I don't know Tamara Lich. But a man I truly respect does know her and vouches for her that she is 'the real deal', ie, that she is sincere, a genuinely kind and caring person, who just wants to do some good. I have NO DOUBT she is who she claims to be. I also have a friend whose husband IS a trucker and who WAS at the protest for the duration, until the day before the police moved in. I know that you don't know me. But this protest was a DUCK. And I am frightened and sickened by what has happened in public opinion based on fabricated and malicious media reports. I wish Canadians would understand....
I don't know Tamara either, but from her videos and tweets she seems to be a likeable person. What I think is more important than that is recognition that how we treat people, protests, speech, and expression cannot and should not be based on whether the people organizing it or running it are likeable people. It certainly makes an easier sell, but can't be a consideration from a political, law enforcement, or even press reporting perspective. We can only police on actions, with intent for actions as a mitigating factor, and I have yet to see any evidence that the protest was based on either bad actions or bad intent. There are lots of accusations, but no evidence I can find having been presented even at the inquiry. Just vague characterizations.
I do think many or most Canadians understand. Thousands of Canadians lined the highways in support of the convoy. Both online funds had more than 120,000 donations, and GoFundMe reported to the inquiry that 86% of the donators (and 88% of dollars) were Canadian, meaning about 105,000 Canadians donated. Tens of thousands visited the protests over the three weeks -- in cold February -- and there's more than 100 hours of live stream video. I briefly visited it myself, and watched about 30 hours live when it streamed and another 10-20 hours since then. I'm thinking of transcribing the hundreds of people interviewed on why they are attending, in their own words. But that will be an enormous effort of hundreds of hours and I can't afford to do that right now.
We saw worldwide support for the truckers, copycat movements, and condemnation of Trudeau's response. Even in Canada, some politicians have made very clear their support, though at the party level seem hesitant.
The only people who seem unwilling to see the protests as peaceful are those with the loudest voice platforms: the sitting Liberal government, their NDP backers, and most of the corporate-led Canadian news. I don't have the reference handy, but even during the protests I recall support for them was close to 50% in polling and a good majority supported what the protest was actually supporting (ending the federal mandates).
I don't know Tamara Lich. But a man I truly respect does know her and vouches for her that she is 'the real deal', ie, that she is sincere, a genuinely kind and caring person, who just wants to do some good. I have NO DOUBT she is who she claims to be. I also have a friend whose husband IS a trucker and who WAS at the protest for the duration, until the day before the police moved in. I know that you don't know me. But this protest was a DUCK. And I am frightened and sickened by what has happened in public opinion based on fabricated and malicious media reports. I wish Canadians would understand....
I don't know Tamara either, but from her videos and tweets she seems to be a likeable person. What I think is more important than that is recognition that how we treat people, protests, speech, and expression cannot and should not be based on whether the people organizing it or running it are likeable people. It certainly makes an easier sell, but can't be a consideration from a political, law enforcement, or even press reporting perspective. We can only police on actions, with intent for actions as a mitigating factor, and I have yet to see any evidence that the protest was based on either bad actions or bad intent. There are lots of accusations, but no evidence I can find having been presented even at the inquiry. Just vague characterizations.
I do think many or most Canadians understand. Thousands of Canadians lined the highways in support of the convoy. Both online funds had more than 120,000 donations, and GoFundMe reported to the inquiry that 86% of the donators (and 88% of dollars) were Canadian, meaning about 105,000 Canadians donated. Tens of thousands visited the protests over the three weeks -- in cold February -- and there's more than 100 hours of live stream video. I briefly visited it myself, and watched about 30 hours live when it streamed and another 10-20 hours since then. I'm thinking of transcribing the hundreds of people interviewed on why they are attending, in their own words. But that will be an enormous effort of hundreds of hours and I can't afford to do that right now.
We saw worldwide support for the truckers, copycat movements, and condemnation of Trudeau's response. Even in Canada, some politicians have made very clear their support, though at the party level seem hesitant.
The only people who seem unwilling to see the protests as peaceful are those with the loudest voice platforms: the sitting Liberal government, their NDP backers, and most of the corporate-led Canadian news. I don't have the reference handy, but even during the protests I recall support for them was close to 50% in polling and a good majority supported what the protest was actually supporting (ending the federal mandates).