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Freedom, politics, control and money — the many motivations of the ‘Freedom Convoy’

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Months before thousands of protesters rolled into Canada’s capital with the “Freedom Convoy,” gridlocking streets to protest COVID-19 vaccine mandates, Canada Unity founder James Bauder had already staged a similar, but much smaller, protest in Ottawa.

Bauder’s mini-convoy of fewer than 100 protesters, called the “Convoy for Freedom,” arrived in October 2021 to flout public health rules in stores and restaurants and blockade streets in front of the residences of the prime minister and governor general.

On Thursday, he told the commission investigating the federal government’s decision to invoke the Emergencies Act that he delivered a “memorandum of understanding” to the Senate and the Governor General on that trip. His hope was that they would agree to work with his group to overthrow COVID-19 measures and ask the prime minister to step down for “committing treason and crimes against humanity.”

“Had thousands vs. 100 shown up we would still be there and most likely the MOU would have gotten the much-needed pressure tactic we were seeking,” Bauder wrote to supporters on his Facebook page in December.

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Only a few weeks later, Bauder told the public inquiry, he  was working with a loose group of organizers who had never met one another to bring a much larger crowd of protesters to Ottawa.

Overpowering the authority of the elected government was just one of the disparate goals of the demonstrators, the inquiry has heard during a week of testimony from convoy organizers.

They have said that some of the participants simply wanted to be heard, while others were looking for a larger platform — and still others wanted to get their hands on the millions of dollars donated to support the cause.

James Bauder appears as a witness at the Public Order Emergency Commission in Ottawa, on Thursday, Nov 3, 2022. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)

The Public Order Emergency Commission is tasked with examining the Liberal government’s unprecedented decision to invoke the Emergencies Act to help clear protesters who were using vehicles to block the streets around Parliament Hill last winter.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau declared a public order emergency on Feb. 14, more than two weeks after protesters entrenched themselves in downtown Ottawa.

“Protesters have varying ideological grievances with demands ranging from an end to all public health restrictions to overthrow the elected government,” the government said as it cited justifications for invoking the act.

Bauder’s memorandum, which he withdrew on Feb. 8, garnered about 400,000 signatures of support from the public, he told the inquiry. Bauder has been charged with mischief to obstruct property, disobeying a lawful court order and obstructing a peace officer in relation to the protest.

He was emotional during his testimony, breaking down in tears several times along with some of his supporters in the gallery.

Divisions within ‘Freedom Convoy’ leadership

Brendan Miller, a lawyer who represents some of the convoy organizers at the inquiry, said Canada Unity has never called for any form of violence and never called for the violent overthrow of the government of Canada.

Several of the other organizers have testified that they did not agree with Bauder’s memorandum, though at least one organizer signed it.

It wasn’t the only example of convoy organizers having clashing motives.

Another of the protest’s spokespeople, Benjamin Dichter, told the commission earlier Thursday that even the lawyer representing a core group of organizers appeared to have his own agenda.

“There were many different groups, right? It wasn’t just one group, and every different group had their own idea,” he said, adding that all participants agreed on ending COVID-19 mandates.

Benjamin Dichter appears as a witness at the Public Order Emergency Commission in Ottawa on Thursday, Nov 3, 2022. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)

He told the commission he believed the lawyer, Keith Wilson, may have had political motivations, though he didn’t offer any details.

“We were all converging on the idea of ArriveCan and the mandates, but he seemed to be representing another group that wanted to go in a different direction,” Dichter said.

On Wednesday, Wilson, who represents Tamara Lich and other convoy organizers, testified that when he arrived in Ottawa during the protest, it became clear to him that several groups were jockeying for influence.

“What I observed and believed to be true is that some were trying to take control, because they saw the organic flat hierarchy, largely, of the convoy and wanted to make it more successful and felt they had the organizational capability to do that,” Wilson told the commission.

“Other groups seemed to want to reshape the Freedom Convoy into their own event, branded theirs, and I got the distinct impression from some others that they were trying to get their hands on what, at that point, was $10 million in donations.”

Tamara Lich attends the Public Order Emergency Commission in Ottawa on Thursday, Nov 3, 2022. (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press)

Lich, who is perhaps the most recognizable of the organizers, told the inquiry late Thursday that she joined the “Freedom Convoy” after failing to get a response from members of Parliament she emailed about ending COVID-19 restrictions.

“I was growing increasingly alarmed with the mandates and the harm that I was seeing the mandates inflict on Canadians,” she said.

“I never in a million years saw this coming and never had an agenda. I literally just wanted to help some truckers drive across Canada and stand in front of Parliament with some signs. That was literally what I had envisioned.”

More organizers and protest participants are expected to testify, including Jeremy MacKenzie, the founder of the online group known as “Diagolon.”

