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Thursday, April 27, 2023
Southwestern Ontario township votes against flying Pride flags on municipal property
Southwestern Ontario township votes against flying Pride flags on municipal property
Author of the article:
Published Apr 27, 2023 • 2 minute read
NORWICH, Ont. — A township in southwestern Ontario has voted to prohibit Pride flags on municipal property, prompting expressions of dismay from some residents.
The council for the Township of Norwich passed a motion Tuesday night to fly only the flags of the federal, provincial and municipal governments on its property.
The motion, which passed 3-2, specified that Pride flags would be among those that would be banned. And only banners for decoration or those that promote downtown businesses can be flown on municipal street light poles, it said.
Coun. Jim Scholten, who introduced the motion, said he wanted to change the township’s flag policy to “maintain the unity” of the community.
“By flying these flags alone on township property, we can coexist in peace and harmony no matter who we are or what we believe,” he said.
Having a broader flag policy would lead to endless requests for various flags to be flown, he said.
“Each one would be subject to judgment or scrutiny based on its merits,” he said. “This in turn would inevitably lead to more disunity and alienation of people.”
Resident Cody Neville, who is gay, said he feels the motion that was passed sends the message that members of the LGBTQ community don’t matter.
“It feels like we went back several decades,” he said. “To say that I’m heartbroken and devastated is an understatement for the queer community, and the queer youth specifically.”
The council also voted against a motion that would proclaim June as a Pride month in the municipality beginning this summer.
The township saw several cases of vandalism last year involving Pride flags and banners in support of the LGBTQ community.
“I’m just so sad for the youth that have to witness that in today’s day and age,” Neville said of those cases, calling the township a “divided” community.
“I’m proud to be from Norwich but it’s getting harder and harder to say that and tell people where I’m from, because they see the news and they hear what goes on and they just can’t fathom how I could be happy to be from a place that wants to repress who I am.”
Tara King, who also lives in Norwich, said she was “embarrassed” by the outcome of the vote on flags.
“I was disappointed to be part of this community,” she said. “This is not representative of me.”
The high school teacher said she worries for the well-being of her two children, who attend school in the area, as well as for the students she teaches.
“I wonder about the emotional impact that this is going to have on our community,” she said. “It’s certainly not going to unify our community. It’s going to further divide our community”
Ex-Tucker Carlson Producer Suing Him For ‘Sexism’ Has Never Even Met Him
Ex-Tucker Carlson Producer Suing Him For ‘Sexism’ Has Never Even Met Him
Ludicrous.
Published 2 mins ago
Abby Grossberg, the former Tucker Carlson producer who is suing the ex-Fox News host for ‘sexism’, has never even met him, her own lawyer admits.
Grossberg has been busy on a media tour accusing Carlson of “breaking” her and making her life a “living hell” by creating a “sexist” and “anti-semitic” workplace.
However, she has never even personally met Carlson while working on his show, according to a report by the Spectator.
“Like many on the [Tucker Carlson Tonight] staff, Abby never met Tucker Carlson in person because he taped the show from his personal studios in Maine and Florida, and he did not visit Fox’s NY HQ during her time there,” Kimberly A. Catala, one of the attorneys representing Grossberg, said.
Grossberg, who was head of bookings for the show between July 2022 and March 2023, claims that while working out of Fox’s Manhattan office she was subjected to bullying and mean comments about being Jewish.
One such “bullying” incident included Grossberg being called a “scrooge” for going around the office turning off Christmas decorations.
Wow. Poor baby.
“Tucker and his executive producer Justin Wells, who was also fired, really were responsible for breaking me and making my life a living hell,” Grossberg told MSNBC this week.
Really?
How can someone you’ve never even met have such a negative impact? Sounds like utter nonsense.
Grossberg’s lawsuit against Carlson was one of the reasons cited by media reports that motivated Rupert Murdoch to drop the network’s top rated news host.
