Thread by @DougaldLamont

I am going to build a couple of threads with a history of the Convoy. Here's Part 1.

First, the convoy had many of the same organizers who organized the 2019 "United We Roll Convoy" - Yellow Vests Canada, whose 100,000+ FB page was filled with death threats.

globalnews.ca/news/4827607/f…

While the 2019 convoy was notionally about pipelines and the carbon tax, Yellow Vest groups also referred to conspiracy theories that suggested that a “global migration pact” - an agreement to try to get countries to coordinate on refugees- would mean that people who criticized Islam could go to jail.
This conspiracy theory was one of several referenced by Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer as well as now-Alberta Premier Danielle Smith.



globalnews.ca/news/4728762/c…
globalnews.ca/news/4724472/d…

The event was notable because of the high-profile support of Conservative leader Andrew Scheer, PPC leader Maxime Bernier, and Conservative Senator David Tkachuk said to “Roll over every liberal left in the country.”

Pat King, who has made multiple videos threatening violence, was a driver and organizer, and so was Tamara Lich.

The 2019 Convoy was also covered by Keean Bexte, a Rebel News Reporter who has worked for CPC MPs and who also ran a website selling Rhodesian military paraphernalia, covered & fundraised from the event.

So did Faith Goldy, a Rebel News Reporter who broadcast from a white supremacist “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville in which protestors were killed.

The Rebel plays an important role. It is a global source of extremist right-wing disinformation. It was founded by Ezra Levant & Hamish Marshall, who worked for Stephen Harper, Andrew Scheer, the Manitoba PCs & well the 2019 CPC Campaign, and campaigns in Australia and the U.K.

From 2015 to 2017, Hamish Marshall was one of 3 board members for The Rebel. Correspondents have included: Gavin McInnes, who founded the Proud Boys in 2016, a far-right militia group that was at Jan 6.

adl.org/blog/proud-boy…

McInnes grew up in Ottawa & founded Vice Magazine with a government grant. McInnes left Vice in 2008. After a failed attempt at shock comedy, McInnes drifted as a correspondent for a series of far-right outlets. As a Rebel Media correspondent, McInnes posted a video called “Ten things I hate about Jews.”

McInnes was at the storming of the U.S. Capitol. In December, Proud Boys in Washington, DC were wearing shirts that read “6MWE” - Six Million Wasn’t Enough, suggesting that even more Jews should have been killed in the Holocaust.

adl.org/resources/blog…

Keean Bexte promoted the “Yellow Vests Convoy” in Ottawa. Bexte was a recruiter for the Manning Centre for Democracy & staffer for a CPC Alberta MP, & called for ending birthright citizenship in Canada at a CPC policy convention.
ricochet.media/justice/far-ri…

Bexte ran “FireForce Ventures” a website that sold Rhodesian military paraphernalia from a time when Zimbabwe was ruled by a white supremacist government.

Bexte’s FireForce partners included Canadian Military & another CPC staffer, Adam Strashok. Strashok ran Jason Kenney’s call centre during his United Conservative Party (UCP) leadership run.
ricochet.media/justice/far-ri…

In fact, one of Bexte's correspondents, Kat Kanada is one of the people who has been linked with being paid for spreading Russian propaganda. Bexte was the guy who harrassed Justin Trudeau on the beach.

Other Rebel correspondents include Katie Hopkins, banned by multiple platforms for hate, but hired by The Rebel; Tommy Robinson, a far-right ex-convict from the UK.

cnn.com/2019/07/11/uk/…

A point about Ezra Levant's credibility: he has been successfully sued on a number of occasions. He had to apologize for defaming George Soros in a column for the Sun newspapers; in another case, a court found that Levant “spoke in reckless disregard of the truth.”

theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and…

Levant worked for Sun TV, created as a "Fox News Canada" and headed by Korey Teneycke. Teneycke worked at CAPP - Canada's oil producers, Stephen Harper’s Dir. of Communications, then at Sun. For his part, Levant was a guest a number of times on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News in 2021.

So, all of the organizational and promotional appartus for the Convoy was already in place in 2019 and a couple of months later, the Conservative Party and oil executives and expert strategists met to discuss how to beat the Liberals. The list is pretty remarkable. archive.is/Ok5CB#selectio…

Note the presence of Mike Roman, who worked as an organizer for Trump and has been indicted for his role in election crimes. Roman is Assistant Chair, and Stephen Harper the Chair of the IDU - the International Democratic Union.

thetyee.ca/Analysis/2023/…

April - May - June 2020
In April, there were already gatherings and protests by people who were spreading misinformation, arguing that COVID was a hoax. Close to that time, armed militias in Michigan had stormed the state legislature.

July 2, 2020
Cory Hurren, 46, drove from Swan River Manitoba to Ottawa, then drove his truck through the gates of Rideau Hall. Curren was charged with 22 offences, including threatening to cause death and bodily harm. He had bought into right-wing conspiracy theories.

There were various other attempts to push ideas and studies that were really junk science, or science that was essentially corrupted by junk economics. That includes the Great Barrington Declaration.

desmog.com/2020/10/26/ame…

The convoy was being planned for months. In a video posted in August, organizer Pat King talked about “real bullets” and says that people have no idea what is headed their way.

The Convoy was also built on huge numbers of fake and stolen accounts. Whoever actually did it, didn't want anyone to be able to trace it back to them.
web.archive.org/web/2024011019…

Further, the Facebook Groups used to promote the occupation were traced to a company in Bangladesh.

web.archive.org/web/2024012803…

The donors to the convoy came from a lot of conspiracy theorists. Lots of conservative US commentators suddenly cared about Canada more than they ever have before.

High-profile content spreaders like Joe Rogan, Jordan Peterson, Elon Musk, Theo Fleury and Bill Maher all shared disinformation based on far-right conspiracy theories on social media, HBO and Fox, as well as
Tucker Carlson.
yahoo.com/news/tucker-ca…

The Convoy was organized by the same people who had organized the convoy in 2019. They were politically connected: Brad Wall, former Saskatchewan Premier gave them strategic advice before AND during the unlawful protest.

ctvnews.ca/politics/forme…