The “Freedom Convoy” protesters came to Canada’s capital to make history.
And they will — just not for the reasons many of them are imagining.
This is not the start of a popular uprising that will shake the Canadian government to its core, put the prime minister in jail, make the Senate and Gov. Gen. Mary Simon the supreme authority of the land, bring an end to all vaccine mandates and other COVID-19 restrictions, and kickstart a libertarian revolution of absolute rights without social responsibility.
The premiers of Ontario and Quebec will not face charges of treason, nor will Canada’s chief public health officer.
Despite what some of the demonstrators want their fellow citizens to believe, future historians won’t speak of anti-vaccination and anti-mask activists in the same breath as freedom fighters like Louis Riel, Rosa Parks and the Allied soldiers who liberated survivors of the Holocaust.
What historians will recall about this mid-winter protest — including the plugging of Wellington and other Ottawa streets by a few hundred big rigs and smaller trucks — is the following footnote to the story of Canada’s monumental struggle against COVID-19: “In late January 2022, a small but noisy segment of the country’s population, entirely out of step with the great majority of vaccinated Canadians, boiled over with anger and resentment for being unavoidably marginalized and pressured to conform in the midst of a once-in-a-century global health emergency that demanded national consensus, concerted collective action and a basic belief in science.”
The Freedom Convoy might also merit mention in some future history of the Conservative Party of Canada as an example of its disastrous flirtation with anti-democratic forces that infiltrated and discredited an otherwise merely hapless, misguided fringe movement of some unvaccinated Canadians.
1:32 Trudeau says ‘fringe minority’ in trucker convoy with ‘unacceptable views’ don’t represent Canadians
Trudeau says ‘fringe minority’ in trucker convoy with ‘unacceptable views’ don’t represent Canadians
Fringe? Yes, Trudeau got that right. Badly hobbled Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole has tried to walk a tightrope between praising the protest as an important symbol of Canadians’ pandemic angst and avoiding overt shows of support for its disjointed and partly dangerous aims. Meanwhile, the more menacing, grasping Tory MP Pierre Poilievre — now locked, it seems, in a struggle with O’Toole over the soul of their party ahead of a caucus leadership vote on Wednesday — is tweeting carefully staged, “cheerful” photos of himself with select protesters to convey his broad sympathy with their cause.
But if either O’Toole or Poilievre are tempted to align themselves more closely with the protesters, a series of outrages perpetrated by a handful of rogue demonstrators has highlighted the peril of such a strategy: the unfurling of a Confederate flag; the occasional display of swastikas; drunken “dancing” and urinating on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier; the enlisting of a bronze Terry Fox to hold an upside-down Maple Leaf and “Mandate Freedom” sign; the swarming of the Rideau Centre by an anti-masker flash mob; the crashing of a local soup kitchen by pushy protesters demanding free meals.
Despite what some of the demonstrators want their fellow citizens to believe, future historians won’t speak of anti-vaccination and anti-mask activists in the same breath as freedom fighters like Rosa Parks, says Randy Boswell.
Randy Boswell / Special to Global News
These were, it must be said, aberrations. And not to minimize certain incidents that are being investigated by police, but there is a statistical probability that several acts of sheer stupidity will occur every time there’s a large gathering of people.
A few hours spent mingling with Hill demonstrators at the height of their protest midday Saturday was enough to discern the less shocking, more typical themes of people’s participation: opposition to all vaccine mandates and a fierce hatred of Trudeau and his government.
Some, of course, are convinced the pandemic itself is a grand conspiracy; some want Trudeau and other political leaders summarily removed from office (and prosecuted for alleged crimes against humanity); some see a firmer embrace of God’s commandments — “Live By Faith Not By Fear” — as the true pathway out of the pandemic; and some insist that unfettered personal freedom is so sacrosanct it must always override other rights, even at the expense of Canada’s collective wellbeing.
It was illuminating that former Conservative MP and cabinet minister Maxime Bernier — now head of the People’s Party of Canada — was mobbed like a rock star when he joined the crowd just before noon on Saturday. Outcast Ontario MPP Randy Hillier, another ex-Conservative who has embraced the anti-masker, anti-vaxxer cause, arrived at the same time to many hugs and handshakes.
So yes, clearly, the fringe.
