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I noticed a headline that referenced “North of the 49th Parallel” as a descriptor for Canadians. Here, where I’m 20 miles south of the 49th Parallel, that’s correct – basically the Canadians I know are north of 49. Still, they’re unusual Canadians. Toronto is further south than Sioux Falls, South Dakota. 72% of Canadians live below the 49th Parallel.
This website shows that half of Canada’s population lives below “the redline”, a line drawn at 45 degrees 42 minutes. From a westerner’s perspective, this map makes Canadian politics a lot easier to understand. Half of them live further south than Billings. And, as you can see from the map, they’re crowded together – unlike our own northern neighbors.
The Red line is drawn at 45 42 minutes- For Context, the Canadian Line we border is at the 49th Parallel There’s a Durham report going around now, as Durham reports on the shenanigans around the Trump-Russia investigations. It’s about 180 years ago that Canada had its own Durham report, after a bit of civil unrest. Back then, Canada was divided into upper Canada and lower Canada.
Upper Canada was the area just north of the great lakes – largely settled by Loyalists (Tories) after the American revolution. The head of each family received 100 acres for settling there, with 50 acres more for each additional family member. Soldiers who had fought for the crown received significantly more. Family histories go way back – and at the turn of the 19th century, this area was home to some downright anti-US Canadians. The Canadian Encyclopedia provides us this description:
“The term Family Compact is an epithet, or insulting nickname; it is used to describe the network of men who dominated the legislative, bureaucratic, business, religious and judicial centres of power in Upper Canada (present-day Ontario) from the early- to mid-1800s. Members of the Family Compact held largely conservative and loyalist views. They were against democratic reform and responsible government. By the mid-19th century, immigration, the union of Upper and Lower Canada, and the work of various democratic reformers had diminished the group’s power. The equivalent to the Family Compact in Lower Canada was the Château Clique.”
If we think about those early settlers of “Upper Canada” – the area that today is shown below the “red line”, they weren’t folks who wanted the representative democracy that was established in the new American republic. They were monarchists, and Canada bloody well had a king. Sure, it’s a couple centuries back, but the Tories (Loyalists) had soldiered for the crown, and the government they wanted was not a representative democracy.
In 1837 and 1838 there were rebellions in both Upper and Lower Canada. Basically, the French Canadians didn’t particularly like the English speaking Canadians, and that was reason enough for small uprisings in Lower Canada, and the newer settlers of Upper Canada didn’t particularly like being governed by the old guard Loyalists. Lord Durham looked the situation over, and recommended uniting the provinces into a single Canada – remember, the Brits had a lot of experience ruling conflicted peoples in Ireland . . . there it was Protestant and Catholic, but it could work. So he moved things to a spot where the English speakers wound up with a readily identifiable political opposition – while Durham’s report is regarded as paving the way for Canadian independence and responsible government, the roots of that government were planted by moneyed Loyalists who lost the American Revolution, and largely made their identities in opposition to the US form of government.
As we watch the truckers protest, it may be a good idea to remember that there is a lot of historical difference between the Canadians of Eastern British Columbia and Alberta whom we know and the heirs of the Family Compact and the Chateau Clique. Somehow, it seems appropriate that Durham reports are a historical commonality.
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Stahl’s dog story starts at his cabin and work at Pipe Creek – it seems the man was assigned a lot of work developing ways to get into the Yaak. It’s probably worth mentioning that the Yaak’s inhabitants had been on mining claims and most left those claims for the gold rush to Alaska before Stahl moved up here. Some lonesome country remains in that area.
One night Charlie Andrews, on border patrol for the Immigration Service, camped with me. He noted some verse I was writing and remarked, “The man is crazy from being alone. He is writing poetry.” It was pretty crude, entitled “A Ranger’s Lament,” but it served to get me a promotion and transfer to a better district. I mailed this verse to Acting Supervisor Glen Smith:
I’m on my way, Glen, on my way,
To pitch my tent by close of day,
Where Dodge Creek springs ‘mid shadows strange
From a narrow pass in the Purcell Range.
The simple life may look good to folks
Who live in the city and know it from books,
Just now with me it’s beginning to pall
For it’s lonely here when the shadows fall.
So I’ll sit by the campfire’s gleam alone,
And hark to the swaying trees’ low moan,
Then count the days, about ten more
When I’ll hike for the Kootenay’s eastern shore.
But before I can go, – Alas! — Alack!
I must plod up the hump with a heavy pack,
Pitch my tent in the canyon deep,
And flop in a bed where the spiders creep.
I long for a day with Billie and Van,
Susan and Babe and the rest of the clan;
For the cheerful notes of a ragtime song,
Or to waltz with a maid ‘mid the whirling throng.
Then back to the woods again wouldn’t tire;
Camp grub cooked by the open fire,
With big dutch oven and frying pan,
Blackened kettles and sourdough can.It got so lonely my dog couldn’t stand it. He went down to the Kootenai River and howled ’til the ferryman from Gateway came over and took him across to town. When a man’s dog shows up at the settlement without his master, the settlers in the valley assume, and often correctly, that it is an indication of tragedy. Jack Barnaby lost his life in a snowslide, and when his dog came out, a posse went to look for him. A man named Matty lost his life on Kishanehin Creek and a bear devoured him. His dog came out to Big Prairie, the first indication of tragedy. The mystery of Matty’s death was never fully solved. Late in the spring, when his dog showed up at Big Prairie, several of Matty’s friends went up to his trapper cabin to investigate. They found the door latched, a large hole in the roof and, upon opening the door, found bones scattered over the floor – all that remained of Matty. They found considerable blood stains on the bunk, also an automatic .45 pistol set near the cabin for a bear. By the signs they found, they decided he had shot himself accidentally and died on the bunk. When the weather got warm, the bear, attracted by the smell, had torn a hole in the roof to get in and devour him.
