FROLITICKS

Satirical commentary on Canadian and American current political issues

May 21

Why Is It That Anti-Semitism Has Recently Become Associated With The Left?

by bcurry

Historically, anti-Semitism has been primarily associated with extreme white supremist groups in both Canada and the U.S., some of which are known neo-Nazi organizations.   For example, such groups in both countries include the Aryan Brotherhood, Ku Klux Klan, the White Patriarch Party, the American Front, the Heritage Front, the National Socialist Movement, etc., etc.  The list includes political parties, terrorist cells/networks, radical paramilitary groups, criminal gangs, social clubs, organized crime syndicates, websites, internet forums, football hooligan firms, religious sects, and other organizations alike.  In North America, there are dozens of such organizations.  Some have even claimed that such groups have infiltrated the MAGA movement in the U.S., an accusation that former President Trump has never adequately dealt with and more overtly confronted and condemned.

Today, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has raised the spectre of anti-Semitism once again in both countries.  Only this time, the rise of anti-Semitism is being blamed on the left by conservative groups in both countries, particularly in connection to the student and faculty protests in support of the Palestinians.  Conservatives have conveniently associated these protests with their past general accusations that certain faculties in universities and colleges are spreading liberal or so-called “WOKE” ideologies.  Their arguments push the belief that the protests are anti-Israel and therefore consequently promote anti-Semitism on campus.  The conflict, being such a highly emotive and divisive issue, will no doubt give rise to some slogans and elements that could be construed as anti-Semitism.  On campuses, the protests have understandably made some Jewish students uncomfortable, and in some cases even making them feel somewhat unsafe.  However, most protests have proven to be peaceful in nature and even involve some Jewish bodies opposed to the Israeli government’s actions in Gaza.  They are opposed to the policies of the Netanyahu coalition, the most right-wing and religiously conservative administration in Israel’s history.  The opposition of the Jewish community in North American mirrors many of the current protests in Israel itself motivated by a variety of issues — such as the return of the remaining hostages, ending the war, and frustration with military draft rules that allow exemptions for ultra-Orthodox Jews.  Certainly, one cannot claim that the protests in Israel are anti-Semitic in origin.

Unfortunately, in both countries the student protests have often been met with force, particularly where the police have been brought in to remove encampments on certain campuses.  Ironically, some of the arrested students were of Asian American, Native American and Latino ancestry who simply identified with the plight of Palestinians.  I have argued before that the nature of activism on campuses is nothing particularly new, as evidenced by past student protests against the war in Viet Nam, apartheid in South Africa and universities’ investments in the oil and gas industry.  Most of these protests were peaceful and even supported by some college administrations at the time.

Today, it’s not unusual to have conservative media sources blaming much of the unrest on elements deemed to be leftist, although there is little proof that anti-Semitism is the basis for the protests.  In particular, they downplay the obvious desire of protesters to resolve the humanitarian disaster unfolding in Gaza as a result of the Israeli- Hamas military conflict.  Needless-to-say, the extreme right-wing groups are jumping on an opportunity to promote anti-Semitism where it supports their political aspirations.  The reactions of campus administrations and conservative political leaders lend proof in their views as to the influence of Jewish leaders in North America, especially when it comes to support for Israel.  People conveniently tend to forget the historical foundation for anti-Semitism laid by extreme right-wing, mostly white groups in both countries.  They also forget that such groups promote Islamophobia at the same time, which has led to increasing violence and hate speech against Moslems.  Hopefully, one can better tackle the emerging conspiracy theories surfacing around the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and leveller heads will surface among our leaders, including those on our campuses and in mainstream media.

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Jan 25

Assaults on Canadian Politicians Increases Costs for Security Details

by bcurry

A recent CBC News article highlighted the fact that the cost of keeping Canada’s Prime Minister (PM), Cabinet, and members of Parliament (MPs) safe has hit a record high.  This isn’t really all that surprising given the politicization of such highly contentious issues as past COVID-related government measures and the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  Fortunately, unlike the U.S., Canada has to date never seen a PM or Cabinet member assassinated.  History however has some examples of recent incidents involving lone wolves who attempted to harm a federal politician.  For example, a series of shootings occurred on October 22, 2014 at the National War Memorial and on Parliament Hill involving a lone gunman.  The gunman managed to enter Parliament, but in a shootout with Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officers he was shot  and died at the scene.  In 2020, police arrested an armed man, without incident, who had gained access to the grounds at Rideau Hall, the Governor General’s official residence.  Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his family also live on the property at Rideau Cottage, not far from where the gunman was intercepted by the officers.  In both cases, after further investigation, it became clear that the assaults involved persons with mental health issues exhibiting previously known erratic behavior.  Terrorism was ruled out as a primary motive.

