For over a month, Canada has been rocked by a “Freedom Convoy” of demonstrators and vehicle blockades that ultimately converged on the capital city of Ottawa in protest of COVID-19 vaccine mandates and restrictions. Having garnered support from conservative media, some members of Canada’s parliament, and prominent online voices like Elon Musk and Jordan Peterson, the convoy quickly became a cultural and political flashpoint that revealed both how the far right is mobilizing and how the left needs to respond. In this segment of The Marc Steiner Show, Marc speaks with Canadian journalists Emily Leedham and Dru Oja Jay about their experience covering the convoy, the mix of organic and astroturfed grievances that were on display, and what the demonstrations say about the terrain of right-wing politics in Canada today.
Emily Leedham is the Prairies Reporter for PressProgress, an award-winning non-profit news organization in Canada that focuses on holding the rich and powerful accountable, exposing unfair and unhealthy working conditions and shining a light on hate and bigotry. She has been reporting on the “Freedom Convoy” for PressProgress and Jacobin. Dru Oja Jay is the publisher of The Breach, an independent Canadian media outlet producing critical journalism mapping a just, viable future. He was also the publisher of The Dominion paper and a co-founder of the Media Co-op. Along with Nikolas Barry-Shaw, he is the co-author of the book Paved with Good Intentions: Canada’s Development NGOs from Idealism to Imperialism.
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Read the transcript of this interview: https://therealnews.com/how-should-the-left-respond-to-the-freedom-convoy
Pre-Production/Studio: Dwayne Gladden
Post-Production: Stephen Frank, Dwayne Gladden
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Gee… You REALLY want to go there? The "LEFT"… That's an OXYMORON as they "think" they are right (as in correct) on EVERYTHING! The ENTIRE ideals of what the "LEFT" used to be has now become nothing more than a BREEDING GROUND for COMMUNISM – PLAIN & SIMPLE! It's funny tho that those in POWER (democrats I mean) around the nation all seem to be getting RICHER each and every DAY while the common person is getting POORER & POORER at the same time (your current Speaker of the House is a PRIME example of this just as is Crazy Maxine). The LEFT seems to actually HATE THE CONSTITUTION and they ACTIVELY TRY TO CHIP AWAY ALL OF OUR FREEDOMS and it's been this way now for almost 4 DECADES!!! The ACLU no longer will represent ANY person who identifies as a CONSERVATIVE NO MATTER WHAT yet they will TRIP OVER EACH OTHER to represent an AXE MURDERING DRUG DEALER just as long as that person in question has "VOTED BLUE NO MATTER WHO" and THIS WILL NEVER GET ANY BETTER just as long as the LEFT continues to get away DAMN NEAR EVERYTHING (and most times ILLEGAL!)!!! And I think while you (your channel TRNN) may well be trying to actually change things in this country for the better you still right off the bat will DISCOUNT anything that stems from the ideals of the conservatives in this nation. The Conservatives & Libertarians are the ONLY PARTY'S that still believes in our CONSTITUTION in the LITERAL SENSE while the left could care less just as long as they live (and die) by the CURRENT LIBERAL IDEOLOGY in FULL!!! It's time I think your channel takes a GOOD HARD LOOK AT YOURSELVES – WHAT YOU ACTUALLY BELIEVE IN and WHAT OUR COUNTRY WAS FOUNDED ON. And DON'T jump right into the same old tired topic towards the SLAVERY issue, that was for the MOST PART (like 98% of the OWNERS the Democrat Party) and ONLY ONE SIDE WHO WAS KEEPING THE SLAVERY ISSUE ALIVE for almost 100 years and beyond after the Constitution was written!!! This was your Parties SIN and no matter how hard the LEFT tries to wash that stain off themselves we KNOW the REAL TRUTH – from the Civil War & the KKK all the way to MANY PRESIDENTS (all Democrat btw), this was ALL YOUR SIDES DOING… PERIOD!!! The left has tried to make the public "think" that the tables have been turned to the point that now some people actually think that the Conservatives are now the RACE HATERS etc. but just look at who your local police chiefs are and what party are they are members of – you'll find that in many parts of the nation "JIM CROW" is STILL BEING "JUST THE WAY THINGS ARE" and sometimes even WORST… As I've said many times in the past, the REAL PROBLEM is that person in the mirror, until you actually do some REAL & HONEST self-reflection and STOP JUST BELIEVING WHAT YOU ARE BEING TOLD do nothing, NOTHING will EVER change. Think on this why don't you…
If you are a black lesbian woman that believes that the west is not extremely racist year 2022 and that there are only 2 genders then according to the left you are a homofóbic racist white supremecist
Im a lefty to my core; I unsubbed from trnn a few years ago primarily for their ouster of their founder Paul Jay, but also in large part to the slanted, inflammatory, paper thin reporting of this gentleman right here, Marc Steiner. He wasn't too bad when he first started, but quickly went down the rabbit hole of Russiagate conspiracies. I have resubbed since Chris hedges is doing a show here after the closing of RT, in large part due to the environment on the left that was created by people exactly like Steiner. And here he is again, playing the culture war while pretending to have concern for workers. TRNN isn't worth the reputation it used to have, and it's sad because it still has many good voices who should go the route of Aaron Maté and just leave.
