Juno News - The convoy was heard loud and clear

00:00:00.000 Welcome to Canada's Most Irreverent Talk Show.

00:00:06.680 This is the Andrew Lawton Show, brought to you by True North.

00:00:12.800 Coming up, I've just returned from the Freedom Convoy 2022 in Ottawa.

00:00:17.580 We'll have a full report, plus a conversation with the spokesperson for the Convoy's organizers.

00:00:24.920 The Andrew Lawton Show starts right now.

00:00:31.000 Hello and welcome to the Andrew Lawton Show here on True North.

00:00:35.460 It is Tuesday, February 1st, 2022, and the Convoy is still going strong in our nation's capital of Ottawa.

00:00:44.780 I am, as you can probably tell by looking, I am back in London now, back in my home studio after spending a few days up in Ottawa,

00:00:53.040 talking to the people involved in the creation of the Convoy.

00:00:56.760 We'll have one of them on the show later on.

00:00:59.140 But more importantly, talking to the people that were there, many of them traveling from all across the country,

00:01:04.760 as far away as British Columbia, as Yellowknife, as South Ottawa,

00:01:10.520 all there because they believed there was something in that convoy that they resonated with, the message of freedom.

00:01:18.520 This show is going to be a bit different than usual programs.

00:01:21.640 I don't really have a structure.

00:01:23.160 I was trying before the show to think of, okay, well, what do I want to say?

00:01:26.620 What do I want to do?

00:01:27.540 And I've got a couple of clips I'm going to throw to of things that happened.

00:01:31.540 And I'm going to talk about the bigger picture, though.

00:01:33.900 And I'm going to just intersperse that with little commentaries and observations of things that I experienced and things I felt.

00:01:41.740 And more importantly, things that are just so fundamentally wrong about the mainstream media's characterization and the mainstream media's depiction of this.

00:01:51.520 This was a peaceful protest.

00:01:54.620 It was a peaceful demonstration.

00:01:56.540 It was a peaceful convoy.

00:01:57.780 This was an example of people peacefully gathering in their nation's capital to say we've had enough.

00:02:03.920 And much as we've talked about the genesis of the convoy, which was obviously resisting the vaccine mandate for cross-border truckers, it grew to be so much more than that.

00:02:15.360 And we were talking about this a little bit last week as the convoy was heading to Ottawa, the importance of understanding exactly what it is people were fighting for.

00:02:23.740 And it really has become, and the organizer, Benjamin Dichter, was speaking at a press conference, and he said that it was really about ending all COVID restrictions, federal and provincial, and returning to life circa 2019.

00:02:38.060 And there's something very pure in that desire.

00:02:41.040 And in a lot of ways, the protests, the rallies, became a signal to a lot of people of a tide that is very much turning.

00:02:48.680 And I want to point out some stats on this, because last week there was that poll, or it was actually earlier this week, or whatever it was, that said one in five people would never be comfortable living without masks or vaccine mandates.

00:03:02.640 One in five.

00:03:04.440 Now, that may be a minority, but that's a pretty scary minority.

00:03:07.800 If 20% of the population was saying that, you know what, I always want to have a mask mandate in place, I always want a vaccine mandate.

00:03:14.200 20% of people that were very firmly believing that this life that we're living now should be the new normal.

00:03:21.380 But then we yesterday had a poll that showed a bit of movement in this.

00:03:24.620 This is a poll taken January 27th and 28th, which means it was taken last week, but while the convoy was gradually becoming the big story of the country.

00:03:34.520 And this poll found that 54% of people in this country believe that COVID-19 restrictions should end.

00:03:43.400 This was an Angus Reid poll, reputable polling firm.

00:03:46.400 54% said it's time to end restrictions and, quote, let people self-isolate if they are at risk.

00:03:53.920 So moving towards a personal responsibility approach.

00:03:57.360 This is not pandemic denial.

00:03:59.100 This is not saying COVID doesn't exist.

00:04:00.900 It's not saying that we are going to just dig our heads in the sand and pretend that all of these things that do happen and affect certain people are...

00:04:08.620 No, it's not about that.

00:04:09.420 It's about saying that we should let individual people make their own choices.

00:04:14.500 And that's what this is about.

00:04:15.940 It's not about vaccination.

00:04:17.900 It is about vaccine mandates and within that lockdowns.

00:04:21.280 And it was so rich to hear all the politicians who have been pushing back against this convoy say,

00:04:25.740 Oh, well, the convoy is being disrespectful to local businesses in Ottawa because they aren't able to open.

00:04:33.620 Are you freaking kidding me?

00:04:36.340 The governments that have been shutting down businesses for much of the last two years are concerned about the effect on business of a group of people that are ready to patronize businesses.

00:04:47.700 Any place that was open, this was fascinating in Ottawa, a lot of places did shut down, but anyone that was open was busy from morning to night the entire day.

00:04:57.420 So the convoy is actually a blessing to businesses.

00:05:01.120 I was staying at a hotel a couple of blocks from Parliament Hill.

00:05:04.260 It was full for the first time in two years.

00:05:07.760 And that was every hotel.

00:05:08.920 Every hotel was just filled right up, which is not something that downtown Ottawa has had in the last two years.

00:05:14.720 People were skating on the canal, people were walking the streets, people were having a grand old time.

00:05:21.760 And again, I'm not saying there hasn't been disruption.

00:05:24.540 And obviously that's the point of the blockade.

00:05:26.660 They're trying to disrupt.

00:05:27.800 They've tried to and have succeeded in shutting down Wellington Street.

00:05:32.160 But the point that I'm making is that this is not something that we can believe anyone is genuinely concerned about.

00:05:39.500 They're just throwing up all of these situations where they want to pretend they're concerned.

00:05:43.160 They want to pretend that, oh, we're just out for the poor business owners on Elgin Street or whatever the case may be.

00:05:48.520 No, what they are is just trying to come up with ways that they can wedge Canadians against the convoy when Canadians are, by and large, supporting the convoy.

00:05:59.020 I do not consider myself a celebrity by any stretch.

00:06:02.860 I do not.

00:06:03.520 I am not a celebrity.

00:06:04.400 I just have this job where I get to talk about things that I care about and I get to hear from people and talk to great people across this country about the things that they care about.

00:06:13.200 The number of people that have reached out to me who I, in some cases, I may be met 10 years ago for something that are saying, oh my goodness, I just saw your show.

00:06:24.320 I'm just learning of all this stuff.

00:06:25.620 I just saw this thing.

00:06:26.480 It's great.

00:06:27.220 People that are following me on Instagram where I just post like food pictures and pre-2020 travel pictures that are reaching out saying, yeah, this is great.

00:06:35.620 I just saw these tweets of yours.

00:06:37.060 I just saw this show segment.

00:06:38.420 I just saw this interview you did.

00:06:40.120 And people are doing this all because of the convoy.

00:06:43.320 The convoy is breaking into circles that are closed off traditionally to conservative politics and I'd say to politics in general.

00:06:53.800 And people are waking up and saying, you know what?

00:06:56.620 I'm actually wanting to be engaged.

00:07:00.220 Originally, there were questions and I still haven't gotten a definitive count from anyone.

00:07:04.340 The organizers of the convoy didn't want to give a count.

00:07:06.700 The police haven't given a count.

00:07:07.960 So I don't know how many people were there on the weekend.

00:07:09.860 But originally, what I thought was going to happen was you'd have an influx of people on the Saturday.

00:07:16.400 A lot of them would be there on the Sunday and then it would kind of dissipate.

00:07:19.480 But it went the other way.

00:07:20.740 People kept coming because when people saw the footage of Saturday, they were thinking, oh, my goodness, I want to be there.

00:07:28.520 And I had messages from people that were like all day Sunday.

00:07:31.600 I was like being the Ottawa tourism liaison because people were emailing me saying, yeah, is it still going on?

00:07:36.620 Can I still come?

00:07:37.360 Can I still get in?

00:07:38.140 How do I get there?

00:07:38.860 What's the best way?

00:07:39.860 And people were seeing the coverage and being like, I want to be there.

00:07:43.320 I want to be a part of this.

00:07:45.820 And when I walked around, it was minus 20, I think, at a lot of points.

00:07:51.020 And I like my wife, lovely, caring woman that she is, made sure I was like adequately equipped for it because knowing me, I just would have like gone out with wearing this or something.

00:07:58.920 But she, you know, we made sure I had like warm clothing.

00:08:02.320 And I'm glad because we were out for long periods of time.

00:08:05.320 My hand was getting frostbitten from the microphone in any interview you see of mine where I wasn't wearing gloves.

00:08:10.900 But unfortunately, you can't turn the mic on or off without gloves.

00:08:13.760 So I know, first world problems.

