03.03.2022

Far right anti-vaxxers

We can confront them on the streets. Canada’s ‘trucker’ convoy provided a timely warning to the left, writes John Clarke

Over the last several weeks, the biggest protest organised by the Canadian far right since the 1930s¹ has played out. A so-called ‘Freedom Convoy’ made its way across the country to Ottawa, where it established itself as a veritable occupying force. Support actions in other cities and at key border crossings also created enough economic disruption and a big enough political crisis for the government of prime minister Justin Trudeau that he invoked the special repressive powers contained in the Emergencies Act in order to disperse the convoy.

Two years into the pandemic, considerable hardship has been generated and a great sense of uncertainty has taken root deep in society. In Canada, as much as in the UK, this has been fed by the contradictory and erratic public health measures taken to contain the spread of the virus. There is also considerable and fully justified doubt when it comes to official commitments to “build back better” in the wake of Covid-19.

In a social climate such as this, with most left parties and trade unions failing to provide the lead that is needed, it is to be expected that movements will emerge that have about them some contradictions and confusion - the Yellow Vests in France come to mind in this regard. It is equally true that very legitimate concerns exist over coercive public health measures that governments have taken and the articulation of these should not be off limits. Still, despite careful efforts to present the convoy as an expression of the frustrations of ordinary people, this undertaking was, clearly and unassailably, a project of the white-supremacist far right. Accordingly, I hope this article will demonstrate to people on the left in the UK why support for these supposed ‘truckers’ would be a huge mistake.

Notorious

First of all, the initiators and leaders of the convoy are a collection of notorious racists and previously known figures in Canada’s far-right ecosystem. They are linked to far-right organisations devoted to the separation of the western provinces from the rest of the country. A quick look at several of the key figures involved readily confirms what they represent politically.

The most odious of the bunch is Pat King, who has a weakness for making videos that set out his hateful views for all to see. He has ranted about the “depopulation of the Caucasian race” and suggested that the official languages of Canada may soon become Mandarin and Hebrew. There is also Benjamin Dichter, who recently explained why he welcomed the display of Confederate flags as part of the convoy. James Bauder is the founder of the group, Canada Unity, that played a major role in the convoy and he is linked to a far-right initiative that targeted picketing oil refinery workers, when they were on strike in 2020.

Top convoy organiser and fundraiser Tamara Lich has a history in the western separatist movement. There is also the ominous involvement of Tom Quiggen, a former RCMP (federal police) and intelligence officer, who is considered an expert on issues of terrorism. He is a sought-after speaker at rightwing events and he once falsely accused a Quebec mosque that was subject to a lethal attack by a rightwing gunman in 2017 of itself helping terrorists.² I hope all this will be enough to dispel any notion that this was a legitimate protest by ordinary working people, with some quirky but harmless ideas.

For a protest action that was portrayed as challenging those in power, the convoy was able to count on the support of an astounding number of wealthy business people. More than $10 million was put into its coffers and much of this came from people with hard-right political views and very deep pockets. The owner of one supporting company equated public health measures with communism and made clear that he fully expected the convoy to involve a major physical confrontation with the authorities when it reached Ottawa.³

For some time now, the far right has placed an emphasis on obtaining increased levels of legitimacy and the ability to attract a periphery of rightward-moving conservatives. The present convoy is very much part of this and in fact it is the second time that the tactic has been put into effect. Back in 2019, many of the people behind the recent venture pulled together a less spectacular ‘United We Roll’ convoy. This was devoted to climate denial and the promotion of oil and gas pipeline expansion in the west.

The lesson that the fascist initiators of the first convoy took to heart was that mainstream conservative politicians would not be put off by the political baggage they carried and would come out in support of such an event. Indeed, knowing that a major part of their core political base would support an exercise in climate denial, the leaders of the Conservative Party gave full backing to the venture and even spoke at the public events along its route to Ottawa. Such support enhanced the capacity to mobilise, raise funds and ensured at least a section of the media would provide supportive coverage.

The onset of the pandemic, with its severe economic impact and measures to contain its spread, has created a mood of frustration that has led some to reject public health measures as coercive and unfair. There is no doubt that the far right has been able to latch onto this in a range of countries⁴ and make significant advances in the process.