As we document in the video below, her claims about what was said to her in the office are likely to form part of a ‘dirt dossier’ Fox News has on Carlson that it is preparing to hand to legacy media outlets if Carlson attacks the network.
https://summit.news/2023/04/27/ex-tucker-carlson-producer-suing-him-for-sexism-has-never-even-met-him/
Tuesday, April 25, 2023
The Canadian Nationalist Front is not an NS organization we are Ethno-Nationalists
The Canadian Nationalist Front is not an NS organization we are Ethno-Nationalists with perhaps have some NS supporters but Stop living in the past. Have to live in the now and the future, we are not Larpers living in a fantasy world to bring back the 3rd Reich, the past is the past and we live in Canada in 2023. The golden age will be revamped and Euro-Canadian Ethno-Nationalism with focus on Canadian ethnic culture, history and traditional values, this not Germany of the 1940s. Get that out of your heads. There will not be NS flags waving in Canada only the Red Ensign, Celtic Cross or Quebec flags.
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Monday, April 24, 2023
ERNST CHRISTOF FRIEDRICH ZÜNDEL (German: [ˈtsʏndl̩]; 24 April 1939 – 5 August 2017) RIP
ERNST CHRISTOF FRIEDRICH ZÜNDEL
(German: [ˈtsʏndl̩]; 24 April 1939 – 5 August 2017)
RIP
Ernst Zundel, a German-born publisher, author and civil rights activist, is a towering figure in the worldwide Holocaust revisionist movement.
Ernst Zundel was born on April 24, 1939, in a small town in the Black Forest region of southwestern Germany . He emigrated to Canada at the age of 19, where he soon married and became the father of two sons. His career as a graphic artist was successful, with his work appearing, for example, on the front cover of Canada 's national news magazine, Maclean's.
Setting aside his thriving career, he dedicated himself to the great task, as he saw it, of redeeming the sullied reputation of his fellow Germans. Through his Samisdat publishing house he distributed worldwide a prodigious quantity of books, booklets, leaflets,
newsletters, and audio and video cassettes. Simon Wiesenthal, the well-known "Nazi hunter," called Zundel the world's number one distributor of allegedly dangerous literature and cassettes.
Zundel's two lengthy trials - the 1985 trial lasted two months, and the 1988 trial lasted four months - have been the closest thing anywhere to full scale debates on the Holocaust issue. For the first time ever, "Holocaust survivors" and Holocaust historians were closely and critically questioned under oath about their claims and views.
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http://zundelsite.org/archive/zundel_persecuted/who_is_zundel.html
http://zundelsite.org/
Fox News ousts Tucker Carlson, its most popular host
*Welcome to La Resistance Tucker Carlson!*
Fox News ousts Tucker Carlson, its most popular host
By DAVID BAUDER (AP Media Writer)
NEW YORK (AP) — Fox News on Monday ousted prime-time host Tucker Carlson, whose stew of grievances and political theories about Russia and the Jan. 6 insurrection had grown to define the network in recent years and make him an influential force in GOP politics.
Fox said that the network and Carlson had “agreed to part ways,” but offered no explanation for the stunning move, saying that the last broadcast of “Tucker Carlson Tonight” aired last Friday. Carlson ended the show by saying, “We’ll be back on Monday.”
The break comes amid a cascade of bad legal news for Fox and Carlson. A week ago, Fox agreed to pay more than $787 million to settle a lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems over the network’s airing of false claims following the 2020 presidential election — shortly before Carlson was expected to be called to testify.
CBS’ “60 Minutes” on Sunday aired a report about a man caught up in a Jan. 6 conspiracy theory who said Carlson was “obsessed” with him, and whose lawyer has put Fox on notice of potential litigation. Carlson was also recently named in a lawsuit by a former Fox producer who said the show had a cruel and misogynistic workplace, and that she had been pressured to give misleading testimony in the Dominion case.
Meanwhile, CNN axed its own embattled anchor, Don Lemon, part of a one-day bloodletting in cable television news on Monday. Lemon had been a bad fit with his fellow morning hosts and was forced to apologize to GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley for his comment that she was past her prime.
Carlson, however, had a greater influence, higher viewer count and more shocking exit. He worked at both CNN and MSNBC earlier in his career, then ditched his bow-tie look and quickly became Fox’s most popular personality after replacing Bill O’Reilly in the network’s prime-time lineup in 2017.