More recently on January 24th at a local level, a heavily armed man fired shots and apparently threw a Molotov cocktail in Edmonton’s city hall.  At the time, Mayor Amarjeet Sohi and several councillors were among the people present for an in-person meeting.  Fortunately, no one was hurt and upon receiving reports of shots fired at city hall, Edmonton Police Service officers arrived within minutes and took one adult male into custody.  The motive of the man isn’t yet known, and officials could not confirm whether or not he was previously known to police.

Since the 2014 incident on Parliament Hill, security has been greatly increased in order to provide better protection for Canada’s 338 members of Parliament (MPs).  Security on the hill involves the RCMP, local police services in Ottawa, the Parliamentary Protective Service and the House of Commons.  As reported by CBC News, during the first nine months of this fiscal year (2023-24), the RCMP spent $2.5 million (Canadian) on security for MPs.  If spending continues at the same pace, it is estimated that the cost of MPs’ security for this fiscal year could hit $3.4 million — almost double what it cost a year earlier.  Reportedly, former federal public safety minister Marco Mendicino said the rising price tag reflects a change in the “threat environment”, especially since the pandemic and the 2022 Ottawa truck convoy protest.  He further noted that there’s no doubt in his mind that the threat environment has escalated over the last couple of years, especially as result of the divisive Middle East crisis in Canada between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli supporters.

Greater harassment of the PM and members of Cabinet has certainly surfaced in recent post-COVID years, especially when they are on speaking tours.  On one occasion for example in August 2022, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was verbally harassed outside an event in Grande Prairie, Alberta.  There was also a very recent incident during which protesters, upset with Canada’s position on the Israel-Hamas war, gathered outside Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly’s home in Montreal.  In addition, there has been an alarming increase in threatening or abusive emails sent to individual MPs.

In general, the PM cannot go anywhere without the potential threat of harassment by anti-Trudeau factions.  As a result, RCMP security details for the PM have been greatly increased, along with the associated mounting costs.  Given the current highly volatile political environment, costlier security for politicians — federal, provincial and local — is likely to remain the new normal.  Canada has always prided itself in terms of being a country where civility and respect predominated the political scene.  All that appears to have changed as evidenced by the mounting verbal and physical harassment associated with recent events surrounding the pandemic and the weeks long truck convoy protest in Ottawa during the winter of 2022.

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Nov 3

Attack on Nancy Pelosi’s Husband was not due to a Mental Illness of Accused Attacker

by bcurry

Let’s first start with a new study out of Columbia University and recently published in Journal of Forensic Sciences which concludes that mental illness is not the cause of the vast majority of mass shootings.  When a domestic terrorist incident occurs involving a mass shooting or an attack on a high-profile person, the first reflective reaction is not to want to completely dismiss mental illness, like psychosis, as the primary cause.  The authors note that this immediate reflex assumption exacerbates “the already widespread stigma surrounding severe mental illness”.  The extensive study concluded that for perpetrators who used firearms, just over 80 percent did not have a mental illness.  Sixty-eight percent of those who used other means for murder, like stabbing, did not have a mental illness, either.  One of the study’s authors, Dr. Ragy R. Girgis, who is the director at the Center of Prevention and Evaluation specializing in studying and treating teens and young adults at high risk for psychoses, like schizophrenia, preferred to focus on the cultural and social drivers behind these types of killings — such as the romanticization of guns and gun violence — rather than on individual predictors.