00:08:15.360 The whole, it's the price of freedom.

00:08:17.300 The whole point is, it was freezing and people were still out there.

00:08:21.660 People were tailgating on the backs of their trucks.

00:08:24.560 People were playing music.

00:08:26.120 I didn't always agree with the choice of music.

00:08:29.940 I was in a hotel that was right on Albert Street where a lot of the trucks were going around.

00:08:35.400 And at one point, I was trying to get to sleep and they had played Mambo No. 5 three times in the course of an hour.

00:08:41.920 Again, not always my choice of soundtrack, but it was a big old party.

00:08:46.180 Everyone was having a great time and they are continuing to.

00:08:50.520 What's going to happen in the future, I don't know.

00:08:53.040 There have been a lot of people that have been talking about, especially Ottawa City Councilors,

00:08:57.040 wanting to get in there and start forcibly removing it.

00:08:59.620 But the question is, how do you intend to do it?

00:09:02.540 I know it's possible to tow semis.

00:09:04.300 It's possible to tow tractor trailers, but it's not easy.

00:09:07.980 Certainly not when they are parked bumper to bumper and there are hundreds of them.

00:09:13.820 So how are they going to tow them?

00:09:15.440 Where are they going to take them?

00:09:17.540 And what's going to happen if they start to try that?

00:09:20.060 Because I'm convinced that once they start going in there trying to tow things,

00:09:24.140 people are going to be lining the streets to prevent that from happening.

00:09:27.960 I'm not encouraging that.

00:09:29.000 I'm just making, I think, a fair statement.

00:09:31.380 So in the time it would take police to clear that out, people would swarm on Ottawa and

00:09:36.900 prevent them from being able to easily do that.

00:09:39.360 And then you've got a riot on your hands.

00:09:42.700 And this has been peaceful.

00:09:44.620 Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. 0.85

00:09:46.240 The Canadian press ran this asinine story that I have to share because the headline is so rich.

00:09:52.660 Calling Ottawa protests peaceful downplays non-violent dangers, critics say.

00:09:58.440 Anyway, so I said last week, and I wrote a newsletter about this, that the critics of

00:10:03.060 the convoy want it to be violent because they want to delegitimize it.

00:10:06.460 No greater proof of that than this story.

00:10:08.860 They're saying, well, okay, fine.

00:10:10.060 It wasn't violent, but it's still dangerous.

00:10:11.940 It's still dangerous.

00:10:12.740 So don't call it a peaceful protest.

00:10:14.700 And this is the line that Justin Trudeau has taken.

00:10:17.640 I don't know if you caught his press conference yesterday, but he decided to go on a war path 0.70

00:10:21.740 about this and take aim at everyone, defining them based on a couple of isolated examples.

00:10:28.600 Here's what he said.

00:10:30.160 As my friend Erwin Kotler said on Saturday, freedom of expression, assembly, and association

00:10:37.120 are cornerstones of democracy.

00:10:40.580 But Nazi symbolism, racist imagery, and desecration of war memorials are not.

00:10:47.400 It is an insult to memory and truth.

00:10:52.820 Hate can never be the answer.

00:10:57.440 Over the past few days, Canadians were shocked and, frankly, disgusted by the behavior displayed

00:11:04.940 by some people protesting in our nation's capital.

00:11:08.420 I want to be very clear.

00:11:09.980 We are not intimidated by those who hurl insults and abuse at small business workers and steal

00:11:19.600 food from the homeless.

00:11:22.160 We won't give in to those who fly racist flags.

00:11:27.460 We won't cave to those who engage in vandalism or dishonor the memory of our veterans.

00:11:34.460 But in that entire press conference, not a single example of, I understand their anger, or I

00:11:42.160 sympathize, or, you know, I get their point, but I disagree.

00:11:45.560 None of that. 0.79

00:11:46.540 It was they're racist, they're hateful, they're anti-science, they're big, or whatever the

00:11:50.680 case is. 0.87

00:11:51.080 He was throwing every name at them.

00:11:52.940 Because that's the way that Justin Trudeau views ordinary, in many cases, working class

00:11:58.040 people who are rising up to say, we believe in freedom.

00:12:01.000 You don't belong in the Canadian society that Justin Trudeau wants.

00:12:08.160 And legitimately, I've had a couple of people in law enforcement that I've spoken to in the

00:12:12.100 last 12 hours, the last maybe 18 hours, who have said that they believe the risk of violence

00:12:19.260 only came when Justin Trudeau had that statement, had that press conference.

00:12:24.060 They believe that raised the temperature that the liberals have been pretending they want

00:12:28.380 to take down, to so-called de-escalate.

00:12:31.940 So he's ratcheted up his rhetoric.

00:12:34.480 He's decided to take aim at all of them and say that every single one of these people here, 0.92

00:12:38.240 oh yeah, they're just swastika waving, knuckle dragging, Confederate flag waving racist. 0.51

00:12:44.520 So let's talk about those incidents.

00:12:46.240 Because I, as you may have seen, Candace Malcolm launched an initiative at True North, where she

00:12:50.180 ponied up $1,000 to anyone who could help identify that single guy waving a Nazi flag.

00:12:57.200 Other people decided to match that and add in money of their own.

00:13:00.780 And now I think it's up to $6,500.

00:13:03.380 I don't know if anyone's claimed it, but, or has tried to claim it.

00:13:06.820 But as far as I know, we have no more information than we did when we first saw that picture.

00:13:11.960 Candace sent me a message on the weekend and said,

00:13:14.100 Andrew, I want you to, you know, interview anyone that has any of these signs or flags that

00:13:18.480 are really concerning.

00:13:19.600 And I went back to her and I said, I'd love to, but I can't find any of them.

00:13:23.400 I can't find any of them.

00:13:25.400 I'm walking around with a cameraman and a French colleague of ours who has just started

00:13:30.320 with True North and is doing some tremendous work.

00:13:32.520 And I, we were walking around for hours a day, every day, and didn't see any of this stuff.

00:13:37.500 We saw lots of signs that you might've thought, okay, I wouldn't say that.

00:13:41.500 But we didn't see this Nazi symbolism that you'd think by paying attention to certain

00:13:47.340 mainstream media coverage was the norm.

00:13:49.460 Didn't see it.

00:13:50.040 Didn't see any Confederate flags.

00:13:52.580 I would have happily interviewed these people and found out what they were all about.

00:13:56.020 Are they there because they are genuine believers in those ideologies?

00:13:59.800 Or are they there because they're trying to undermine?

00:14:02.000 Either is possible.

00:14:03.440 I'm not discounting it.

00:14:04.520 I'm not saying that in a grassroots movement of thousands of people, a Nazi didn't show up.

00:14:11.040 I'm also not saying that in a grassroots movements of thousands of people, someone who

00:14:15.140 wanted to undermine that movement by pretending to be a Nazi showed up.

00:14:20.200 That is entirely possible.

00:14:22.280 Either one of those could have happened.

00:14:25.080 But here's the thing.

00:14:26.320 Those are not at all.

00:14:28.320 They're not even close to representing the majority or even a sizable contingent in a minority.

00:14:34.320 They are literally outliers.

00:14:36.940 Literally outliers.

00:14:37.980 I have seen one Confederate flag and if you watch the video, everyone else around that

00:14:42.220 guy wanted nothing to do with it and ended up forcing him out.

00:14:45.180 And if you look at the Nazi flag, he was far removed from the crowd because he would not 0.82

00:14:50.520 have been welcomed in that crowd.

00:14:53.460 These are very important realities.

00:14:56.420 When reports have come out about cars parking on the war memorial, they were swiftly removed

00:15:01.020 and then volunteers from the convoy decided to stand guard to protect it.

00:15:06.100 When the Terry Fox statue was adorned with removable objects, they were removed eventually after

00:15:12.640 media coverage and then everyone started tidying up.

00:15:15.720 You can see it on video.

00:15:16.660 They started tidying up the Terry Fox statue.

00:15:19.800 The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier as well, protected by people so that things that did happen and

00:15:26.100 were caught on video didn't happen again.

00:15:28.440 The question is what you do about these things and everyone on Instagram and Twitter that's

00:15:35.800 trying to criticize the rally and criticize the convoy is saying, well, all of these people

00:15:40.620 should be condemned.

00:15:42.260 They have been.

00:15:43.520 They've been condemned swiftly and vigorously before Justin Trudeau did.

00:15:48.280 I mean, the Nazi flag, the Confederate flag, all of that nonsense, that was criticized before

00:15:53.000 Justin Trudeau came out and he knew that, but he didn't care because he's decided to

00:15:58.400 vilify.

00:16:00.540 So what we have happening in Ottawa right now is something quite spectacular.

00:16:05.360 And more importantly, it is something that is becoming more mainstream.

