The Americanization of Canadian politics has been evolving and unwinding for some time now, for a whole stew of reasons. Fox News and ultra-conservative podcasts cross the border, Canada’s ethnic composition has changed and that worries certain people, a new and far more right-wing Conservative Party replaced the more moderate Progressive Conservatives in 2003, and an increasingly active and organized number of people in western Canada—Alberta in particular — see Ottawa not as the seat of government but as a threat, even an enemy.
Now comes a convoy of lorries, self-styled as “Truckers for Freedom” or the “Freedom Rally,” that has occupied Ottawa — ask any local and they’ll confirm that “occupation” is an entirely valid description. It’s ostensibly a group of truck drivers and their supporters who are opposed to Covid-19 vaccine mandates, but the truth is a little more complex and unsettling.
On January 15, the federal government announced that Canadian truckers had to be fully vaccinated if they wanted to avoid a 14-day quarantine when they crossed back into Canada from the US. Not an unreasonable demand, and the Canadian Trucking Alliance, which is opposed to the convoy, reports that more than 85 percent of the country’s 120,000 drivers who make regular crossings to the US are indeed fully vaccinated.
This leaves perhaps 16,000 drivers who may face quarantine. Vaccines are readily available, and while some argue that this is about opposition to mandates rather than vaccines themselves, that simply doesn’t fly.
Frankly, supporters of the convoy know that. For them this is about roaring at the government, abusing the Prime Minister (“Fuck Trudeau” signs and shouts are ubiquitous), throwing their weight around, and displaying anger that the Liberals have been in power for more than six years and the Conservatives show no sign of winning an election. That’s concerning, because there are echoes of January 6th in Washington DC in this apparent rejection and denial of the democratic process.
The Facebook page supporting the convoy has almost 200,000 followers, GoFundMe has raised millions of dollars, and social media, Tory MPs, conservative newspapers, and of course talk radio are cheering the convoy on. Even Jordan Peterson, who arguably enjoys far greater respect outside of Canada, broke from his increasingly eccentric meanderings to tweet on how impressive the convoy was. “Truckers vs Justin Trudeau”, he wrote. “I'll lay odds on truckers.”
We’ve seen more than enough evidence now of the extremism, the swastikas, Confederate flags, attacks on homeless people, intimidation of food bank workers, abuse of sacred monuments, and so on.
The fundamental issue here is that while Canada and Canadians often look and sound American, the essence of this country—its political, emotional, and sociological identity—is actually far more north Europe than North Carolina. Our socialized medical system has an iconic status, and welfare provisions, absence of military bombast, and sheer self-perception have always distinguished Canada from the United States. Canadians may watch US television, benefit from the US economy, and may spend winters in Florida, but for generations we’ve been governed by and from the centre.
The convoy is an outward manifestation of a deeper break in Canadian society, an attempt to smash the sacrament and reject the orthodoxy.
It’s this reality that the truckers and their base so refute. The convoy is an outward manifestation of a deeper break in Canadian society, an attempt to smash the sacrament and reject the orthodoxy. There’s a whole smorgasbord of resentments and beliefs swirling around. Opposition to gun control, dislike of official bilingualism, anger at entirely justified and long overdue Indigenous protests and demands, and the usual certainty that “real” Canadians aren’t being listened to.
This isn’t a nation divided—the new conservatism is a minority voice—but rather a country in process and progress, perhaps realizing that easy governance may not be as straightforward as was once thought. Canada doesn’t face the same polarization as the US, has far fewer illusions about its place in history, is less insular, and built more on the communal than the individual. Nor does it have such a dominating Christian right, and that matters! But my goodness we can be smug, and that’s not good right now.
The truckers and their friends may hate Trudeau but the politician they destroyed is Erin O’Toole—a good man but one who allowed the hard right to drag him in the wrong direction. The convoy will eventually be dispersed and sent home but the damage has been done. The next leader of the Tories has an enormous weight to carry, because this isn’t about the future of a party, it’s about the future of the country. ◆
Rev. Michael Coren is an award-winning Toronto-based columnist and author of 18 books, appears regularly on TV and radio, and is also an Anglican priest.
