Latest news with #FreedomConvoy
Toronto Sun
7 days ago
- Politics
- Toronto Sun
Letters to the Editor, May 30, 2025
Friday letters Photo by Illustration / Toronto Sun PROTESTING PROTESTERS I can't even fathom why Toronto has allowed pro-Hamas rallies. And where are the politicians? If the LGBTQ or Black or Muslim communities were treated in this unfair and egregious way, the groups would never be allowed to continue their harassment that borders on terrorism. The Freedom Convoy organizers get arrested and vilified, but these people are allowed to spew their venomous hate with impunity. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Farouk Mohammed Ajax (Canadian politicians and law enforcement are allowing it to happen) SHAMEFUL These protesters are aware that they can protest anywhere and anytime and with no repercussions because of our weak mayor and police chief, who, for some reason, are afraid to do anything about them. There is no excuse that they can come up with to justify letting these protesters tie up our streets. The public has a right to move around our city without being harassed. We need action now, not more excuses. Sylvia Saunders (These rallies have been a blight on the Canadian landscape for too long) TIME BOMB While everyone has their own opinions on the war in Gaza, the fact is that the Toronto Police who vowed to protect the marchers on the annual UJA walk were derelict in their duty. A man in a kaffiyeh had a grenade strapped to his pants. I'm sure it was fake. But what if it wasn't? And why wasn't he arrested for promoting hate? Why do the TPS repeatedly say one thing and do another? This was a dereliction of duty! Ilanna Sharon Mandel Toronto (We are left once again to wonder what the police were thinking) ANOTHER CAT-ASTROPHE The Panthers beat our Leafs in seven games, including one in overtime. They easily eliminated Tampa and they had no problem with Carolina. Despite how bad we played in Game 7, if the Panthers go on to win the Stanley Cup Final in less than seven games, does that make the Leafs the second-best team in the NHL? Don't give up hope, there is always next year. Mike Urquhart St. Davids, Ont. (And the year after that and the year after that and …) Crime Sunshine Girls Sunshine Girls Toronto Maple Leafs Toronto Raptors
National Observer
27-05-2025
- Politics
- National Observer
Protesters are flocking to a BC ostrich farm. Is the government's bird flu response to blame?
Dozens of protesters are flocking to a BC ostrich farm that is the fresh darling of Canada's far-right media for its months-long fight against a Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA)-ordered cull. As the protests spread and become more extreme, some experts are questioning whether CFIA's overall response to the avian flu is as effective as it could be. Some researchers say the protesters might actually have a point — in part. In late December, the agency ordered the entire herd to be culled after some birds were infected with a highly infectious strain of avian flu. The farm fought back in court, online and in the media, arguing their birds should be saved — because they allegedly have herd immunity and are being used for antibody research. But their protest was unsuccessful. Earlier this month a federal judge ruled the CFIA's order was justified and the cull should proceed. The gathering has strong echoes of the Freedom Convoy, with key characters in that movement popping up on the farm. Take the far-right influencers Jim Kerr, Ron Clark and Colin "Big Bear" Ross, who have all boosted the farm's message to their sizable social media followings. Kerr was so deeply involved in the 2022 protests he was interviewed by Russia Today (RT) in 2022 when police cleared Freedom Convoy protesters from Ottawa. Clark — who bills himself a "Freedom Advocate" on his Facebook page — was part of a group who travelled to Ottawa in 2023 in an effort to replicate the convoy. Ross was one of the organizers of a planned "Freedom Convoy 2.0" in Winnipeg in 2023, but on Tuesday asked his social media followers to contribute thousands of dollars' worth of equipment and time. "We need your support — this is growing fast," Ross wrote last week, asking for food, fuel, firewood, first aid equipment, "oil-field grade" generators and light towers, porta-potties, caterers and cash donations. Even sound engineers were on the list because the group "needs your magic." As far-right protests spread and become more extreme in their support of a BC ostrich farm facing a CFIA-ordered cull., some experts are questioning whether CFIA's overall response to the avian flu is as effective as it could be. Two days later, he lashed out in a Facebook post at CBC reporter Andrew Kurjata for covering the protest, calling him "corrupt" and accusing him without evidence of lying and bending the truth, recalling the attacks levied on journalists during the 2022 occupation in Ottawa. As the freedom convoy tie-ins mount, the ostrich story