Thread by @ARCCollective

1. I'm sure that most people have seen the video of Jagmeet Singh being accosted and threatened outside an NDP campaign office in Peterborough. If not I'll include the video but be warned that it is awful.

However I want to look at what happened in a broader context.

2. In September 2017 during the NDP leadership campaign I was among the first to publish a story about Singh being accosted by a woman linked to an anti-Muslim hate group.

"Woman Who Verbally Attacked Jagmeet Singh Tied to Rise Canada"

tinyurl.com/kcd4f6rv

3. Of course this wasn't the last time Singh would be targeted. In October 2020, Brian Kidder also accosted and threatened to "arrest" Singh for... reasons?

cbc.ca/news/politics/…

4. Kidder was in fact associated with another right-wing protest that was occurring in Ottawa as well as another smaller occupation.

antihate.ca/mps_citizens_a…

5. Kidder was also arrested for threatening to arrest other politicians including Doug Ford and Justin Trudeau.

https://twitter.com/vestscanada/status/1318957872567431172

6. This past summer the then Alberta Health Minister was targeted due to Covid mandates in the province.

https://twitter.com/ARCCollective/status/1410728692238614529?s=20&t=Q9i_Qy7FbiT0El5Ufhb7TQ

7. And of course we've seen this kind of abuse targeting the Prime Minister.

antihate.ca/white_national…

8. Marshall, a then PPC elections official volunteering with the Chelsea Hillier campaign (as well as a member of the hate group Canada First) later attended the #OttawaOccupation

lfpress.com/news/local-new…

9. What these all have in common of course are ties to far-right movements. Those movements might be anti-Muslim/anti-refugee, Yellow Vests, QAnon conspiracies, or "Freedom" convoys.

And sadly we have seen the ultimate results of these events.

10. We've seen them nationally.

cbc.ca/news/politics/…

11. And we've seen them internationally.

theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/n…

12. Now readers shouldn't be surprised to learn that the incident has been justified by the "freedom" and "patriot" crowd. I won't post all of the examples because it would be too long a list.

13.

14. This fella is appears to be a Diagolon supporter who participated in the events in Ottawa this past February.

15. The common refrain is that this and other similar accosting of politicians was justified because they are traitors (or traders because... of course), evil, and communists.

And, most common, "they are dividing Canadians."

16. Let's be honest though. Most of these people believe that "dividing Canadians" means that they don't get to impose their views on the majority. They are perfectly fine if Canadians are divided. They celebrate "triggering the Libtards."

17. And while I get there is a tendency to say "a pox on both their houses" and say this is a problem with "both sides", is it?

Let's take a look at the events at Mohawk College where Max Bernier was speaking in

cp24.com/news/four-arre…

18. The three who stood in the crosswalk were vilified in the press and by the right-wing media. In the end, one young man's family lost their business and one young women bullied into taking her life.

Ultimately for the sin of standing still in a cross walk and not moving.

19. Some of the same people and right-wing talking heads who were almost literally calling for blood in the case of the protest at Mohawk college are also many of the same ones justifying the "righteous anger" of yobbs calling for politicians to be tried and hung as traitors.

20. And if you are going to claim that the Mohawk College situation was different because the protesters targeted an attendee, well, the Peterborough protesters targeted ordinary Canadians as well before and during Singh's visit much more aggressively.

https://twitter.com/Eatsfood2/status/1524379225075105792?s=20&t=h5nVM6Y5kAaLkJTXMGhQDg

21. So let's not "both sides" this. This is very much a problem on the political right and if people like @PierrePoilievre, who continues to defend the #OttawaOccupation or Max Bernier continue to refuse to condemn the behaviour, it will continue and it will escalate.

22. Also, for consideration as we continue to see posters promoting other "freedom" convoy events through the spring and summer.

vice.com/en/article/z3n…

@PierrePoilievre 22. Also, for consideration as we in Canada also continue to see posters promoting other "freedom" convoy events through the spring and summer.

vice.com/en/article/z3n…