harassed individuals who were seeking refuge near the homeless shelters. So, the question is now, where is that money going?

While many say this is a “peaceful protest” for “freedom” it seems to be quite the contrary. Locals in the capital are in danger, specifically members of marginalized communities. There is enough of a perceived threat of violence and danger to the general public that stores including the Rideau Centre, have been forced to close and send their employees home to protect them – meaning that businesses are losing money, and employees may experience financial stress from their lack of safe accessibility to their jobs. Schools went back to being online because members of the protest are driving recklessly and harassing people wearing masks. The grave of the unknown soldier has been disrespected in countless ways including being parked on and being used as a public toilet. The Terry Fox statue, a pure aspect of Canadian history, has been defaced. Members of the LGBTQ community have had feces thrown at their homes for displaying the rainbow flag in the window. As mentioned previously, the Confederate flag and swastikas have been present around downtown Ottawa as well as many other signs that are either blatant or dogwhistles for white supremacist groups or endorsements for violence.

Maybe you can say that it is only a small percentage of white supremacists and dangerous protesters in the crowd around parliament, but I ask, why is ANY amount acceptable? There is a video circulating that shows the crowd at the protest and a speaker calls out “looking for white supremacists in the crowd”. In less than a second, one identifies himself and steps on stage. Did some of the crowd boo? Yes. But did this individual feel confident enough to stand before this group and reveal their racist ideologies? Also yes. So what does that say about the general assumptions being made of the crowd by members of the crowd?

Some have noted the participation of marginalized community members in this convoy, and images have been circulating of a “pow-wow” with Indigenous participants. This has upset Indigenous Peoples on several platforms where these videos and images have been shared as there is blatant disrespect of cultural customs to the practice, making this display a tokenized aspect to demonstrate – although poorly – that members of the protest “aren’t racist.” Additionally, and to the same effect, in a Twitter post, Élie Cantin-Nantel writes that since Tamara Lich is Métis and Benjamin Ditcher is Jewish they cannot possibly be white supremacists, and those who say such things are the ignorant ones. The ignorance in this remark is laughable, to think that being part of a marginalized community means that you’re immune to being racist at some point or another is largely incorrect; we all have anti-racist work to do, no matter what oppression you’ve faced. All the more, why is there no evident outrage against the groups that have shown their racist ideologies when some of the organizers have claimed their ties to targeted communities? Accountability and control are lacking severely in this movement.

New resources and online groups have surfaced as a response amid the dangers this convoy has brought to Ottawa and resources to help those who are in imminent or immediate danger are circulating. Reports are being shared of first hand accounts of violence from protesters and questions around police protection are being called into the void as the Ottawa police are seen taking selfies with, fist bumping, and generally minimizing their involvement, thus upholding the terror citizens are experiencing.

There is so much mixed information about what the Freedom Convoy is all about, are you sure you even know what is being supported anymore? News that comes out in defence of what is happening may be to protect certain individuals, but the best way to protect the masses, including truckers – as this whole event can be a stain on the public view of many who did not participate and continued to serve throughout the demonstration – is to denounce involvement. It is clear that the organizers no longer have control of the masses and do not hold power – or refuse to condemn – true threats within their crowd. It is not about intent anymore, it is about impact and the impact of this event has been incredibly damaging to not only the citizens of Ottawa, but to many individuals who may see their friends and families standing alongside white supremacist groups – whether their contacts hold the same beliefs or not – they now see those participants as unsafe people in their lives. Be the hero those people need, and denounce your involvement and support of an event that has clearly spiralled in a way that white supremacists feel welcomed.

Crisis Hotlines and other Resources:

Canada Suicide Prevention - 1-833-456-4566 / Text START to 741741 / crisisservicscanada.ca

Hope for Wellness (counselling and crisis intervention for Indigenous Peoples across Canada - 1-855-242-3310 / hopeforwellness.ca

Interligne (first response in gender and sexuality convos) - 1-888-505-1010 / interligne.co/en/chat

Trans Lifeline - 1-877-330-6366 / translifline.org

Distress Centre - 1-613-238-3311 / text 1-343-306-5550 / dcottawa.on.ca / Crisis - 613-722-6914

LGBT YouthLine - text 1-647-694-4275 / youthline.ca

Black Youth Helpline - 1-833-294-8650 / blackyouth.ca

Tel-Aide Outaouais - 1-800-567-9699 / telaideoutaouais.ca

Good 2 Talk - 1-866-925-5454 / Text GOOD2TALKON to 686868 / Texte ALLOJECOUTEON

Youth Services Bureau - 613-260-2360 or 1-877-377-7775 / Crisis Chat at chat.ysb.ca