In the gruesome attack on October 25th on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi, this was carried out by what one refers to as a ‘lone wolf’.  He has to date no clear indication that he was a direct instrument of any extremist group.  In the past years that I’ve been studying ‘radicalization’ of individuals in both the U.S. and Canada, I have found some common traits and factors for lone wolves.  For one, all were male and primarily Caucasian.  These individuals had undergone serious problems with their ‘socialization’ when they were young, often demonstrating loner qualities within somewhat dysfunctional family life and having few real close friends.  These individuals may be particularly vulnerable to extremist messaging and recruitment strategies.  Their social and economic situations tend to lead them to blaming others, tending to be swayed by conspiracy theories, often easily accessed through social media and Web sites run by extremist groups, such as the message board 4chan — a site notorious for extremist discussion.  In the case of Paul Pelosi’s attacker, David DePape, he appears to be a near perfect candidate for extremism and radicalization.  For over two decades, he has been estranged from members of his family in Powell River, British Columbia, including a twin sister.  His stepmother noted that, in his youth, DePape didn’t socialize much at all.  He was also lately estranged from his wife and children.  According to an initial investigation by the Associated Press, it is reported that he is alleged to have published a series of conspiracy rants online.  In recent months, DePape reportedly published hundreds of blog posts sharing memes in support of fringe commentators and far-right personalities.  Many of the posts were filled with screeds against Jews, Black people, Democrats, the media and transgender people.  In addition, DePape may have had suicidal thoughts in carrying out his attack, something pointed out by the Columbia University in the case of mass school shootings where almost half (45.6%) ended with the perpetrator’s suicide.

There have been numerous studies in both countries trying to get into the minds of such predators and killers, and how they can become radicalized.   A criminal investigative psychologist with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Matthew Logan, asserted in 2015 that many radicalized individuals are misfits of society who cling obsessively to “overvalued ideas” as a way to elevate their sense of self.  Jocelyn Bélanger, a professor of psychology at the Université du Québec à Montréal, concluded that when someone feels alienated from society, it is painful.  In turn, one of the quickest ways to assuage that pain is to turn to violence and incite fear.  She also notes that, while there is a dearth of hard evidence linking mental illness and radicalization, ideology often does play an important role in what drives people to radicalize.  Both researchers argue that, while such individuals are usually intolerant of ideas that contradict their own, treatment isn’t out of the question.  Providing individuals with vocational training, stable employment, fair treatment and supportive community connections can steer them onto a more productive track.

Given his history, it will be very difficult to argue that David DePape suffered from a serious mental condition causing his vile actions.  He apparently had clear motive for the attack and had planned and carried out the attack in a systematic way, fully recognizing the Secret Service security afforded to the Pelosi residence.  As in other lone wolf attacks, he proceeded in a deliberate and targeted ego-driven manner in order to achieve the ultimate goal, which, for many, is a “quest for personal significance.”

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Oct 14

When Compared to Americans, Canadians are still Naive about Extremist Groups

by bcurry

Finally, something very interesting is coming out of the House select committee investigating the January 6th 2021 assault on the U.S. Capitol.  Ten days before the attack, a Secret Service field office relayed one tip sent to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) warning that members of the far-right nationalist gang the Proud Boys planned to march, armed, into Washington DC.  For years, federal law enforcement agencies have sounded the alarm about rising threats of far-right violence in congressional testimony, in-depth reports and internal memos.  Months before 2020 presidential election, the FBI issued an intelligence report warning that far-right groups and white supremacists pose a “violent extremist threat” to the U.S. and the 2021 presidential inauguration, which could serve as a “potential flashpoint” for violence.  Even with all this available intelligence, largely because of Donald Trump’s continued provocation and resulting inaction, we know what tragically happened on that day.

Here in Canada, there is similar awareness among government agencies such as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) who are at the forefront of Canada’s national security system.  For years, they have been aware of the activities of foreign and domestic extremist elements operating in Canada.  To be sure, there are linkages and interactions among several far-right groups and white supremacists between Canada and the U.S.  The Internet has simply made the constant communication among such groups all that easier.  This includes platforms and messaging apps like QAnon-hosting 8Kun, Parler, Gab and Telegram; and even such mainstream platforms like Facebook groups and on Instagram stories, Reddit, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.

Despite the evident surveillance of extremists by the RCMP and CSIS in Canada and constant communication with foreign security agencies, including the FBI and Secret Service, most Canadians continue to be unaware of their activities in the country.  The Trucker Convoy, which occupied Canada’s capital last winter for three weeks and set up blockades at U.S.-Canada borders, had several extremist elements behind its planning and illegal operations.  Taken somewhat by surprise, this forced the federal government to take the unprecedented action of invoking the Emergencies Act in order to help end the Trucker Convoy’s activities.  Authorities appeared to have been taken by surprise by the extent to which small groups could carry out such protests in a threatening way and even call for the overthrow and replacement of the current legitimate federal government.