When my dog showed up at the river, Mother Milks pestered her man until he got Harvey Young to join him and come up to my camp. Perhaps they were disappointed to find me swinging a mattock on the trail but I was thankful to know that someone took an interest in my welfare.
I almost forgot to tell you about my dog. He was a mongrel, part terrier with long hair, and I called him “Tommy Whiskers.” I taught him several tricks. He would sit up, balance a pine cone on his nose and at the count of three, flip his nose sideways and catch it. He didn’t like to swim the rivers and soon learned to get up behind me on the horse. He was more than just a pet. He could tree a mountain lion or nip a bear on the stern end until it would sit up and roar. He stayed away from skunk and porky. I taught him to smoke a pipe by first putting sugar on the stem. A dog as well as a man can learn one trick too many, and when I moved into town, he got some costly ideas. I didn’t mind taking him to the barber shop once a month to get his moustache waxed and his beard trimmed Van Dyke, but when he wanted high priced cigars, I had to draw the line and broke him of the smoking habit by giving him Peerless tobacco.
Soon after I mailed my verse to Glen Smith, I received instructions to proceed to a new district north of Bonners Ferry, Idaho. The Supervisor, Dave Kinney, advised me that there would be considerable business there, with grazing permits and timber sales to look after. I lost no time packing and headed for the river.
Molly Sullivan, daughter of a homesteader on the west bank of the Kootenai helped me swim the horses across at Rexford. There was only a sketchy trail downriver near the foot of the mountains and I traveled on the railroad right-of-way at times. At Stone Hill where I camped the first night, a down freight killed my pack horse. I felt pretty bad about it, as the horse was a pet and only three years old. It meant that I had to walk 35 miles to Jennings and lead the saddle horse. I shipped my equipment from Jennings to Libby, and bought a horse at Libby.
From there on it was tough going along the north side of the Koontenai. Part of the trail above the falls was over solid rock and narrow ledges. More than one prospector had lost a horse there that slipped off the trail and rolled down into the river below the falls. The second night I stopped with Jake Lang on the Montana-Idaho line. Half his land was in Idaho, yet until the State line was marked, he paid his taxes at Kalispell, Montana.
Arriving in the Moyie District, I boarded with an Indian who had a white wife. His hair hung in braids over his shoulders and he had me cut it for him. If I’d had a little more barber business like that I would soon have had enough hair to make a saddle blanket!
Later I built a Ranger cabin in the Moyie Valley near Snyder Post Office. Artman Snyder was Ranger of the Moyie District when I arrived there. Snyder Post Office was named after him. He was a big, raw-boned fellow, and had prospected from Mexico to Alaska. He had a voice like a foghorn and told some pretty far-fetched yarns of his experiences, in very serious manner, and seemed peeved if we doubted them. He said when he went to the Klondike via Edmonton he lived twelve days on tallow candle and porcupine, then cut his dog’s tail off, made soup of it and fed the bone to the dog. Very generous. (It helped the dog make both ends meet.)
He gave me the recipe for cooking porcupine: “You should not skin it but should pluck it like a goose – wrap it in an old blanket and throw it on a pack horse for about three days’ travel. When you remove the blanket the quills will come with it. Burn the blanket and at the same time you can singe the pinfeathers off the porky. Draw it and cover with a two-inch layer of damp clay. Bake three hours in a pit in the ashes.”
Two brothers lived at Round Prairie who had a lot of trouble with the neighbors. I was warned not to go near them as they had declared an open season on Forest Rangers. However, I got along very well with them. One brother we called Whispering Jake. There was something wrong with his epiglottis and he would whisper for a while then without warning his voice would break into a roar. He didn’t have very good control and did not seem to know when he would whisper or when he would roar, so it was disconcerting, to state it mildly, to converse with him at short range. He seemed to take a fancy to me and after I was transferred to the office at Sandpoinnt, he would call in to see me. With a hand on my knee and his face close to mine, he would tell me of his battle with Pig-Eye Johnson. When Jake would break into a roar, the Supervisor, with a broad grin, would cast a sky glance my way. A good executive would know how to get rid of Jake, but I was too good-natured to offend him. I would excuse myself, go into the drafting room and stay until he had left.
In the spring of 1908, Robert McLaughlin was sent to the Moyie District on special duty to survey Ranger Stations and classify homestead lands. I traveled with him as sort of Boy Scout and Man Friday. We were kindred spirits in that we both had a perverted sense of humor. (I mean what we considered funny might not seem funny to you.) Bill Nye best illustrates the idea when he tells of Peck’s bad boy, laughing at a funeral – until his dad knocked hell out of him and convinced him it wasn’t funny. We didn’t make it pay as Bill Nye did, but carried on for our own amusement. I never saw another man enjoy a joke or gag so much as did Robert McLaughlin. He was short and heavy-set, with clear blue eyes and a square, jutting jaw. When telling a yarn, he was very serious and seldom smiled, but the next day on the trail would laugh heartily. We led a hobo life traveling afoot, by speeder or in a boxcar. Sometimes at night we camped out but more often stopped at settlers’ cabins.
We stopped one night at the hotel at Eastport. At breakfast, Robert gave the girl his order for “two eggs, one cooked on one side and one on the other.” She came back several times to get the order straight and he pretended to get sore. When we were out on the trail, he laughed heartily and said, “The poor girl did not know on which side to cook which egg.”
We were surveying a Ranger Station near Meadow Creek when he awoke me early one morning, saying, “We have a cougar treed.” There was a big forked tree near camp with a small dead cedar lodged in the forks. We all wore calked boots and he had walked up the leaning dead cedar to the forks and poked my clothes far out on the upper end with a pole. They figured I would have to chop the big tree down to get my clothes but I got them without chopping. I climbed to the forks, retrieved the clothes with a long pole with a nail in the end as a hook.
Robert studied law at night (when he wasn’t thinking of nonsense) and was later appointed Montana State Forester. We moved westward to classify lands along the foothills south of Port Hill.