0:21 Trucker convoy: Protesters clean-up Terry Fox statue in Ottawa following outcry
Trucker convoy: Protesters clean-up Terry Fox statue in Ottawa following outcry
All of the protesters are sick and tired of COVID-19, like the rest of us; this much deserves empathy. Vaccine mandates and other public health measures imposed over the past two years have affected everyone adversely. And sadly, given the fact some of these protesters are proudly unvaccinated and resist mask-wearing and presumably other basic anti-COVID measures, they have almost certainly suffered job losses and other hardships at higher rates than the rest of the population — including sickness and the loss of family members to the disease.
Nevertheless, the mandates have been necessary to ensure the survival of as many vulnerable Canadians as possible in the face of an unrelenting virus. Public health experts and governments have pleaded with citizens to get vaccinated, and then pressured and penalized those who continue to refuse, because vaccination is the most effective way to avoid death, to avoid overwhelming hospitals, and to chart our best route out of this crisis.
These facts are not acknowledged by the protesters. As they gathered in Ottawa this weekend to express their views — as is their right — hospital wards and ICUs and healthcare workers across Canada remained strained to the breaking point in large part because unvaccinated patients have disproportionately overwhelmed the country’s healthcare system.
This is why vaccine mandates and other anti-COVID rules remain in place across Canada, at least for now.
And it’s why unvaccinated cross-border truckers, even if Canada lifted its mandatory vaccination policy in response to the incessant horn honking of the past few days in Ottawa, would drive straight into an equally strict U.S. vaccine mandate to protect that country’s population.
Many of the Ottawa protesters, it can be safely said, are not merely unvaccinated Canadians exercising their choice to opt out of the country’s crucial inoculation blitz, but vocal anti-vaxxers deluded by misinformation and determined to spread it themselves. They represent some small percentage of the unvaccinated 10 per cent, so we need to be wary of overstating how many others they truly speak for.
4:04 Trucker protest: Saskatchewan premier says those who performed ‘despicable’ acts ‘owe an apology to Canadians’
Trucker protest: Saskatchewan premier says those who performed ‘despicable’ acts ‘owe an apology to Canadians’
We can, however, at least comprehend and defend their loud but peaceful venting of anger and anxiety over the impact of the pandemic on their lives.
Who hasn’t felt like screaming at certain times over the past 23 months?
It’s fair to say that all of this has been divisive — but only to a degree, and certainly not in the epic sense that some politicians have tried to suggest. The pandemic has divided Canadians in a way that’s actually been minimized by federal, provincial, territorial and municipal governments’ largely successful campaigns to get the vast majority of Canadians vaccinated.
A 50-50 split in public opinion over the merits of taking a jab would have been profoundly divisive for Canada; a 90-10 split is, in fact, minimally so.
Historians, who are big-picture storytellers, will understand this. And in their chronicle of these pandemic years, they will briefly note the boisterous but wrong-headed, incoherent cries of injustice voiced by some unvaccinated protesters, circa 2022, representing a thin fraction of public opinion in Canada.
Randy Boswell is an Ottawa journalist and Carleton University professor.
TORONTO – Will Taylor Swift bring chaos or do we all need to calm down?
It’s a question many Torontonians are asking this week as the city braces for the massive fan base of one of the world’s biggest pop stars.
Hundreds of thousands of Swifties are expected to descend on downtown core for the singer’s six concerts which kick off Thursday at the Rogers Centre and run until Nov. 23.
And while their arrival will be a boon to tourism dollars, it could further clog the city’s already gridlocked streets.
Swift’s shows collide with other scheduled events at the nearby Scotiabank Arena, including a Toronto Raptors game on Friday and a Toronto Maple Leafs game on Saturday.
Some locals have already adjusted their plans to avoid the area.
Aahil Dayani says he and some friends intended to throw a birthday bash for one of their pals, until they realized it would overlap with the concerts.
“Ultimately, everybody agreed they just didn’t want to deal with that,” he said.
“Something as simple as getting together and having dinner is now thrown out the window.”
Dayani says the group rescheduled the birthday party for after Swift leaves town. In the meantime, he plans to hunker down at his Toronto residence.
“Her coming into town has kind of changed up my social life,” he added.
“We’re pretty much just not doing anything.”
Max Sinclair, chief executive and founder of A.I. technology firm Ecomtent, has suggested his employees stay away from the company’s downtown offices on concert days, since he doesn’t see the point in forcing people to endure potential traffic jams.
“It’s going to be less productive for us, and it’s going to be just a pain for everyone, so it’s easier to avoid it,” he said.
“We’re a hybrid company, so we can be flexible. It just makes sense.”
