The trucker protest that paralyzed the nation’s capital for weeks not only destroyed Taryn Earle’s home, but a childhood friendship she had for nearly 40 years.
A resident of Ottawa, Earle saw her apartment building broken into by some of the demonstrators who formed part of the trucker convoy, many of whom came in to throw out their trash or use laundry machines to wash their clothes. Travelling anywhere in the city alone felt unsafe, Earle said, as she recalled protesters circling her neighbourhood on their trucks, blaring their horns, revving their engines and taunting people as they walked by.
Conditions became so unbearable that Earle ended up relocating just one week into the protest.
But what made matters worse was knowing a life-long friend supported a cause that was bringing harm to her and her community.
“It was happening in real-time and I was telling him about it,” she told CTVNews.ca during a phone interview on Wednesday. “I could not believe that he was planting roots in a movement that was terrorizing me.
“That’s what it felt like for the people in the neighbourhood because it was scary.”
Earle’s friend, a vaccinated truck driver who regularly crosses the Canada-U.S. border for work, took part in the protest on Parliament Hill and participated in the truck convoy that lined the streets of Ottawa’s downtown core for weeks.
When Earle tried confronting him about the fear and intimidation this was causing some residents, he largely denied it, she said.
“He said, ‘No, this is a peaceful protest and…there’s bouncy castles and there’s children,” Earle said.
While the demonstration started as a way of protesting against COVID-19 vaccine mandates and other public health measures brought about by the pandemic, it was quickly co-opted into an anti-government movement and became anything but peaceful, said Earle.
“When the leaders merged with the intent to usurp the government and openly preached about what they believe to be white genocide…your grassroots protest on COVID mandates ended,” she said. “I just could not remain friends with someone who stood by that as it evolved.”
Because of this, Earle said she now finds herself mourning the loss of a friendship she’s had since kindergarten.
“We grew up with the same values [and] a block apart, down the street from each other,” she said. “I don’t know him anymore.”
Earle is just one of many Canadians who wrote to CTVNews.ca about disagreements with loved ones over the protests that took over the nation’s capital and other cities across Canada.
While police enforcement efforts have left Ottawa largely free from trucks and convoy protesters, and blockades at border crossings have been alleviated, it’s clear that for a number of Canadians, tensions still remain between family and friends. Differences of opinion have left family members divided and friendships strained, with some ultimately deciding to cut ties with loved ones as a result.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, Valerie Andruszkiewicz said she and her siblings have been in constant conflict over the virus. After having been infected with COVID-19 herself, Andruszkiewicz said she faced skepticism from family members who doubted that she contracted the virus at all.
Following nearly two months of recovery, Andruszkiewicz said she’s still experiencing symptoms of long COVID.
“Discussing it with my family has been frustrating,” she wrote in an email to CTVNews.ca on Feb. 7. “Discussions are often short and angry.”
But news of the trucker protest taking place in Ottawa, with demonstrators rallying against vaccine mandates and other COVID-19 restrictions, broke any remaining ties Andruszkiewicz had with her brother in particular. She described the protest as “trivial” considering the United States requires all non-Americans crossing its land borders to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, and pandemic lockdown measures fall largely under provincial jurisdiction.
The disruptive behaviour of protesters, which included defacing a statue of Terry Fox and dancing on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, both situated in front of Parliament Hill, was also upsetting to see, said Andruszkiewicz, who lived in Ottawa’s east end for 20 years before moving south of the city.
“Seeing the damage to the statues and monuments, to me, was so disrespectful,” she wrote. “I brought this to my brother’s attention. He, in turn, called me an ‘idiot’ for being so upset over something so insignificant.”
She believes that conversation was the last she’ll have with her brother, she said, who also unfriended her on Facebook.
“I don’t know him anymore and honestly…I am OK with that,” she wrote. “I don’t need such negative people in my life, even if they are family.”
MISINFORMATION SURROUNDING COVID-19
Kristen Harper, a registered nurse, has faced a similar kind of skepticism from her relatives, with family members who “believe that COVID isn’t real [and] wholly support this trucker convoy.”
Having worked throughout the COVID-19 pandemic as a health-care worker, Harper said she is “completely burnt out,” and watching loved ones take part in the protest has forced her to cut ties with them.
“As I finish a 16-hour shift with very ill COVID patients and then see family members protesting and supporting all of these agendas that will undoubtedly take more lives, drag this pandemic on longer, and make an already hard job much harder for exhausted health-care workers, my patience has run out,” she wrote in an email to CTVNews.ca on Feb. 7.