The Great Northern Railroad had a branch line from Bonners Ferry to Creston, British Columbia. I read someplace of a slow train that was easy to overtake but hard to meet. It was likely a reference to the Kootenai Valley Branch line. The train ran tri-weekly, went north on Monday and tried all the rest of the week to get back. But on the day that Robert and I rode the train, the schedule was reversed. About ten miles north of Bonners Ferry we were stopped by a mud slide that covered the rails. The train crew and some passengers proceeded to clear the rails. Robert and I decided that walking was easier than shoveling. We walked ahead to Copeland, then on to Port Hill, and still no train in sight.
This story illustrates the train crew’s idea of a time schedule. A traveling man said the train was stopped on the main line and while he walked the aisle and gnawed his fingernails, the train crew sauntered up the open hillside, each man carrying heavy twine to snare gophers. They got one cent bounty for each tail.”
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The amount of vehicles reminded me of Rendezvous, or similarly crowded events. Cars went up the hill, out of sight from its base, filled the historical village, and spilled over across the railroad.
There were flags, signs (many homemade), noise, and people waving and cheering on the street. It started without much fanfare, and took about half an hour for everyone to get going. It was rather brisk, and for the most part, people stayed in their vehicles while they waited for it to begin.
Mostly, people seemed to have a lot of fun- if not quite as much fun as the folks setting up the hot-tub in Ottawa seemed to be having. It was clean (the parking lot of the historical village was no messier than usual after the vehicles had departed), and as happy a gathering as could be expected after these cold months.
As for the Freedom Convoy, which the rally was in support of, and which we wrote about last week– the latest headlines seem to be the Canadian Government’s decision to invoke the Emergency Act. This apparently will allow Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to prohibit travel, “requisition, use or dispose of property”, and regulate the “distribution and availability of essential goods, services and resources” for thirty days.
Personally, I’d really like to know if our government has something similar it can pull out of its pocket. The idea of the government having the authority to requisition property is just a little unsettling, no matter who is running it.
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We have mental pictures of Plains Indians on horses – and rarely do we think of them with hoes. Still, as we approach gardening season, it may be appropriate to think of how many of the world’s crops were developed by the American Indian, and were spread across the world after Columbus.
It may be called the “Irish Potato” – but the potato was grown in the Andes mountains for at least 4000 years before it arrived in Ireland. There are at least another half-dozen root crops developed by these ancient Peruvian residents that don’t even have names in English. They raised corn – though that is believed to have been developed in Mexico, and amaranth (in Mexico used for beer by the Aztec) and quinoa – developed alongside the potato.
In those days before Columbus, the Old World had wheat, rye, barley and oats in Europe, rice was developed in the far east, and sorghum and millet in Africa.
From the Caribbean came a root crop called the batata. The Andean potato was called papa by the Quecha . . . but the first root crop exported from the Americas was the batata. The name was changed to potato, then the papa showed up, took the name potato, and the batata became sweet potato. China is the world’s largest producer of sweet potatoes.
The Old World had beans when Columbus sailed the ocean blue – but after Cortez, more varieties were shipped from Mexico – the French bean, the Rangoon bean, Burma bean, Madagascar bean, kidney bean, string bean, snap bean, common bean, pole bean, navy bean . . . most of the domestic beans have American Indian origins.
The peanut moved from America to become an African staple. The domestic sunflower became a Russian staple food. Just as the potato led to a population explosion in Ireland, the cassava led to a population explosion in Africa. (We tend to call cassava tapioca)
Peppers, cacao for chocolate, squash, tomatoes – when Columbus landed, the only pepper known in Europe and Asia was Piper nigrum (black pepper). The New World peppers were an entirely different species – the Capsicums. These American Indian spices have helped develop Indian cooking, which must have been bland before adding the Capsicum frutuscens.
One of the American Indian squash varieties landed in Italy, and there received the name we use – zucchini. Italian cooking must have been bland before tomatoes and peppers arrived. I don’t know what the word is for pizza without tomatoes.
We could get into nuts and berries – but this story comes from a memory of a lecture I gave when I taught Indians of North America. Someday I’ll find my notes and add my sources.
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“When we are planning for posterity, we ought to remember that virtue is not hereditary.” Thomas Paine
As I watch Canada, thoughts go back to my undergrad days, when Trudeau was a Prime Minister – that’s Pierre, not Justin, and the protest movement as the sixties became the seventies was anti-war, not independent truckers with a Freedom Convoy. Folks were headed to Canada to dodge the draft, not to protest mask and vaccination mandates. It’s important to remember I live about 20 miles south of Canada – Canadian politics affects me. There’s a reason Eureka is occasionally called Tijuana del Norte. As a community, we depend on Canadian trade.
Pierre had some good remarks – my memory includes “I’ll bloody well not tell you whom I seduce.” – but I can’t find that one online. I can find “Who is it that said that ‘you have not converted a man because you have silenced him?’ This is true of the use of the military on people.” Another Pierre quote, possibly relevant today is “There are a lot of bleeding hearts around who just don’t like to see people with helmets and guns. All I can say is go and bleed. It is more important to keep law and order in society than to be worried about weak-kneed people Society must take every means at its disposal to defend itself against the emergence of a parallel power which defies the elected power.” I’m pretty sure the son won’t have as many good quotes as the father.
I’ve spent most of my lifetime respecting the Queen. For quibblers, that’s Queen Elizabeth II. For me, there is but one Queen and she doesn’t need introductions. I like, I respect the lady. But I remember that virtue is not hereditary. In her case, Charles and Andrew have spent most of my lifetime demonstrating Thomas Paine’s 1776 observation.
