Internet vendors are cashing in on the Canadian trucker craze, selling T-shirts that bear the national flag and messages such as “Proud Member of a Small Fringe Minority with Unacceptable Views.” Multiple options are available from dozens of sellers on sites such as Etsy, where shoppers can also choose from coffee mugs, baseball caps, and auto decals. Etsy vendor Tracy Connors told The New American that business has exploded since she listed her “small fringe” merchandise. Somewhat ironically, TeeChip offers facemasks displaying freedom messages. Even Amazon peddles the extensive Canadian Truckers brand, which includes tanks, sweatshirts, hoodies, and PopSockets.
The messages mock Justin Trudeau’s disdainful words about Freedom Convoy 2022, a movement of truckers and supporters protesting the prime minister’s onerous COVID restrictions. Trudeau scorned them in televised speeches last week as the caravan of trucks grew to more than 50 miles long, rolling from British Columbia’s Pacific coast toward the nation’s capital city of Ottawa, and from other areas to the north, east, and south. Thousands of Canadians cheered them along the way; more than 100,000 have donated $10+ million to their GoFundMe appeal.
GoFundMe Paused
The fundraiser is paused at present for what the site describes as a “review to ensure it complies with our terms of service and applicable laws and regulations.” Newsweek falsely claims that this is the second time the crowdfunding site has suspended the truckers’ access to money raised, for fear that the funds would be misused. But convoy organizers exposed this as fake news in their first press conference in Ottawa earlier this week, banning from that meeting all news outlets that had spread the lie.
Since then, a team of lawyers with the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) is assisting the truckers with legal needs that arise during their protest. In a press conference Thursday, JCCF representative Keith Wilson explained that GoFundMe has “exercised due diligence which we welcome” in response to attempted campaign hacks. He explained that Freedom Convoy is now incorporated as a not-for-profit in Canada, and GoFundMe is holding funds in trust until appropriate bank accounts are established.
“This morning, our lawyer sent GoFundMe all the details they have asked for,” convoy organizer Tamara Lich told reporters. “I am hoping to hear from GoFundMe soon, so that we can get the money to the truckers and keep our protest for freedom moving forward.” However, she also noted that so far “no one from the federal, provincial or municipal government has spoken directly with us. Instead, they are using you, the media, to portray us as racists, misogynists, and even terrorists.” She defended her compatriots: “The reality is that members of this freedom movement are average, peace loving and law abiding citizens from all walks of life, who are fed up with being disrespected and bullied by our government.”
Trudeau Tucks Tail
Pundits say one of those bullies has tucked tail. Just hours before his “fringe minority” arrived in Ottawa last Saturday, Trudeau skipped town.
“Critics mock ‘puppet’ Trudeau for fleeing capital during truckers protest,” headlines Fox News, while Tucker Carlson observed, “This is how despots act when they fear they’re about to be overthrown.” U.S. Representative Chip Roy (R-Texas) tweeted, “Is there a more gutless and cowardly display than a tyrant on the run?”
Meanwhile, “fringe minority” t-shirts are popular amidst throngs on the streets of Ottawa these days. Reporting for The Counter Signal, Keean Bexte tweeted an on-the-street interview with a protester sporting one.
“Your shirt says ‘fringe minority’, but it doesn’t look like a fringe minority here. In fact, it seems to be Justin Trudeau that’s in the minority,” Bexte commented.
“I don’t think there’s anything ‘fringe’ about it,” the man responded. “You know, when only 20 percent of the population votes for you to run the country, I think it gets pretty tough for you to call anybody a minority.”
“Are you upset that [Trudeau] took the week off?” Bexte asked.
“I love it!” came the quick answer. “I think he’s a coward. It’s what he’s been best at.”
U.S. Truckers on the Move
Across the border in the United States, the Canadian truckers are stirring patriotic zeal. At a rally in Conroe, Texas over the weekend, former president Donald Trump praised the movement. “The Canadian truckers — you’ve been reading about it — who are resisting bravely these lawless mandates and doing more to defend American freedom than our own leaders by far. And we want those great Canadian truckers to know that we are with them all the way. They’re really showing something.”
A group of U.S. truckers is taking the cue, planning a cross-country trip from California to Washington, D.C., beginning March 1, to protest vaccine mandates. But Convoy to DC 2022 hit a roadblock on Wednesday when Facebook took down its page without notice. Jeremy Johnson, admin for the convoy group, told Fox News that the move is “censorship at its finest.” He said that Facebook also removed his personal account. “They like to silence people that speak the truth,” Johnson explained. Fox News quoted a statement from Facebook claiming, “We have removed this group for repeatedly violating our policies around QAnon,” equating it with conspiracy network that incites violence.
To such accusations, co-organizer Brian Brase responded, “There is no intention of any ill-will…. This is to end the mandates, and we’re doing so peacefully.” He explained that they have been carefully planning logistics with residents, business owners, and law enforcement along the planned route and getting permission to stop in various locations. The convoy has met overwhelming support: “Some are even offering fuel at cost,” said Brase. “It’s about America. It’s about our Constitutional rights.”
Asked what they hope to accomplish with Convoy to DC 2022, organizer Mike Landis told Fox News, “People … are fed up with the government overreach and the way that they do not follow the Constitution in this country anymore.” He pointed out a positive spin to Facebook’s censorship: It’s “obviously starting to get someone’s attention.”
