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Jan 29 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
It's 8:35am in Ottawa, and the Truckers for Freedom Convoy is rolling into town today. The honking and cheering has already started. Not quite as loud as it was last night, but getting there.
I'm here with a crew from @TrueNorthCentre, and we've also got a crack team supporting us from afar. We'll be sharing updates all day, and telling the real story of this incredible grassroots movement.
If you see me out and about, come say hello!
And, if you can support True North's coverage costs, please chip in a few bucks here! donate.tnc.news

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More from @AndrewLawton

Andrew Lawton Profile picture
Jan 30
At a press conference hosted by organizers of the trucker freedom convoy GoFundMe, @Tamara_MVC and @BJdichter. Only independent journalists were invited.
Dichter says this is going to be a “lengthy” protest, notes private support by a lot of police officers.
Yesterday was “just an amazing day,” Dichter says.
Read 31 tweets
Andrew Lawton Profile picture
Jan 29
I'd like to set the record straight on some of the controversies of which I've been made away at today's freedom convoy rally. Oddly, I've only learned of these things on Twitter now that I'm back at my hotel, because they are genuine outliers.
The adornments on the Terry Fox statue were wrong, and shouldn't be there. Fortunately there doesn't appear to be anything on there that isn't removable. (The pearl-clutching from those backing permanent defacement of statues is cute).
No one should ever treat a war memorial like a parking lot. It looked from the photo like there were two cars, both of which were swiftly removed. Good.
Read 5 tweets
Andrew Lawton Profile picture
Jan 29
A few thoughts about the freedom convoy rally in Ottawa having been walking around for the last six hours:

The tone is not anger, but excitement. This is a huge block party. There's music, dancing, beer, pot, cheering, hugging, honking. People are just having a good time.
Based on signs and flags, it looks like at least 40 per cent of the crowd are French or from Quebec. My Quebecois colleague suggested much of this may be because the Quebec government has been so totalitarian in its Covid response that it poked the bear so to speak.
Very significant Indigenous representation. Mostly from Ontario and Quebec. Vaccination rates are lower in Indigenous communities, so it stands to reason that vaccine mandates disproportionately affect them. A lot of hugs between white and Indigenous people meeting and chatting.
Read 5 tweets
Andrew Lawton Profile picture
Jan 27
Conservative leader Erin O'Toole says the trucker convoy on its way to Ottawa is a "symbol of the fatigue" Canadians have with the last two years of Covid restrictions.
O'Toole says Conservatives have always been against mandates, and vows to meet with truckers tomorrow.
"This convoy...represents people who feel like they do not have a voice in Ottawa. I want you to know...we will try to make sure that everyone has a voice and no one is left behind in the pandemic, in the cost of living crisis," O'Toole says.
Read 7 tweets
Andrew Lawton Profile picture
Nov 17, 2021
In 2017, Andrew Scheer appointed almost every one of his leadership opponents to his shadow cabinet. Of Erin O'Toole's three leadership opponents, one was kicked from caucus, one was discouraged from running, the one elected to House of Commons was snubbed from shadow cabinet.
I was clear on my show today that if Erin O'Toole wants to stay on as leader, he should do two things: (1) seek a mandate from members sooner rather than later; (2) speak to the conservative base about why he made the decisions he did in the election.
So far, neither of these has happened. Moreover, when people have raised challenges to his leadership, they find themselves up against the apparatus of the Conservative party (Bert Chen, Denise Batters, etc.). Strong leaders are not afraid of criticism.
Read 4 tweets
Andrew Lawton Profile picture
Oct 8, 2021
One of the dangerous realities of the vaccine mandate for air travellers is that it effectively bars unvaccinated Canadians from leaving the country (which is a Charter guarantee). With a closed land border and a vaccine requirement for air and marine travel, people are trapped.
A friend points out that this mandate could bar Newfoundlanders from leaving the Rock. So far, it looks like only "non-essential" marine transport will require vaccination (such as cruise ships), though if the ferry, unilaterally mandates, internal mobility rights are dead.
Okay, it looks like Newfoundlanders can drive to Point May, canoe to Saint-Pierre, then hop on a direct flight to Charles de Gaulle in Paris. Great – constitutional liberties intact!
Read 4 tweets

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