Admitted, there have been times when I kind of envied Prince Charles his ease of decisions on career choices. He was going to grow up and be king of England. He didn’t need to write and revise resumes, or plan for interviews. His Master’s from Cambridge just required him to stay out of jail for six or seven years after he got his BA. Still, at 72, retired for the past five years, and with a resume packed with interesting job, I think my career path was better. Prince Charles is a year older, and still hasn’t got the job he was born to fill. His record doesn’t seem to be above reproach, so it may be that, as Thomas Paine pointed out, “Virtue is not hereditary.” On the other hand, I’ve seen colleagues and neighbors with equally nasty, but much less publicized divorces.
Then we get to Prince Andrew. Last month I read that, while he is still titled, His Royal Highness the Duke of York, he’s been stripped of his other royal titles and tasks because he’s under charges resulting from Epstein scandals. Thomas Paine was right – “Virtue is not hereditary.”
God Save the Queen. I’m not sure even God can save Justin Trudeau.
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Edward Stahl shared a bit about his early days – the early days of Trego and Stryker – in his writings about his time at Ant Flat . . . a time when the Ranger was expected to build his own cabin, among other things. The whole story is at npshistory.com and the following excerpts cover his time spent at Ant Flat.
I was among the group at Kalispell, Montana, that took the first Civil Service examination there for Forest Ranger, in 1905. My rating placed me at the top of the eligible list, and early the following spring I received appointment as Forest Ranger, assigned to work under the direction of Fred Harrig at Ant Flat. . .
With Byron Henning, we cut trail the spring of 1906 up the Stillwater Valley. It rained continuously. Fred told me that the year before, he sent in his monthly diary with a lot of daily records reading, “Rain, stayed in camp.” His next check was quite a bit short and it never rained so hard again!
We camped at Fish Lake. I packed my horse in and walked while Fred and Byron Henning rode. We planned to go to Ant Flat for the weekend, but I was handicapped with a mean horse and no riding saddle. I rigged up a bridle with small rope, but got bucked off at the first attempt. Fred said, “Eddie, you might as well stay in camp. You’re crazy as hell to try to ride that horse bareback.” A school ma’am boarded at Fred’s place and I had a date to take her to a dance at Gateway, so I felt honorbound to get to Ant Flat in time. I cinched a lash rope around the horse for a handhold and blindfolded him. When Fred pulled the blind, I whacked the horse over the ears with my hat and arrived at the station far ahead of the other two.
The old stage road led through a narrow pass at the summit near Stryker. The canyon was so narrow that at turnout places there were signs reading, “Stop and holler,” as warning for freighters to wait to pass. Fred used to go to sleep while riding his horse and would wake up saying, “Dot vas a great improvement.” One dark night he woke up sitting on the solid rock road in the canyon, which was not much of an improvement, and he had to walk home. He rode a big snorty black and the horse may have been spooked by a bear.
The big dance of the year was the Mulligan Ball held at Gateway by the Order of the Sons of Rest. Mulligan was made in a washboiler, and it was rumored that Old Crow whiskey was one of the ingredients. The ball was held in an abandoned honky-tonk building, a relic of the boom days of 1900 when, at the end of each dance, the call was “Promenade to the bar,” where the bartender served drinks and passed a 15-cent check to the lady to put in her stocking as commission. Today there is not enough left of Gateway to call it a ghost town. Although it is on the U.S.-Canadian boundary, there is no custom office there. The railroad that was built in 1900 is torn up and the line is blocked off with page-wire fence.”
Well, I’m not sure what a page-wire fence is, and Gateway is a pretty wet place anymore – but I’m glad to find Stahl’s notes on the net. Taking a school marm from Trego to Gateway for a dance in 1906? Maybe he rode down Friday for a Saturday night dance? Edward Stahl was definitely a man of character.
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Projecting a globe onto a flat sheet of paper creates distortions, in the usual way (cylindrical projection), the distortions are the greatest at greater latitudes. This map includes a map of the nation’s actual area as well as showing the place in degrees of latitude and longitude- essentially, it reveals the degree of distortion in the projection.
Because the distortions are greatest at the poles, the land masses near them appear much larger than they actually are. This next map gives an appreciation of how much relief there is in the west. The link to the article that includes many more maps is at the bottom – well worth clicking it and seeing more.
More at https://www.thepoke.co.uk/2021/11/05/18-interesting-maps-to-change-your-perspective-on-the-world-around-you/?fbclid=IwAR1WbRF1sEdujzfaJviXZeGbmm6zAteH4mShq9Ttb9gOCSmR54NFaHraVFQ -
Following events as they are happening takes a bit of work, and this more so than most. It has the advantage of being stretched out in time, so the reader isn’t overwhelmed by a bunch of things happening all at once, but finding what, and why and when proved more difficult.
Here’s what I have found (incomplete, both due to the sheer amount of information, and my inability to read French).
Headlines
Friday Jan. 14– Freedom Convoy Facebook Page Created
Sunday Jan. 16– GoFundMe page created by Tamara Lich
Canadian Health Minister Defends the need for Trucker Vaccine Mandates (Global News)
Tuesday Jan. 18- BC truckers to join convoy across Canada in protest of mandatory vaccine (Western Standard)
Canada’s trucker vaccine rule is making freight and fruit pricier (Financial Post)
Thousands of Canadian truckers plan ‘Freedom Convoy’ to protest COVID jab mandates (Life Site News)
Thursday Jan. 20– Routes and Times for the Convoy became available.
Adopt-A-Trucker set up on GiveSendGo, by Warroom Canada (actually probably happened sometime earlier)
From coast to coast, truck drivers agains COVID-19 vaccination regulations have gathered under the pan-Canadian banner ‘Convoy for Freedom 2022’
‘Slow-roll’ protest planned by Quebec truckers against COVID-19 vaccination mandate (Global News)
Thousands of truck drivers plan to slowly converge and meet on Parliament Hill on Jan. 28GoFundMe was nearly $580,000 (Global News) at this time.
Saturday Jan. 22– First Convoy was scheduled to leave Prince Rupert, Canada at 7 AM
Also seems to have been the start of Worldwide Freedom Rallies, so that also accounts for some protests going on within Canadian cities.