00:16:10.020 You'll have noted I'm not talking about Aaron O'Toole's leadership right now.

00:16:14.320 There's a significant reason for that because first off, it's a prerecorded show and with stuff

00:16:19.720 like that, anytime you say something, it's going to change after you're done recording.

00:16:23.240 But also I'm trying to not make this about Aaron O'Toole and about the leadership.

00:16:26.800 I want to make this about the groundswell of support we've seen.

00:16:30.240 There were some politicians that were very strong leaders on this.

00:16:33.340 We had a number of conservative MPPs, the PPC leader, Maxine Bernier.

00:16:38.040 We had Ontario provincial politicians like Derek Sloan and Jim Carahalios and Randy Hillier

00:16:44.200 that were there.

00:16:45.700 So there were politicians represented.

00:16:47.900 But it was interesting to see the mainstreaming over the course of the week of the view that

00:16:54.700 the convoy was putting forth.

00:16:56.440 One interview I did that has gotten a lot of traction, I'm going to play it for you now

00:17:00.220 if you haven't seen it, is an interview with Leslie Lewis.

00:17:03.060 Now, I was recording what's called a stand-up, which is just standing up in front of the camera

00:17:07.600 and talking about what's happening.

00:17:09.060 And I saw her walking by and I like quickly just like darted after her.

00:17:12.180 We didn't schedule this or anything, but she ended up making a lot of comments in just

00:17:16.740 a few minutes that truly resonated with people, again, outside of conventional political circles.

00:17:22.160 Take a look.

00:17:23.140 So what brings you out to Ottawa?

00:17:24.900 I know you work here, but specifically on this day, why are you on Parliament Hill?

00:17:29.160 Why wouldn't I be?

00:17:30.160 This is democracy.

00:17:31.320 This is what democracy is all about.

00:17:32.980 People believe that the government has overstepped with mandates and they're here to exercise

00:17:39.700 their democratic right.

00:17:41.440 We give, people give the government the power to act in accordance with their values.

00:17:48.080 The government does not have any independent power.

00:17:51.960 It is us that confer the power on the government.

00:17:55.420 And where they overstep, the people have a right to voice their opinions.

00:17:59.240 What we've seen in the last year with demonization of people, turning people against each other,

00:18:06.120 the hatred that has been spewed from the highest levels is completely unacceptable.

00:18:11.720 And the people have had enough.

00:18:13.400 And so they're here to voice their opinions.

00:18:15.500 And I support any peaceful act of democracy.

00:18:20.220 And all I've seen here is loving, law-abiding Canadians expressing their voice,

00:18:25.960 which they're entitled to do.

00:18:27.100 So why wouldn't I be here, Andrew?

00:18:28.440 Do you feel like the Conservatives have done an adequate job at representing these people

00:18:33.200 throughout the pandemic in the last couple of years,

00:18:35.480 or even in the time that you've been in office the last few months?

00:18:38.280 Well, I've always spoken out.

00:18:39.780 You've seen that I've always spoken out from the very beginning

00:18:42.780 about things that concerned my constituents.

00:18:46.860 I will always be a voice for my constituents, and I will never be silenced.

00:18:51.300 So I believe that MPs have said and acted in accordance with the voices of their constituents, yes.

00:18:59.360 For a lot of people, this is not about whether you're pro or anti-vaccination.

00:19:03.520 It's about a more fundamental message, which is about government overreach.

00:19:07.140 Is that resonating with what you're hearing from your constituents on the ground?

00:19:10.060 Absolutely.

00:19:11.720 There are, whether you're vaccinated or not vaccinated,

00:19:15.200 it's about the mandates and whether or not these mandates are fair,

00:19:19.620 whether they adhere to a public health principle,

00:19:24.400 because that's what we're concerned about.

00:19:26.120 We want everybody to be safe.

00:19:27.780 We want people who are able to be vaccinated to exercise informed consent.

00:19:33.280 That's what we're concerned about.

00:19:35.260 So it's not about whether you're vaccinated or not vaccinated.

00:19:38.200 It's about government overreach.

00:19:40.060 I loved her answer to my first question.

00:19:42.140 Why are you here?

00:19:43.120 Why wouldn't I be?

00:19:44.800 Why wouldn't I be?

00:19:45.780 That's the attitude.

00:19:47.180 Because in politics, it's easy to talk about all the reasons not to do something of,

00:19:51.140 oh, well, you know, there might be someone with a flag.

00:19:53.060 There might be someone here.

00:19:54.220 And Michael Cooper got saddled with this.

00:19:56.560 This is a conservative member of parliament.

00:19:58.680 I also spoke to him as well because I ran into him

00:20:01.120 when he was out handing out coffee to convoy protesters.

00:20:04.980 And unbeknownst to me at the time,

00:20:07.620 just a couple hours earlier,

00:20:09.740 CBC had done an interview with him

00:20:11.960 in which someone behind him had a Canadian flag

00:20:14.860 on which they had drawn a swastika.

00:20:17.560 Now, I have no time for people that deface a Canadian flag.

00:20:21.900 But in this particular case,

00:20:24.000 and I hate when you have to go down the road

00:20:25.600 of like defending a swastika,

00:20:26.920 which I'm not at all doing.

00:20:27.880 But in this case,

00:20:28.860 it was someone who was claiming that Canada is a Nazi country,

00:20:31.960 it looked like.

00:20:32.460 Not someone that was themselves a Nazi.

00:20:35.040 But who knows and who cares?

00:20:36.300 The point is,

00:20:37.140 it was in the background,

00:20:38.480 nothing to do with Michael Cooper.

00:20:39.780 However, CBC conveniently let this shot go on

00:20:42.720 and then a liberal MP took a screenshot

00:20:44.800 and this became the story.

00:20:47.000 Even though, as Garnet Jenis pointed out on Twitter,

00:20:50.480 Justin Trudeau has given speeches

00:20:52.600 in which there has been a Canadian flag

00:20:54.780 with a swastika behind him.

00:20:56.220 And the mainstream media did not nearly summon

00:20:58.400 the same outrage as it did for Michael Cooper

00:21:00.860 being in a very similar space,

00:21:03.420 a very similar incident.

00:21:04.400 So let's stop defining the majority

00:21:07.580 based on not just a minority,

00:21:11.000 but genuine fringe outliers.

00:21:13.340 And it's hilarious.

00:21:14.220 Justin Trudeau talks about the fringe minority

00:21:16.340 with unacceptable views.

00:21:17.660 That's how he defined this group.

00:21:19.600 That's how he characterized this group.

00:21:21.620 The fringe minority with unacceptable views.

00:21:25.480 Well, it was proving that it wasn't all that fringe.

00:21:28.060 And quite frankly,

00:21:28.960 if 54% of Canadians are on board

00:21:31.000 with ending all restrictions,

00:21:32.040 it's not that much of a minority either.

00:21:35.180 The liberal government is the fringe minority here.

00:21:38.280 It's the liberals who are proving

00:21:39.780 that they are out of touch

00:21:40.780 with a growing movement across this country

00:21:43.020 that has literally landed up on their front doorstep

00:21:46.960 and to which they have no interest in engaging.

00:21:51.280 The message that the liberals have given

00:21:53.740 is that you do not belong here.

00:21:56.560 You don't belong here at all.

00:21:58.320 And I'm also going to play a clip

00:22:01.180 of a brief interview I did

00:22:02.460 with PPC leader Maxime Bernier

00:22:04.280 because he touched on something

00:22:05.600 that was very important as well,

00:22:07.340 which was what makes politicians respond?

00:22:09.980 He said politicians have,

00:22:11.320 over the last two years,

00:22:12.360 got us in this mess.

00:22:13.620 What makes him think this might change now?

00:22:16.220 This was our conversation.

00:22:17.540 Maxime, bonjour.

00:22:18.380 How are you?

00:22:18.640 Good, how are you?

00:22:19.380 Do you have a minute for True North?

00:22:20.880 Okay.

00:22:22.060 I mean, let's start.

00:22:23.080 Why do you think there are so many people

00:22:24.500 here on this convoy

00:22:25.600 and here in Ottawa today?

00:22:26.920 Because they're fed up.

00:22:27.900 They want to regain their freedoms.

00:22:30.380 That's why.

00:22:31.420 And, you know, we are not alone.

00:22:33.740 And I believe that more people

00:22:35.460 will come tomorrow,

00:22:36.760 will come Monday.

00:22:38.000 And a lot of people are looking at us

00:22:39.980 at home.

00:22:42.160 And what the message for them is,

00:22:44.200 we are there.

00:22:45.320 You must have the courage

00:22:46.660 of your conviction.

00:22:48.140 The end is coming.

