Category Archives: Freedom

Even during crises, human rights fundamental rights do apply and must be respected, highlighted Deputy Secretary General Bjrn Berge while addressing the Global Conference for Media Freedom held in Tallinn (Estonia). The Deputy Secretary General underlined how extraordinary circumstances are marking our times, with an unprecedented rise of digital technology and several changes in the political environment, including the spread of fake news, hate speech and disinformation, during the ongoing impact of COVID-19. Moreover, he made reference to Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, protecting freedom of expression for all Europeans, including media freedom.

The big question is of course: how can we apply the fundamental principles safeguarding freedom of expression?, emphasised Mr. Berge in his keynote speech. We are taking a range of initiatives, including developing specific guidelines for all our 47 member States, with a comprehensive approach to combating hate speech (particularly on-line), ensuring that digital technologies are used in an open, transparent and accountable way.

Finally, Deputy Secretary General stressed the relevance of the Platform for the safety and the protection of journalists since in recent times, intimidation, restrictions and attacks have increased. Last yearalone six journalists were killed in Europe, he concluded.

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dmitry Muratov also delivered a strong message on media freedom. Meetings with Minister of Foreign Affairs Eva-Maria Liimets and Minister of Justice Maris Lauri were also part of the Deputy Secretary Generals agenda on his visit to Estonia, together with an exchange of views with Uzra Zeya, Undersecretary for Civilian Security, Democracy and Human Rights for the United States of America (USA).

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Deputy Secretary General at Global Conference for Media Freedom: Even during crises, human rights apply and must be respected - Council of Europe

What do Hawaii and West Virginia have in common? They both took huge steps toward restoring and protecting student press freedom on February 3, when legislative committees in both states recommended New Voices legislation for passage.

Students in both states testified remotely before their representative Education committees, highlighting both the stories they have been able to tell and their hope that all student journalists will soon be able to do so. Hawaii student journalist Althea Cunningham told the committee: I want all student journalists to be protected. I want them to be able to chase and report truth in confidence like how we can. Schools are supposed to help prepare students for the future, How is letting administrators get away with killing articles they dont agree with helping our future journalists? This is not the ethics nor law I was taught. That is not how journalists works and thats not how our schools should work.

In West Virginia, Duncan Slade highlighted the recent work by WVU student journalists in reporting on health code violations at the university dining hall and decisions since reversed by the university to stop publishing COVID-19 health metrics. Those are all stories that are important because they hold the institution accountable, he said. Emily Caracciolo agreed, saying, I believe student journalism is too often relegated to second-class First Amendment status.

This is the first time New Voices legislation has moved forward in West Virginia, having been introduced for the first time in 2021 before the session ended without so much as a hearing. Hawaii in 2020 very nearly became the 15th New Voices state, when three House committees, the full House and a Senate committee approved the bill before it had to be tabled as a direct result of the emerging COVID-19 pandemic.

As of February 9, New Voices bills are on the docket in nine states. This includes Florida, which has not had a New Voices bill in several years, and Illinois, where the legislature is considering strengthening the New Voices law to protect teachers and ensure student journalists can robustly enforce the law.

Hawaiis Senate bill will be heard by the Senate Education committee on Friday, February 11. The House bill will still need to be heard by the committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs. West Virginias bill next needs to be heard by the Judiciary committee.

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Hawaii and West Virginia are taking steps to protect student press freedom - Student Press Law Center

A room of my own is part of the deal, a perk of the fellowship.

I picked up the key from the office on campus, where the warmly enthusiastic woman behind the desk reassured me that nobody should worry for one second about their age when taking up a new work challenge. Life, she posited, would continue to open doors as long as we kept knocking on them.

I nodded away in agreement, like one of those plastic dogs people used to stick inside the rear windows of their Cortinas, and told her, sincerely, that it was very nice to meet her.

I left and went about finding my abode. In truth, while being extremely interested in the process of maturation, I have never considered age a deterrent when it comes to beginning anew. In my limited (and profoundly privileged) experience, there are far tougher obstructions to fulfilling ones aspirations than a birth date.

Times in my life when Ive been skint and times when Ive had to steady up and take care of small children have been much greater hindrances to ambition (worthy or not) than whatever decade happened to be decorating my bones.

I dont suppose it holds true for all of us, but Im pretty sure that, for many, financial and parental responsibilities occlude desire, sap energy and make the process of creating and pursuing fulfilling work much tougher.

