By Eli Sopow
The protest of commercial truckers swarming Canada’s capital in Ottawa shows how an issue can quickly be hijacked by extremist groups spouting themes of racism, hatred and violence.
The unwritten playbook of successful public protest is to instil widespread awareness through news and social media coverage about a simple and clear issue that poses a direct and immediate threat to people.
The issue must have an obvious solution to a glaring unfairness that those in power refuse to acknowledge.
This is standard across the vast literature on social movement action. For example, psychologist Bert Klanderman’s The Social Psychology of Protest pointed out that in framing an issue to protest, anger is the emotion “expressed by people who hold external agents responsible for an unwanted situation.”
The shorthand to igniting a protest is: fear to anger to leadership to action. In other words, a fearful person often becomes an angry person demanding quick action that is provided through exploitative leadership.
There’s no doubt many of the protesting truckers are fearful on many levels. In interviews, they cite fear of losing their livelihoods and having their civil liberties quashed by COVID-19 mandates.
This fear has been easily transferred to anger at governments and health agencies. Their solution? End COVID-19 restrictions, not just for truckers, but for all Canadians.
The fear and anger made a powerful, volatile brew seeking leadership and visible action — hence the so-called “freedom convoy.”
And that’s when it all went wrong.
An amalgam of many forces
Within hours of truckers jamming the streets of Canada’s capital, what rose quickly to the surface like a toxic buoy were images and news stories of protesters waving swastikas, urinating on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, demanding free food from homeless shelters and raising the wrath of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who said:
“I want to be very clear; we are not intimidated by those who hurl insults and abuse at small business workers and steal food from the homeless. We won’t give in to those who fly racist flags. We won’t cave to those who engage in vandalism or dishonour the memory of our veterans. There is no place in our country for threats, violence, or hatred … it needs to stop.”
A large protest can often be an amalgam of many forces with many purposes and agendas. This ecosystem of demands, rage and energy can easily serve as the host to smaller yet powerful groups who — with feverish commitment, organizational skills, resources and experience — hijack the agenda.
These groups are not playing to the general public but to their own narrow audience of supporters, using provocative and sensational actions to gain news and social media coverage and hopefully a few more adherents. They are, upon examination, a grab bag of far-right extremists, anarchists and Donald Trump acolytes.
Exposing an ugly truth
My research and others over the decades on what level of public protest is acceptable to most of us has continually yielded the same result. We accept peaceful protests as an inherent right within democracies. But we also want protests to be orderly, generally not disruptive to our everyday lives, short-lived and non-violent.
For example, the World Values Survey shows that between 2017 and 2020, 29 per cent of Canadians would never attend a “lawful, peaceful protest” but 48 per cent might, depending on the issue. The operative words are peaceful and lawful.
Researchers generally agree that violent events that evoke fear and other strong emotional responses are ingrained and remembered far more by the human brain than more benign, non-violent events. This phenomenon is especially true of public protest actions where the tone of a protest (violent versus non-violent) can quickly sway public opinion from supportive to opposition.
What the “freedom convoy” has succeeded in doing is tear off the protective tissue on “being a Canadian” to expose an ugly truth — that perhaps racism, violent radicalization and disrespect simmers within much of the Canadian psyche, more than we were willing to admit.
Eli Sopow is Professor of Change Management and Organizational Behavior at the University Canada West.
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Justsayin says
I just have one question. Is the Target or auto zone still standing in Ottawa?
Linda says
My daughter was down in Detroit at a friends last night. Evidently the protesters had reached the Detroit/Windsor border crossing. A jacked up mess for miles…
Fredrick says
Keep trying to spin a movement into something it is not. Trudeau called a few fringe elements. The extent of it’s growth proves that wrong. The left last gasp is always it’s either racists, Nazi’s, or a fringe… blah blah blah… So what was it when businesses were burned and looted, city centers were taken over, and people were killed..” mostly peaceful”. Those who burned and looted are out of jail and not held responsible for their actions. A young man is harrased on the steps of the capital and the press blames and demonizes him, another defends himself from attach and he is blamed. One of them is now very rich, the other soon will be. Give it a break, no one listens to this BS anymore.
Steve says
Yours especially I agree. Keep that dream alive have a nice Day
Alonzo says
I guess it was O.K. for the right to take over the capital 1-6-21. Ask yourself a question, why the protests, demonstrations buying of buildings? I guess because African Americans are tired of being pushed around and killed by white folks. We will not take yall bullying us anymore without a fight. We are tired of Whites always treating us wrong and getting away with it. We are fed up and tired of yall treating us like dirt. White Karen’s white Ken’s, asking do we live in a certain area. We are too lazy to have a fat check must be fake, we can’t walk our dogs in the park, we doing our job delivering packages and white men shoot at us. I can go on and on.