00:22:49.760 And I want to thank the trackers for that.

00:22:52.220 The courageous trackers

00:22:53.440 that decided enough is enough.

00:22:55.420 There's no logic.

00:22:56.820 There's no common sense.

00:22:58.100 There's no science

00:22:59.040 under these draconian measures.

00:23:01.880 And that must end.

00:23:03.280 And they are giving hope.

00:23:05.140 The trackers are giving hope

00:23:06.920 to thousands of Canadians

00:23:08.520 that the end is coming.

00:23:11.520 You've said that the Liberals,

00:23:13.120 the NDP,

00:23:13.760 the Conservatives,

00:23:14.460 they're all the same.

00:23:15.220 So what motivation is there

00:23:17.200 for anyone in Parliament to listen

00:23:18.600 if they've already been bringing us

00:23:20.160 into the things

00:23:20.680 that people are here protesting?

00:23:22.740 Yeah, I believe that, you know,

00:23:24.340 they don't want to be here

00:23:26.180 and meet us

00:23:27.440 and have a discussion with us about that

00:23:29.440 because there's no logic,

00:23:31.020 there's no science

00:23:32.000 beside what they're doing.

00:23:35.240 So my message for them is,

00:23:37.200 you know,

00:23:37.720 listen to your people.

00:23:39.520 Don't play that game

00:23:40.620 of division and segregation.

00:23:42.060 If you're a real leader,

00:23:44.140 you must unite everybody,

00:23:45.680 every Canadian.

00:23:47.060 And we all want that.

00:23:48.320 We want to unite everybody

00:23:49.580 under the freedom umbrella.

00:23:51.180 So I hope that this rally,

00:23:54.420 I don't want to call it a protest.

00:23:56.440 Look, it's a rally.

00:23:57.620 People have fun here.

00:23:59.280 This rally,

00:24:00.540 I hope that will be

00:24:02.820 the most important rally

00:24:08.520 that we had the last two years.

00:24:10.800 As you know,

00:24:12.020 I did a lot of rallies

00:24:13.160 all across the country,

00:24:14.620 but this one is special

00:24:15.920 because we know

00:24:17.040 that we have a momentum right now.

00:24:19.360 And I believe that momentum

00:24:20.660 will be the event

00:24:24.060 that will bring some common sense

00:24:27.200 to our establishment politicians.

00:24:29.500 If not,

00:24:30.380 the PPC will always be there

00:24:32.460 to tell them

00:24:33.660 that they must respect their people.

00:24:36.360 And enough is enough.

00:24:37.880 And enough is enough.

00:24:38.920 I should say

00:24:42.240 that we did a lot of interviews

00:24:44.360 and I don't have time

00:24:44.980 to put them all in this show,

00:24:46.160 but certainly we're going to

00:24:47.320 have more of them coming out

00:24:48.840 on True North's social media pages

00:24:50.700 and on this show

00:24:51.520 in the days to come.

00:24:53.240 We don't know how long

00:24:54.020 this convoy is going to last.

00:24:55.380 The organizers were saying

00:24:56.660 it could be years.

00:24:57.900 At least that's what they're

00:24:59.140 arguing their position for.

00:25:01.080 Hopefully there won't be

00:25:01.960 a need for it for years.

00:25:03.080 That's the bigger question

00:25:04.040 is that this could end right now

00:25:05.720 if the federal government

00:25:06.600 were to come out and say,

00:25:07.480 you know what?

00:25:08.360 We're declaring COVID over

00:25:09.800 insofar as the need to restrict it.

00:25:12.360 We're doing the Denmark thing.

00:25:13.640 We're doing the UK thing.

00:25:14.940 We're doing the Ireland thing.

00:25:16.440 Finland as well now.

00:25:17.600 The government could do that.

00:25:19.560 And all these trucks would go home.

00:25:22.160 But that's not happening.

00:25:23.440 They're doubling down

00:25:24.260 and instead trying to drive a wedge

00:25:25.860 between Canadians

00:25:26.640 and those in the convoy.

00:25:28.300 But it just isn't working.

00:25:30.620 It just isn't working.

00:25:31.940 The support that this movement...

00:25:33.720 I mean, just...

00:25:34.480 If you want to do something fun here,

00:25:36.280 go to Twitter

00:25:36.780 and search for the word honk.

00:25:38.900 The word honk 0.55

00:25:39.860 and just see how many people

00:25:40.860 are tweeting the word honk.

00:25:42.200 Because if you can't

00:25:42.800 do it your horn all day, 0.57

00:25:43.780 you can tweet the word honk evidently.

00:25:45.640 And that's what people are doing

00:25:46.720 in a lot of cases

00:25:47.980 to show their support for this.

00:25:50.700 So I remain...

00:25:51.700 Last week I said

00:25:52.440 I was getting more and more optimistic.

00:25:54.120 I remain optimistic.

00:25:55.520 I remain hopeful.

00:25:57.580 And it was interesting as well.

00:25:59.400 I want to play...

00:26:00.140 I ran into a lot of Indigenous people.

00:26:02.540 Now, I am not an expert

00:26:03.540 in Indigenous issues at all.

00:26:05.160 But I was fascinated to see

00:26:07.000 the sheer volume

00:26:08.020 of Indigenous representation at this.

00:26:11.040 And by representation,

00:26:12.100 I don't mean organized groups.

00:26:13.620 There were some of them.

00:26:14.360 But just individual Indigenous people,

00:26:16.600 some of which were

00:26:17.380 more notably Indigenous

00:26:18.960 because they were partaking

00:26:20.140 in their customs

00:26:20.800 like using drums and feathers

00:26:22.700 and traditional garb.

00:26:24.320 And there was this one group

00:26:25.580 that I spoke to

00:26:26.380 that I want to share

00:26:27.340 a little bit of the conversation with.

00:26:29.500 Because they said

00:26:30.860 that they were there

00:26:31.920 for freedom.

00:26:34.540 And they have their own reason

00:26:36.100 to want freedom

00:26:37.100 and their own connections

00:26:38.400 to the issue.

00:26:39.420 But it was quite a moving moment.

00:26:41.280 Take a look.

00:26:42.140 So we'll start with an easy one.

00:26:43.780 Where are you guys from?

00:26:45.200 Curb Lake.

00:26:45.560 Curb Lake First Nation.

00:26:46.980 What brings you out here today?

00:26:49.040 To support our truckers

00:26:50.940 for our freedoms,

00:26:52.060 our rights.

00:26:53.000 Our right to choice.

00:26:54.180 Yeah, our right to choice.

00:26:55.900 Now, the message

00:26:56.640 that the federal government

00:26:58.040 has given here

00:26:58.680 is that the people here 1.00

00:26:59.460 are white supremacist racists. 0.99

00:27:01.520 Now, what's your response 0.99

00:27:02.460 to that?

00:27:02.860 Hell no! 0.93

00:27:03.640 Hell no! 0.93

00:27:05.120 Hell no! 0.93

00:27:06.460 All peace and love out here.

00:27:07.980 Absolutely.

00:27:09.140 Nobody's been

00:27:09.820 disrespectful at all.

00:27:11.740 You got people walking around

00:27:12.800 picking up garbage

00:27:13.740 that's on the ground.

00:27:14.820 You get to see smiles.

00:27:15.320 Everybody's having fun smiling,

00:27:16.980 enjoying seeing people's faces.

00:27:18.580 Yeah, no matter what race,

00:27:20.160 no matter what anything,

00:27:21.260 we're coming together.

00:27:22.320 Not just one race here.

00:27:23.500 We're all united.

00:27:24.400 And that was just

00:27:25.800 one of many conversations.

00:27:27.220 People from Alberta,

00:27:28.260 from BC,

00:27:29.020 from Quebec.

00:27:30.040 My colleague,

00:27:30.940 Ali,

00:27:31.280 who is much more fluent

00:27:32.640 in French than I am,

00:27:33.620 spoke to some of the French

00:27:35.180 speakers there,

00:27:36.420 the Quebecers.

00:27:37.680 And they found

00:27:38.560 that there was

00:27:39.500 a massive,

00:27:40.700 massive reason

00:27:41.700 to be there

00:27:42.980 because of how bad

00:27:44.380 the restrictions

00:27:44.920 have gotten in Quebec.

00:27:47.020 So this is my theory

00:27:48.300 because people have asked me

00:27:49.380 in the past

00:27:49.900 how I can be more optimistic

00:27:51.480 or if I'm optimistic.

00:27:52.660 And I say,

00:27:53.100 the only thing

00:27:53.760 that gives me optimism

00:27:54.640 is that government

00:27:55.460 will push so far

00:27:56.960 that it triggers a backlash.

00:27:59.360 And the Quebec support

00:28:00.480 for the convoy

00:28:01.340 proves that.

