Three key ‘Freedom Convoy’ leaders reveal the hopes, tension and infighting
The Toronto Star talked to three of the Clown Convoy's lesser-known leaders to find out how the trucker movement started, and how it later fell apart.
Here are some highlights from this story.
* Wallaceburg, Ont. truck driver Brigitte Belton:
"She remained out of the spotlight while disparate groups with different agendas hitched their trucks, RVs and tractors to the convoy coalition."
"Even though she calls the attempts to keep so many disparate groups on the same page 'one of the most bizarre things I’ve ever experienced in my life,' Belton said she’s proud of what she views as the convoy’s best parts."
“'The best thing that came out from Ottawa was I was no longer alone,” she said. “I’ve been told I’m a horrible person for not taking a vaccine that I didn’t believe in. I saw that I wasn’t alone in that.”'
* James Bauder, founder of Canada Unity and Operation Bearhug: "Canada Unity, became the key organizational tool for those wanting to join the convoy, laying out route maps and displaying the phone numbers for convoy contacts from across the country."
Bauder wrote the infamous Canada Unity Memorandum of Understanding that demanded the Senate and Governor General intervene to end federal COVID-19 mandates - or trigger a referendum to launch a new election. That convinced many observers that the freedom truckers wanted to overthrow the government.
The Star says Bauder regrets some of the alliances he made, especially with people like white supremacist Patrick King and Western Canada separatist Tamara Lich.
Bauder didn’t like that “Freedom Convoy 2022” seemed to be forming as a separate entity from his baby, Operation Bearhug. Freedom Convoy seemed to be loosely affiliated with separatist parties, while Bauder saw his effort as a “unity” movement.
“It just disgusted me deeply inside to see egos, greed and politics jump in and co-opt our movement,” Bauder said.
“Lessons learned. Be careful who you partner with.”
* Retired Canadian Forces captain Tom Marazzo:
Marazzo says his role was to speak on behalf of the convoy organizers, and work with police and public officials to keep the protest running smoothly. He's affiliated with the Police on Guard group, retired and current police and military members who oppose vaccine mandates and other COVID restrictions.
The day police cleared the protests, on Feb. 18, Marazzo says he was was watching and "sarcastically cheering" the officers . But he cleared out before he could be arrested. "He had hoped the police were on the side of the convoy and wouldn’t make them go home in this way."
What's next? Marazzo is running as a candidate in the current Ontario election, as part of former MP Derek Sloan’s populist party "Ontario Party." Sloan e3xpects his party to appeal to "principled freedom fighters and pro-family advocates."
One other "scoop" from this story:
At some point during the occupation, COVID-19 went around the protesters. Said one volunteer: “When I was in Ottawa, there’s a lot of us who believe that we got sprayed on the first weekend we were there because there was some type of aerosol in the air.”
If things weren't so serious, they would be hilarious.