While she acknowledges that Canadians may be exhausted from the pandemic and related public health measures, lifting all COVID-19 restrictions would allow the virus to run rampant and possibly mutate into something more dangerous, she said.
“If people out on the street protesting could see what we see inside an ICU, they would be changing their tune,” she said.
Based in Ontario’s York Region, Melanie Templeman said she has been having a tough time getting through to family members when it comes to discussing the science behind the COVID-19 virus and vaccines, particularly her in-laws. Even with an educational background in microbiology and virology, attempts to examine medical research and studies are met with misinformation, she said.
“I’ve wasted so much breath trying to explain the science,” she wrote in an email to CTVNews.ca on Feb. 10. “It falls on deaf ears that refuse to accept any information from a legitimate scientist or news outlet as anything but ‘fake news.’”
The recent “Freedom Convoy” has taken things to a new level, Templeman said, with relatives often sharing this misinformation online and expressing support for the protests.
“The mere fact that all their social media is ablaze with snarky memes, ridiculous misinformation and slanderous accusations against media and political figures has made me unfollow them,” she wrote.
Witnessing the disruption caused by some protesters and blockades in cities across Canada has made it difficult to maintain ties with anyone who defends this behaviour, including her own family members, Templeman said.
“I cannot hold anyone in any respect for supporting people who are hurting their fellow citizens and neighbours by honking horns incessantly [and] blockading streets and businesses,” said Templeman. “All the while chanting, ‘Peace, love and unity.’”
USING SYMBOLS OF OPPRESSION ‘IN THE NAME OF FREEDOM’
For Erika N., who asked that her last name not be used, the COVID-19 pandemic had already put a strain on a friendship she’s had for most of her life. This friend, she said, was not supportive of COVID-19 vaccine mandates or lockdown measures implemented to curb the spread of the virus, while also denying the severity of COVID-19 as a whole.
But for Erika, the “Freedom Convoy” was what pushed her over the edge and led her to sever ties with the friend she’s had for more than 20 years.
“I’m a visible minority, and both my parents are immigrants,” she wrote in an email to CTVNews.ca on Feb. 7. “The ‘freedom convoy’ was the last straw for me.”
During the protest, Confederate flags and Nazi symbolism were seen paraded by some demonstrators. Seeing this imagery in Ottawa, where she lives, was upsetting, Erika said.
“Some people say they’re not racist but they’re supporting the use of those flags for this particular protest,” she said in a phone interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday. “It’s ironic to me that you’re supporting something that represents oppression in the name of freedom.”
After posting in support of the trucker protest on social media, Erika’s friend explained that, “the Confederate flag was a sign of rebellion, and that the swastikas were not being used as anti-Jew, but rather as a symbol of what we could be headed towards.” Erika says she assumed this was in reference to how those of Jewish background were treated in the years leading up to and including the Second World War.
“To accept symbols that are synonymous with slavery, genocide, and hate, and to suggest that the mandates are even comparable to what Jewish people went through, was just disgusting to me,” wrote Erika. “How do you stay friends after that?”
Cecilia Swanson also recently ended an eight-year friendship over what she said was the “white privilege” associated with protests.
Her former friend supported those protesting as part of the “Freedom Convoy.” Pointing to the use of flags with hate symbols and a video of protesters dancing on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Swanson said she felt the need to call out her friend’s privilege in being able to protest in the first place.
“The double standards for freedom, the right to protest, and overall behaviour from the protesters is appalling,” she wrote to CTVNews.ca in an email on Feb. 7. “I am so ashamed to be Canadian.”
While she said she sympathizes with those who want public health measures to be lifted, they exist as a means of keeping the public safe, she said.
“Have some been extreme? Perhaps. But experts are learning about this virus as fast as they can keep the public informed,” she wrote. “Do we forget they are also human?”
LOSING FRIENDS OVER CONVOY SUPPORT
While many Canadians submitted stories about severing ties with those who supported the trucker protest, Gayle Rawley said she was on the receiving end of this after her aunt decided to end their relationship.
Rawley explained the reason for this stemmed from her belief that Canadians should have the right to choose whether or not they want to be vaccinated, as opposed to being mandated to get their shots in order to keep their job, for example.
“My aunt that I’ve been very close to for 55 years…has written me off because I believe in the right to choose,” she wrote in an email to CTVNews.ca on Feb. 7.
For Rawley, the issue lies in the freedom to choose being taken away from Canadians through the enforcement of vaccine mandates. This has caused a rift between her and her aunt due to their difference in beliefs.