His populist tone about elites who are out to get average Americans rang true with Fox’s predominantly conservative audience, even leading to talk about Carlson becoming a political candidate himself one day.
He did not immediately return a message seeking comment on Monday.
Shares of Fox Corp. slid 4% within seconds of the announcement of Carlson’s departure, then recovered to be down 2.9% at the end of trading.
“Tucker Carlson had become even bigger than Fox News,” said Brian Stelter, who is writing an upcoming book about Fox, “Network of Lies.” “His sudden ouster will have profound consequences for Fox News, for TV news and the Republican Party.”
When Carlson’s exit was announced during a live showing of the ABC daytime talk show “The View” on Monday, the studio audience applauded. Host Ana Navarro then led the crowd in a singalong to a line from the song, “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye.”
Earlier this year, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy gave Carlson exclusive access to security tapes from the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot, which the show used to conclude: “The footage does not show an insurrection or riot in progress.” His interpretation was denounced by many, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
The “60 Minutes” report Sunday was about Raymond Epps, a former Marine and Trump supporter from Arizona who was in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. He was later falsely accused of being a government agent conducting a “false flag” operation to start trouble that would be blamed on Trump supporters. Epps and his wife had to sell their business and home because of threats tied to these conspiracy theories.
On CBS, Epps said Carlson was “obsessed” with him and “going to any means possible to destroy my life.”
Carlson was expected to be called as a witness if Dominion’s case had gone to trial, but the two parties settled last Tuesday on the same day that opening statements were anticipated.
Dominion had contended that some Fox programs had falsely aired allegations that the company had rigged the election against former President Donald Trump, even though several Fox executives and personalities didn’t believe them. Carlson’s show was not among the chief offenders; he’d be an unlikely candidate to take the fall for that lawsuit.
In several messages, though, Carlson spoke candidly about his distaste for Trump at the time and his fear that the network was losing viewers among the former president’s fans.
He was also quoted using profane language to describe Sidney Powell, the Trump supporter and conservative attorney who was given airtime on other Fox shows to spread lies about Dominion, and called her a “psychopath.”
Carlson was recently named in a lawsuit filed by Abby Grossberg, a Fox News producer fired after claiming that Fox lawyers had pressured her to give misleading testimony in the Dominion lawsuit. Grossberg had gone to work for Carlson after leaving Maria Bartiromo’s Fox show.
The lawsuit says that Grossberg learned “she had merely traded in one overtly misogynistic work environment for an even crueler one — this time, one where unprofessionalism reigned supreme, and the staff’s distaste and disdain for women infiltrated almost every workday decision.”
On her first day of work at Carlson’s program, Grossberg said in her lawsuit, she was met with large, blown-up images of Rep. Nancy Pelosi in a bathing suit with a plunging neckline.
Fox has called the lawsuit “baseless.”
On his show, Carlson has also been outspoken in questioning the United States support of Ukraine, following its invasion by Russian forces.
“It might be worth asking yourself since it is getting pretty serious: What is this really about?” Carlson said on his show. “Why do I hate Putin so much? Has Putin ever called me a racist? Has he threatened to get me fired for disagreeing with him? Has he shipped every middle-class job in my town to Russia?”
“Fox News Tonight” will air in Carlson’s 8 p.m. Eastern prime-time slot, hosted by a rotating array of network personalities, for the time being.
“We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor,” the press release from the network said.
https://www.denverpost.com/2023/04/24/fox-news-ousts-tucker-carlson-its-most-popular-host/
Sunday, April 23, 2023
Happy Saint George's Day
Happy Saint George's Day to our Fren⚡️ in the United Kingdom and the British living in Canada and across the Commonwealth that celebrate it! From your French Canadian! 🏴❤️🔥🏴
https://rumble.com/v2jzwiu-happy-saint-georges-day.html
Friday, April 21, 2023
Time for a True Conservative Exodus to the People's Party of Canada
Time for a True Conservative Exodus to the People's Party of Canada
https://www.peoplespartyofcanada.ca/
Thursday, April 20, 2023
55 years ago today, on 20th April 1968, Enoch Powell gave his 'Rivers of Blood' speech
55 years ago today, on 20th April 1968, Enoch Powell gave his 'Rivers of Blood' speech predicting the immeasurable damage that mass immigration would do to the UK...