Toronto Transit Commission spokesperson Stuart Green says the public agency has been preparing for over a year to ease the pressure of so many Swifties in one confined area.
Dozens of buses and streetcars have been added to the transit routes around the stadium, while the TTC has consulted with the city on how to handle potential emergency scenarios.
“There may be some who will say we’re over-preparing, and that’s fair,” Green said.
“But we know based on what’s happened in other places, better to be over-prepared than under-prepared.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 13, 2024.
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. – Electronic Arts has incorporated the Professional Women’s Hockey League into its NHL 25 video game.
The six teams starting their second seasons Nov. 30 will be represented in “play now,” “online versus,” “shootout” and “season” modes, plus a championship Walter Cup, in the updated game scheduled for release Dec. 5, the PWHL and EA Sports announced Wednesday.
Gamers can create a virtual PWHL player.
The league and video game company have agreed to a multi-year partnership, the PWHL stated.
“Our partnership with EA SPORTS opens new doors to elevate women’s hockey across all levels,” said PWHL operations senior vice-president Amy Scheer in a statement.
“Through this alliance, we’ll develop in-game and out-of-game experiences that strengthen the bond between our teams, players, and fans, bringing the PWHL closer to the global hockey community.”
NHL 22 featured playable women’s teams for the first time through an agreement with the International Ice Hockey Federation.
Toronto Sceptres forward Sarah Nurse became the first woman to appear on the video game’s cover in 2023 alongside Anaheim Ducks centre Trevor Zegras.
The Ottawa Charge, Montreal Victoire, Boston Fleet, Minnesota Frost and New York Sirens round out the PWHL. The league announced team names and logos in September, and unveiled jerseys earlier this month.
“It is so meaningful that young girls will be able to see themselves in the game,” said Frost forward Taylor Heise, who grew up playing EA’s NHL games.
“It is a big milestone for inclusivity within the hockey community and shows that women’s prominence in hockey only continues to grow.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 13, 2024.
Maple Leaf Foods Inc. continued to navigate weaker consumer demand in the third quarter as it looked ahead to the spinoff of its pork business in 2025.
“This environment has a particularly significant impact on a premium portfolio like ours and I want you to know that we are not sitting still waiting for the macro environment to recover on its own,” said CEO Curtis Frank on a call with analysts.
Frank said the company is working to adapt its strategies to consumer demand. As inflation has stabilized and interest rates decline, he said pressure on consumers is expected to ease.
Maple Leaf reported a third-quarter profit of $17.7 million compared with a loss of $4.3 million in the same quarter last year.
The company says the profit amounted to 14 cents per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with a loss of four cents per share a year earlier. Sales for the quarter totalled $1.26 billion, up from $1.24 billion a year ago.
“At a strategic level … we’re certainly seeing the transitory impacts of an inflation-stressed consumer environment play through our business,” Frank said.
“We are seeing more trade-down than we would like. And we are making more investments to grow our volume and protect our market share than we would like in the moment. But again, we believe that those impacts will prove to be transitory as they have been over the course of history.”
Financial results are improving in the segment as feed costs have stabilized, said Dennis Organ, president, pork complex.
Maple Leaf, which is working to spin off its pork business into a new, publicly traded company to be called Canada Packers Inc. and led by Organ, also said it has identified a way to implement the plan through a tax-free “butterfly reorganization.”
Frank said Wednesday that the new structure will see Maple Leaf retain slightly lower ownership than previously intended.
The company said it continues to expect to complete the transaction next year. However, the spinoff under the new structure is subject to an advance tax ruling from the Canada Revenue Agency and will take longer than first anticipated.
Maple Leaf announced the spinoff in July with a plan to become a more focused consumer packaged goods company, including its Maple Leaf and Schneiders brands.
“The prospect of executing the transaction as a tax-free spin-off is a positive development as we continue to advance our strategy to unlock value and unleash the potential of these two unique and distinct businesses,” Frank said in the news release.
He also said that Maple Leaf is set on delivering profitability for its plant protein business in mid-2025.
“This includes the recent completion of a procurement project aimed at leveraging our purchasing scale,” he said.
On an adjusted basis, Maple Leaf says it earned 18 cents per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of 13 cents per share in the same quarter last year.
The results were largely in line with expectations, said RBC analyst Irene Nattel in a note.
Maple Leaf shares were down 4.5 per cent in midday trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange at $21.49.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 13, 2024.