“I don’t condemn anyone for their right to get the vaccine nor do I condemn them if they choose not to get it,” she wrote. “I do, however, condemn the powers that be for bringing such division [through] their convoluted rules.
“What happened to freedom of expression and my own personal right to choose and believe what I believe in?”
While she said she misses her aunt, she understands it’s her right to choose whether or not she still wants to maintain contact, Rawley said.
A B.C. teen has a suspected case of H5N1 avian flu — the first known human to acquire the virusin Canada.
The provincial government said on the weekend that B.C.’s chief veterinarian and public health teamsare still investigating the source of exposure, but that it’s “very likely” an animal or bird.
Human-to-human transmission is very rare, but as cases among animals rise, many experts are worried the virus could develop that ability.
The teen was being treated at BC Children’s Hospital on Saturday. The provincial health officer said there were no updates on the patient Monday.
“I’m very concerned, obviously, for the young person who was infected,” said Dr. Matthew Miller, director of the Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ont.
Miller, who is also the co-director of the Canadian Pandemic Preparedness Hub, said there have been several people infected with H5N1 in the U.S.,and almost all were livestock workers.
In an email to The Canadian Press on Monday afternoon, the Public Health Agency of Canada said “based on current evidence in Canada, the risk to the general public remains low at this time.”
WHAT IS H5N1?
H5N1 is a subtype of influenza A virus that has mainly affected birds, so it’s also called “bird flu” or “avian flu.” The H5N1 flu that has been circulating widely among birds and cattle this year is one of the avian flu strains known as Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) because it causes severe illness in birds, including poultry.
According to the World Health Organization, H5N1 has been circulating widely among wild birds and poultry for more than two decades. The WHO became increasingly concerned and called for more disease surveillance in Feb. 2023 after worldwide reports of the virus spilling over into mammals.
HOW COMMON IS INFECTION IN HUMANS?
H5N1 infections in humans are rare and “primarily acquired through direct contact with infected poultry or contaminated environments,” the WHO’s website says.
Prior to the teen in B.C., Canada had one human case of H5N1 in 2014 and it was “travel-related,” according to the Public Health Agency of Canada.
As of Nov. 8, there have been 46 confirmed human cases of H5N1 in the U.S. this year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. There is an ongoing outbreak among dairy cattle, “sporadic” outbreaks in poultry farms and “widespread” cases in wild birds, the CDC website says.
There has been no sign of human-to-human transmission in any of the U.S. cases.
But infectious disease and public health experts are worried that the more H5N1 spreads between different types of animals, the bigger the chance it can mutateand spread more easily between humans.
WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF H5N1?
Although H5N1 causes symptoms similar to seasonal flu, such as cough, fever, shortness of breath, headache, muscle pain, sore throat, runny nose and fatigue, the strain also has key features that can cause other symptoms.
Unlike seasonal flu, most of the people infected in the U.S. have had conjunctivitis, or “pink-eye,” said Miller.
One reason for that is likely that many have been dairy cattle workers.
“At these milking operations, it’s easy to get contamination on your hands and rub your eyes. We touch our face like all the time without even knowing it,” he said.
“Also, those operations can produce droplets or aerosols, both during milking and during cleaning that can get into the eye relatively easily.”
But the other reason for the conjunctivitis seen in H5N1 cases is that the strain binds to receptors in the eye, Miller said.
While seasonal flu binds to receptors in the upper respiratory tract, H5N1 also binds to receptors in the lower respiratory tract, he said.
“That’s a concern … because if the virus makes its way down there, those lower respiratory infections tend to be a lot more severe. They tend to lead to more severe outcomes, like pneumonias for example, that can cause respiratory distress,” Miller said.
WILL THE FLU VACCINE PROTECT AGAINST H5N1?
We don’t know “with any degree of certainty,” whether the seasonal flu vaccine could help prevent infection with H5N1, said Miller.
Although there’s no data yet, it’s quite possible that it could help prevent more severe disease once a person is infected, he said.
That’s because the seasonal flu vaccine contains a component of H1N1 virus, which “is relatively closely related to H5N1.”
“So the immunity that might help protect people against H5N1 is almost certainly conferred by either prior infection with or prior vaccination against H1N1 viruses that circulate in people,” Miller said.
HOW ELSE CAN I PROTECT MYSELF?
The Public Health Agency of Canada said as a general precaution, people shouldn’t handle live or dead wild birds or other wild animals, and keep pets away from sick or dead animals.