Monday Jan. 24-Convoys were scheduled to depart from Calgary, Lloydminster, and Prince Albert for Regina
Anti-vaccine and anti-lockdown protests erupted all over Toronto this weekend (blogTO)
Truckers are the proxy protesters for a lot of angry Canadians (National Post, Opinion)
“Freedom Convoy” set to pass through Regina on trek to Ottawa (620 ckrm)
Alberta senator calls anti-mandate protesters a “systemic problem” (The Counter Signal)
Trudeau slams ‘fear mongering’ over COVID vaccine mandate for truckers (National Post)
Who’s Fuelling the Truckers Protesting Vaccine Mandates? (The Tyee)
The trucker caravan from the Edmonton, Alberta, area alone yesterday was said to be more than 40 kilometers in length before arriving in Calgary to head east to Ottawa.”
50,000 trucks heading toward Ottawa to demand an end to COVID mandates (Life Site)
Wednesday Jan. 26– Convoy scheduled to depart Kenora for Thunder Bay
(Posted Jan. 26- but may include video from prior days Freedom Convoy 2022 was well received entering TB (Lake Superior News)
Transport minister concerned trucker convoy becoming a lightning rod for far-right fringe (National Post)
“Freedom Convoy” organizer says it’s not affiliated with extremist groups (Daily Hive)
Massive Crowds Cheer as Canadian Truckers Lead ‘Freedom Convoy’ Protesting Vaccine Mandates (CBN News)
Trucker convoy reaches Ontario amid fears of violence from fringe groups in Ottawa (blogTO)
“The small fringe minority of people who are on the way to Ottawa who are holding unacceptable views that they are expressing do not represent the views of Canadians who have been there for each other”
-Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau“…small fringe minority….” Friday Jan. 28– Convoys depart for Ottawa- with only two routes scheduled to reach Ottawa on Saturday
Canada must confront the toxic ‘Freedom Convoy’ head-on (Washington Post, Opinion)
Support for Freedom Convoy heats up despite Trudeau’s chill (Post Media)
There’s a lot of trucks in Freedom Convoy 2022 but not nearly the 50,000 they claim (National Post)
Freedom Convoy spokesman Benjamin Dichter joins Tucker Carlson to discuss the huge trucker protest (The Post Millennial)
Canadian Freedom Truckers Inspire The World As they Get Closer to Ottawa To Stand Up To Trudeau (SGT Report)
Ottowa police warn residents to stay away as ‘Freedom Convoy’ arrives in the city (The Peterborough Examiner)
Trudeau concerned trucker convoy converging on Parliament Hill could turn violent (Vancouver Sun)
Convoys of Canadian trucks are en route to Ottawa for a protest against vaccine mandates. (New York Times)
Here’s the Latest Update After GoFundMe Froze Millions Raised for Canada’s Anti Vaccine Mandate ‘Freedom Convoy’ (Daily Wire)
What the truckers want (and why Ottawa can’t give it to them (National Post)
GoFundMe finally releases $6.3 million for Trucker Freedom Convoy (From the Trenches)
Sunday Jan. 30– Protests Day 2
Freedom Convoy: Truckers cause chaos in Ottawa after second day of protests (BBC)
Multiple criminal investigations underway for ‘desecration’ of Canadian monuments after protests against Covid-19 mandates, police say (CNN)
Freedom Convoy 2022 live updates: House to resume sitting, truckers plan new protests (National Post)
‘Freedom!’ Dutch Truckers Join Canadians in Convoying Against Lockdown Measures (Breitbart)
Convoy protesters make for ‘a really tough day’ at Ottawa’s Shepherds of Good Hope shelter: CEO (Calgary Herald)
Swastikas, other hate symbols displayed at Canadian protest against COVID Mandates (Times of Israel)
Interview with Canadian Member of Parliament Leslyn Lewis ‘Tyrant On The Run’: Internet Blasts Trudeau For Fleeing Capital As ‘Freedom Convoy’ Protest Heads His Way (Daily Wire)
CTV News “Heavy police presence monitoring trucker convoy in Ottawa” Australian Freedom Convoy 2022 in pictures and videos (Faith Reporters)
Police Report No Violence as Thousands Stage Peaceful Protest in Canadian Capital Over Mandates (Epoch Times)
Justin Trudeau moved to a secret location as thousands in Canada protest COVID-19 vaccine mandates for truckers and other restrictions (Yahoo News)
Everything we know so far about the Nazi Flag guy (True North)
Convoy to DC 2022 (Marshall Report)
Saskatchewan premier issues letter in support of truckers: Police makes ‘no sense’ (The Gazette)
Convoy Organizers hold first press conference Tuesday Feb. 1– Protests Day 4
Truck blockade continues at U.S. border as RCMP ready to make arrests, tow vehicles (Lethbridge News)
Freedom Convoy: Blockade at Alberta border crossing ‘unlawful’ (BBC)
Canadian police move against truck blockade at US-Canada border (Freight Waves)
Alberta towing companies reject requests to supply trucks to RCMP (Western Standard)
Canada ‘Freedom Convoy’: Ottawa police set up hate crime hotline despite admitting protests remain peaceful (Tribune Media)
Canada’s Freedom Convoy has perfectly exposed legacy media’s conceited bias (EU Times)
Freedom Convoy refuses to free Ottawa (National Post)
Shared by the Freedom Convoy 2022 Facebook Page Israelis To Join Canada, Other Countries in ‘Convoy of Freedom’ (Israel 365 News)
Canada convoy: Truckers ban media as Trudeau refuses meeting and calls protest an ‘insult to truth’ (Independent)
After Over $10 Million Raised for Canadian Truckers, GoFundMe Freezes the Page (Pacific Pundit)
Thursday Feb. 3 Protests Day 6
Freedom convoy plans move to Winnipeg (The Carillon)
Freedom Convoy: No plans to call in military, says Trudeau (BBC)
RCMP and CBP say safety is top priority in the freedom convoy protests (Montana Right Now)
Freedom convoy’s GoFundMe suspended following complaints from Ottawa government (Rebel News)