The convoy was a particularly clear expression of this development. Ostensibly, opposition to vaccine mandates was the basis of unity that the event was built around. However, the concrete demands that were put forward on this score were surprisingly short of the mark. There was a call for truckers to be able to cross the border into the US without being vaccinated, but the authorities in that country have imposed exactly the same requirement, making the demand irrelevant. Similarly, the general vaccine mandates they wanted eliminated had actually been imposed at the provincial level and the federal government in Ottawa had no say in the matter.

Destructive

The notion that the convoy was an expression of the grievances of truckers in Canada is actually quite false. The focus on vaccination issues is of limited relevance to the great majority of those who drive trucks for a living, since roughly 90% of them are already vaccinated. The convoy certainly brought out several thousand supporters, but most of them were not truck drivers and, among the minority that were, owner-operators, as opposed to employed workers, predominated.

The real issues that workers in the trucking industry face centre on the impacts of deregulation. A recent investigation showed that “long-haul truckers have filed thousands of complaints about shady labour practices, abysmal safety standards and missed wages from companies that sidestep all regulations”.⁵ Some 20% of truckers in Canada are South Asian and those who fight for the rights of these workers are very clear that the convoy does not speak for them and that “the real issues are completely different”.⁶

Assisted by a police force that indulged them to the point of absurdity, the convoy established its grip on Ottawa, complete with Nazi, Confederate, Gadsden, Red Ensign and Maple Leaf flags.⁷ Sadly, the leadership of the major trade unions were reluctant to mobilise and confront the convoy. For the most part, public statements focused on appealing to the police to ‘do their job’ and deal with the disruption that was unfolding. However, on February 15, the Public Service Alliance of Canada (the main union of federal government employees) played the leading role in a large march against the convoy.

The most important challenge to it, however, has become known as the ‘Battle of Billings Bridge’. A few dozen people gave a lead and blocked convoy vehicles. There was an outpouring of support from the local community and the tiny action “turned into a block party of thousands”.⁸ This showed what could be done to take on the far right, as did actions against convoy supporters in other cities. This included one in Vancouver, where a mass of bicycles were used to bring them to a halt.

The weeks-long disruptive presence finally became too economically disruptive for the Trudeau government to tolerate. The leaders of the action - confident that the support they had from the Conservative Party and the police would sustain them - put forward no realistic demands that might have formed the basis for a negotiated end to the action. Apart from the ill-considered demands on vaccination, a section of their leadership called on the governor-general (the queen’s representative in Canada) to dissolve the parliament and establish an emergency committee to govern the country that would consist of convoy supporters and some opposition MPs.

Faced with this, the Liberals decided to invoke, for the first time, the special repressive powers afforded by the Emergencies Act. This enabled them to overcome reluctance in the police ranks by ensuring Ottawa cops would work with a carefully selected force of provincial and federal police to remove the convoy vehicles and disperse its supporters. The power to freeze bank accounts was used against dozens of key players, so as to shut off supplies. The act also enabled the authorities to order private companies to use their tow trucks to remove the heavy vehicles blocking streets. Convoy leaders have been arrested and Tamara Lich and Pat King have been denied bail.

For the left, the fact that the far right was able to capture the political momentum in the present situation of societal crisis should be a source of both alarm and shame. At a time when workers and communities are experiencing acute economic hardship that threatens to become even worse, it is disgraceful that, in the absence of a serious fighting working class alternative, the destructive rage of the lumpen petty bourgeoisie could fill the political vacuum created by this failing.

The convoy was dispersed because its leaders went somewhat further than the authorities could tolerate, but the far right has made a major gain and it is operating in social conditions that encourage its growth. The notion that the state and its repressive powers will save us from an emerging fascist street army is ludicrous. Anyone who has ever been part of an anti-fascist counter-protest will have an understanding of how ‘impartial’ we can expect the police to be. Moreover, the powers that have just been deployed against the convoy (belatedly and with great reluctance) pose a far greater danger to working class movements.

The dangerous advance of the far right needs to be confronted and its efforts to claim the public square have to be prevented. However, unless we can build a social mobilisation that advances fighting demands and takes bold action on the needs of workers and hard-pressed communities, the hateful ‘trucker’ convoy will open the door to an advance of the far right of dreadful proportions.