Something is Rotten in Ottawa
The Freedom Convoy was a surreal experience.
I was in Ottawa from the first big rigs parking on Wellington Street (with smiling police officers waving drivers into place) to trucks being towed away (conscripted drivers wore balaclavas to conceal their identity).
I have never been for or against any protesters per se. My priority is rule of law, and promoting human rights and civil liberties to advance peace, order, and good government.
As such, my convoy footage captured the good, bad, and ugly.
Fact is, there is more ugly in Ottawa today than I ever saw in February 2022.
This leads us to an uncomfortable truth:
The Freedom Convoy triggered a victim complex in the nation’s capital.
As a journalist and lawyer who documented the first trucks park on Wellington Street (with police assistance) to trucks towed away, and am immersed in the broader landscape of Canada’s protest circuit,
immersed in the tumultuous landscape of Canada's protest circuit, and someone who witness
I feel compelled to share a recent development. This is the story of one ongoing legal battle against vigilantism, not just for myself but alongside an unexpected character, Chris Dacey, convoy activist and content creator.
The Freedom Convoy triggered a victim complex in the nation’s capital. Legitimate grievances rapidly burgeoned into hyperbolic complaints. Lighthearted trolling devolved into relentless harassment. Neighbours began hunting neighbours.
Out of this collective thirst for vengeance emerged a campaign to turn citizens into “convites,” i.e. people undeserving of equal rights and protection under the law.
This is not to diminish actual harm that occurred, but Ottawa residents reacted to the so-called occupation in extreme ways.
Ram Ranch Resistance devolved into something more sinister as
For a year or so, I watched as Dacey was subjected to various forms of public abuse and humiliation. He was an easy target due to his unpopular political beliefs. It did not sit right that people condoned, cheered on, and even participated in personal attacks against him.
This was part of a broader campaign to turn
Anybody associated with the convoy was treated as fair game, despite individual vulnerabilities or intersectionalities.
And sure enough, the same came for me as well.
People wrapped in victim identity want others to suffer because they feel they suffered.
The City of Ottawa is experiencing a state of collective psychosis.
Dacey was one of many convenient scapegoats.
At first I thought it was a double standard, and that people were simply being unprincipled by mindlessly cheering on harassment they would denounce if it happened to someone on their “side.”
I wear different hats at different times, and sometimes both at once.
Why is Deana Sherif known to so many people at the Ottawa courthouse?
It did not sit right that others mindlessly cheered this on, especially once I began receiving similar treatment from the same individuals. I became aware of coordinated
— the arbitrariness and lack of due process is inimical to a just and peaceful society.
In September 2023, on the first day of trial for Tamara Lich and Chris Barber, Dacey and I each filed separate peace bond applications against provocateur Deana Sherif. Despite our radically divergent political views, we share a common experience of being threatened by Deana and her network. Her disturbing pattern of aggression and targeted abuse transcends ideological boundaries.