EDITORIAL – No surprise that trucker convoy lost control of the message
(Image: C TV screenshot)
An editorial by Mel Rothenburger.
THE UGLINESS OF THE MOB MENTALITY played out in Ottawa on the weekend as the so-called Freedom Convoy of truckers cluttered up the Parliament Hill precinct.
Its supporters are complaining about the way the “fake news” mainstream media are reporting the event.
They grouse about the protest being referred to as an “anti-vaccine mandate” event, and about the tone of news reports that supposedly don’t reflect the real intent and reality of it.
True, no major violence has been reported, but it’s had some outstanding deeds of disrespect. Ottawa police say they’re investigating several incidents for possible criminality.
Maybe that’s because protesters urinated on the National War Memorial and danced on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
And because nearby residents complained of protesters defecating on their lawns.
And because staff and volunteers at a homeless shelter say they were harassed with demands for food, and one client was allegedly assaulted.
Or maybe because a large “Mandate Freedom” sign and an upside-down Canadian flag were hung on a statue of our beloved Terry Fox.
Meanwhile, a number of downtown businesses closed their doors as a safety precaution. Sunday, a news-media crew said it was surrounded and harassed to the point it vacated the area.
Protest organizers can insist all they want that these were isolated incidents but they have to wear it. When members of a protest bring out Confederate and Nazi flags, placards that employ foul language and advocate the overthrow of a democratically elected government, you know something’s wrong with the picture.
Protesters vow to stay “as long as it takes,” until Justin Trudeau resigns, the Liberal Party is abolished and/or the vaccine mandates are repealed.
It should surprise no one that the message has been lost among all this bluster and confusion. The convoy and the protest will be remembered as just another publicity stunt that featured idiotic acts of disrespect and unattainable demands.
They should all go home.
Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops and a retired newspaper editor. He is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a director on the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.
ArmchairMayor.ca 
And, you are part of the problem. You sound just like Trudeau.
Mel I used to read your articles back when you had something meaningful to say. If you want to stay relevant than you are going to have to get onto youtube or social media and see what bloggers are live streaming and what independent journalists are actually reporting about what is actually going on on the ground. If you want to go exstinct with the state funded main stream media spindoctoctors who currate the news to fit a predetermined narrative then by all means carry on. Im actually really surprised by how many rational thinkers are falling for the CBCs villification of a massive and ever growing portion of everday Canadians. Dismissal of the true nature of the protest is a convinient way to not have to think.
I can’t resist to reply to this anonymous comment. Almost 90% of “everyday Canadians” are vaccinated with no lingering issues. And apparently you still read Mel’s articles…I don’t know why but obviously you still do. Isn’t that something!
I think you’re missing the point, Mel. The rally didn’t gain steam until the white supremacists starting helping with the organization. This wasn’t a case of “mob mentality” unexpectedly tarnishing an event. None of this was spontaneous–it was planned.The truckers and the people who attended were co-opted by a bunch of organizations with agendas which are quite a bit more right-wing.
Yeah the “white supremacists” clearly organized thousands of notoriously independent truckers and tricked tens of thousands of people to line their route on over passes and road sides and cheer them on.
They also slyly entrapped all the Sikh and black truckers to join their white supremacy parade. They cleverly drafted a Jew, a Métis woman and a stubble jumper to act as spokespersons for the convoy… boy howdy those white supremacists are a crafty lot.
Alternatively, you, like Mel are dyed in the wool liberal hack who supports what is arguably the single most incompetent Prime Minister in Canadian history and his clown car Cabinet of hacks and grifters.
At some point in the not too distant future the truth about what has been inflicted upon us is going to gush forth and there won’t be enough Liberal friendly law firms and judges to save their sorry lying butts.
Sad, but true. We must remember that the word democracy traces its roots to the Greek word “demos,” meaning “mob.” Centuries of civilization have penetrated only the surface, and we must remember that joining something larger than the individual demands the sacrifice…usually of self, judgement, and autonomy…sometimes a mindless sacrifice..Canada has been insulted, and those who urinated..literally or figuratively…on our history and freedoms deserve only contempt. Let us hope that a new Hitler does not arise….I fear he would be less opposed than welcomed…..open your eyes., Canada….rot, like puss, comes from within…..and indicates serious danger.
Any and all decency and nobility in the original intent was co-opted by the mindless masses of hedonistic fools, most of whom would not know an ideal from a fire hydrant…..whether one is Christian or other, a return of Christ would, I am sure, produce a similar result…the basic irrationality and animality of mankind…the mob…not worth logic or sympathy…only contempt..
They make me ashamed to share the name Canadian with them.
It sure was a “demonstration”…for ignorance and worse. Those people need to be told there is a difference between “liberty” and disrespectful, self-centered behaviour.