John Enoch Powell, MEB (16 June 1912 – 8 February 1998) was a British politician. He served as a Conservative Member of Parliament (1950–1974) and was Minister of Health (1960–1963) then Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) MP (1974–1987). Before entering politics, Powell was a classical scholar. During the Second World War, he served in both staff and intelligence positions, reaching the rank of brigadier. He also wrote poetry, and many books on classical and political subjects.
Powell attracted widespread attention for his "Rivers of Blood" speech, delivered on 20 April 1968 to the General Meeting of the West Midlands Area Conservative Political Centre. In it, Powell criticised the rates of immigration into the UK, especially from the New Commonwealth, and opposed the anti-discrimination legislation Race Relations Bill. The speech drew sharp criticism from some of Powell's own party members[1] and The Times,[2] and Conservative Party leader Edward Heath dismissed Powell a day after the speech from his position as Shadow Defence Secretary.
In the aftermath of the speech, several polls suggested that 67 to 82 per cent of the UK population agreed with Powell's opinions.[3][4][5] His supporters claimed that the large public following[6][7] that Powell attracted helped the Conservatives to win the 1970 general election,[8] and perhaps cost them the February 1974 general election,[9] when Powell turned his back on the Conservatives by endorsing a vote for Labour, which returned as a minority government. Powell was returned to the House of Commons in October 1974 as the Ulster Unionist Party MP for the Northern Ireland constituency of South Down. He represented the constituency until he was defeated at the 1987 general election.
Enoch Powell Rivers Of Blood Speech
Wednesday, April 19, 2023
Netflix sued for turning Cleopatra black
Netflix sued for turning Cleopatra black
Lawyer Mahmoud al-Semary wants the platform shut down in Egypt for its depiction of the ancient leader
Egyptian lawyer Mahmoud al-Semary has sued Netflix over its depiction of the ancient Egyptian leader Cleopatra as black in the forthcoming documentary film ‘Queen Cleopatra’. He demanded that the streaming giant be shut down in Egypt in a complaint filed with the Public Prosecutor on Tuesday.
Calling for the Netflix production team to be punished for participating in a “crime,” al-Semary argued that the recently-released trailer flies in the face of Egyptian history and promotes a divisive Afrocentrism.
“In order to preserve the Egyptian national and cultural identity among Egyptians all over the world there must be pride in the makings of such work,” the attorney said, adding that most of Netflix’s offerings “do not conform to Islamic and societal values and principles, especially Egyptian ones.”
The complaint also accuses Netflix and the makers of ‘Queen Cleopatra’ of “forgery.” Actress Adele James, who portrays the iconic Egyptian queen in the film, vowed to block all detractors on social media after Twitter users accused her of cultural appropriation.
Former Egyptian Antiquities Minister Zahi Hawass condemned the production last week for “falsifying facts,” pointing out that “Cleopatra was Greek, meaning that she was blonde, not black.”
Calling on Egyptians to speak out against Netflix’s revisionism, Hawass excoriated the trend that has emerged in some American black populations of claiming the Egyptian civilization actually came from black Africa.
“Netflix is trying to stir up confusion to spread false information that the origin of Egyptian civilization is black,” he said, insisting such claims were categorically false.
Egyptian temples from the era depict the civilization’s kings as racially distinct from the African, Nubian, Libyan, and Asian enemies they are illustrated in combat with, Hawass pointed out. He explained that Egypt did not fall under the leadership of black Africans until the Kingdom of Kush – the 25th dynasty, at the end of the civilization now known as Ancient Egypt. Cleopatra was of Macedonian Greek origin, as were her ancestors, the Ptolemaic dynasty, who had ruled Egypt for nearly three centuries by the time of her reign. All are depicted as black in the documentary.
A Change.org petition launched by two Egyptians calling on Netflix to cancel the miniseries for “falsifying history” attracted over 85,000 signatures in under two days before the platform mysteriously removed it.
