The ongoing ‘Freedom Convoy’ is fueling hate and anger while also legitimizing misinformation about COVID-19, according to BC’s First Nations Leadership Council (FNLC).
It’s prompting the Council to voice its concerns, condemn the movement and put out a call for leaders and citizens to stop supporting “dangerous messages.”
The ‘Freedom Convoy’ has driven its way into various Canadian cities, including on Vancouver Island where many have paraded from up island to BC’s Legislature in Victoria.
It began in response to the federal government’s vaccine mandate for Canadian cross-border essential workers, including truckers, requiring proof of vaccination to avoid quarantining after returning to Canada.
SEE ALSO: Anti-mandate protesters face counter-demonstrators in Victoria on Saturday (PHOTOS)
But the FNLC—helmed by the British Columbia Assembly of First Nations (BCAFN), First Nations Summit (FNS), and Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs (UBCIC)—finds public health mandates “utilize inconvenience” to “spur higher vaccination rates.”
“Being inconvenienced is not the same as having your Charter Rights violated,” said BCAFN Regional Chief Terry Teegee.
“We commend the 90 percent of truckers who are vaccinated, especially given that their jobs put them in contact with many people.”
After reviewing Omicron statistics, the Council says it’s clear that vaccinations are “essential” to keeping BC’s health care system from imploding.
Still, the FNLC says that the convoy is spreading fake information about the virus and also deplores “the importance of vaccination and public health mandates.”
“As evidenced by the destructive, anarchic displays of anti-vax sentiments, as well as the state of emergency recently declared by Ottawa, the so-called ‘Freedom Convoy’ has sown division, intolerance, and misinformation during a time in which we cannot afford to have vaccine mandates and public health and safety endangered,” said UBCIC president, Grand Chief Stewart Phillip.
According to the Council, in Canada’s capital, not only were racist flags flown, racist signs paraded around, monuments were desecrated, and a homeless shelter was threatened.
“Furthermore, the police response to the protest-turned-occupation in Ottawa has, up until recently, been almost non-existent and appalling in their unwillingness to intercede,” Grand Chief Phillip said.
“The racist double-standard in policing in this country is on full display—had these protesters been Indigenous, the police would have cleared them out in a heartbeat.”
The FNLC is pleading for a more robust response to the “escalating and gross displays of aggression that comprise the convoy,” calling on Canada to “treat and prosecute racist attacks and hate speech as the crimes they are.”
“We also call on the federal government to reinstate supports for those people who are still suffering economically due to COVID-19 and keeping in place the much-needed public health mandates,” the Council said.
For Cheryl Casimer, a political executive with the FNS, the path out of this “awful pandemic” is to continue to allow medical science to dictate health mandates and protocols, “not caving into misguided protests born out of frustration, hate and racism.”
“Canadians must band together to support and protect health care workers and first responders who have consistently stepped up and exposed themselves to higher risks daily to protect Canadians,” Casimer added.
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