Celebrating Canada Day and exercising one’s Charter rights amounts to “terrorism,” according to many left-wing Canadians on social media.
A large trucker convoy, calling itself the “Canada Day Convoy,” has plans to come to Ottawa on Canada Day for a “peaceful protest.” The group is looking for the government to lift the remaining mandates and to award back-pay to fired Federal workers.
The group also stated it is demanding Justin Trudeau resign as Prime Minister and “surrender” himself to the RCMP. It is unclear what crime the group is accusing Trudeau of committing.
The sensational and hyperbolic statements by the group were met with blowback by hard-left social media users, describing the upcoming protest as being an act of “sedition,” or even “terrorism.”
Hard-left Twitter user Ian Morrison, who describes himself as a “politics major and DevOps engineer,” criticized the planned convoy, stating it is not about “freedom.”
Instead, he likens the protesters to terrorists and seditionists. It is notable that Morrison is not a lawyer, and peaceful protest is protected by the Charter.
“A democratic society welcomes debate and disagreement on the key issues of the day, and protest is a big part of this process,” according to the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA).
Vicki Campbell, another hard-left Twitter user, has accused the upcoming protest of being an “insurrection.” It is notable that the Canada Day Convoy never explicitly mentioned violence, or a plan to overthrow the government.
Demanding the resignation of a prime minister, even during a protest, is not illegal in Canada, and is actually very common.
According to the Canada Day Convoy Twitter page, the group is planning a “peaceful” protest and there will be “zero tolerance,” for bad behaviour or crime. It appears this message was lost on people, that continue to mislabel and defame the peaceful protest movement.
The original Freedom Convoy was “largely peaceful,” as reported by the New York Times. Not a single charge of sedition or treason was laid against any of the protesters.
The most common charge laid was criminal mischief. Some of the previous organizers, including Pat King, are still in prison.