00:28:02.580 The Quebec support

00:28:03.540 for the convoy

00:28:04.180 proves that

00:28:04.720 because the Quebecois

00:28:05.960 have been pushed.

00:28:06.840 The unvaccinated in Quebec 0.86

00:28:07.980 can't even go grocery shopping.

00:28:09.960 They can't do all of these things

00:28:11.380 that are part of being

00:28:12.180 in a free society.

00:28:13.480 And for them,

00:28:14.240 they're saying,

00:28:14.720 okay,

00:28:14.920 we've had enough.

00:28:16.040 And that's proof

00:28:17.000 that if the government

00:28:17.800 pokes the bear,

00:28:18.580 the bear will bite back.

00:28:20.080 But it did it

00:28:20.680 in a very peaceful way.

00:28:22.600 We'll have lots more

00:28:23.460 on the next show this week.

00:28:24.900 But first,

00:28:25.500 I want to talk to

00:28:26.780 one of the people

00:28:27.400 involved and instrumental

00:28:28.720 in putting this all together.

00:28:30.020 That's coming up

00:28:30.880 here on The Andrew Lawton Show.

00:28:32.500 Stay tuned.

00:28:36.020 You're tuned in

00:28:37.160 to The Andrew Lawton Show.

00:28:41.420 Welcome back

00:28:42.220 to The Andrew Lawton Show.

00:28:43.600 Well, as you saw

00:28:44.180 in the first segment there,

00:28:45.540 spoke to a lot of people

00:28:47.000 when I was in Ottawa

00:28:48.340 for the Freedom Convoy.

00:28:49.980 And if,

00:28:50.880 as it sounds like,

00:28:51.920 this is something

00:28:52.440 that's going to be there

00:28:53.060 for the long haul,

00:28:53.940 I will certainly be back.

00:28:55.300 But one person

00:28:55.940 I wanted to bring

00:28:57.020 into this discussion

00:28:57.860 is Benjamin Dichter,

00:28:59.500 who I've crossed paths

00:29:00.420 with a number of times

00:29:01.220 over the years

00:29:01.800 as an organizer

00:29:02.880 in the conservative movement

00:29:04.540 and formerly

00:29:05.300 a Conservative Party of Canada

00:29:06.960 candidate as well.

00:29:08.520 And he has been

00:29:09.680 putting a lot of this together.

00:29:11.020 He's been a spokesperson

00:29:11.760 for it.

00:29:12.480 Although, as he said,

00:29:13.860 it's difficult to make this

00:29:15.460 about a single organizer

00:29:16.560 because of how many people

00:29:17.880 are involved.

00:29:19.280 Benjamin Dichter,

00:29:19.940 good to talk to you, sir.

00:29:20.780 Thanks for coming on today.

00:29:22.560 Thank you for having me on, man.

00:29:24.100 So as someone

00:29:24.900 who's organized things before,

00:29:26.900 the big challenge

00:29:27.720 is that you can put

00:29:28.420 all these efforts in place.

00:29:29.940 You never really know

00:29:31.340 what's going to happen

00:29:32.360 until it happens.

00:29:33.300 So when you kind of

00:29:34.580 looked out your window

00:29:35.340 on Saturday,

00:29:36.160 you walked out on the streets,

00:29:37.340 did you think

00:29:38.040 it would be as big

00:29:38.860 as it was?

00:29:40.620 We had an idea

00:29:41.620 that it would be big

00:29:42.900 before we got there.

00:29:45.260 And that's where

00:29:45.960 the growing pains set in

00:29:47.860 because we initially

00:29:49.020 thought it was going to be small

00:29:49.960 and then all of a sudden,

00:29:51.040 I don't know,

00:29:52.120 Elon Musk is retweeting us

00:29:54.040 and then it goes global

00:29:55.400 and Jordan Peterson

00:29:56.480 is all over us.

00:29:57.500 So the momentum

00:29:59.080 that we carried

00:30:00.140 just went parabolic

00:30:01.580 and that just

00:30:02.580 for any sort

00:30:03.660 of organizational structure

00:30:04.740 that becomes

00:30:06.000 very difficult

00:30:06.880 to deal with.

00:30:08.040 And then the bottlenecks

00:30:09.620 set in because

00:30:10.420 you've created

00:30:11.220 these backlogs

00:30:13.120 and that's what

00:30:13.440 we're dealing with right now.

00:30:15.000 Let's talk about

00:30:15.940 the organizational aspect

00:30:17.540 of this because

00:30:18.140 it's a grassroots movement

00:30:19.560 by and large,

00:30:20.300 but there's also been

00:30:21.000 a fair bit of coordination.

00:30:22.760 So how much is just

00:30:23.900 people that are saying,

00:30:24.980 yeah, I support you

00:30:26.000 that are showing up

00:30:26.760 in Ottawa

00:30:27.260 versus stuff that you

00:30:29.000 and the people

00:30:29.660 you are working with

00:30:30.800 are doing and managing

00:30:32.080 along the way?

00:30:33.920 It started with a core team

00:30:35.500 in Alberta.

00:30:36.760 I joined very early.

00:30:37.780 I think the first day

00:30:39.280 after they started,

00:30:40.560 24 hours or so,

00:30:41.760 maybe 48 hours

00:30:43.120 was when I was called in.

00:30:44.960 And, you know,

00:30:45.940 you just have more people

00:30:47.620 start tacking on

00:30:49.460 and then we,

00:30:50.620 the division of labor,

00:30:51.660 we do the best that we can.

00:30:53.420 But unlike a typical

00:30:54.660 organizational structure,

00:30:55.820 everybody's in the office

00:30:56.640 and you can say,

00:30:57.360 okay, let's put this person

00:30:58.280 on the board,

00:30:58.800 that person on the board.

00:31:00.060 Everybody's in a truck.

00:31:01.240 Everybody's mobile.

00:31:02.880 And not always

00:31:03.780 with cell reception.

00:31:06.220 Most of the time, not.

00:31:07.780 So I'm trying to get

00:31:09.180 a hold of Tamara.

00:31:10.180 I can't get a hold of her

00:31:11.220 for two, three hours.

00:31:12.340 I send her a text message.

00:31:13.560 We're in the middle

00:31:13.960 of a conversation.

00:31:14.680 It drops.

00:31:15.700 So that just became

00:31:16.780 a nightmare.

00:31:17.280 And that's why

00:31:17.640 when we got to Ottawa,

00:31:18.980 all of these conversations

00:31:20.620 and, you know,

00:31:21.700 to-do lists that I had

00:31:22.800 and other people,

00:31:23.520 we just had this mess of things.

00:31:26.280 50 people in a room

00:31:27.760 trying to figure out,

00:31:29.440 okay, who's done what?

00:31:30.740 Who hasn't done what?

00:31:31.580 Where are the trucks?

00:31:32.400 We still don't know

00:31:33.860 how many trucks are there.

00:31:35.840 There's parking lots

00:31:37.180 and farmer's fields

00:31:38.280 full of trucks right now

00:31:40.100 outside of Ottawa

00:31:41.600 that can't get in the city

00:31:42.660 on top of everybody

00:31:43.800 that's in the city.

00:31:45.240 And now we have

00:31:45.720 a convoy of Americans

00:31:46.800 that are on the Montana-Alberta border

00:31:50.720 that it's taking hours

00:31:53.640 and hours to process them

00:31:55.300 and they're coming here.

00:31:56.180 So let me ask you

00:31:58.780 what you're after here

00:32:00.200 because originally

00:32:01.600 a lot of people

00:32:02.340 were positioning this

00:32:03.280 as being just about

00:32:04.300 the cross-border trucker mandate

00:32:05.720 which was certainly a very,

00:32:07.680 I think that was

00:32:08.660 a catalytic thing.

00:32:09.840 I think it certainly galvanized this

00:32:11.340 but you said

00:32:11.960 at a press conference

00:32:13.180 on Sunday

00:32:14.260 that we'll talk about

00:32:14.980 in a moment

00:32:15.440 that you're really seeking

00:32:16.800 the end of all

00:32:17.660 COVID restrictions

00:32:18.680 federal and provincial.

00:32:19.740 So you want Canada

00:32:20.580 to do the Denmark,

00:32:21.620 the UK,

00:32:22.500 the Ireland thing.

00:32:23.240 Is that a fair characterization?

00:32:25.720 100%.

00:32:26.160 So our message was

00:32:27.280 end the mandates

00:32:27.980 and the passport

00:32:28.700 but the idea is

00:32:30.520 that would get us back to life

00:32:32.240 because once you do that

00:32:33.300 then the momentum

00:32:34.900 is just to carry on

00:32:36.660 and go back to life as normal.