Like in the U.S., Canada has seen a significant polarization of the political spectrum.  Right-wing extreme groups have latched onto Canada’s angry populism, especially during the COVID pandemic and the imposition of vaccine mandates and other restrictions by governments across the country.  In Canada, at the very least, consensus politics is becoming a thing of the past.  For some time, politicians have been blind to the new emerging reality while the liberal mainstream press remains arrogant and complacent.  Indeed, some politicians have even gone as far as to show their vocal support for so-called freedom movements, although they represent a tiny fraction of the overall population.  Governments have had to once again declare that the right to be heard does not include the breaking of laws and any promotion of violence.

For some time now, I have been highlighting the extent to which there have been radicalization movements in both countries.  For example, The Role of Conspiracy Theories in Radicalizing North American White Folk, Potential of Insurgency Grows Everyday in U.S. and Canada, Canada also has its own Right-wing Extremist Groups, Right-wing Extremism is a Growing Concern in North American Communities, and White Extremism in North America is very Worrisome and Dangerous.  As indicated in FBI and Secret Service documents and gathered intelligence prior to the January 6th Capitol assault, there are mounds of evidence regarding the continuing activities of extremist groups in the U.S.  One would hope that Canadian agencies and mainstream media are paying attention so that Canadians won’t be as naïve as they were prior to the Trucker Convoy last winter.

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Jul 18

Potential for Insurgency Grows Everyday in U.S. and Canada

by bcurry

Two recent events in the U.S. and in Canada have clearly illustrated the growth of insurgent groups: the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol and the three week occupation by a Trucker Convoy in Ottawa, Canada, in February of this year.  In both cases, various groups, including radical right extremists, proclaimed openly their intention to overthrow the current governments and forcibly replace them with another regime of some sort.  What these two events clearly illustrated is that these groups have become well organized, funded and are led openly by radicalized leaders.  What is even more clearly evident is that the insurgents are still operating despite many of their leaders and members having been arrested and imprisoned following the above two events.

What is common between the American and Canadian movements is that they are continuing to recruit, especially among ex-military and police veterans.  Several veterans played a significant role in Canada, attempting to garner support and credibility among the public for their causes.  In addition, these individuals bring training and military/law enforcement experience to the movements, as well as contributing intelligence for a movement.  The next inevitable stage is one that leads to the formulation of an armed quasi-militia capable of carrying out a few isolated attacks.  Weapons and explosives were seized in the Capitol attack and at the unlawful Coutts, Alberta, border blockade, with subsequent charges being laid in each case.  Four persons arrested with weapons in Alberta were tied to Canada’s Diagolon far-right extremist militia group, well known to the authorities.  In January 2021, a 22-year-old Canadian man crossed the border into Detroit where the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s “tactical terrorism response team” found an assault rifle and two other guns, plus extremist white-supremacy material on his cellphone.  Connections among American and Canadian white-supremacy groups have been well documented, a number of whom are hoping to promote race and civil wars.

These movements are allowed to grow until you have more open insurgency, when you start to have a series of consistent attacks, and it becomes impossible to ignore.  What is clearly evident is that potential insurgencies tend to be much more decentralized, often fought by multiple groups.  There is not one overall governing group within both countries.  Leadership can most often extend to more local community levels, making recruitment a lot easier and training and planning a lot more difficult for authorities to monitor.  Cases of violent activity are deemed to be isolated cases by local authorities and even ignored, often by law enforcement.  However, when one adds up such events involving threatening protests, one cannot help but conclude that they represent a much larger campaign, organized and funded by extremists.

There will be those who will claim that alluding to insurgency movements is no more than another form of fearmongering.  However, such arguments cannot explain away that certain groups believe that democracies are backsliding.  There’s a clear sense that they firmly believe that governments are not that legitimate.  These are angry people who are unhappy with governments and open to being exploited by insurgent groups.  Unfortunately, some more ‘populist’ politicians, ala Donald Trump, have taken advantage of the situation for political gain.  Some observers claim that this is what is happening inside the Republican Party in the U.S. and among certain leadership hopefuls within the national Conservative Party and in the Peoples Party in Canada.  Unfortunately, appearing publicly alongside or among members of extremist groups can only give more legitimacy to such movements in the eyes of the public at large.