Those who work with animals or in animal-contaminated places should take personal protective measures, the agency said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 11, 2024.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A conservative prosecutor’s attorney struggled Monday to persuade the Wisconsin Supreme Court to reactivate the state’s 175-year-old abortion ban, drawing a tongue-lashing from two of the court’s liberal justices during oral arguments.
Sheboygan County’s Republican district attorney, Joel Urmanski, has asked the high court to overturn a Dane County judge’s ruling last year that invalidated the ban. A ruling isn’t expected for weeks but abortion advocates almost certainly will win the case given that liberal justices control the court. One of them, Janet Protasiewicz, remarked on the campaign trail that she supports abortion rights.
Monday’s two-hour session amounted to little more than political theater. Liberal Justice Rebecca Dallet told Urmanski’s attorney, Matthew Thome, that the ban was passed in 1849 by white men who held all the power and that he was ignoring everything that has happened since. Jill Karofsky, another liberal justice, pointed out that the ban provides no exceptions for rape or incest and that reactivation could result in doctors withholding medical care. She told Thome that he was essentially asking the court to sign a “death warrant” for women and children in Wisconsin.
“This is the world gone mad,” Karofsky said.
The ban stood until 1973, when the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion nationwide nullified it. Legislators never repealed the ban, however, and conservatives have argued the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe two years ago reactivated it.
Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul filed a lawsuit challenging the law in 2022. He argued that a 1985 Wisconsin law that prohibits abortion after a fetus reaches the point where it can survive outside the womb supersedes the ban. Some babies can survive with medical help after 21 weeks of gestation.
Urmanski contends that the ban was never repealed and that it can co-exist with the 1985 law because that law didn’t legalize abortion at any point. Other modern-day abortion restrictions also don’t legalize the practice, he argues.
Dane County Circuit Judge Diane Schlipper ruled last year that the ban outlaws feticide — which she defined as the killing of a fetus without the mother’s consent — but not consensual abortions. The ruling emboldened Planned Parenthood to resume offering abortions in Wisconsin after halting procedures after Roe was overturned.
Urmanski asked the state Supreme Court in February to overturn Schlipper’s ruling without waiting for a lower appellate decision.
Thome told the justices on Monday that he wasn’t arguing about the implications of reactivating the ban. He maintained that the legal theory that new laws implicitly repeal old ones is shaky. He also contended that the ban and the newer abortion restrictions can overlap just like laws establishing different penalties for the same crime. A ruling that the 1985 law effectively repealed the ban would be “anti-democratic,” Thome added.
“It’s a statute this Legislature has not repealed and you’re saying, no, you actually repealed it,” he said.
Dallet shot back that disregarding laws passed over the last 40 years to go back to 1849 would be undemocratic.
Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin filed a separate lawsuit in February asking the state Supreme Court to rule directly on whether a constitutional right to abortion exists in the state. The justices have agreed to take the case but haven’t scheduled oral arguments yet.
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This story has been updated to correct the Sheboygan County district attorney’s first name to Joel.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Better catch this week’s supermoon. It will be a while until the next one.
This will be the year’s fourth and final supermoon, looking bigger and brighter than usual as it comes within about 225,000 miles (361,867 kilometers) of Earth on Thursday. It won’t reach its full lunar phase until Friday.
The supermoon rises after the peak of the Taurid meteor shower and before the Leonids are most active.
In 2025, expect three supermoons beginning in October.
What makes a moon so super?
More a popular term than a scientific one, a supermoon occurs when a full lunar phase syncs up with an especially close swing around Earth. This usually happens only three or four times a year and consecutively, given the moon’s constantly shifting, oval-shaped orbit.
A supermoon obviously isn’t bigger, but it can appear that way, although scientists say the difference can be barely perceptible.
How do supermoons compare?
This year features a quartet of supermoons.
The one in August was 224,917 miles (361,970 kilometers) away. September’s was 222,131 miles (357,486 kilometers) away. A partial lunar eclipse also unfolded that night, visible in much of the Americas, Africa and Europe as Earth’s shadow fell on the moon, resembling a small bite.
October’s supermoon was the year’s closest at 222,055 miles (357,364 kilometers) from Earth. This month’s supermoon will make its closest approach on Thursday with the full lunar phase the next day.
What’s in it for me?
Scientists point out that only the keenest observers can discern the subtle differences. It’s easier to detect the change in brightness — a supermoon can be 30% brighter than average.
With the U.S. and other countries ramping up lunar exploration with landers and eventually astronauts, the moon beckons brighter than ever.
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