Palmcoaster says
For millennia we been vaccinated since we are kids to be able to attend school and prevent wide spread pandemic…Polio, measles, flu,pneumonia, and many tropical deceases including the use of masks by medical professional in hospitals and everywhere not to transmitt or get infected to and by patients was a forever practice. Now over Trumpism infecting Canada as well the minority extremist revolt. I am really pissed of not being able to attend my government meetings indoors thanks to the Trampolini governor we have here and I am fed up because “My Freedom” of speaking my 3 minutes in any local government issue is taken away as well but I do not go demonstrate and protest and create avoc on the roads and obstruct the majority’s lifes with it just because I have a big rig to do it! They are all a bunch of bullies. If you and anyone entering USA and any foreign country have to vax and do it abide why not them…Thru my long life I had to vaccinate in the past to travel for other deceases to come and go overseas….in some countries. What make these disrupters special…if they do not like it look for another job! and stop disrupting peoples lives like mine. Bunch of loud, mouthy bullies!
Kudos to Australia! https://abc7news.com/novak-djokovic-australian-open-2022-tennis/11475170/
Sherry says
Right On. . . Palmcoaster!
This from a friend who actually lives in Canada:
“the truckers are in Ottawa complaining about Covid regulations when Covid regulations are mainly a Provincial decision. However, crossing the border is Federal. . . it really is not about Covid. The truckers have actually said that they should run the government. Actually they are wrong, if that is the case I should run the government.”😂
This from another friend who is a Republic of Ireland citizen, currently living in Wales and Spain:
“Many countries have entry requirements, ie Spain won’t allow anyone over 12 to enter without 3 jabs, France blocked everyone coming from U.K., no matter what their vaccination status was. We no longer live in a world where travel is unrestricted.
My son in law is an HGV driver, adamant he wouldn’t have the jab. Some companies he delivered to told his firm that they wouldn’t allow unvaccinated drivers to offload. Guess what, he’s had all 3 jabs now and feels safer AND he’s kept his job.
Our Gov is now doing a U turn in making all NHS (National Health Service) staff have the jab or lose their jobs by April. Fear based on shortage of staff but tbh why shouldn’t staff be obliged to have the jab for their safety and more importantly, for the safety of those they treat.? This has been a worldwide pandemic and the main reason we’re getting back to some normality is because of scientific advances which enabled many countries to produce a vaccine.”
Edward Reese says
Your comments relative to immunization unreasonably compare the current situation with vaccines produced and released under emergency conditions to those whose value was proven for years before being released to the public and has been validated for decades since. And, your reference to easily surrendering your freedoms to conform to government actions is reminiscent to those of which I read existed in Nazi Germany. Your comments involving Trump and touting Australia which is leading the “free” world in exercising government control contradictory to it’s published rules of democracy, lead me to believe that your opinions are products more of belief in political dogma than of reasoned thought.
Steve says
Don’t you have a Staged Maskless Rally to attend somewhere. Better yet Head to Canada and preach your Dogma and Rhetoric there.
Justsayin says
As the truckers fight for there rights in Canada, Blue state Democratic leaders are dropping many of the mandates and restrictions. This just happened in the last few days. They claim the science has changed and case counts are down. But Wait, An article in the Washington Post today states it has been the deadliest week in a year. https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/02/08/omicron-deaths-covid/
As always, it has nothing to with your heath, it’s power over you. The people are starting to see this and pushing back. Good for them! As George Washington said: When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.
Ray W. says
Politifact rates the claim that Thomas Jefferson said this as False. Researchers did find an almost identical quote attributed to John Basil Barnhill in 1914, during debates over socialism. I suppose the claim has now shifted to Washington.
Justsayin says
I don’t give a damn who said it. It certainly fits today’s government!
Ray W. says
I suppose the comment at issue can be said to have applied to every presidential administration in the history of our nation, depending on one’s partisan leanings. Agree with the administration? Liberty is being protected. Disagree with the administration? Tyranny writ large. Oy, vey!
Standard partisan political theory promotes the manipulation of the level of fear felt by each party’s followers. Justsayin is not expressing anything new or special; he is just another of a long line of naysayers who can only see and feel what his handlers are pushing.
Yes, the Chicago Tribune actually published an editorial in which the editorial board expressed its belief that the just-passed Social Security Act was a communist plot against American conservative values.
Steve says
Have you had your orange koolaid yet today. Look vaccine s and masks work. Total prevention Nope. Reduced cases and severity. Yup Get over it cupcake
Justsayin says
My question is why would all these blue states all of a sudden drop these mandates. i.e. masks and proof of vaccine . If the death rate is the highest it has been this week in over a year, why drop the restrictions now?. My guess is the internal polling for democrat’s is REALLY bad. And with the State of Union speech less then a month away, Sleepy Joe will tell us life is back to normal because of him and their Covid policies. I hear some democrat’s parroting that line already. I’m sure you will be on here telling us the same soon. And yes Steve, I had orange juice today.
A cloth mask provides very little protection(CDC) lock downs provide little to no effect on Covid mortality(John Hopkins Univ) and yes, vaccines do help. I am triple vaxed and tested positive in December. Yup I’m over it!