Quebec Premier open to meeting with Quebec freedom convoy (Rebel News)
Facebook and GoFundMe Attack Freedom Trucker Convoy in Attempt to Derail Workers’ Uprising (SGT Report)
Justice Centre representing 2022 Truckers’ Freedom Convoy (Justice Centre)
How Canada’s ‘freedom convoy’ was overtaken by a radical fringe (National Post)
Freedom Convoy Feeding Homeless and Truckers Toronto police, mayor say they won’t allow ‘Convoy for Freedom’ to negatively affect residents, businesses (Toronto.com)
Toronto doing ‘everything we can’ to prevent repeat of Ottawa’s disruption at Saturday truck protests, Tory says (Toronto Star)
Blockade at Coutts Border Crossing Saturday Feb. 5 Protest Day 8
‘Freedom Convoy’ supporters roll through Niagara (Niagara Falls Review)
Freedom Convoy: GoFundMe seizes funds of Canada ‘occupation’ (World Justice News)
Full text here Crowds of demonstrators join rallies across Canada as Covid-19 trucker protests spread (CNN)
Makeshift Restaurant Built Amidst Downtown Freedom Convoy Protest As ‘Freedom Convoy’ hits Toronto,other cities, the anti-mandate movement is larger and faces more opposition than ever (Toronto Star)
‘Beginning of the end’: GoFundMe faces avalanche of backlash after yanking Freedom Convoy campaign (BizPac Review)
GoFundMe Reverses Plans on ‘Freedom Convoy’ Donations, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Promises Investigation (MSN)
Republican leaders commit to investigating GoFundMe because the company took down the Freedom Convoy’s fundraiser (Blaze Media)
Here’s How the so-called Freedom Convoy is still raising ‘thousands of dollars’ per minute even without GoFundMe (Toronto Star)
Elon Musk Responds to GoFundMe Canceling Freedom Convoy Fund For Canadian Truckers (Daily Wire)
Freedom Convoy: Media SMEAR Campaign (SGT Report)
Toronto sees massive Freedom Convoy protest packing city’s downtown (Rebel News)
Farm Tractors in Toronto to Support the “Freedom” Convoy (Nouspique)
Ottawa declares ‘state of emergency’ amid continuing blockades and raucous protests over covid measures (MSN)
Watch: Driver Deliberately Hits 4 Protesters in One Of The Many Canadian ‘Freedom Convoy’ Protests (Clash Daily)
Man plows SUV into Freedom Convoy protesters (News Wars)
Hit-and-run injures protesters at Winnipeg freedom rally (Rebel News)
February 5th, Ottowo 
Monday Feb. 7 Protest Day 10
Backers of ‘Freedom Convoy’Cite Overcoming Communism in Their Support of Canadian Truckers (Singapore Daily News)
Breaking: Ontario Superior Court grants injunction against honking in downtown Ottowa (Rebel News)
Breaking: Ontario Liberals threaten to Confiscate trucks from peaceful protesters if they don’t leave Ottawa (The Post Millennial)
UK Freedom Convoy tells GB News: ‘We’re not far-right, we want the freedom of choice’ (Global News)
Trucker convoy: Statement calls police fuel confiscation ‘inhumane’ (Vancouver Sun)
Freedom convoy protesters in Ottawa are carrying around jerrycans in protest to the arrests of individuals with fuel on their person The Freedom Convoy has been peaceful and respectful, despite claims to the contrary (Life Site)
Freedom Convoy movement spreads across the globe (European Renaissance)
Ottawa is canceling police officers’ days off as the Freedom Convoy protests continue. Some have worked 2 weeks without a break. (Insider)
GiveSendGo fundraiser for Freedom Convoy hits $4.5 million after GoFundMe shuts page down (The Gazette)
Saturday January 15th- requirements for entry into Canada changed for unvaccinated (or partially vaccinated) truck drivers. While Canadian truck drivers can still enter Canada (and be subject to testing and quarantine requirements), those that are not Canadian will be turned away at the border.
COVID-19 vaccine mandate, ongoing labour shortages challenging for Manitoba trucking industry (CBC News)
Monday Jan. 17– Truckers Protest Vaccine Mandate at the Emerson Border Crossing
Steinbach Online 
Wednesday Jan. 19– Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) releases statement on Protests- in short, they do not support them.
The trucking industry was caught by surprise on Jan. 12 when the Canada Border Services Agency sent a statement to media saying that unvaccinated and partially vaccinated truck drivers crossing into Canada from the United States would remain exempt from the vaccine mandate that had long been expected to come into force last weekend.
The federal government reversed that the next afternoon with a statement that said the information shared the day before had been sent in error. The exemption would still end Jan. 15, meaning truck drivers would need to be fully vaccinated if they wanted to avoid a two-week quarantine and pre-arrival molecular test for COVID-19 before crossing into Canada.
Freedom Convoy Truckers Protesting Covid Mandates Travel to Ottawa (Discover Weyburn)Friday Jan. 21–Truck convoy to pass through Toronto in protest against vaccine mandates (blogTO)
A GoFundMe has raised more than $800,000 to support the truckers, and fundraiser organizer Tamara Lich demands the government stop all mandates.”
blogTOPresident of the Private Motor Truck Council of Canada, Mike Millian, discussed the vaccination requirements in both the United States (beginning Jan. 22) and Canada Convoy of truckers against vaccine mandates ready to roll on Ottowa (Toronto Sun)
Sunday Jan. 23– Convoy was scheduled to leave Prince George at 7 AM, bound for Calgary, while another departed for Calgary from Vancouver.
Hundreds of truckers headed to Ottawain ‘Freedom Rally’ convoy against vaccine mandate (CBC News)
At this point- I might recommend muting youtube, otherwise there is a lot of honking. Rallies also occurred at overpasses.