continues to soar: On Thursday, US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sent a letter to the head of the CFIA asking the agency to "consider not culling the entire flock." Videos posted to social media by Katie Pasitney, one of the farmers, Ross and other protesters showed a festival-like atmosphere at the farm over the weekend, with river dips and daytrippers. And overnight between Thursday and Friday, a second ostrich was mysteriously shot dead. In a Facebook live post, Pasitney said the farm had issues with drones but asked supporters not to speculate about any links between the drones and the shooting. In her Facebook live updates after the shooting, she insisted that only her statements and official statements from the farm should be considered accurate. The farm has welcomed the support, even as it has tried to distance itself from the maelstrom of misinformation and aggressive sentiments, like those shared by Ross and in social media posts about the situation. "Asking questions is much more productive than sharing unverified and misunderstood portions of information. Please consider that sharing false information and statements can be considered defamation, will damage the farm's reputation and increase our farm's exposure to harm," co-owners Karen Espersen and Dave Bilinski wrote in a statement posted to the farm's Save our Ostriches website. Swirling throughout the social media posts, interviews and livestreams by the farm's owners and their supporters is the idea that the cull is a "sinister" example of government overreach. In an interview with Canada's National Observer, Pasitney, one of the farmers suggested the CFIA's order is part of an effort by "Big Pharma" to quash the farm's research into ostrich antibodies. The CFIA flatly rejects that assertion. In a statement, the agency said a single laboratory confirmed case of H5 avian influenza is sufficient to declare a poultry farm infected with the highly transmissible avian flu. Canada adheres to a so-called "stamping out" policy to cull all the birds on a farm, in line with international guidelines. Bird flu, the agency said, has to be controlled to prevent its spread to other birds, as well as humans. "All highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) viruses … have the potential to infect mammals, including humans,' the CFIA said in a statement. 'Allowing a domestic poultry flock known to be exposed to HPAI to remain alive allows a potential source of the virus to persist.' But some experts say the protesters might have a point — sort of. "There's a right way to manage an outbreak, and there are probably 1,000 wrong ways," said Jeff Wilson, an epidemiologist and veterinarian. He taught at the University of Guelph and worked for the Public Health Agency of Canada for over 15 years before starting his own epidemiological consulting and outbreak response consultancy. "To be frank, what's happening now for avian influenza nationally, and on this ostrich farm, is not being done by best practices by a long shot." The problem is that the CFIA is applying a prescriptive, predetermined approach to the crisis by applying the same "stamping out" policy nation-wide, regardless of the size or type of poultry farm. He would prefer to see the agency pull together a group of external experts specialized in everything from the science and data of the virus and its spread, like immunologists and epidemiologists, to political and communications experts. The goal would be to ensure the agency is gathering a wide range of expertise on the problem, and is leaving few opportunities to breach public trust, he explained. Gathering data about the problem, using it to evaluate whether response measures are actually working — and changing them if they aren't — is also key, he said. "To do it properly is as hard as brain surgery," he said. In a statement, the CFIA denied that its approach is ineffective and pointed to the federal court ruling that allowed it to proceed with the cull, which outlines the agency's rationale. Adopted by Canada's largest trading partners and enshrined into trade negotiations, the stamping-out policy provides broad guidelines for how the agency should approach the crisis, but leaves specific practices up to individual countries to determine. The approach, which requires countries to rapidly cull entire flocks on infected farms soon after discovering an infected bird, is meant to counteract the virus's ability to spread easily and rapidly before symptoms emerge, limiting the risks it poses to public and animal health, and Canadian farmers' ability to trade internationally. Anything short of a cull, the CFIA said, 'would increase the possibility of reassortment or mutation, particularly with birds raised in open pasture where there is ongoing exposure to wildlife. A human case of H5N1 in BC earlier this year required critical care, and an extended hospital stay for the patient, and there have been a number of human cases