The Freedom Protests Are A Diverse Populist Movement Of Canadians From All Backgrounds

By Alex Van Hamme / February 22, 2022.

I have been attending Freedom Protests all month long, speaking with hundreds of Canadians who have been attending the rallies. In my experience attending these rallies, including the opening weekend of the Ottawa Freedom Rally in which Maxime Bernier spoke, all of the narratives spun by the MSM are completely dishonest.

Almost immediately the MSM went to work generating a narrative that the Ottawa Freedom Rally and the Trucker Convoy were a right wing, racist movement. I can tell you with certainty, as a boots-on-the-ground reporter, nothing could be further from the truth. I have not seen a single racist symbol the entire time I've been attending these rallies, but I have witnessed thousands of Canadians of diverse backgrounds coming together in the most loving environment I have ever seen. If you observe the countless livestreams of the rallies and protests, both others and my own, you will not find any racist symbology.

It has been an extremely loving movement that has brought together so many people from different backgrounds. I have observed no violence, no name calling, nothing of the sort. I have seen many indigenous people marching in the streets alongside white people, black people, LGBTQ people and every other identity group I can think of. To say I've been inspired by this would be an understatement. Toronto especially brought out a diverse crowd, as normal working class residents took to the streets to support freedom.

In order to understand how the false propaganda narrative has been created and how it is being used, I will clarify a few points.

The media has focused in on a few small details in order to spin the movement as racist and "far-right". The first detail is that Pat King was one of the organizers of the initial Trucker Convoy that came to Ottawa. Pat King has been controversial in the past for some of his right wing views, but most Canadians have no idea who Pat King is. Nobody that I know of or spoke to who donated money to the Freedom Convoy had ever heard of him, and were supporting the the convoy simply for it's stated purpose, which was to take a stand for freedom and against vaccine mandates.

The common line among liberals and the people against the Freedom Rallies is that because a small group of "far-right" people are associated with the convoy, everyone needs to denounce it and stay away from it, or else they too are racists. Aside from Pat King's views, no one else associated with the Trucker Convoy seems to be far-right as far as I can tell. It is completely dishonest and illogical to dismiss the views of all the black, brown, indigenous, etc people who support the Freedom movement and have never heard of Pat King as racists or "far-right". Sadly, the mainstream media is acutely aware of how powerful these buzzwords are, and by associating them with these people many people absorbing MSM simply believe the narrative. A minute of critical thinking should be enough for a normal person to see through this nonsense.

The Freedom Convoy issued a statement in regard to the criticisms about Pat King.

Personally, I have wondered if Pat King was involved in this from the start as a planned way to discredit an entire freedom movement, but that is just speculation on my part, nothing more.

Despite the size of the Freedom movement and it's very clear diversity, the MSM and many people who simply take their opinions from the government and evening news are still clinging to this talking point as if it's relevant.

When I was in Ottawa the first weekend watching dozens of everyday Canadians take to the stage to champion freedom and unity, I saw many diverse speakers talk, and the crowd was loving and receptive. Above is a clip of an indigenous man talking to the crowd about the need for indigenous communities to have clean drinking water, and the crowd cheers in support. It's relevant to note that the Trudeau government set aside billions to help indigenous communities with this issue five years ago and yet the problems remain for these communities. The video speaks for itself, as if even a hint of genuine racism was a part of this movement, the massive crowd simply wouldn't be reacting as the video footage above clearly shows.

(A women joins the Freedom Rally in Toronto with a sign criticizing Trudeau.)

The other issue that the MSM narrative has focused on to create the "racist far-right" narrative is that on the first day of the Ottawa protests, one man with a confederate flag showed up to the rally. He wore a mask and brought his own camera man. Also immediately the crowd forced him to leave, which he did. It seems obvious to me, and everyone else there, that he was an agitator with an agenda to make the crowd look bad. There is no way to confirm this, but even if he were trying to be a genuine part of the protest, the fact that he was chased off by the tens of thousands of people there implies he was not welcome. Also, the confederate flag has absolutely no context for being there, it's nonsensical. Anyone who genuinely supported freedom wouldn't bother to bring such a flag.

The second immflamatory symbol referenced was a nazi flag that was spotted on a truck somewhere in Ottawa, and another location near the Parliament buildings but out of sight of the protestors on Parliament Hill. This too seems to be an obvious set up, as the person with the flag never came near the crowd on Parliament Hill and was not spotted near the actual protest. It was spotted in some very odd places though, which triggered massive speculation from the general public that it was a planned photo-op meant to smear the true nature of the protest.

The same flag, along with a confederate flag, were seen being photographed earlier that morning on a truck parked outside the downtown core, although it was never seen near the actual protest. Many people online began speculating that the man seen photographing the truck was a member of Trudeau's team, however this is speculation and not the claim of FBM.