Produced by actress Jada Pinkett Smith, the film is set to air next month as part of Netflix’s ‘African Queens’ series.
https://greekcitytimes.com/2023/04/18/queen-cleopatra-netflix-series/
https://www.rt.com/pop-culture/575014-egyptian-lawyer-sues-netflix-cleopatra/
Monday, April 17, 2023
Veterans 4 Freedom
Got the Afghan Memorial Flower for a small donation to Veterans for Freedom. Thank you for your service. I have many friends that served over there that are no longer with us and others still suffering.
Others still good to go and still fighting for Freedom!
https://linktr.ee/veterans4freedom
Sunday, April 16, 2023
Week of ParticipAction across Canada!
Week of ParticipAction across Canada!
Canadian Nationalist Party
Toronto
April 12th
Euro-Canadian Nationalist Activists
April 15th
British Columbia
Southern Ontario
April 15th
WLM Southern Ontario
Some Euro-Canadian Nationalists
Somewhere in Southern Ontario
Weekend Outdoor Activities
It's OK 👌🏻 to be White!
Saturday, April 15, 2023
Cartoon Truth about The Multi-Cult Communist Woke Fanatics!
Cartoon Truth about The Multi-Cult Communist Woke Fanatics!
Thursday, April 13, 2023
Charlatans of Big Pharma and the Psyco Mind Rackets
Charlatans of Big Pharma and the Psyco Mind Rackets
https://t.me/CNFEC/2691
As a 100% completely sane person, never been to a Nuthouse, never seen a shrink from the mind warp scamming rackets nor diagnosed with anything and have never ever taken any pharmaceutical meds.
I am fed up with this degenerated society and these Psycho scammers labeling everyone and their dog with some made up disorders that do not exist just to justify medicating people to make Big Pharma (legal drug dealers) money, line pockets of the Head Shrinker Witch Doctors and justify the excuses for the genetically defectives whilst some actually normal people that are just scammers for free money and nothing wrong with them or want to get away crimes because they are criminals and that's what they do.
It is a waste of taxpayers money and resources. Excuses for criminals and con artists of the mind drug and fake diagnosis criminal enterprises.
Wednesday, April 12, 2023
Women brought back to Canada from ISIS camps released on bail
Women brought back to Canada from ISIS camps released on bail
*I refuse to share the MSM article based on principle and hate the lying scumbag who wrote it but yes this just happened*
These extremist Women can and would kill as much if not more than the Male Islamists.
Where are they now? Fourteen public figures a year after the convoy protest
Where are they now? Fourteen public figures a year after the convoy protest
What are Patrick King, Jim Watson, Tamara Lich, Peter Sloly, and more prominent figures up to now?
Author of the article:
• Postmedia Published Jan 27, 2023 • Last updated Jan 29, 2023
Pat King
Tamara Lich
What they did then
Article content
Lich, 50, from Medicine Hat, Alberta, is perhaps the most well-known of the convoy protest organizers.
Lich, a right-wing activist who had been involved with the Yellow Vest protest and the separatist Maverick Party, volunteered to help fund-raise for the convoy, setting up the initial GoFundMe campaign that quickly raised $10 million.
During the Ottawa protest she spoke at press conferences, urged supporters to remain peaceful, and was involved in negotiating an aborted deal with Mayor Jim Watson to move some trucks out of residential areas downtown.
Lich was arrested on a downtown street on Feb. 17. A video taken by her supporters and released on social media showed Lich being handcuffed by police and calling out “Hold the Line” as she was led away.
Article content
Lich was in and out of jail as legal wrangling ensued during several bail hearings and reviews. Her lawyer calculated that Lich had spent 48 days in custody before she was released on July 26 pending her joint trial with Chris Barber.
Where are they now?
Lich has been largely out of the public eye since she was released on bail in July.
She is currently back in Medicine Hat, said her lawyer Lawrence Greenspon in an interview.
Greenspon said he plans to file a court application in the next few weeks to seek a review of her bail conditions, which include a ban on using social media.
JM
Patrick King
What they did then
Patrick King, who had been an activist in separatist and far-right movements in Alberta before he began protesting COVID-19 health measures, became a well-known figure during the convoy protest.