I stopped playing this after your opening sentence. You've basically served up the same tired narrative that your network proports to be trying to battle against.
Easy solution – drop the vaccine mandates. 90% of those truckers are upset about the vaccines and the specter of more surveillance. Drop the mandates, and most will go home. They have little interest in joining political organizations.
Why don't you do a story on vaccine adverse events, and how the medical community is responding to the injured parties?
Stop consuming so much soy , salad and cake. It has stripped your brains from myelin and now it works like live stripped electrical wires in a metal bucket .
You are sooo wrong.
It's interesting to see this thinking style on such bold display: guilt by distant association, demonization and division. It's so poisonous.
I wonder how they might characterize the "near right". I suspect that for them this category doesn't exist
"Far right actors & small business owners". Really lady? Spoken like a true corporate leftist. Did you not see the woman trampled by a police horse? This isn't a far right movement. There is only violence from the left authoritarian Trudeau government . Mr. "Black Face" himself. There is no right or left anymore. By his own words in his speeches, Martin Luther King would be considered a far right lunatic by today's left.
How? get the ignorant "leftie hippie" useful idiots to call them inflammatory names then have them cheerlead a 3rd world war for far the right in Ukraine according to Max Blumenthal and others. Good plan warmonger libs.
The King's of the earth waxed fat off the Whore of Babylon!Left and right are wondering after the beast and false prophet.Marc, you speak truth and no matter what the truth will set you free!
"It's not just vaccine mandates, it's lack of protective gear, it's low minimum wage" …yet hard working front line nurses got fired by the 100s every week over VACCINE MANDATES. They didnt quit over pay. They didnt quit over PPE. But they got fired for not taking the vaccine. The majority of the unvaccinated in Canada are Liberals by the way (35%) – only 25% are conservative. I find this so appauling. I'm left wing but this is exactly why you guys are losing people.
Medical apartheid is wrong. Period.
I almost subscribed to this channel. Whoops! You folks are the problem. Do you report directly to Biden?
Prices of commodities are getting higher and interest rate will also get higher this year but do the ordinary people notice? they may have but they seem to be diverted to some "more" important issues, "FREEDOM convoy, Russian invasion, and yeah, the pandemic.
Canada – Prior to the Freedom Convoy, the Left(NDP) in Canada had been jockeying for their position on the Right. It started with Thomas Mulcair and continues with Jagmeet Singh. The irony in all of this is that the Trucking Industry in Canada is 20% Sikh.
The "Liberals" have lost the plot.
Liberals are in bed with the banks, big pharma, militarized police, the elite, and tyrannical government.
Fortunately,. the People are waking up.
What a shameful display from all three… " they had bad connections, are not our type of people, there is a danger they may 'gain the Right' more supporters, they did not say what we wanted them to say… blah blah divide et impera works blah " .
This is joke coverage
Wow. What a bunch of outright lies, but I guess that's to be expected from Press Progress.
Unsubscribed.
I subscribed to get away from corporate news. If you're just going to repeat their talking points, there's no point to this channel except further misinformation.