One thing is for certain, democratically elected governments can no longer give a blind eye to the growth of insurgency movements in either country.  Recent events have shown that such movements are openly promoting deliberate and organized attacks on our democratic institutions.  If citizens and their elected officials don’t recognize the potential danger to our democracy, than they are playing a very dangerous game.  We can no longer ignore the growth of these movements, both locally and nationally.  To do so, is to invite even more future violent and unlawful attacks.

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May 17

The Role of Conspiracy Theories in Radicalizing North American White Folk

by bcurry

As the recent tragic shooting and killing of innocent blacks by a young white supremacist in Buffalo, New York, demonstrates, there is the growing role of conspiracy theories.  The racist ‘replacement theory’ has become a common far-right ideology and has been connected to multiple mass shootings carried out by white supremacists, including the 2018 Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, 2019 mosque shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand, a Black church shooting in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015 and the 2019 shooting of Hispanics at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas .  Unfortunately, its central ideas are now promoted not just by violent extremists, but by right wing media personalities like Fox News host Tucker Carlson.

The conspiracy theory’s more racist adherents believe Jews are behind the so-called replacement plan.  Broadly speaking, the roots of this ‘replacement theory’ are deep.  In the U.S., one can point to past and current efforts to intimidate and discourage Black people from voting.  The antagonists’ view this as replacing” white voters at the polls — dating to the Reconstruction era after the 15th Amendment made clear suffrage couldn’t be restricted on account of race.  More recently, white nationalists marching at the Charlottesville, Virginia, rally in 2017 chanted “You will not replace us!” and “Jews will not replace us!”

There are Americans and Canadians who believe in conspiracy ideas about immigrants being brought into the U.S. and Canada as part of a political plot to increase non-white voters in support of so-called ‘liberal’ and ‘left-oriented’ political parties.  Besides Fox News, many of the followers prefer watching right-wing networks such as OANN or Newsmax.  Access to such networks is readily available on both sides of the border, often via the Internet.  Extreme nationalist groups in turn promote such conspiracy theories on their on Web sites.  Thus begins the radicalization of young whites, men in particular.  Regrettably, like other conspiracy theories, the ‘replacement theory’ has even been taken up by some right-wing politicians.  The fact is that such theories have no place in the traditional conservative thinking, and certainly not in their platforms.  In the U.S. in particular, one needs Republicans in particular to disavow such theories.

Don’t think for a moment that this theory is only believed by a small number of Americans.  In a poll released last week, the Associated Press and the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that about 1 in 3 Americans believe an effort is underway to replace U.S.-born Americans with immigrants for electoral gain.  The attention paid by many Republican politicians to what they see as a leaky southern border along the U.S. has been interpreted, at least by some, as a nod to the concern of white people who worry about being “replaced.”

However, while the majority of followers of replacement theory do not overtly promote calls to arms, there are smaller groups of white supremacists who are inclined to support violent tactics.  Indeed, they consider those behind the above noted horrific mass shootings as being saints in their eyes.  They sadly don’t hesitate to use such theories as a means to justify the use of violence.

The question for governments and societies is how to combat the spread of such conspiracy theories and the resulting climate of hate that they support?  There are no easy answers.  It may not be enough to just treat the associated violent behaviour as hate crimes, after the fact.  What is most likely needed is to confront and outright disown such theories and the resulting disinformation, especially emerging from certain media sources.  Political and spiritual leaders have to step up on a daily basis to speak against such divisive conspiracy theories and to promote unity and mutual respect among our citizens.  This will take a massive effort, particularly as hate mongering has simmered in our society for decades.  Much more has to be done to de-radicalize our youth in particular.  De-radicalization is the on-going process of hopefully changing a person’s belief system through such means as peer group and family intervention and various education schemes.

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Mar 12

Why Limited Social Movements Such As The Truckers’ Convoy Fizzle Out

by bcurry

The “People’s Convoy”, which recently numbered about 1,000 vehicles, arrived in Maryland on March 5th.  The convoy had signs and messages referencing far-right political views, pro-Trump  and conspiracy theories, including calls to “arrest Fauci,” referring to White House medical adviser Anthony S. Fauci, and ridiculously equating the mandates to slavery.  Convoy organizers intended to drive the minimum legal speed and increase the number of loops around the Beltway each day to pressure lawmakers and public officials, but not to actually enter the core district of Washington, D.C.  Given what happened during the so-called “Freedom Convoy” illegal occupation in Ottawa, Canada, which lasted over three weeks, police agencies from D.C., Maryland and Virginia are closely monitoring the group.  In addition, hundreds of National Guard members are on stand-by should they be needed to control the protest.