00:32:38.220 Take the face diapers off 0.87

00:32:39.820 and all of that nonsense.

00:32:41.880 All of that.

00:32:42.260 I mean, people don't have

00:32:43.480 I think the will

00:32:45.120 to keep on this way

00:32:46.120 and once they realize

00:32:47.980 okay, the government's

00:32:48.840 starting to remove

00:32:50.240 all these restrictions,

00:32:51.480 the rest will fall.

00:32:52.800 Let's talk about

00:32:53.680 the mask thing here

00:32:54.760 because I've never been

00:32:55.800 one of these people

00:32:56.580 that has made a point

00:32:58.320 of going into stores

00:32:59.460 without a mask

00:33:00.120 and my view on this

00:33:01.000 is that my grievance

00:33:02.160 is with the government

00:33:02.880 not the stores

00:33:03.640 and I know that there have been

00:33:04.820 over the last two years

00:33:05.780 individual confrontations

00:33:07.740 of people that won't wear a mask

00:33:09.280 and whatever the case may be

00:33:10.460 that has happened.

00:33:12.120 There's value in numbers

00:33:13.700 because I mentioned on Twitter

00:33:14.920 and I think it was like

00:33:15.600 one of my most popular tweets

00:33:16.780 of the weekend

00:33:17.220 that the mask mandate

00:33:18.220 in Ottawa was basically dead

00:33:19.740 because you have people

00:33:21.900 that are going into hotels

00:33:23.060 to the restaurants

00:33:23.900 that are open to stores

00:33:24.840 not wearing masks

00:33:26.220 and businesses have either decided

00:33:27.660 that it's not worth

00:33:28.360 trying to enforce

00:33:29.080 or they don't care.

00:33:30.220 So that's just one example

00:33:31.580 of how a group of people

00:33:33.040 saying we are going to be

00:33:35.000 civilly disobedient

00:33:36.060 as the term goes

00:33:36.940 can change things

00:33:38.200 and I noted

00:33:39.080 and you shared this with me

00:33:40.280 there's a story

00:33:41.240 in the National Post

00:33:42.060 this morning

00:33:42.480 health officials are hinting

00:33:43.780 at ending COVID restrictions

00:33:45.340 with a caveat

00:33:46.400 and not because of the truckers.

00:33:47.920 Well, when we see public opinion

00:33:50.480 lining up behind the truckers

00:33:52.120 and then also a shift

00:33:53.240 in the past week

00:33:53.960 in public opinion

00:33:54.720 for ending restrictions

00:33:55.700 I don't think you can say

00:33:57.300 this isn't the truckers

00:33:58.260 that had a huge role in this.

00:34:02.060 Agreed.

00:34:02.800 Your first comment

00:34:03.840 about the mask

00:34:04.720 is interesting.

00:34:05.500 Two weeks ago

00:34:06.180 I go around without

00:34:06.980 a mask everywhere.

00:34:08.160 I'm polite

00:34:08.980 and if they ask me

00:34:10.180 to put on a mask

00:34:10.980 I always have it on me

00:34:11.860 and say oh I forgot

00:34:12.900 because the more

00:34:14.420 we force people 0.73

00:34:15.480 to ask us

00:34:16.340 the more they'll get tired

00:34:17.560 of asking people

00:34:18.400 and it'll just end.

00:34:19.960 So two weeks ago

00:34:21.020 I went into my local coffee shop

00:34:22.500 I start most of my mornings

00:34:23.880 walked in without a mask

00:34:25.660 as usual

00:34:26.160 they all know me

00:34:26.920 hey how are you

00:34:27.660 the owner whatever

00:34:28.440 and some woman comes up to me 1.00

00:34:30.720 and she says

00:34:31.280 you're not wearing a mask

00:34:33.200 and then she saw my face turn

00:34:35.340 as I looked down at her

00:34:36.680 and she said

00:34:37.160 oh no no no no no

00:34:37.920 I'm

00:34:39.240 I don't want to wear the mask

00:34:41.020 how do you do it?

00:34:42.760 I said just take it off

00:34:43.620 take it off

00:34:44.700 I said you would be surprised

00:34:46.020 how many times

00:34:46.880 I'm waiting in line

00:34:48.340 in a business

00:34:49.100 or whatever

00:34:49.700 I don't have a mask

00:34:50.740 I sit there for

00:34:52.080 a minute

00:34:52.720 two minutes

00:34:53.280 and everyone else

00:34:54.600 slowly start taking

00:34:55.780 their masks off

00:34:56.740 right

00:34:57.440 and that's essentially

00:34:58.600 what this convoy

00:34:59.940 is

00:35:00.500 that's the spirit

00:35:01.540 of this convoy.

00:35:03.420 So what is it

00:35:04.640 that you're thinking

00:35:05.740 is going to happen now

00:35:07.220 because as I mentioned

00:35:08.220 earlier on the show

00:35:09.000 and as you're no doubt aware

00:35:09.940 Justin Trudeau

00:35:10.720 has not even done

00:35:11.900 the feigned sympathy

00:35:13.080 that I expected of

00:35:14.120 well I understand

00:35:15.120 the anger

00:35:15.800 I thought he would do

00:35:16.980 some patronizing

00:35:17.660 no he's just gone

00:35:18.640 right to escalating.