MacKenzie, who will appear virtually before the commission from jail where he is being held on unrelated charges, petitioned for a ban on the publication of his evidence on the grounds that his testimony could adversely affect his defence against those criminal charges.

The petition was opposed by several other participants in the public inquiry, as well as a consortium of media outlets that includes The Canadian Press.

Commissioner Paul Rouleau has dismissed the petition and MacKenzie has been summoned to appear Friday. The commission is set to hold public hearings in Ottawa until Nov. 25.

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Trump's claims on crime rates clash with police data – NBC News

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Surging crime levels, out-of-control Democratic cities and “migrant crime.”

Former President Donald Trump regularly cites all three at his campaign rallies, in news releases and on Truth Social, often saying President Joe Biden and Democrats are to blame.

But the crime picture Trump paints contrasts sharply with years of police and government data at both the local and national levels.

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FBI statistics released this year suggested a steep drop in crime across the country last year. It’s a similar story across major cities, with violent crime down year over year in Chicago, New York and Washington, D.C.

NBC News analyzed crime data to evaluate Trump’s assertions about the topic.

U.S. and big city crime rates

Trump’s campaign often refers to crime levels, regularly pointing the finger at Biden.

“On Joe Biden’s watch, violent crime has skyrocketed in virtually every American city,” the campaign said in a news release published this month on its site.

Trump himself has made similar remarks.

“Four years ago, I told you that if crooked Joe Biden got to the White House, our borders would be abolished, our middle class would be decimated and our communities would be plagued by bloodshed, chaos and violent crime,” Trump said in a speech last month at the Conservative Political Action Conference. “We were right about everything.”

Government figures don’t support that characterization.

Reported violent crime dropped 6% across the board when comparing the last three months of 2022 to the same period in 2023, the FBI reported.

The reported drops were especially pronounced in the big cities that Trump often assails, many of which have Democratic mayors. Violent crime dropped by 11% in cities with populations of 1 million or more, according to FBI data, while murders dropped by 20%, rape was down 16%, and aggravated assault fell by 11%.

Reached for comment, the Trump campaign pointed to other reports indicating that certain types of crimes increased in specific cities.

At the national level, the reported rate of violent crime in 2022, the most recent full year with comprehensive FBI data, was 380.7 offenses per 100,000 people. That’s lower than the overall reported violent crime rate from 2020 — the last full year Trump was in office — when the figure was at 398.5.

The lowest reported violent crime rate of Trump’s presidency was in 2019, when the metric was at 380.8 — in line with the 2022 rate.

The FBI said it will release more comprehensive 2023 crime data in October, just before the election.

The Trump campaign, reached for comment, cited certain categories of violent crime, such as motor vehicle theft, as having increased during the Biden administration, according to FBI figures.

“Joe Biden is trying to convince Americans not to believe their own eyes,” campaign press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement, adding that “Democrats have turned great American cities into cesspools of bloodshed and crime.”

New York City crime

Trump, who was born and raised in New York but now lives in Florida, often rails against what he portrays as an increasing crime rate in his former hometown.

Those references to soaring violence have only increased as he faces criminal charges in New York accusing him of falsifying business records related to hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels. Trump, who has pleaded not guilty in that case, must also post a $175 million bond to prevent state Attorney General Letitia James from collecting the judgment from a New York civil fraud case.

“I did nothing wrong, and New York should never be put in a position like this again,” Trump posted on Truth Social about the civil judgment in all capital letters. “Businesses are fleeing, violent crime is flourishing, and it is very important that this be resolved in its totality as soon as possible.”

In a separate post, he claimed that “murders & violent crime hit unimaginable records” in the city.

However, major crimes in New York City are down this year by 2.3%, according to police department data comparing year-to-date figures to the same period in 2023.

Those figures for last year were also far below the highs from recent decades. In 1990, more than 527,000 major crimes were reported, compared to more than 126,000 last year, according to New York police data — a drop of more than 75%.

In 2001, more than 162,000 major crimes were reported in New York. The figure dropped by more than 20% over the next two decades.

At the same time, New York City data indicates that the number of major crimes increased in the past few years, though reported violent crimes like murder and rape were down last year from previous years.

‘Migrant crime’

Trump’s dehumanizing language about migrants has become a mainstay of his political speeches since he first sought office in 2015.

In a news release this month, his campaign said the “border Crisis has created a tragic surge in violent crime against innocent American citizens at the hands of some of the world’s most violent criminals.”

Trump has also focused his energy on high-profile cases such as the death of Laken Riley, who was killed in Georgia while jogging. The suspect is a Venezuelan citizen who entered the U.S. illegally in 2022.

“Every day, innocent citizens are being killed, stabbed, shot, raped and murdered because of Biden migrant crime,” Trump said in a video posted to his campaign’s X account last week.