The truckers’ protest is a spin-off of the Canadian version, which has so far fizzled out following the removal and arrests of several protest leaders.  Like the Canadian situation, there are many different complaints and factions among the protesters, some of whom are more radical than others and often represent far right fringe groups.  While the primary protest in Canada appeared to be against vaccine mandates related to the pandemic and other public health measures, there also appeared to be a segment that simply wanted the current federal government to step down and be replaced by some form of alternative governing body.  There was a good deal of American influence on the Canadian convoy as evidenced by pro-Trump and Confederate flags.  In addition, a good deal of funding in support of the protest came from the U.S.  As observers note, what’s already clear is that that success begets imitators.  The Ottawa occupiers’ ability to attract massive financial support and international media attention — while suffering few serious consequences — inspired copycats across Canada, the U.S. and around the world.

While there is little debate over the fact that both the Canadian and American populations have seen even more political division during the pandemic, one has to ask how these intense expressions of anger, sometimes legitimate, will be reflected in the future?  Most enduring social movements tend to focus on single issue causes.  Take for example, the “right-to-life” and “pro-life” movements which have been around for years in both countries.  Then there is the women’s movement for “equal pay and equal opportunities”.  However, there have been those movements which portrayed a scattered issue protest, such as the early 2000’s Occupy movement in the U.S., Canada and other countries.  Started with the Occupy Wall Street in 2011, it primarily focussed on what it referred to as income and wealth inequality between the wealthiest 1 percent and the rest of the population which became the 99 per centers.  The Occupy movement’s goals came to include a vast number of issues including: a reduction in the influence of corporations on politics, more balanced distribution of income, more and better jobs, bank reform, forgiveness of student loan debt, more affordable housing or other relief for indebted students.  Without organized formal leadership, which the Occupy movements deliberately shied away from, the movement soon fizzled away into the history books.

The same outcome could be expected with the recent convoy protests, especially as governments remove more and more public health restrictions and vaccine mandates as a result of declining cases related to the pandemic.  However, this does not mean that the anger of a significant portion of the population will simply disappear.  Some have suggested that the current mistrust of government and the authorities will continue into the future, hopefully to be reflected through the ballot boxes in both countries.  The economy will be the next big issue, notably the impact of hyperinflation, including high gas prices, on the average American and Canadian.  Employment issues surrounding the economic recovery from the pandemic and a possible recession will stand out as major issues for governments and businesses.  Lower income and blue collar workers have been particularly affected and wages have not kept up with the current cost of living increases.  Whether a new protest movement results from the new socioeconomic and political circumstances, only time will tell?  Given past history, I would see future protest movements as being entirely inevitable, in one form or another.

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Feb 24

Unfair Condemnation by American Mainstream Media of Canada’s Invocation of the Federal Emergencies Act

by bcurry

For the first time since its creation, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act, giving the government far reaching powers, allowing the government to freeze financial accounts, press tow truck operators into service and end blockades.  As required, limited to an initial thirty day period, the invocation of the Act was subsequently debated in Parliament.  However, on February 23rd, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau withdrew the law, stating that it was no longer necessary because illegal protests that included blockades at some border crossings and the occupation in downtown Ottawa were no longer considered an emergency.  He said the federal government is confident existing laws and bylaws are now sufficient to keep people safe.  No one’s peaceful “right to protest” was ever affected, as long as no laws were being broken.

Interestingly but not surprising, mainstream media in the U.S. came down hard for the most part on the use of the Emergencies Act to deal with the border blockades and Ottawa occupation by the so-called “Freedom Convoy.”  Mainstream media is a term and abbreviation used to refer collectively to the various large mass news media that influence many people, and both reflect and shape prevailing currents of thought.  Major outlets such as the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times and Fox News threw in their lot with the truckers — or at least, the truckers’ right to protest.  However, while the Canadian protests where not as violent against COVID-related mandates as occurred in Europe, the protesters did block the Coutts (Alberta) and Windsor-Detroit border crossings for over a week and occupied downtown of the National Capital of Ottawa for over three weeks.  The courts declared that these blockades and occupations were illegal and ordered protesters to reframe from such activities.  In order to carry out the resulting injunctions, the province of Ontario called upon the federal government to provide whatever assistance that it could.  Hence, the invocation of the Emergencies Act on February 14th.   Over two-thirds of Canadians polled approved of the Act’s invocation.