GoFundME over $2.5 Million (CBC News)
Tuesday Jan. 25– Convoys were scheduled to depart from Regina for Kenora
‘Freedom Rally’ truckers convoy hits Ontario- picking up Conservative political support as it rolls (Toronto Star)
Funds frozen after millions raised for truckers protesting vaccine mandate (CTV News)
Trucker convoy might not get the $5 million it raised to protest vaccine mandates in Canada (blogTO)
Trudeau Is Ignoring The Freedom Convoy Because He Knows His Agenda Is Failing (National Telegraph, Opinion)
Canadian Truckers Lead ‘Freedom Convoy’ To Ottawa To Protest Vaxx Mandate (Daily Wire)
Thursday Jan. 27– Several Groups rolling on thursday; The group from Thunder Bay scheduled bound for Sault STe. Marie, with additional groups departing from St. Johns, Enfield, Riviere-du-Loup, Windsor, Sarnia, Niagra and Toronto
Canadian ‘freedom’ truckers massive vaccine mandate protest convoy may smash world record (Fox News)
Canadians Furious After Trudeau’s ‘Fringe Minority’ Comment As Thousands of Truckers Head to Capital (Daily Wire)
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he is isolating after learning of COVID exposure (Toronto Star)
Freedom Convoy plans to gridlock Ottawa until all vaccine mandates repealed (Edmonton Journal)
Elon Musk tweets in support of Canadian truckers ahead of ‘Freedom Rally’ protest (MSN)
Large Amount of support for Freedom Convoy (Lake Superior News)
This trucker thing probably isn’t going to end well (National Post)
Polls Show Popular Support for Trucker Convoy in Canada Despite Trudeau’s Claim it Represents ‘Fringe Minority’ (American Greatness)
Saturday Jan. 29– Last two convoys scheduled to arrive in Ottowa
Freedom Convoy: Why Canadian truckers are protesting in Ottawa (BBC News)
Trucker convoy rumbles into Canada’s capital carrying COVID and mandate beefs (Freight Waves)
Canada’s ‘Freedom Convoy’ of up to 50,000 truckers begins to arrive in Ottawa ahead of a weekend of protests against the vaccine requirements to cross (Canada Free Press)
Washington Post political cartoon labels trucker convoy as ‘fascism,’ which ignites fierce firestorm: ‘Devoid of wit or truth. Shameful and pathetic.’ (Blaze Media)
Demonstrators descend upon Sask. Legislative Building for ‘solidarity convoy’ opposing vaccine mandate for truckers (CTV News)
Fact Check: Canada truck convoy not an official Guinness World Record (Yahoo News)
Freedom Convoy 2022, Saturday: Thousands pack Parliament Hill for protest (National Post)
Terry Fox statue defaced with “mandate freedom” amid Ottawa Protest (Daily Hive) Province in Canada bans gathering along highway ‘in support of the 2022 Freedom Convoy’ (BizPac Review)
Trudeau Flees as trucker convoy Enters Ottawa (The Week)
Trucks traveled great distances to be in Ottawa, so did police snipers (Toronto Sun)
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau silent as thousands join truckers’ protest in Ottawa (National Post)
Justin Trudeau and his family flee Canadian capital Ottawa as up to 50,000 ‘Freedom Convoy’ anti-vaccine mandate truckers arrive at his office -days after he dismissed them as a ‘small fringe minority’ (Daily Mail)
The “Freedom Convoy” is being prepared in Europe (French Daily News)
Ottowa Freedom Convoy Peaceful (Lake Superior News)
Monday Jan. 31– Protests Day 3
Is Freedom Convoy Coming to America? (Transportation Nation)
Freedom Convoy Organizer Tearfully Tells of Canadians Helping Truckers (Daily Wire)
“Freedom Convoy” draws support and criticism (Toronto Star)
More than $9 million raised for so-called Freedom Convoy (Daily Hive)
“Pierre Poilievre defends #TruckersForFreedom Protest” Soup kitchen harassment to confederate flags: Controversial moments at Canadian trucker convoy protest (Independent)
Freedom Convoy dismantles stereotypes about who is opposed to vaccine mandates (National Post)
Washington Post, MSNBC trash Canadian ‘Freedom Convoy’ truckers: ‘It’s a cult’ (Fox News)
Post continues- far longer than I can get a readable screenshot Message to Truckers- mostly organizational updates, but well worth watching Wednesday Feb. 2
Protests Day 5
Canadian trucker ‘Freedom Convoy’: 2 charged, 13 active investigations (Fox News)
‘Significant element’ from U.S. involved in self-described ‘Freedom Convoy’ in Canada, official says (Washington Post)
New developments in border protest, local businesses see impacts (Montana Right Now)
Freedom Convoy Working? Saskatchewan Dropping All COVID Restrictions, Vax Passports By End Of Month (Sign of the Times)
Freedom Convoy: Organizers pledge to stay ‘as long as it takes’ (BBC News)
Freedom Convoy: Police Move in as public turns on truckers blocking US-Canada border (Independent)
Ottowa police may seek military assistance as ‘Freedom Convoy’ protesters dig in (Toronto Star)
Day 5: Freedom Convoy still strong in Ottawa (Rebel News)
Friday Feb. 4 Protest Day 7
My First Week in Canada– A bit lengthy, but written by someone in Ottawa
‘Freedom Convoy’ Lawyers Demand GoFundMe Release Fundraising Haul (Daily Wire)
#Breaking: GoFundMe refuses to release money donated to Freedom Convoy (True North)
Majority of Canadians disagree with ‘freedom convoy’ on vaccine mandates and lockdowns (McMaster University)
West Virginia Attorney General Slams GoFundMe, Urges Residents To Report Deceptive Practices After ‘Freedom Convoy’ Page Shut Down (Daily Wire)
Ottawa Police ADMIT to lobbying GoFundMe to withhold funds from Canadian truckers (The Post Millenial)
Ottawa police promise heavy crackdown on Freedom Convoy, despite data showing crime down in Ottawa (Rebel News)
Liberal MP compares freedom convoy funding to “terrorist financing” (True North)
Fact Check: Canadian ‘Freedom Convoy’ protest didn’t surpass size of country’s army (Yahoo News)
We need protections from the ‘freedom convoy’ in Ottawa that don’t involve the police (Queens Journal)
Counterprotesters vs Freedom Convoy (notTV)
Military tells Ottawa to find someone else to evict the truckers (National Post)
Freedom Convoy Expected to Grow! Truckers Vow to Continue “Until It’s A Free Nation Again (SGT Report)
Ottawa police deploy more officers ahead of weekend demonstration Where did all of the THOUSANDS of trucks end up in Ottawa? Diverted by police AWAY from downtown (Rebel News)
Tow Truck Companies Refuse to Remove Convoy Trucks Truck convoy: $9.8M class-action lawsuit filed against “Freedom Convoy”; GoFundMe ends fundraising campaign; Protesters spotted in the suburbs; Kitchen erected in Confederation Park (The World News)
‘Vancouver doesn’t want you here’: Mayor addresses Saturday’s planned protest convoy (Vancouver is Awesome)
Possibly a Freedom Convoy getting started in Berlin, but my German is as poor as my French, so I’m not certain.
