Thread by @alphonse_beszel

I want to make explicit something that I think we all know: the side that is more Canadian wins. Canadian flags, Terry Fox, War Memorial, crossing the country: this is the lesson of the struggle so far. And #TruckersForFreedom2022 holds the high cards. 1/

We will not win by convincing governments. We will not win through the courts, with money, with force, by pressure on supply lines. These are important, for they create an opening, but in the long run we need to win the hearts of Canadians. Here we have the advantage. 2/

In 2015, Trudeau declared Canada the world's first post-national country. He does not understand that we are both diverse and united: united by our flag, united by our constitution, by the land, by our love of freedom, by our love and care for one another. 3/

These treasures are the territories on which our battles are fought. I will take them one by one. 4/

The flag. The maple leaf is one of the best designed, most recognized and most respected flags in the world. Trudeau abandoned it. He lowered it and left it down. His government's responsibility is to bring us together and right wrongs, not empty gestures. 5/

When I see pictures of Canadians, native and non-native, coming together for freedoms we all share, when I read stories of our many peoples speaking and really listening to one another, sometimes for the first time, my heart swells. Trudeau dropped the flag. We picked it up. 6/

The constitution. Our governments break our most sacred laws and principles, recorded in our Charter of Rights. Looking south, the government wanted a riot. We responded with peace and love. They try to paint us as barbarians who degrade our values. We hold them up. 7/

The land. Canada was created by the railway that crossed the continent. Our truckers' trip across our country was a secular pilgrimage. Terry Fox did the same - and so they lied about his statue. More on the power of our founding myth here: 8/

https://twitter.com/alphonse_beszel/status/1488245849960239104

Freedom. This is the essence of the movement. It is one of the magical and powerful ideas in the world. They call it selfish. We show that it is anything but. True freedom is an act of love. It is respect we show ourselves, one another, the land and the world. 9/

Love. Their messages are fear and hate. For every question, they answer hate. When we celebrate life, they call it division. They want us to fear one another. They want us to fear our children and fear for our children. They want us divided. 10/

The side that wins is the side that defines what it means to be Canadian. They offer only loneliness, hate, fear and anger. We will win because what we have, our leaders, with their pinched faces and voices raised in fury, gave up long ago. We offer what they never can. 11/

When freedom is outlawed, parties are protests. I am vaxxed: it does not matter. One by one, our fellow Canadians will see. In the depths of winter, from all corners of the land, we come together in love and pride, in peace and joy. Together, Canadian. And we will win. 12/12