What the Act achieved was to allow all national, provincial and local police services across Canada to collaborate in the removal of illegal blockades and occupations.  Up to then, protesters, often with leadership involving fringe groups, had thumbed their noses at municipal police services.  The Act also went after the funding sources for the protesters’ illegal activities, often provided for by right-wing American sources (U.S.-based crowdfunding websites) initially through GoFundMe and later through GiveSendGo — resulting in millions of dollars worth of support.  More than half of the funding came from American sources, clearly representing foreign involvement in the domestic affairs of Canada.  None of the American mainstream media really caught on to this new phenomenon until GoFundMe froze the funding and the GiveSendGo funding website was hacked into, disclosing several large contributions originating in the U.S.  While the federal government asked Canadian financial institutions to freeze the accounts of the convoy protesters to encourage them to reframe from continuing illegal activities, it was designed to primarily target the accounts of many of the known leaders.  With discontinuation of the powers provided for under the Emergencies Act, the accounts should no longer be frozen for persons reframing from illegal activities.

Indeed, as in any democratic society, the Act was created in 1988 to ensure compliance with Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms and was to used as a last resort in the event of national emergencies.  There is little doubt that its use will be challenged by various groups and certain Conservative provincial governments in the courts.  While there appears to be no similar piece of legislation in the U.S., any suggestion that the Act’s invocation removed the democratic rights of Canadians has be overblown and misunderstood by American mainstream media.  While one can appreciate such a reaction by the so-called “alternate media”, I find the editorials in most U.S. media to be an overreach.  At no time during the Act’s implementation was the “due process” under existing laws not carried out.  Those being charged by the authorities under Canada’s Criminal Code will have their day in court, and many were released with or without bail until their appearance in court.  All the normal judicial processes were carried out under very difficult circumstances.  I would hope that most Americans would support this?

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Feb 18

Debate Over Introduction of Emergencies Act to Deal With Trucker Protests in Canada

by bcurry

During the last three weeks Canada has been faced with protests related to a trucker convoy which are against government mandated COVID-related vaccines and public health restrictions.  Although blockades at the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, Ontario and at the Coutts, Alberta, border crossingwere removed by heavy police operations, the illegal occupation of the country’s capital, Ottawa, had continued.  As a result, the Cabinet of Justin Trudeau’s federal government administration invoked the Emergencies Act.  The federal Act gives the government far reaching powers, allowing the government to freeze financial accounts, press tow truck operators into service and end blockades.  While the Act immediately takes effect, there is a requirement under the Act to table the legislation in Parliament within seven days.  The measures are time-limited to 30 days, but could be extended.  The current invocation is primarily restricted to enforcement at Ottawa’s illegal occupation and at any blockades at U.S.-Canada border points.  In addition, the Premier of Ontario, Doug Ford, declared a state of emergency in the province to clear crucial border crossings, with vehicle licence seizures among the tools at its disposal.

Of course, there are those who believe the Emergencies Act is not needed and is an overreach.  The Canadian Civil Liberties Association has launched a suit against the federal government, claiming that its invocation is in violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.  In Parliament, some opposition parties such as the Conservative Party and the Bloc Quebecois have stated their opposition to the measure, believing that it is not necessary to resolve the issues.  Meanwhile, the residents and businesses of downtown Ottawa have faced numerous serious problems because of safety concerns, forcing many businesses to be shut down during the three-week old occupation.  As a result, a class action suit against the occupation organizers has now ballooned to a $306-million claim for the disruption to lives and livelihoods from the occupation.

It has to be remembered that the Emergencies Act was created in 1988 as the modern-day replacement to the previous War Measures Act.  The infamous October Crisis refers to a chain of events that took place in Quebec in the fall of 1970 when a terrorist group known as the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) kidnapped British trade commissioner James Cross and Quebec Minister of Immigration and Minister of Labour Pierre Laporte, who was eventually murdered while in captivity.  The then Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau invoked the War Measures Act, which was the only law available at the time to deal with national emergencies.  This led to the presence of military on Canadian streets to supplement the local police, the suspension of normal civil liberties and the authorization of arrests and detentions without charge.  Hundreds of people were arrested and charged under the Act, mostly in Quebec.  Most historians and jurists believe that that Act’s invocation was definitely an overreach, and something extraordinary that could never occur within the U.S. under its constitution.