in the United States, including a fatality.' Science aside, Wilson said part of the problem is how the CFIA communicated its decision-making process about the ostrich cull, and the avian flu more broadly. The bodies responsible for managing an outbreak need to be communicating "truthfully and completely … in a language that everyone can understand, and it has to be two ways, not just a push of information," he said. Refusing to do so "utterly destroys" the CFIA's credibility, making it harder to gain public trust and support, he said. The problem is accentuated by the rise of the far-right and social media in recent years, added Shane Gunster, a communications professor at Simon Fraser University. The ostrich farm's basic storyline is relatable and social media-friendly, making it easy for the anti-vax, right-wing conspiracy world to graft that sympathy to their worldview, burnishing their credibility and providing a "'common sense' veneer to their more extremist views," he wrote in an email. And that has been exactly what has happened: far-right media, including The Rebel, have raised the farm's story to international prominence — and the story being amplified by the likes of US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr spreads the message even deeper among the far-right. Meanwhile, the government's side of the story has been lacking. While Gunster hasn't analyzed in detail the CFIA's communications surrounding the ostrich farm outbreak, his perception of media reports show that the agency's storyline is more complex, and it hasn't provided a "strong, sympathetic spokesperson" to make the agency's case, effectively yielding ground in the fight for public opinion to the far-right's conspiratorial appeals. "If we have to start a revolution from the giant chickens, so be it. It's gotta start somewhere," said Clark, the self-styled "Freedom Advocate," in a May 2, 2025 Facebook livestream that received about 1,000 comments and over 350 shares as of May 23.
CBC
26-05-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Convoy organizer Steeve Charland won't serve time behind bars
A key figure in the Freedom Convoy protest has been sentenced following his criminal conviction, but he won't serve time behind bars. In December, an Ontario Superior Court judge found Steeve Charland guilty of mischief for his role in the protest that shut down parts of downtown Ottawa in early 2022. On Monday, Charland received a suspended sentence of six months, which does not involve jail time. The Crown and defence had requested suspended sentences of 18 months and three months, respectively. During his testimony last year, Charland said he did not understand why he was on the docket at all, insisting he had acted within the limits of the law. Charland was arrested by Ontario Provincial Police officers in Vankleek Hill, Ont., in February 2022. From Grenville, Que., Charland is known as a spokesperson for Les Farfadaas, a Quebec group formed to protest against public health measures during the COVID-19 pandemic. That group was formed from La Meute, regarded by experts as a far-right, anti-Islam and anti-immigration group. People wearing Les Farfadaas patches and leather jackets could often be found around the protest site during the three-week occupation of Ottawa.
Epoch Times
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Epoch Times
Trial for Freedom Convoy Organizer Continues as Defence Argues for Stay of Proceedings
OTTAWA—The lawyer for Freedom Convoy organizer Chris Barber is continuing to argue in court for a stay of proceedings on the basis of an 'officially induced error of law,' claiming that he was given erroneous legal advice on the legality of the trucker protest. Barber and Tamara Lich were already found guilty of mischief, while Barber was also found guilty of counselling others to disobey a court order, for their role in the 2022 trucker protest against COVID-19 vaccine mandates and other pandemic restrictions. Justice Heather Perkins-McVey ruled on April 3 that the pair were not guilty of the other charges of intimidation, obstructing police, and counselling others to do the same. Both were also found guilty of counselling others to commit mischief, but that finding was stayed at the request of Crown lawyers. Crown prosecutors are seeking two years of prison time for Lich and Barber, as well as to auction off Barber's iconic truck 'Big Red,' which he used to travel from Saskatchewan to Ottawa and parked in the downtown core for three weeks. The sentencing for the two organizers has not happened yet. In the meantime, Barber's lawyers are requesting that the proceedings be stayed because he sought legal advice from his previous lawyers, police officers, and a Superior Court judge on the legality of the protest. A stay of proceedings would lead to Barber's case being put on hold, and he would likely not face any charges. Defence lawyer Diane Magas has said that the Ottawa Police Service was aware of the