Sunday Feb. 6 Protest Day 9
State of emergency declared in Ottawa Breaking: Man charged in Winnipeg car attack on convoy protest is radical-left anarchist (Rebel News)
Freedom Convoy Raises $2M on GiveSendGo After GoFundMe Removes Campaign (Newsweek)
‘Freedom Convoy’ protest exposes hypocrisy in Ottawa (Toronto Star, Opinion)
Canadian policecall the Freedom Convoy a ‘nation-wide insurrection’ (The Blaze)
GoFundMe unable to stop donations to Freedom Convoy (Lake Superior News)
Ottowa Police Back Down to Freedom Convoy Protesters (The Liberty Beacon)
Cruz Takes Action In Pushing Federal Agency To Investigate GoFundMe For Canceling Freedom Convoy (Daily Wire)
Ottawa Police Seize Fuel From Freedom Convoy Protest Site, Make More Arrests (The Epoch Times)
The Freedom Convoy dance part in downtown Ottawa continues (Canada Free Press)
Several people arrested for bringing gas to ‘Freedom Convoy’ demonstrators in Ottawa, police say (CTV News)
Freedom Convoy Responds to Ottowa Police Breaking: Police begin ARRESTING convoy protesters outside parliament (Rebel News)
‘Possibly Illegal behavior’: Ashley Moody blasts GoFundMe after Freedom Convoy Flip (Florida Politics)
Note: If you want something up to date, go elsewhere. We come out on Tuesdays.
Not much on the blockades at the border? No, that’s a separate post.
If you’re interested in following this in real time, your best bet would seem to be using social media and watching live-streams. -
Slow Roll Protests have emerged at several crossings over the past month, as well as full and partial blockades. Protests are against the new vaccine mandates for crossing the border, and in support of the Freedom Convoy in Ottowa protesting the same.
A Slow Roll Protest began at 3 in the morning, Monday January 17th on the US Manitoba border at the Crossing between Pembina, North Dakota and Emerson, Manitoba. The Pembina/Emerson crossing is a 24 hour port of entry, with three commercial lanes and 4 auto lanes. It is the most heavily traveled border crossing in North Dakota. Between 30 and 40 semi-trucks moved in a slow loop, passing through the crossing, then turning, and crossing again.
The largest port of entry in Alberta is the Coutts Border Crossing, between Coutts, Alberta and Sweet Grass, Montana where traffic has been disrupted since Saturday, January 29th. On the 29th, the RCMP said that several hundred vehicles took part in the protest.
Also on the 29th, a blockade was set up at the Houlton-Woodstock border crossing, between Woodstock New Brunswick and Houlton Maine. The blockade was scheduled to last 24 hours, and to demonstrate support for the Trucker Convoy protesting in Ottawa.
The current blockade of Highway 4 at the Coutts border crossing violates the Alberta Traffic Safety Act. It is causing significant inconvenience for lawful motorists and could dangerously impede the movement of emergency service vehicles. This blockade must end immediately.”
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney, January 30thCoutts border crossing, Jan. 31 On January 31st, Rebel News reported on a standoff between the RCMP and the protesters, including ongoing negotiations. The protest at the Coutts border crossing continued on February 1st, with further negotiations between RCMP and the protesters. The protest continued to grow on the 2nd. There is a group set up to fund the legal defense for the protesters. At some point a second blockade occurred in the area. With so much coverage for the Coutts border crossing, it’s difficult to find news about any other ports of entry. That said, there are videos that suggest protests (with lotsof honking) have been occurring in other places along the border.
Saturday February 4th Video Update from Rebel News on the Coutts, Alberta Border Blockade. Also on the 4th, an article came out suggesting that companies will be rerouting their shipping to crossings to the east or west of the Coutts crossing.
On Sunday, February 6th, there were reports of a protest at a different crossing: Convoy slows traffic at the border and closes 402 westbound Sunday– CBC News. A convoy slowed traffic at Ambassador Bridge, a 24 hour crossing that connects Windsor, Toronto to Detroit, Michigan, another major port of entry.
The protest at the Coutts crossing continues- it’s well worth watching the youtube videos. The written press coverage has been fairly limited- youtube and twitter both provide more information, if less linearly.
Local News- if you’ve been watching the Eureka Montana Community Page, you’ll have seen that a Freedom Rally in support of the Freedom Convoy 2022 is scheduled for February 12th, b/w 1 and 4 PM, gather at the parking lot of the First & Last Chance Bar.
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