00:35:20.760 Oh that's exactly

00:35:21.420 what I thought he would do

00:35:22.320 I actually put a prediction

00:35:23.600 I put in Twitter

00:35:24.440 two hours before

00:35:25.480 prediction

00:35:26.580 Prime Minister

00:35:27.720 Diversity Blackface 0.62

00:35:29.620 is going to call

00:35:30.600 everyone a racist

00:35:31.760 a neo-Nazi 0.92

00:35:32.720 unacceptable 0.97

00:35:33.500 and he's going to

00:35:34.920 double down

00:35:35.440 because that's what

00:35:36.260 extremists do

00:35:37.180 they have a binary

00:35:38.400 worldview

00:35:39.000 and they have

00:35:40.100 one strategy

00:35:40.920 and I hear

00:35:41.440 from people

00:35:42.120 in Ottawa

00:35:43.800 who are in the know

00:35:44.720 are in contact

00:35:45.440 with some people

00:35:46.060 in the Liberal parties

00:35:46.840 and I do have

00:35:47.320 some contacts

00:35:48.100 that the problem

00:35:49.500 is Justin Trudeau

00:35:50.580 himself

00:35:51.220 if he was there

00:35:53.160 he was the one

00:35:54.300 pushing to agitate

00:35:55.620 the truckers

00:35:56.420 he wants to see violence

00:35:58.540 which I thought

00:35:59.260 was shocking

00:36:00.160 and I was told

00:36:01.460 yeah

00:36:01.700 the other people

00:36:02.800 in the party

00:36:03.320 are Justin

00:36:03.920 that's not what

00:36:04.900 we want to do

00:36:05.560 why don't you

00:36:06.640 just go

00:36:07.180 on vacation

00:36:08.380 right now

00:36:09.020 and we'll deal

00:36:09.820 with this strategically

00:36:10.860 we're going to have

00:36:11.420 a political solution

00:36:12.480 to this

00:36:12.940 so that gives you

00:36:14.160 the nature

00:36:14.540 of what

00:36:15.620 what he feels

00:36:16.800 which is quite scary

00:36:18.020 you've said

00:36:20.440 that you have

00:36:21.340 enough fuel

00:36:22.540 money

00:36:23.020 food

00:36:23.460 that you could

00:36:23.980 keep this going

00:36:24.700 not you

00:36:25.100 but you as the

00:36:25.940 movement

00:36:26.460 keep this going

00:36:27.660 for years

00:36:28.360 now obviously

00:36:29.040 I hope there's

00:36:29.700 no need to do that

00:36:30.760 I mean my hope

00:36:31.380 would be that

00:36:31.960 rather swiftly

00:36:33.140 a lot of these

00:36:33.740 measures that we've

00:36:34.400 been talking about

00:36:35.120 are gone

00:36:35.820 but is that the plan

00:36:37.360 that these trucks

00:36:38.020 will be there

00:36:38.700 for as long

00:36:39.640 as it takes

00:36:40.160 until every last

00:36:40.880 COVID restriction

00:36:41.620 is gone

00:36:42.120 yep

00:36:42.860 yeah

00:36:44.740 that's it

00:36:45.760 simple answer

00:36:48.060 I mean I was

00:36:50.260 trying to illustrate

00:36:50.840 the point that

00:36:51.840 A we're not

00:36:53.020 backing down

00:36:53.980 and B

00:36:54.640 we do have

00:36:55.480 the ability

00:36:55.880 to do that

00:36:56.400 we have

00:36:56.780 more than enough

00:36:57.700 money to cover

00:36:58.340 the costs

00:36:58.960 we have

00:37:00.380 enough

00:37:01.260 more than enough

00:37:02.280 truckers and trucks

00:37:03.560 that are willing

00:37:04.960 to do it

00:37:05.360 in the long haul

00:37:06.100 and one of the

00:37:07.240 videos I posted

00:37:08.180 somebody in the US

00:37:09.120 sent it

00:37:10.140 I mean it's

00:37:10.680 amateur stuff

00:37:11.440 for any trucker

00:37:12.240 but for average

00:37:13.400 people to know

00:37:14.060 if they just

00:37:15.200 disable the brake

00:37:16.100 chambers

00:37:16.560 just take their

00:37:17.460 slack adjustment

00:37:18.220 screws out

00:37:18.780 remove them

00:37:19.440 and put them

00:37:19.920 in their pocket

00:37:20.440 throw them away

00:37:21.100 lock it in a safe

00:37:22.040 in their truck

00:37:22.580 that truck

00:37:23.580 can't be towed

00:37:24.440 it's not going

00:37:25.540 anywhere

00:37:25.880 and another

00:37:27.440 video from one

00:37:28.440 of the truckers

00:37:28.920 he just posted

00:37:29.420 this morning

00:37:30.000 some woman 0.52

00:37:31.420 explained to

00:37:33.440 this trucker

00:37:34.100 that when

00:37:36.180 the city

00:37:36.640 was calling

00:37:37.360 the tow trucks

00:37:38.140 in the neighbourhood

00:37:38.860 and in neighbouring

00:37:39.760 Quebec

00:37:39.980 to say

00:37:41.120 we want to

00:37:41.600 bring some

00:37:42.300 we need

00:37:43.000 a fleet

00:37:44.100 of tow trucks

00:37:44.720 to come

00:37:45.020 into Ottawa

00:37:45.500 the response

00:37:46.820 from the tow truck

00:37:47.740 companies were

00:37:48.520 oh we all

00:37:49.480 have COVID

00:37:50.040 sorry

00:37:50.560 that's great

00:37:52.780 so there's

00:37:54.120 some solidarity

00:37:54.760 there

00:37:55.320 it's that

00:37:55.660 strike breaking

00:37:56.720 mentality

00:37:57.300 of I don't

00:37:57.920 want to go

00:37:58.280 against the

00:37:58.740 brotherhood

00:37:59.160 now

00:37:59.340 which is

00:37:59.800 interesting

00:38:00.260 because of

00:38:00.740 how much

00:38:01.340 the media

00:38:02.440 has tried

00:38:02.940 to paint

00:38:03.280 the narrative

00:38:03.780 that this

00:38:04.400 is not

00:38:04.840 representative

00:38:05.480 of the

00:38:05.780 trucking

00:38:06.140 industry

00:38:06.480 that's been

00:38:07.220 the thing

00:38:07.580 oh these

00:38:08.300 aren't real

00:38:08.740 truckers

00:38:09.400 yeah I love

00:38:10.940 how we

00:38:11.360 we define

00:38:12.040 the trucking

00:38:12.900 industry

00:38:13.360 by trucking

00:38:14.280 lobbyists

00:38:15.080 trucking

00:38:15.980 lobbyists

00:38:16.560 are not

00:38:17.060 inside a

00:38:17.600 truck

00:38:18.100 they're

00:38:18.640 usually

00:38:19.320 part of

00:38:19.740 the Liberal

00:38:20.080 Party

00:38:20.400 as we

00:38:20.720 see by

00:38:21.200 the donations

00:38:21.880 by the

00:38:22.340 Trucking

00:38:22.660 Association

00:38:23.060 so that's

00:38:24.920 just an

00:38:25.200 option

00:38:25.420 of the Liberal

00:38:25.840 Party

00:38:26.180 they're

00:38:26.600 they're

00:38:27.460 getting

00:38:27.760 lambasted 1.00

00:38:29.140 online

00:38:29.840 by people

00:38:30.840 within the

00:38:31.380 industry

00:38:31.780 who are

00:38:32.540 very very

00:38:33.260 livid with

00:38:33.780 that organization

00:38:34.460 I have a

00:38:34.880 feeling the

00:38:35.320 woman who 0.99

00:38:35.660 is running

00:38:36.060 it is not

00:38:36.700 going to be

00:38:37.040 there for

00:38:37.800 very much

00:38:38.260 longer

00:38:38.620 it's quite

00:38:39.020 an embarrassing

00:38:39.500 organization

00:38:40.320 at this

00:38:40.820 point

00:38:41.040 let me ask

00:38:42.280 you Benjamin

00:38:43.100 about the

00:38:43.520 mainstream

00:38:43.820 media's

00:38:44.580 most reviled

00:38:46.060 press conference

00:38:47.120 in the history

00:38:47.800 of press

00:38:48.260 conferences

00:38:48.760 this is

00:38:49.220 Sunday

00:38:49.580 I was

00:38:50.460 invited

00:38:50.860 a number

00:38:51.340 of other

00:38:51.700 independent

00:38:52.100 journalists

00:38:52.540 and some

00:38:53.060 journalists

00:38:53.440 from mainstream

00:38:54.260 publications

00:38:54.940 were invited

00:38:55.680 there wasn't

00:38:56.660 a time

00:38:57.100 cap

00:38:57.480 it wasn't

00:38:57.880 one question

00:38:58.460 one follow

00:38:59.040 up

00:38:59.240 it was

00:38:59.480 almost like

00:38:59.880 a round

00:39:00.300 table

00:39:00.640 format

00:39:01.080 of just

00:39:01.680 ask you

00:39:02.220 and your

00:39:02.720 co-organizers

00:39:03.920 whatever

00:39:04.360 but you

00:39:05.100 made the

00:39:05.540 decision

00:39:06.080 which I

00:39:06.820 didn't realize

00:39:07.380 at the time

00:39:08.120 until I got

00:39:08.780 there that you

00:39:09.360 were only going

00:39:10.300 to invite

00:39:10.900 independent

00:39:12.020 media

00:39:12.460 and specifically

00:39:13.500 you said there

00:39:14.240 had been a

00:39:14.600 couple of

00:39:14.940 outlets that

00:39:15.380 you had

00:39:15.600 banned

00:39:15.900 I think

00:39:16.180 CBC

00:39:16.600 and the

00:39:17.120 Toronto Star

00:39:17.800 and obviously

00:39:19.040 this went

00:39:20.000 over very well

00:39:20.820 online with

00:39:21.420 some people

00:39:21.940 and very poorly

00:39:22.780 with other

00:39:23.220 people mainly

00:39:23.900 the mainstream

00:39:24.940 media reporters

00:39:25.740 that were forced

00:39:26.360 to just get

00:39:26.840 the news

00:39:27.160 from my

00:39:27.720 Twitter feed

00:39:28.260 and Kian

00:39:28.640 Bextie's

00:39:29.180 video stream

00:39:29.780 but in all

00:39:31.360 seriousness

