Accusations against the truckers are vicious and baseless

Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly does not mince words when attacking the truckers and ordinary Canadians who are now protesting peacefully in Ottawa. The truckers plan to stay until the Charter rights and freedoms that politicians took away from Canadians 23 months ago are restored.

Chief Sloly publicly accuses the truckers of engaging in "unlawful" and "harmful" activities, and of promoting "hatred" and "violence," but provides no examples, facts, or arrests to support his accusations. The Chief calls for "order" to be "restored" even though "order" has not been lost. His fact-free rhetoric includes mention of an "increasingly volatile" and "increasingly dangerous" situation. As though speaking for an oppressive regime, Chief Sloly has repeatedly called for an "end" to the exercise of the fundamental Charter freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly by Canadians in their own capital city.

GoFundMe took its cue from Chief Sloly and refused to release the funds from thousands of donors who gave millions in support of the truckers' peaceful protest. On its website, GoFundMe claims to have "evidence" from law enforcement that "the previously peaceful demonstration has become an occupation, with police reports of violence and other unlawful activity." As if bouncy castles for kids, farmers with their tractors, cowboys on their horses, impromptu street hockey, live music, and flags from all nations are a violent foreign invasion.

Without referencing any evidence, GoFundMe accused the Freedom Convoy of engaging in "an abuse of power" (the protesters have no power) and of supporting "hate, violence, harassment, bullying, discrimination, terrorism, and intolerance ..." Freedom Convoy is now accepting donations at www.givesendgo.com/FreedomConvoy2022.

The accusations of Chief Sloly and GoFundMe are invented out of thin air, and discredited by thousands of videos and photographs showing truckers shoveling snow, feeding the homeless, and behaving responsibly and respectfully. But in woke 2022, who needs facts when attacking political opponents? Prime Minister Trudeau has compared Canada's peaceful truckers to Americans who stormed the U.S. Capitol Buildings in January 2021, stating "Having a group of people who disagree with the outcome of an election who want to go a different way and bring in an alternative government is a non-starter in a responsible democracy.”

Mr. Trudeau has also likened the "small fringe minority" of truckers (with their "unacceptable views") to "those who hurl insults and abuse at small business workers and steal food from the homeless,” "those who fly racist flags ... and engage in vandalism or dishonor the memory of our veterans” and express "hateful rhetoric, violence towards fellow citizens and a disrespect not just of science but of the frontline health workers.” At least the Prime Minister is consistent, having previously described Canadians who don't want the COVID mRNA shots as racist, misogynist, anti-science extremists who should not be tolerated.

The bias of Trudeau-funded media is such that if any member of the Freedom Convoy had engaged in violence, damaged property or broken the law, the "mainstream" or "establishment" media would have gleefully reported on it. Yet no media outlet provides any actual evidence of any member of the Freedom Convoy breaking any laws. No arrests have been made. No charges have been laid. In fact, crime has been down since the truckers arrived.

There are photographs of someone carrying a Nazi flag, but nobody knows who this person is, even with True North offering $6,500 to anyone who can confirm the identity of that one (politically planted?) individual. There is no evidence this individual was associated or affiliated with the Freedom Convoy.

A more realistic picture of what is happening in Ottawa will soon be revealed by sworn affidavits filed in a court action. Zexi Li seeks an injunction to silence the horn-honking in Ottawa.

One of the witnesses in the court action has stated under oath that truckers and their supporters "are feeding the homeless on Wellington Street and filling their backpacks with food. Truckers have taken a whole trailer full of food to the homeless shelter. Truckers are maintaining the cleanliness of city streets, including picking up discarded masks on the ground, ..."

An Ottawa resident claims that "the truckers I have interacted with have, at all times, been friendly, courteous, humble, considerate and peaceful. I have not observed any aggressive or inappropriate behaviours." He says the truckers are diverse, including Sikhs, Blacks, Aboriginals and others. He has "observed truckers decorating the tomb of the unknown soldier with flowers and guarding it" and has "not seen any violent or threatening behaviour." He notes that "the truckers do not honk their horns at night. My everyday life has not been disrupted by any noise related to the Freedom Convoy during the day." He asserts: "My ability to park and to travel in downtown Ottawa, or to and from Parliament Hill has not been impeded by the presence of the truckers."

Another Ottawa resident, who works for Statistics Canada, describes reality on the ground as follows: "The protesters were peaceful and respectful, I saw no violence or harassment. I was not impeded in any way, and could walk about freely and safely. I did not see any hateful symbols, in fact, I saw an abundance of Canada flags and Quebec flags as well as countless signs calling for freedom and the end of COVID-related mandates."

He reports that "there were dozens of trucks along Wellington Street. They would intermittently sound their horns but it was not constant. Many people walked the streets peacefully protesting. Many of them carried Canada flags and signs. It was a peaceful and fun atmosphere with dancing and public speakers taking turns at a microphone while people listened on. I did not observe anyone being harassed or intimidated. I felt totally safe." He passed by the Terry Fox statue in front of Parliament Hill on Monday, Tuesday and Friday, and states: "Contrary to what I have seen in the media, I did not see that the Terry Fox statue was desecrated or defaced in any way. In fact, I saw flowers at the feet of the statue as demonstrators walked by. My everyday life has not been disrupted by any noise related to the downtown demonstrations. I do not hear any honking near my home. The only honking I have heard is on Wellington Street, particularly across from Parliament Hill."

Bear in mind that these witnesses can be cross-examined by Zexi Li's lawyers. These witnesses are required to answer all questions under oath. They face serious consequences if they lie. In stark contrast, Chief Sloly and Mr. Trudeau are not speaking under oath, will not be questioned by lawyers, and face no consequences for lying. Which people do you see as more credible?

Lawyer John Carpay is president of the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (jccf.ca) which represents Freedom Convoy.