King led a “slow roll” of vehicles circling the Ottawa airport, posted videos on social media urging protesters downtown to “Hold the Line” and live-streamed his own arrest on Feb. 18.
Some convoy organizers distanced themselves from King, who in past videos had used racist language and hinted at violence, speculating that someone would make Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “catch a bullet one day.”
Where are they now?
King spent five months in the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre before being released on bail on July 18.
His bail conditions included a ban on using social media or participating in protests or unlawful assemblies related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the convoy protest or anti-government demonstrations.
Article content
King is currently in Alberta, said his lawyer Natasha Calvinho in an interview.
She said she anticipates a trial will be held in the fall of 2023 on the charges laid against King during the protest. Additional charges laid against King later of obstructing justice and perjury would be part of a separate trial, she said.
JM
Tyson George Billings
What they did then
Tyson George Billings, from High River, Alberta, was a close associate of King and they often appeared on livestreams together during the protest.
Billings, dubbed “Freedom George,” was known for hollering “freeedom” and “Let’s go” as he strolled downtown streets. He was charged with several offences, including mischief, counselling to commit mischief, counselling to disobey a court order and obstructing police, and denied bail.
Article content
Billings pleaded guilty in June to one count of counselling to commit mischief and was sentenced to six months of probation.
Where are they now?
Billings did not respond to an email request for an interview, but based on his social media posts he works driving a truck hauling natural gas liquid.
Billings has recently been promoting on his Facebook page the “world unity” convoy reunion event planned for Winnipeg in February. In videos posted on his page, Billing says he plans to be there.
JM
Catherine McKenney
What they did then
While still city councillor for Somerset ward, McKenney was a frequent presence on Centretown streets during the convoy protest, even calling into a council meeting on Feb. 16, 2022, from a roadway jammed with parked trucks and big rigs and demanding to know what plans the city and the Ottawa Police Service had for clearing the occupiers.
Article content
McKenney ran for mayor in the October 2022 municipal election, but lost to Mark Sutcliffe. Ariel Troster succeeded McKenney as the councillor for the Somerset ward.
Where are they now?
On Jan. 19, McKenney announced the co-founding of a non-profit organization called CitySHAPES with the announced goals of advocating for change, formulating policy and working with communities across Canada on priorities including climate change, active transportation, transit, affordable housing and ending chronic homelessness.
GH
What they did then
As Rideau-Vanier ward councillor, Fleury had a front-row seat to downtown disruptions during the convoy protest, including the 25-day shutdown of the Rideau Centre mall located in his ward.
Protesters also showed up outside his home after Fleury’s address became publicly known, so he and his family moved for the duration of the protests.
Where are they now?
Fleury announced in May he would not seek re-election to council, after 12 years representing his urban ward. Since the calendar turned to 2023, he has worked on contract as interim executive director of J.W. MacIntosh Community Support Services, a Williamsburg, Ont.-based organization for seniors, convalescents and adults with physical disabilities as well as their family members and friends.
Article content
GH
Benjamin Dichter
What they did then
Dichter, a truck driver, podcast creator and producer and political and communications strategist, was asked by Tamara Lich to help with communications for the convoy protest.
Dichter acted as a spokesperson, did interviews, held press conferences, worked on social media messaging and helped people fundraising bitcoin for the truckers.
Where are they now?
Dichter still drives a truck and does podcasts, including his talk show called Freedom Coffee, and has written a book about the protest, Honking for Freedom.
He will also be the keynote speaker at the 2023 Bitcoin Canada conference, said Dichter in an interview.
JM
What they did then
Previously an Ottawa Police Services Board member nearly 12 years, including as chair for 12, El-Chantiry was reappointed as chair after Diane Deans was ousted by a city council vote on Feb. 16, one day after Peter Sloly resigned as chief.
Article content
Where are they now?
The council representative for West Carleton-March ward since 2003, El-Chantiry announced in late July that he would not seek re-election. Recently he said he was still attending “retirement” parties after leaving council in mid-November, but he was also taking advantage of his new-found free time to do things he had been too busy to do previously, including working out at a gym five days a week. He added that he and his wife were planning a trip.