(This image began circulating on social media the next day in response to news coverage from mainstream outlets. The caption on the image above is not from FBM)

After spending the day in Ottawa among the massive crowd, I was shocked that night to return to my hotel and see the CBC reporting that it was a far-right, racist crowd. The CBC receives millions of dollars of funding from the Trudeau government, and they were referencing Bernie Farber, who is the head fo the "anti-hate network", an organization that also receives money from the Trudeau government. Bernie Farber did an interview with CBC in which he claimed that, as the son of Holocaust survivors and the head of Anti-Hate, this protest was the "worst display of nazi propaganda he had ever seen". This claim makes no sense to me, as I was there all day and saw none of the symbology he claims was there. If this was the worst display of nazi propaganda he's ever seen, which doesn't seem possible to me, it would seem to imply that he had never been to an actual event with real racists or neo-nazis.

(An LGBTQ flag is shown with pride as part of the Freedom Rally in Toronto)

So, when it comes to the "racist, far-right" narrative associated with this movement, it comes down to just a few irrelevant points: Pat King was involved in organizing the Trucker Convoy, and a nazi and confederate flag were photographed near the protest the first weekend, early in the day. That's literally the entire basis of the narrative. This narrative is being pushed by the CBC and the anti-hate network, both of which have vested interests in defending the Trudeau government since they receive funding from it. It is completely illogical to dismiss and organic, homegrown movement of millions of diverse Canadians as racist simply because of these talking points. If you look through the livestream coverage and can find any racist or inflammatory symbology, please contact me as I will pay money to see it. There's none visible in any of my livestream footage from the core of that protest.

(Protestors demanding an end to vaccine mandates the first weekend of the Ottawa Protest)

After the first weekend in Ottawa, the Freedom Protests only began to ramp up across the nation. Massive protests erupted in British Columbia and the following weekend a massive rally was held in Toronto. As I wandered through the crowd in Toronto, seeing all the people coming together in the name of Freedom, I was deeply moved with emotion. It's all peace, love and unity coming from people at these protests.

Tragically, I feel that all the MSM coverage of this movement has been dishonest. I haven't seen a single fair interview with a non-white person who supports the Freedom protests on any mainstream outlet, despite them being a massive part of this movement. The MSM also claimed that about eight thousand people participated in the Ottawa protest the first weekend. There are no official stats on this, but from my personal experience being there I would estimate the crowd to have been at least 100,000 people, which is a major discrepancy with the MSM, who would only film the protestors at angles which concealed the true size and nature of the crowd.

Some people raise the issue that they are against blockades and the trucker's blocking off sections of the downtown core with their trucks in protest. This issue should be separated from the Freedom protests in general, as many rallies are now being condemned across the country when no trucks are involved, only crowds of people exercising their right to peaceful assembly.

Personally, I did not donate to the Trucker Convo because I am skeptical of crowd funding efforts for convoys based on previous experience, and I am not sure how organic it truly is, since the state has now been able to use their actions to dramatically reduce freedoms and basic liberties even more. As I write this now, the Ottawa downtown core has been completely cleared out by Trudeau's Emergencies Act which remains in place. People no longer have the right to peaceful assembly and protest, the right to freedom of expression, freedom of body autonomy, and many people are having their bank accounts frozen for donating to a crowd-funding campaign that was perfectly legal.

In conclusion, I would like to reiterate that this movement is an organic populist movement of diverse Canadians who have had enough of harmful lockdowns, vaccine mandates, and the constant reduction of basic Canadian liberties. It is absolutely not a racist or right wing movement by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, I believe dismissing all of the diverse people involved in this movement as racists, anti-vaxxers or far-right is itself racist, ignorant and cruel. The evidence to make such a claim is clearly invalidated by the size and behaviour of everyone participating in these rallies, and the narrative constructed by the CBC with the help of the "anti-hate network" simply doesn't hold up to common sense and scrutiny.

It is during these times of prolonged media manipulation and constant toxic propaganda that I begin to lose faith in humanity. Being surrounded by so many conformists in life regurgitating false narratives and being solely motivated by selfish self-interest can begin to take it's toll on me. However, attending these freedom rallies and speaking with all the diverse Canadians involved has brought back my inspiration and hope in humanity. Millions of Canadians are awake now, speaking out against tyranny, and no longer supporting Justin Trudeau and his crony government. We should all be inspired, and we should all unite in the name of peace, unity and freedom. Together we can take back our freedom, our lives, and our country.

Free Bird Media is completely organic, independent Canadian media. Since 2017 FBM has been championing freedom and working to expose the lies of the MSM while giving Canadians an honest view of the truth. If you would like to support FBM and help us grow, please consider subscribing to our YouTube channel or supporting us through Patreon. All donations are extremely appreciated.

YouTube: www.youtube.com/freebirdmediacanada

Patreon: www.patreon.com/freebirdmediacanada