This is why the Emergencies Act was written to ensure compliance with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and provides for a number of safeguards to ensure its limited use.  The primary question revolves around just what constitutes a national emergency, and its implementation cannot be compared to what happened during the October Crisis of 1970.  A number of guidelines exist within the Act which has not been used since it was written in 1988.  The week-long closure of the Ambassador Bridge and Coutts, Alberta, border crossing definitely has a lot to do with the government’s decision, since there was a huge economic impact on U.S.-Canadian cross border trade.  Auto manufacturers in particular were forced to close down some manufacturing assembly on both sides of the border due to the negative effects on ‘just-in-time’ components.  Other large businesses also complained of the negative effects on the already stretched supply chains, beyond what were caused by the pandemic. 

There is little doubt that there are some extremist domestic and foreign elements that climbed on board the so-called “Freedom Convoy.”  These known provocateurs are using the truckers’ protest to promote their own agenda.  Time will tell what the eventual impact on ultra-right movements will be after the end of their illegal activities. Hopefully, the Emergencies Act will not become a regular go-to tool for governments in the future.

Canada COVID-19 Economy Extremist Groups

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May 19

Clashes Between Israeli and Palestinian Supporters Increase in Canada

by bcurry

In the past week, clashes between Israeli and Palestinian supporters occurred in Canadian cities, especially in two of the largest, Toronto and Montreal.  Palestinian protests occurred primarily as a result of the most recent conflict over religious sites in the old city of Jerusalem.  However, the ongoing strife is decades old and is centered in Gaza, with its two million Palestinians, and where the radical group Hamas is situated.  It has been seven years since the last significant conflict with Hamas, and 16 since the last major Palestinian uprising, or intifada.  In addition, the level of destruction and loss of life in Gaza has underlined the humanitarian challenge in the enclave, already suffering under the weight of an indefinite blockade by Israel and Egypt even before the latest conflict.  Past wars and the blockade, according to a report last year by the United Nations, have left Gaza with “the world’s highest unemployment rate” and more than half of its population living below the poverty line. Then there are the planned Israeli expulsions of Palestinians from their homes in Jerusalem.  There is also Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu whose government has been complacent, nurtured by more than a decade of right-wing governments that treated Palestinian demands for equality and statehood as a problem to be contained, not resolved.  His argument for bombing Gaza sites is that Israel has a right to defend itself from rockets launched by Hamas into Israel.

The current military clashes between Hamas in Gaza and Israel have resulted in losses on both sides.  They have led to the worst violence between Israelis and Palestinians in years – not only in the conflict with Hamas.  At last count, they have killed at least 149 people in Gaza and 10 in Israel, as well as a wave of mob attacks in mixed Arab-Jewish cities in Israel itself.  It is estimated that more than 1,000 Gazans have been wounded in the Israeli offensive, and hospitals and clinics have been damaged, including the only clinic dispensing much needed COVID-19 tests and vaccines.  Needless-to-say, it can be understood why emotions are running high among pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli groups in Canada.

Montreal and Toronto in particular have fairly large communities of Jews and Palestinians. Unfortunately, protests by supporters in both communities have resulted in some violence and subsequent arrests of protesters.  In addition, Canadian Jewish leaders now warn of potential spike in anti-Semitic violence not seen since the last round of Gazan violence in 2014.  The political temperature seems higher, some blaming this as the result of the presence of much more prominent anti-Israeli rhetoric on social media.  Of course, the mayors of both cities, Quebec’s and Ontario’s premiers and the Prime Minister condemned any violence associated with the protests as being unacceptable.  The PM condemned the “despicable rhetoric and violence we saw on display in some protests this weekend.”  However, one must expect that existing groups promoting anti-Semitism will increase their attacks on social media and in the streets.  I do trust nonetheless that the vast majority of Palestinian and Jewish Canadians believe in our democratic values and especially in peaceful protest.  While the issues are particularly emotional to both groups, one can only hope that their reactions will be more moderate and non-violent.  Every Canadian has the right to express their views in a respectful and peaceful manner, without spewing hatred on-line or elsewhere.  Cooler heads need to prevail!

Canada Extremist Groups Israel

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