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An up-close look at the Canadian Freedom Convoy: Spearheading resistance to COVID tyranny

In today's episode, John-Henry recaps LifeSite's on-the-ground and in-the-air coverage of the Freedom Convoy in Ottawa and shares his thoughts on the crucial role of these truckers in the fight for freedom worldwide.
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John-Henry
Westen
John-Henry Westen
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(LifeSiteNews) — For two weeks now, LifeSite has been reporting intensely on the Canadian trucker convoy for freedom which saw tens of thousands of trucks from the furthest reaches of the country head toward the national capital of Ottawa to demand the return of freedom to Canada.

From the very beginning they were clear that this movement was not just for truckers but for the freedom of all Canadians. It was sparked by the trucker vaccine mandate which forbade unvaccinated truckers from crossing the U.S.-Canada border but took on the quest for freedom in Canada. LifeSite has been on the ground across the country to cover those parts we could get to in order to provide you with a first-hand look at what is happening on the ground and to counter the absolutely false narrative being touted by the mainstream media, the prime minister, and others.

As of this writing, the latest news is that Ottawa has declared a state of emergency and police have seized the fuel intended for the truckers to keep them from freezing to death in the bitter cold. GoFundMe cancelled the $10 million donated by supporters of the convoy. They were going to donate it to other charities, but public clamor caused them to return the funds to the donors. The truckers are determined to stay put until freedom is returned, and just now Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò has sent a message of encouragement to the truckers.

Boy what a whirlwind it has been for the last two weeks! My video producer and I have been back and forth the two-and-a-half-hour trip to Ottawa day after day with breaking news happening by the second. We hired a chopper to get the lay of the land, only to learn that Ottawa had restricted the air space above the city as it never has before. We have seen hundreds of thousands of Canadians over the last two weeks in the most loving, happy, encouraging, hopeful, fun demonstration we have ever seen.

As the truckers rolled in they were greeted along highways and bridges by supporters from every walk of live, every creed, every color. In this most culturally diverse land, there were outpourings of support that could hardly be imagined. Families waiting and praying in the bitter cold for hours on end, offering money, food, hot drinks, fuel, snacks, and “thank you” letters scribbled with painted pictures by little children. The overwhelming gratitude from Canadians is expressed in tears, as is the gratitude of the truckers who are soldiering this fight.  

Let me just tell you one snippet from Saturday. Again it was bitterly cold. We arrived with one of my sons joining in to witness this piece of Canadian history. It was a bright and sunny day, but about 20 below zero. But it was so crowded on and in front of Parliament Hill you could hardly move. It was like a crowded dance hall with people joyfully dancing, shouting “FREEDOM,” so many draped in Canadian flags and listening to inspiring speakers urging them to stand for a return to freedom. 

Here is a little glimpse of the joy and fraternity on display there:

It was so crowded that a young lady accidentally tripped me up as I was trying to make my way through the crowd. She apologized so kindly and as I was saying no trouble, I was still actually in the midst of trying to catch my balance while still filming. I happened to almost fall into a fellow who caught me, then in typical Canadian fashion he apologized for my bumping into him and also gave me an encouraging little hug saying, “Sorry, brother.”

There is such fraternity, such friendliness, such love. This is Canada, this is what Canadians are all about. That is the reality on the ground. And that comes in stark contrast to the false narrative — the disinformation — being peddled by the mainstream media and the prime minister. 

Trudeau claims the truckers and their supporters are a small fringe minority holding unacceptable views. Then, after being in isolation for exposure to COVID after having been vaxxed three times and catching COVID from his fully vaxxed and boosted son — thus proving the senselessness of the vaccine mandate, by the way — Trudeau gave a hate-filled rant against the truckers painting them as a mob of violent racist extremists. Have a look:

And the mayor of Ottawa Jim Watson is similarly inflammatory: “It’s disturbing when you see the protest turning into what looks like some kind of a fun carnival, where they’ve got bouncy castles, and hot tubs, and saunas.”

And watch this from the mainstream media. 

Here is CBC suggesting that the Russians are behind the protest! 

And not to be outdone here is MSNBC saying the truckers are stealing food from the homeless in Ottawa:

A columnist for The Washington Post called the trucking convoy movement “extremist” and “fringe” and compared it to a “temper tantrum” in an article entitled “Canada must confront the toxic ‘Freedom Convoy’ head-on.”   

I could go on and on, but you get the picture. This is a disinformation campaign. Intentional falsehood is being portrayed. Are there perhaps a few bad actors in this huge crowd? Sure. But 99.9 percent are peaceful, loving Canadians who have said “Enough!” to the senseless mandates and are demanding freedom. 

Last week the media narrative was about how small the demonstration was. It was actually so huge that crowds could be found scattered all over Ottawa. Here is another group that was by Rideau Mall down the street from the main group:

As we showed you already in a video we released over the weekend, the police have come out in force to create hassle for the truckers and their supporters by issuing hundreds of tickets for noise violations (honking), for seatbelt infractions, having license plates obscured, etc. 

