Thursday, October 10, 2024
Feature/ProfileTrucking

Veterans standing on guard in solidarity with Truckers

At precisely 11am on February 11th, 2022, military veterans gathered in front of Parliament for an event that most Canadians never heard about. The event was dignified and poignant. Photo: Donna Laframboise

by Donna Laframboise

At precisely 11am a year ago, on February 11th, military veterans gathered in front of Parliament for an event that most Canadians never heard about.

The event was dignified and poignant. There to express solidarity with the Freedom Convoy truckers, former armed forces members formed a line, saluted while the national anthem played, and were then greeted and thanked by members of the public.

I posted these two videos to Twitter shortly afterward:

Here is an additional video clip of the Canadian veterans who gathered in Ottawa last February 11th in solidarity with the truckers. A moment in our history that deserves to be remembered.

Regarding the handshakes and hugs from the public in the video below, keep in mind that face masks and social distancing were government policy at the time. Many Ottawa residents were askance at the protesters’ lack of masks.

The people behaving normally in this video were, therefore, self-identifying as rebels. After two years of pandemic weirdness, they’d stopped paying attention to the experts. They’d jettisoned fear, abandoned social distancing, and had embraced life again.

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Donna Laframboise writes a daily blog at ThankYouTruckers.substack.com. It is a first draft of her upcoming book that focuses on interviews with Freedom Convoy truckers. She is a former National Post and Toronto Star columnist, and a former Vice President of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.