REFLECTIONS AND LESSONS FROM FREEDOM CONVOY 2022

REFLECTIONS AND LESSONS FROM FREEDOM CONVOY 2022

By Tom Bartlett

     Before the afterglow of the historical event known as the Freedom Convoy dissipates, we need to glean all we can from what took place. By glancing in the rear-view mirror, we must remember that objects are larger than they appear. This is true whether it be the millions it inspired or the bad actors it exposed. A thorough review will ensure we know what should be replicated or built upon as well as what needs to be defeated.

     Few people are neutral on the convoy and this fringe minority largely consists of legacy media viewers who don’t even know what a “Freedom Convoy” is. The efforts to eradicate, vilify and invalidate this movement tells us a great deal about who we are up against. Similarly, those who stood with the truckers or actively participated know the lasting impact this movement had on us.

       The most important detail that must not be lost is the recognition that courage is contagious. We have been forcefully and deliberately cloistered away from one another and we saw how this resulted in increased hostility and apathy – notably among friends and family. These attempts to make us feel hopeless and disconnected failed to break the will of the hearty souls that backed these protests. Everyday citizens who merely wanted to do their jobs and provide for their families stood firm; prepared to risk their careers, reputations, income, and even their lives to ensure the freedom of Canadians. This included those that the government worked hardest to drive a wedge between – the jabbed and unjabbed.

     Keeping these foundational observations in mind, I would like to address the lessons to be learned from the larger context of what the convoy exposed.

1. Protesting is now essentially illegal in Canada. Some may insist that Trudeau did express support for BLM and Chrystia Freeland actively participated in a pro-Ukraine rally shortly after the Freedom Convoy, but consider this: When government determines what protests are or are not allowed – just like determining what constitutes free speech or approved opinion – then we know these rights no longer exist. Anyone authorized to protest are not really protestors, but state actors helping to push the Overton window in the direction of the ruling party.
2. Justin Trudeau is a liar. I know. This is like saying that water is wet, but the depth of his deception cannot be ignored. Everything he said about the protestors was false. When he labeled us racists, misogynists and anti-science before we even arrived, he lied. When he labeled us a fringe minority with unacceptable views, he was merely giving us a window into his white-hot hatred for those who disagree with him. By calling the protest a violent neo-Nazi occupation, he was simply letting us know he was about to abuse his authority to further crush our core rights and freedoms.
3. The protests were non-violent. It is not merely that the protestors did not get out of hand, but peaceful and respectful were the characteristics that defined the hundreds of thousands or millions total that took part. Objectively, any mass gathering – especially one lasting 3½ weeks – can be expected to spiral into violence. It would be impossible to imagine a diverse group behaving themselves better than took place here. Attempts to deny this reality has resulted in global condemnation of Trudeau for his dictatorial approach to his own people.    
4. We know that the protestors spoke for the majority of Canadians. There are several reasons I feel justified in making this assertion. In addition to the number who reject the jabs and mandates out of hand, you have those who believe in choice regardless of their decision. Next, we have those pressured into the injections, who were injured by them, who already had natural immunity, or had an exemption on health or religious grounds. Add to this those who learned the jabs don’t work and refuse to get a booster. Finally, we have anyone that has gone on with their lives, masked or unmasked, now that the provincial mandates in many provinces are gone. The public may have been led to believe we were somehow infringing on the rights of others, but never did we insist that anyone be denied the right to get jabbed, mask up, isolate, or do anything based on their own comfort.
5. The protests proved the mandates are unnecessary. The protests were the greatest super spreader event in our nation – ever. The jabbed and unjabbed gathered without social distancing or masks for nearly a month and there was no mass outbreak. There was never even any discussion about the central talking point of overwhelming hospitals. We came, we hugged, we danced, and the only viruses spread were joy, support, information, and good will.
6. Everything negative that can be attributed to the protestors are solely the fault of those in government and corporate media. The singular objective was to end the protests and the only individuals in a position to prevent or stop it justly were Trudeau and those in power. If these statists had merely conformed to our Charter rights and the Nuremberg Code, none of this would have happened. Instead of reporters and area residents complaining about the noise and disruption, their job was to press Trudeau to hear out and respond to constituents being ignored.
7. Our media, government, justice system and law enforcement agencies have been so deeply infiltrated that a fascist state is entirely possible. In Christian terms, we have seen a separation of the wheat from the chaff. Many officers were bold in refusing to participate or calling in sick rather than become jackbooted thugs in the furtherance of a veritable dictatorship. The violation of basic rights of movement, to go out in public maskless, hold church services, open a business, visit friends and relatives, and to even honk a horn or wave a flag – formerly known as living life – has been made illegal with no legal justification, but via enforcement by all these institutions. We need no longer ask how Stalin, Hitler, Mao, or any number of oligarchs managed to inflict egregious evils on a substantial segment of civil society.
8. Trudeau is happy with violence as a means to an end. When frauds like Jussie Smollett invent hate crimes to smear their opponents, we should not just look at this as a failure, but a teachable moment. It proves that the problem they are trying to highlight is a lie and that the activist left will deceive to further their agenda. This gives us a glimpse into their dark hearts and the fact that they cannot be trusted. Trudeau broadcasted his support for BLM despite the violence they have engaged in. Also, the only violence in Ottawa was rained down on protestors by the police – including an under-reported incident of protestors being run over in Manitoba. Trudeau was not upset that the Freedom Convoy participants were violent, but that they weren’t. He coveted violence to justify his abusive response, but instead proved his mal-intent.
9. We never were all in this together. This is painfully obvious, but the fact that Trudeau cleaved our nation in two based on “true Canadians” being those who conformed and painting those who dissented as unCanadian. Essentially, he told us what beliefs citizens must hold and actions they must take to be granted rights. We were Winston Smith from George Orwell’s book, 1984, being compelled by Big Brother to believe that 2+2=5. Many police officers were happy to use their batons, horses, pepper spray and rubber bullets to convince us.
10. The protest was necessary. Not only did it ignite freedom lovers across the world to be bold, but it led to massive public pressure, the dropping of many mandates, the exposure of the World Economic Forum and deep state, as well as their determination to control every aspect of our lives. When asked about lifting mandates, Trudeau only parroted that all needed to be injected. We now know that we have no choice but to see this to the end – whatever the cost – or lose our basic human rights indefinitely.

     We owe a great deal to our courageous truckers who showed a level of conviction and sacrifice that has grieved me as it has been absent in most of our churches. You not only brought results, but exposed the real virus that threatens us. We are still engaged in a battle for our future and, most importantly, for our children and grandchildren. We know we are not alone and that the passion is there to persist. We must persist in our mission the way we started: peacefully and winsomely. The dominoes are falling and we can’t be stopped unless we surrender. To this I says to my new friends, “FREEDOM!”