Watch this video of an old man pulled over for honking his support for the truckers:

Now police in Ottawa have seized the truckers fuel, which is of course dangerous considering the temperatures are such that without running their engines, the truckers would freeze to death. 

“Fuel is being seized, yes,” says a police officer at 6:55 in this video.

The leadership of the convoy held another press conference yesterday in which they presented calmly that they are ready to be arrested and will remain peaceful — but will not move. They are ready to be removed by police and will not resist, but will not move of their own accord. 

And the majority of the public, despite the lies of the Mainstream media and politicians, are supporting freedom. A new survey from Canada’s leading polling company Angus Reid reveals 54 percent of Canadians feel it’s time to “remove restrictions and let Canadians manage their own level of risk.”  

The Catholic Church too is divided on this question. Shamefully the Archbishop of Edmonton Richard Smith gave a homily in which he compared the vax mandates to diving mandates and the freedom demonstrators to those who Jesus threw out of the temple. 

But Texas Bishop Joseph Strickland has come out supporting the truckers.  

The freedom convoy is deeply rooted in the basic values that have built the world we take for granted. We must be free to make choices for our own lives. God has given us a tremendous freedom as He created us in His image. We MUST respect individual freedom. 

And in a message of support for the truckers you can read on LifeSiteNews, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò says: 

Your protest, dear Canadian truck driver friends, joins a worldwide chorus that wants to oppose the establishment of the New World Order on the rubble of nation states…

[Y]our yearning for freedom was shown in all its coordinated harmony, moving towards the capital Ottawa. Dear truck drivers, you are facing great difficulties, not only because you give up your work to demonstrate, but also because of the adverse weather conditions, long nights in the cold, and attempts to be cleared away that you face. But along with these difficulties you have also experienced the closeness of many of your fellow citizens, who like you have understood the looming threat and want to support you in protesting against the regime. Allow me also to express to you my support and my spiritual closeness, to which I join the prayer that your event may be crowned with success and may also extend to other countries.  

Today more than ever it is essential that you realize that it is no longer possible to passively assist: it is necessary to take a position, to fight for freedom, to demand respect for natural freedoms. But even more, dear Canadian brothers, it is necessary to understand that this dystopia serves to establish the dictatorship of the New World Order and totally erase every trace of Our Lord Jesus Christ from society, from history, and from the traditions of peoples.  

Demonstrate for your rights, Canadian friends: but may these rights not be limited to a simple claim to the freedom to enter supermarkets or not to be vaccinated: may it also be a proud and courageous claim to your sacrosanct right to be free men. But your demonstration should be one of true freedom, reminding you that it is the Truth – that is, Our Lord Jesus Christ – who alone can guarantee you freedom: the truth will make you free.

And Canadian Catholics are doing just that. A group of Catholics led by John Pacheco has prayed a public rosary during the truckers’ convoy. They have held multiple rosary rallies processing from the Supreme Court to Parliament:

In the end, the world is watching. It has been incredible to see trucker convoys for freedom from the Great Reset agenda taking place in many different countries. In America, in the Netherlands, in Brazil and many other nations. As a Canadian I’m so proud to see many of the truckers in other nations flying the Canadian flag since it has become a symbol of resistance to the COVID tyranny.

It is so evident that the forcing of this abortion-tainted vaccine on the whole planet is about much more than a feared pandemic. The failure of the vaccines to stop transmission which has been proved in spades has, at least for those willing to see, forced off the rose-colored glasses and allowed people to glimpse the grab for total control of the masses by the elites. The fomenting of different classes of citizenry with a Chinese-style social credit system regulating the lives of all inhabitants on the planet with vax passes allowing privileges to the citizens who bend the knee to the dictators — and those who conscientiously object suffer.

There remains “choice,” the dictators say, but the cost of that choice for those unwilling to take the abortion-tainted dangerous and inefficacious COVID jab is exclusion from society. It is the same “choice” that unborn children are afforded with the so-called “woman’s right to choose.” It is only choice of the oppressor over the oppressed. We must resist. With fidelity to God and begging His help against the infernal forces pushing the great reset we must resist. And one battle cry that no one in history could have predicted has today taken center stage — HONK, HONK!

The John-Henry Westen Show is available by video on the show’s YouTube channel and right here on my LifeSite blog.

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John-Henry is the co-founder, CEO and editor-in-chief of LifeSiteNews.com. He and his wife Dianne have eight children and they live in the Ottawa Valley in Ontario, Canada.

He has spoken at conferences and retreats, and appeared on radio and television throughout the world. John-Henry founded the Rome Life Forum, an annual strategy meeting for life, faith and family leaders worldwide. He is a board member of the John Paul II Academy for Human Life and the Family. He is a consultant to Canada’s largest pro-life organization Campaign Life Coalition, and serves on the executive of the Ontario branch of the organization. He has run three times for political office in the province of Ontario representing the Family Coalition Party.

John-Henry earned an MA from the University of Toronto in School and Child Clinical Psychology and an Honours BA from York University in Psychology.

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