GH
Diane Deans
What they did then
Then serving as Gloucester-Southgate ward councillor, Deans was at the centre of one of the most controversial developments at city hall when she was ousted as chair of the Ottawa Police Services Board in a council vote on Feb. 16. The move came after the police board hired former Waterloo Region chief Matt Torigian as interim Ottawa chief to replace Sloly. Amid swirling controversy, Torigian withdrew from the position on Feb. 17.
Article content
Deans announced a mayoral campaign in late 2021, but backed out. In June 2022, she announced she wouldn’t be running for re-election as councillor in the ward she had represented since 1994.
Where are they now?
She now works on contract with the Native Women’s Association of Canada, a national Indigenous group that acts as the political voice for Indigenous women, girls and gender-diverse people. “I’m just quite happy doing something entirely different for a while,” Deans says. “I miss politics less than I expected to miss it.”
GH
Tom Marazzo
What they did then
Tom Marazzo, a retired military officer who says he was fired from teaching at a community college in Ontario for opposing COVID-19 vaccine mandates, emerged during the convoy to speak on behalf of the protesters.
Article content
At press conferences, Marazzo appealed to politicians to talk with the protesters, at one point saying he had a hotel room ready if Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wanted to meet.
He also helped co-ordinate truck movements during the protest and negotiated with police liaison teams, said Marazzo on his website.
Marazzo is a founding member of the Veterans4Freedom group, which has supported other “freedom movement” events, including Rolling Thunder in Ottawa last spring.
Where are they now?
Marazzo has spoken at various “freedom” related events over the last year.
He ran as a candidate for the Ontario Party in the Peterborough-Kawartha riding in the provincial election in June.
According to his webpage, Marazzo is writing a book about his experiences with the convoy protest and is soliciting donations for that venture.
Article content
His website says Marazzo lives “off the grid” in eastern Ontario. Marazzo declined an interview request, saying he does not trust this paper or mainstream media.
JM
Chris Barber
What they did then
Chris Barber, a Saskatchewan trucker, was one of the original organizers of the convoy to Ottawa.
Barber’s videos on Tik Tok and other social media platforms helped galvanize convoy protesters who paralyzed downtown Ottawa for more than three weeks last winter.
Barber was arrested on Feb. 17, 2022 as police from across Canada moved in to clear the streets. He was charged with mischief, intimidation, obstructing police and counselling an indictable offence and released on bail.
Where are they now?
Barber, 47, is back home in Swift Current, Sask., running his trucking company that hauls agricultural equipment.
Article content
Business is brisk, he said in a phone interview. “I’m just trying to play by the rules right now and stay out of trouble,” he said. “I’m busy trucking. I’ve never been a protester in my life, nor have I ever done anything in my life like what happened a year ago.
“I’m not that kind of guy. But I decided I reached my limit last year,” said Barber, who is vaccinated himself but opposed vaccine mandates and other pandemic public health rules.
Barber was a guest speaker this fall on the “Fire and Ice” speaking tour by former Canadian hockey star Theo Fleury and figure skating champion Jamie Sale, with another appearance scheduled in February. Fleury and Sale are activists against pandemic restrictions and promote misinformation about the safety of COVID-19 vaccines.
Article content
Barber’s joint criminal trial with convoy leader Tamara Lich is set for three weeks in Ottawa starting Sept. 5, 2023.
There will be two other court hearings before then, said his lawyer Diane Magas in an interview. In February, a joint motion on behalf of Barber and Tamara Lich will be heard asking for particulars to be disclosed of their alleged offences, said Magas.
In March, a Charter of Rights challenge is scheduled that relates to 4,000 pages filed by the Crown of Barber’s cell phone data, which Magas said included personal text messages unrelated to the convoy that should not have been made public.
The application asks the court to either stay the charges against Barber or, failing that, exclude the cell phone data from the trial.
Article content
JM
Peter Sloly
What they did then
As police chief, he became a target for criticism of the service’s response to the convoy protest. Before the first week of the occupation, Sloly said “there may not be a policing solution to this demonstration.” He would also cite a lack of resources for the Ottawa Police Service’s inaction against protesters and requested 1,800 reinforcements from other police forces to help end the occupation.
