Justin Trudeau has finally taken action against the Freedom Convoys and their supporters. The spirit and popularity of the movement suggest this problem is not going away. 

Since 29 January 2022, spontaneous popular revolts continue to occur across Canada. In opposition to government-ordered anti-COVID measures, such as universal vaccination, mask wearing and limits to public gatherings, these actions have taken the form of truck convoys, supported by numerous populist elements and hostile to the minority Liberal government led by Justin Trudeau.

The Crisis

Protesters were initially inspired by a new measure from the Canadian federal government that required truckers to provide proof of vaccination at Canada-US border crossings. Like-minded citizens have flocked to sites where the convoys have blocked traffic and movement of goods. Nowhere is the crisis more evident than where it began in Ottawa, the federal capital. There the city centre has been sealed off by more than 400 trucks and their supporters.

Though these citizens are angry about vaccine mandates, the roots of the rebellion go far deeper. One might suppose that after two years of relative confinement, protests were bound to occur. The pandemic has put enormous pressure on governments around the world to protect their citizenry from the spread of COVID-19 variants. Though many Canadians wish the blockades would disappear, a substantial minority perceive the anti-COVID-19 measures as illegitimate and unwarranted, especially as we appear to be moving inexorably towards a fortuitous end to the two-year pandemic, followed by an illusory return to “normal life.”

The rebellion has spread across the country and blocked the Ambassador Bridge, the busiest land border crossing between Windsor and Detroit. The bridge carries 25 percent of all trade between Canada and the US, with 8,000 commercial vehicles crossing each day. The blocking of the Ambassador Bridge prompted American President Joe Biden to call Prime Minister Trudeau on 11 February to insist on clearing the trucks from the bridge. This was done over the 12-13 February weekend with a massive show of federal and provincial police. Meanwhile, other border crossings have been blockaded, restricting the flow of goods and people. The city of Ottawa remains under siege, and the rebellion is present at land borders in Western Canada, with demonstrations in many major cities. 

The situation has been monitored by international media and it appears that the Canadian truckers have provided inspiration for likeminded groups in other countries to follow suit — among them Australia, New Zealand, France, Belgium, and Israel. South of the border, there are fears that a similar show of force might occur with significant security and economic consequences. So far, in Canada, protesters have been unarmed and mainly peaceful.

In the USA, ex-President Donald Trump has embraced the protestors, now known as “Freedom Convoys.” There are concerns that the Canadian truckers are being fuelled by funds from right-wing political factions in the USA. The degree of organisation of these protests indicates a level of sophistication that most Canadian police and security forces can only dream of. American support suggests that these demonstrations are far more orchestrated than originally believed. They are more than a match for local police security forces, as evidenced by the continuing gridlock in the national capital, as it now enters its third week.

The Response

The convoys have highlighted serious structural problems in the Canadian national security apparatus with provinces, cities, and the federal government blaming each other for absent or ineffective counter measures. Under pressure from COVID-19 and popular outrage over draconian measures taken to stem the virus, Canada’s constitutional federalism, which is based on the sharing of power and responsibility for public security, has proven fatally imbued with an ineffective “pass the buck” style of public management. At several points during the crisis, Trudeau and Premier Doug Ford of Ontario simply disappeared. In the case of Ford, accusations of political nepotism have been levelled against him, since Windsor and Ottawa are opposition party strongholds opposed to Ford’s centre right-wing government, up for re-election in the near future. This may explain Ford’s absence and his unwillingness to provide support to Ottawa police, including crippling delays in clearing the busy Ambassador Bridge.

Canadian political leadership has been unable to provide timely and effective counter measures to prevent the convoys from occupying border crossings and the city of Ottawa. The only positive point is that inaction and apathy have resulted in few injuries to either the public or security forces. The entire crisis has emboldened opposition to the Trudeau administration and led some protesters to demand the removal of the government. This has prompted some observers to draw parallels to the pro-Trump right-wing storming of the Capitol in Washington in January 2021. Canadian media, seeking to destabilise the protests and discourage participants, have emphasised this point. What the two protests do have in common is the claim that the government is in some way illegitimate and exceeding its constitutional authority.

Polls and street numbers suggest that the crisis has undermined public confidence in government and is fuelling discontent across the political spectrum. Poor management of the crisis has seen cracks develop within the Liberal Party caucus.

The Demonstrators

The demonstrators are a mixed bag and not limited to those who oppose government-ordered vaccine mandates. Many dislike the Trudeau government and sense that the mandates exceed the authority of the state, even during a pandemic. Support for the protests is fairly even throughout the country, ignoring the traditional French-English divide. As truckers and supporters made their trip to Ottawa and other demonstration sites, public shows of support, and assistance were frequently observed.

Although having unseated its leader amid the crisis, the federal Conservative Party, which originally supported the siege of Ottawa and provided ground support, has now reversed course calling on truckers to return home based on the need to promote economic prosperity and law and order.

The government has misjudged the scale and spontaneity of the truckers’ actions. It has also underestimated the temper of the crowd. In temperatures reaching minus 30 degrees, these citizens, many of whom were accompanied by their children, braved the snow and bitter cold of the Canadian winter to express their distaste for perceived excessive state power. Right or wrong, they believe themselves to be patriots upholding the democratic freedoms that all Canadians should enjoy.

This is a very real crisis of public confidence in Canadian democracy and their leaders. It is not only an opposition movement against vaccine mandates. The movement spans a host of other complaints, the most important of which calls into question a government suggesting that these mandates are for the good of the people but forgetting that, in democracy, legitimacy flows from the people, first and foremost.

Finally, in desperation, the Trudeau government decided to implement emergency legislation on 14 February, allowing it to govern by decree for 30 days and conferring draconian powers to security forces in the hope that they can end the revolt. The legislation must get approval from Parliament to become law.

The truckers’ blockade has struck a chord with a population suffering from COVID-19 fatigue and plagued by a government that is content to continue politics as usual in defiance of probative public questioning. It is unclear whether the new emergency law will fix the problem. Several provinces including Québec have already rejected the concept, harkening back to the memory of the last emergency legislation, which brought the Canadian army to the streets of Montréal in 1970 during the FLQ crisis. Much damage has been done to the country’s international reputation and its leadership. Its implementation is more a political attempt to save the minority Trudeau government than promoting a plan to fix the revolt. A cogent and timely use of existing powers could have saved Canadian political and security actors from this national quagmire.  

Dr Bruce Mabley is the director of the Mackenzie-Papineau Group think tank based in Montreal devoted to analysis of international politics. Dr Mabley is a former Canadian diplomat and academic who has written a number of analytical and academic texts. In 2002, he was decorated by the French Republic as Chevalier des Palmes académiques.

This article is published under a Creative Commons License and may be republished with attribution.