00:39:31.820 do you not

00:39:32.580 believe that you

00:39:33.320 should have been

00:39:33.920 speaking to those

00:39:34.720 people and should

00:39:35.580 have been confronting

00:39:36.840 a lot of what

00:39:37.940 you say are the

00:39:38.440 falsehoods head-on

00:39:39.360 absolutely not

00:39:41.160 because they're not

00:39:41.740 journalists

00:39:42.200 they're activists

00:39:43.020 and why do we

00:39:45.820 need activists

00:39:46.460 that are going

00:39:47.160 to come into

00:39:47.640 the room

00:39:48.020 take up half

00:39:49.260 the floor space

00:39:50.100 and shout

00:39:51.620 epithets

00:39:52.660 and smears

00:39:53.320 at us

00:39:53.800 that's not

00:39:54.320 a conversation

00:39:55.020 that's not

00:39:55.440 a dialogue

00:39:55.920 and that doesn't

00:39:56.880 help you

00:39:57.780 and the general

00:39:58.680 public

00:39:59.180 to find out

00:40:00.460 what's truly

00:40:01.160 going on

00:40:01.800 it's just

00:40:02.320 disruptors

00:40:02.880 and we didn't

00:40:03.260 need the

00:40:03.600 disruptors

00:40:04.120 and we could

00:40:04.580 see

00:40:05.080 I mean that

00:40:06.280 was one part

00:40:06.940 of it

00:40:07.120 but we could

00:40:07.460 also see

00:40:07.940 online

00:40:08.480 the very

00:40:10.620 direct

00:40:11.880 fake news

00:40:13.460 stories

00:40:13.960 that were

00:40:14.540 being published

00:40:15.400 by the

00:40:16.460 Toronto Star

00:40:17.140 and CBC News

00:40:18.800 just complete

00:40:20.440 falsehoods

00:40:21.740 you know

00:40:21.920 our GoFundMe

00:40:22.920 being frozen

00:40:25.300 because of

00:40:26.200 extremism

00:40:27.040 and radicalization

00:40:28.160 and then the

00:40:28.820 cartoon that

00:40:29.840 Jordan Peterson

00:40:31.280 retweeted

00:40:33.280 that Toronto Star

00:40:34.140 but like

00:40:34.520 that is

00:40:35.660 Maoist level

00:40:37.000 of propaganda 0.92

00:40:38.020 it's disgusting

00:40:39.000 that has no

00:40:41.080 place

00:40:41.620 those sorts

00:40:42.740 of unacceptable

00:40:43.660 opinions

00:40:44.380 have no place

00:40:46.180 in a news

00:40:46.860 conference

00:40:47.300 if that

00:40:47.660 makes sense

00:40:48.260 it does

00:40:49.760 so obviously

00:40:50.640 this is

00:40:51.200 something that

00:40:51.820 we as we've

00:40:52.360 talked about

00:40:52.800 is going to

00:40:53.100 be going on

00:40:53.560 for the long

00:40:54.100 haul

00:40:54.300 you're there

00:40:54.720 for the long

00:40:55.260 haul as well

00:40:55.880 what's next

00:40:56.800 what's it we

00:40:57.240 should be

00:40:57.540 watching out

00:40:58.000 for this week

00:40:58.700 well now

00:41:00.300 is the waiting

00:41:01.140 game

00:41:01.540 and they're

00:41:02.280 going to

00:41:02.560 learn that

00:41:03.320 trucks

00:41:03.700 truckers are

00:41:04.560 quite intelligent

00:41:05.900 people

00:41:06.320 they have

00:41:06.720 street smarts

00:41:07.820 they're very

00:41:08.820 patient

00:41:09.360 because truckers

00:41:10.180 we do spend

00:41:11.400 a lot of time

00:41:12.100 waiting at

00:41:12.920 calls and stuff

00:41:13.860 so we're just

00:41:15.320 going to play

00:41:15.780 this game

00:41:16.280 of chess

00:41:16.820 and we're

00:41:17.400 going to

00:41:17.580 sit here

00:41:17.920 and wait

00:41:18.300 and at

00:41:19.080 some point

00:41:19.740 the government

00:41:20.680 is going to

00:41:21.020 have absolutely

00:41:21.760 no choice

00:41:22.720 but to either

00:41:23.680 deal with us

00:41:24.560 or decide

00:41:26.540 we're going to

00:41:27.100 drop the

00:41:27.860 mandates

00:41:28.300 that we're

00:41:29.300 going to

00:41:29.560 follow the

00:41:30.020 lead of

00:41:30.640 Denmark

00:41:31.060 the United

00:41:31.920 Kingdom

00:41:32.400 and other

00:41:33.180 countries that

00:41:33.780 have announced

00:41:34.260 that they're

00:41:34.620 removing the

00:41:35.100 restrictions

00:41:35.520 which is what

00:41:36.280 I protect

00:41:36.840 they're going

00:41:37.160 to do

00:41:37.360 I mean

00:41:37.600 many politicians

00:41:38.920 especially

00:41:39.340 our ones

00:41:39.840 in government

00:41:40.980 right now

00:41:41.460 they do

00:41:42.620 tend to

00:41:43.000 take the

00:41:43.340 easy way

00:41:43.860 and the

00:41:44.340 easy way

00:41:44.780 for them

00:41:45.200 is just

00:41:46.120 to come

00:41:46.500 up with

00:41:46.860 that

00:41:47.060 they're

00:41:47.340 trying to

00:41:47.660 figure out

00:41:47.960 the spin

00:41:48.400 for that

00:41:48.780 presser

00:41:49.200 that makes

00:41:49.620 them look

00:41:50.040 good

00:41:50.340 right

00:41:50.700 which is

00:41:51.020 very difficult

00:41:51.440 right now

00:41:51.940 and the

00:41:52.640 longer they

00:41:53.120 wait

00:41:53.360 the more

00:41:53.680 difficult

00:41:54.040 it's going

00:41:54.420 to become

00:41:54.780 so I

00:41:55.920 predict

00:41:56.260 they're

00:41:56.500 going to

00:41:56.700 do an

00:41:56.960 about

00:41:57.200 face

00:41:57.600 and try

00:41:58.140 to claim

00:41:58.500 victory

00:41:58.960 that well

00:42:00.160 now we

00:42:00.680 have the

00:42:01.040 softer

00:42:01.340 variants

00:42:01.880 the

00:42:02.100 Omicron

00:42:02.720 people aren't

00:42:03.340 dying from

00:42:03.900 it it's

00:42:04.280 because of

00:42:04.720 our

00:42:04.860 restrictions

00:42:05.380 that we

00:42:06.260 saved all

00:42:06.880 of you

00:42:07.280 we've heard

00:42:08.240 Canadians

00:42:08.880 we love

00:42:09.580 Canadians

00:42:10.140 we're going 0.99

00:42:10.500 to drop

00:42:10.860 everything

00:42:11.380 and move

00:42:13.040 on and

00:42:13.900 they'll try

00:42:14.260 to claim

00:42:14.600 victory

00:42:14.980 nobody will

00:42:15.580 believe it

00:42:16.020 and then

00:42:16.260 they'll move

00:42:16.580 on to the

00:42:17.000 next

00:42:17.200 catastrophe

00:42:17.720 well I

00:42:19.120 hope to be

00:42:19.500 back in

00:42:20.000 Ottawa soon

00:42:20.760 it was quite

00:42:21.280 a sight to

00:42:22.140 behold and

00:42:23.140 I'm glad I

00:42:23.600 was able to

00:42:24.240 take part in

00:42:24.960 that inaugural

00:42:25.600 weekend of it

00:42:26.400 Benjamin Dichter

00:42:27.040 good to talk

00:42:27.480 to you again

00:42:27.780 thanks for

00:42:28.160 coming on

00:42:28.580 today

00:42:28.800 we are

00:42:29.600 tentatively

00:42:30.020 looking at

00:42:30.660 a second

00:42:31.100 press conference

00:42:31.840 this weekend

00:42:32.480 so I will

00:42:33.280 inform those

00:42:34.180 of you in

00:42:34.500 the media

00:42:34.880 and of the

00:42:35.820 details

00:42:36.180 and we'll

00:42:36.400 talk then

00:42:36.820 duly noted

00:42:37.800 thanks a lot

00:42:38.280 sir

00:42:38.460 bye

00:42:39.380 Benjamin

00:42:40.340 Dichter

00:42:40.860 spokesperson

00:42:41.320 for the

00:42:42.360 Freedom Convoy

00:42:43.280 2022

00:42:43.860 and thank you

00:42:45.220 very much

00:42:45.820 to all of you

00:42:46.640 for tuning in

00:42:47.460 and sending

00:42:47.780 your messages

00:42:48.300 of support

00:42:48.820 and also your

00:42:49.340 contributions

00:42:49.940 to send

00:42:50.560 our crew

00:42:50.980 to Ottawa

00:42:51.420 and keep

00:42:52.360 our continued

00:42:52.960 coverage going

00:42:53.680 it's very much

00:42:54.380 appreciated

00:42:54.880 as I mentioned

00:42:55.520 if this keeps

00:42:56.340 going on

00:42:56.800 I may have

00:42:57.300 to go back

00:42:58.080 hopefully the

00:42:58.740 weather will be

00:42:59.220 a bit warmer

00:42:59.740 when we do

00:43:00.700 but these are

00:43:01.440 the things we

00:43:01.920 endure to get

00:43:02.520 the story

00:43:02.960 we've got to

00:43:03.860 wrap things up

00:43:04.380 there

00:43:04.540 my thanks to

00:43:05.100 all of you

00:43:05.640 we'll talk to

00:43:06.100 you in a couple

00:43:06.500 days time

00:43:06.980 with more of

00:43:07.640 Canada's most

00:43:08.560 irreverent talk

00:43:09.240 show here on

00:43:10.180 True North

00:43:10.580 this is the

00:43:11.180 Andrew Lawton

00:43:11.640 show

00:43:11.840 thank you

00:43:12.300 God bless

00:43:12.900 and good day

00:43:13.440 thanks for

00:43:14.220 listening to

00:43:14.720 the Andrew

00:43:15.120 Lawton

00:43:15.420 show

00:43:15.720 support the

00:43:16.460 program by

00:43:17.000 donating to

00:43:17.560 True North

00:43:18.000 at www.tnc.news

00:43:21.180 www.tnc.news

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Juno News - February 01, 2022

The convoy was heard loud and clear

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