On Feb. 15, Sloly resigned as chief and was replaced on an interim basis by Steve Bell.
Where are they now?
Sloly has a paid position as “changemaker” in residence University of Toronto’s Massey College, where his assignment is to assist the college principal in modernizing the institution and also leading change for current students, but he continues to live in Ottawa with his wife and their two children.
Article content
He sits on the board for United Way of East Ontario and is a member of both the Ottawa Community Foundation, where he has started the Sloly Family Fund for local and national charities, and the Montfort Hospital Foundation’s fundraising board for the Orléans Health Hub. He has also reactivated Sloly Solutions Inc., a boutique consulting company he founded six years ago, providing strategic advisory services to organizations seeking to improve safety, justice and inclusion on societal lines.
GH
Steve Kanellakos
What they did then
As city manager, Kanellakos was a high-profile figure in the municipal government’s response to the occupation. Most notably, he told council at its Feb. 7 meetings that tow companies, including those on Ottawa’s standing offer list, were refusing heavy tow work to remove protesters’ vehicles from downtown streets.
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Where are they now?
City manager since 2016, Kanellakos resigned on Nov. 28, just two days before the Ottawa LRT public inquiry report was released. “I’m sure there will be speculation about the reasons for my departure at this time. This decision is mine and mine alone. No one asked me to leave,” he said.
The report by Justice William Hourigan said Kanellakos had made a “deliberate effort” to mislead council on the decision to lower testing criteria for the LRT system prior to launch of Stage 1 in September 2019, and on the results of that testing.
GH
James Bauder
What they did then
James Bauder, founder of the “Canada Unity” group, was another prominent promoter of the convoy protest.
Bauder and his wife Sandra had already been in Ottawa in late fall 2021. They and a few dozen supporters went dining and shopping without masks that were required at the time, held protests and promoted a “memorandum of understanding” petition that suggested elected MPs could be forced to resign by a committee of citizens, the Senate and the Governor General.
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Some convoy organizers distanced themselves from Bauder and Canada Unity, saying protesters were not trying to overthrow the government.
Canada Unity withdrew the memo, saying it was misunderstood.
The Bauders parked their RV in downtown Ottawa during the convoy, where they were arrested on Feb. 20. They were released on condition they stay away from a one-kilometre area around Parliament Hill.
The Bauders returned home to Alberta, and have been involved in various protests in western Canada. The charges against Sandra Bauder were stayed in the spring of 2022.
Where are they now?
James Bauder has a court date in February during which he plans to ask for a change of venue for his trial in Ottawa. He has been representing himself in court appearances.
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JM
Jim Watson
What they did then
Having already announced he would not be seeking another term in office as mayor, Watson headed a city council that quickly displayed its frustration with the situation in the downtown core during the convoy occupation. In a CFRA radio interview on its second weekend, Watson said protesters outnumbered police and municipal authorities and admitted he didn’t know at that time when it would end.
In October, Watson appeared at the Public Order Emergency Commission and testified he wholeheartedly supported the invocation of the Emergencies Act by the federal government.
Where are they now?
After the council term ended, Watson took a cross-Canada vacation by train. He returned to Ottawa shortly after the LRT inquiry report also criticized him, concluding information about the trial running of the Confederation Line not shared by Watson and senior city staff amounted to an “egregious” violation of the public trust. “At the end of the day, I take full responsibility for the project’s shortcomings,” Watson wrote on Dec. 9.
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After that, Watson said this week in a statement to Postmedia News, he hosted Christmas dinner for his family for the first time in a decade and spent days sorting through mementos and other items delivered to his home from his former city hall office — none marked “top secret” or “classified,” he joked.
He had intended in January to explore post-politics job opportunities and to re-engage in charity and volunteer work, but an unspecified health issue “that is not improving” put those plans off indefinitely.
“I also hope to be able to travel more often, but I need to resolve my medical concern first before I can consider going abroad,” Watson wrote. “I am hopeful a solution to this health issue can be implemented sooner than later and that will allow me to spend more time outside of my home and community and allow me to better reconnect with friends.”
GH
With a file from Andrew Duffy
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