However, there is no evidence of a migrant-driven crime wave in the U.S., according to local police department data.

Crime reports have decreased in several major cities targeted by Texas’ Operation Lone Star, a program backed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott that flies or buses migrants from the state to Democratic-run cities across the U.S.

Several of those cities — New York, Chicago, Washington and Philadelphia — have had decreases in year-to-date reported crime totals compared to the same period last year.


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Federal government promising a 'renters' bill of rights' in upcoming budget – CBC.ca

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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that his government will introduce new measures — including a new “bill of rights” — that he says will help protect those who rent their homes as part of the upcoming budget.

Trudeau said the new measures are specifically geared toward younger people, who are renting more than previous generations.

“It’s about changing the rules of the game in a way that meets young people where they are,” he said on Wednesday.

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Ottawa will work with provinces and territories to develop a “renters’ bill of rights” that would introduce a national standard lease agreement and implement requirements for landlords to disclose an apartment’s pricing history to allow tenants to negotiate their rent.

The new measures will also include a $15-million fund for provincial legal aid organizations that help tenants fight against “renovictions” and landlord abuse.

The Liberals are also proposing to change federal rules so that making rental payments on time will count toward someone’s credit scores, something Trudeau said is meant to help renters looking to one day buy a house.

“If you look at someone who pays a $2,000 [per month] mortgage, they’re getting recognition and credit for that from their bank as part of their credit score,” the prime minister said.

“But if you’re paying $2,000 a month on rent, you get no kudos.”

Typically the government doesn’t discuss what is in an annual budget until it is introduced in the House of Commons. But the announcement was made weeks prior to the release of the Liberals’ next budget, which is slated to drop on April 16.

Releasing tidbits from the budget ahead of time is part of a new communications strategy for the Liberals, sources told CBC News. Trudeau and his ministers are expected to make a number of similar announcements in the run-up to the budget, the sources said.

WATCH | Trudeau says new measures aim to help tenants: 

Liberals promise ‘renters’ bill of rights’ to fight housing crisis

5 hours ago

Duration 2:07

The Liberals are looking to create a ‘renters’ bill of rights’ to help deal with Canada’s housing crisis. Justin Trudeau says the plan is geared toward younger people suffering from a rising cost of living. The Conservatives call the measures meaningless.

Before revealing the planned rental measures on Wednesday, Trudeau took a moment to plug the April 16 fiscal plan, saying that the budget will be about “fairness.”

“For Canada to succeed, we need everyone to succeed,” he said.

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland joined Trudeau for his announcement and hinted about further announcements ahead of budget day.

“Over the coming days and in the April budget, we are going to launch a no-holds-barred plan to wrestle down the cost of owning and renting a home,” she said.

Wednesday’s announcements came on the same day that the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation released a report that found a surge in new apartment construction drove housing start increases in several major Canadian cities last year.

But the report also cautions that demand continues to outweigh supply.

The opposition Conservatives, who have enjoyed a healthy lead in recent polls, have made housing — and other cost-of-living issues — a key point of attack against the governing Liberals.

Following his announcement, Trudeau was asked whether he thinks he bears any responsibility for people feeling left behind in the current economy and whether the new measures would be enough to convince younger people to support him in the next election.

In response, Trudeau suggested that a recent rise in the cost of living is not unique to Canada.

“Young people who are key to our present, and obviously key to our future, are seeing a system that is stacked against them. That’s true in Canada but also true elsewhere around the world,” he said. “What we’re focused on now is making sure that young people can see their success in the economy.”

Opposition parties criticize Liberal announcement

Scott Aitchison, the Conservative housing critic, said Wednesday’s announcement was Liberal posturing that won’t get results.

“Today’s photo op is just another set of meaningless measures that won’t result in building the homes Canadians need,” he said in a statement.

NDP housing critic Jenny Kwan criticized the announcement for not going far enough.

“The Liberals are so out of touch with what Canadian renters are experiencing that they keep offering half-measures instead of a real action,” Kwan said in a statement.

The NDP is calling on the government to invest more in affordable housing while temporarily preventing for-profit firms from buying designated affordable-housing spaces.

WATCH | Liberal government promises better protections for renters in upcoming budget: 

Liberal government promises better protections for renters in upcoming budget

9 hours ago

Duration 11:39

The Liberal government unveiled three new proposals Wednesday to better protect renters in Canada. Power & Politics speaks to Marci Ien, minister of women, gender equality and youth, about the proposed protections.

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‘Hillary was right’: Lifelong GOP voter on why he is leaving party – CNN

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‘Hillary was right’: Lifelong GOP voter on why he is leaving party

Texas Trey, a lifelong Republican voter, speaks with CNN’s Laura Coates about why he plans to leave the party before the 2024 election.


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