protest ahead of its arrival and directed Barber where to park his truck. At two injunction hearings around silencing the honking of truck horns, Barber was also told by his lawyer at the time that he could continue protesting as long as it was done peacefully and safely, and that he could honk his horn in situations of emergency, and that breaching this injunction against honking would not be a criminal offence. Related Stories 10/28/2023 4/3/2025 Barber was charged with counselling others to disobey a court order for a Feb. 7, 2022, TikTok video where he encouraged protesters to honk their vehicle horns if they saw police arriving. This violated the court injunction that had come into force the same day, Perkins-McVey ruled. Arguments Over Officially Induced Error of Law On May 23, defence lawyer Magas said Ottawa Police Service officers suggested that Barber could remain at the protest. She said that since Barber coordinated with the police to move trucks out of the downtown core on Feb. 14, 'from that conduct and words, he was induced into believing that what he was doing was lawful.' Magas also said Barber had asked his lawyer at the time to seek guidance from the lawyer imposing the injunction about whether they could continue protesting. She added that during this injunction hearing, the justice also said it was a civil process and not a criminal one. Justice Perkins-McVey pushed back and said Barber had not specifically asked the police officers whether what he was doing was legal, and said the injunction hearing was only ruling on the issue of horn honking. Crown attorney Siobhain Wetscher said that while Barber had received 'bad legal representation' from his lawyer, that was not an error on the part of an agent of the state. She said that in order for an 'officially induced error of law' to apply, the erroneous legal advice needed to come from a government official responsible for administering the law. Wetscher also said that Barber had confirmed during cross-examination on May 22 that nobody from the office of the mayor of Ottawa told him that the Freedom Convoy was lawful, peaceful, or safe. Justice Perkins-McVey said if Barber or the other Freedom Convoy organizers had sought specific advice on where they were or were not acting unlawfully, then 'we wouldn't be here.' Crown attorney Wetscher also said that while Barber was told by a police officer that parts of the demonstration were unlawful, but was told by his lawyer that it was not illegal, 'there were no steps taken by [Barber] to get clarity on those two very divergent positions.'
CBC
12-05-2025
- Politics
- CBC
What does Canada mean to you in 2025? Share your perspective and story
From poutine, maple syrup and beaver tails to mountains, prairies and the sea, people around the world have some fairly defined ideas of what "Canada" is — if they think about it at all. But within Canada, pride and identity have shifted over time, whether it was after the discovery of unmarked graves at residential schools or through the displays of the Canadian flag and talk over rights during the Freedom Convoy. This year saw a resurgence in Canadian pride as people got their " elbows up," bought Canadian products and pushed back against U.S. President Donald Trump's musings about Canada becoming a 51st State and tariff threats. Then there was a federal election — a fast and furious campaign that ended with some frustrated western Canadians talking about separation. It's led many to feel like there's a national existential crisis amid the ongoing effort to understand the values that define our nation. CBC wants to explore what makes residents and citizens from all backgrounds feel rooted in this country as we approach Canada Day. We're looking for First Person columns to publish in the lead-up to Canada Day, exploring Canadian identity from multiple perspectives. What's the personal experience you've had that defines what being Canadian means to you, in this moment in time? How did it come to mean what it does to you, whether that's good or bad, or like some relationships, complicated? Perhaps you want to tell us about a special place in this country that defines what it means to be Canadian for you. Maybe you want to write about a moment that you came to feel a real connection — or a sense of disconnection — from Canada. Perhaps you want to write about a Canadian tradition that you practise and you hope continues in future generations. Here are some examples of columns we've published that might get you thinking about your own experience: Send a 200-word pitch to firstperson@ including the deeply personal experience you've had that clicked into place what being Canadian means to you. Please also include where you live. This is a paid writing opportunity and you don't have to be a professional writer. You'll work one-on-one with a CBC editor to produce your piece. Want to see previous First Person columns we've published? Check out our website and FAQ here.