When I was a young(ish) mother, there were things I longed for, such as travel, or the attention of my peers, or the freedom to drink wine in a dark bar at 5pm, instead of being at home grilling fish fingers and singing the Barney theme tune.

Indeed, there were times when that oppressively jolly purple dinosaur felt like some kind of reptilian Big Brother, making sure I diligently fulfilled my parental duties rather than slipping away into the hazy night.

(For those of you at a loss to know what Im prattling on about, Barney is a giant all-talking, all-singing tyrannosaurus, a patrician puppet and star of a sickly-sweet American childrens TV programme which plagued our modestly sized screens in the 90s and noughties. A dino in a heliotrope sweat-suit, he peddled, among other things, solid family values and optimal oral hygiene, and wouldve had no time at all for artsy mothers having a fit of the vapours. Oh, were brushing our teeth and having so much fun, / but we never let the water run, no! he sang, in his wholesomely coercive way. No, we never let the water run!)

Before the financial collapse, when my children were small and I was slumped over the kitchen table trying to put one word in front of the other, I was aware on occasion of feeling quite alone.

I could hear a cacophony of consumerism through the wall, an insouciant song sung by a monied tribe, a cohort my life sometimes brushed against. I remember feeling a pulse of envy in those boom years, watching women flick their silky hair over their shoulders while choosing between the pearl grey or the baby blue. It wasnt their lifestyles I coveted (cashmere sweaters dont, as far as Im aware, make your life more interesting); it was the freedom their money might have bought them.

Im sure if Id listened hard enough, Barney, that saintly theropod with the hugely sinister laugh, would have had a pithy piece of advice about sticking quiet rage and broken artistic endeavours up ones purple posterior and getting on with embracing parenthood. But if he did, I didnt hear him.

Ive been lucky. My children are now independent, my responsibilities have lessened, and I find myself inhabiting one of lifes sweet spots.

Anyway, having left the university office, key in hand, I nosed my way around campus, found my room, put my books away and went out to get a takeaway coffee. On my return, I encountered a mother and daughter, seemingly lost, attempting to locate the daughters student room.

Ask that lady! the mother instructed loudly as I approached.

The daughter reluctantly did as she was told, embarrassed by her harassed mother, who interrupted her anyway to better explain their plight.

Its her first day, she said. If its not this building, then what building is it?

I apologised, telling her that it was my first day also and suggesting that they visit the kind, non-ageist woman in the office.

Good luck, the daughter said quietly, before turning to follow her mothers determined back.

You too, I replied. You too.

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Hilary Fannin: I coveted the freedom other women's money bought them - The Irish Times

By the end of two hours and 42 minutes of Mahaan on Amazon Prime Video, I was torn between two feelings whether to critique it as a competent massy entertainer or pen down the fundamentally unhinged ideology of the film. That does not happen often and nudged me to laud the film, at least to begin with, for being a well-crafted and directed piece of cinema.

For the most part, director Karthik Subbarajs Mahaan, shot in Tamil, is peppered with terrific performances by the lead actors and the supporting cast, coupled with intricate production, design, smart camera work, direction, and multi-lingual music. But then again, this comes as no surprise, considering that Subbaraj is the captain of this ship.

If only this was enough.

The eponymous hero Gandhi Mahaan (played by Chiyaan Vikram) is a man living in the closet with an insatiable desire to drink and gamble. Right from his childhood to marriage, he struggles to keep up with the expectations of his family. This is set by his namesake who happens to be the leading figure in Indias freedom struggle (no big deal!).

From his familys point of view, Mahaan has been blessed with raw ingredients to become mahaan (great) his ancestors participated in the freedom struggle and were staunch anti-liquor activists, his wife is an ardent follower of the Gandhian ideology. But at no point during the entire runtime does anyone ask him if he wants to lead that life. His father fabricates Mahaans birth certificate by a day, only to coincide the date of his birth with Independence Day. Cut to 28 years later, as Mahaan turns 40, he is still being hauled up (by his wife this time) for not living up to his name.

One fine day When Mahaans wife and child travel out of town for a day, he comes alive much like kids when parents leave them home alone. He ditches the plain white shirts and switches to colours, hops into a bar, tries liquor, dances, and gambles his inhibitions and rule-bound life away. But hell breaks loose when he returns home the following day (in his gaudy, multi-coloured attire and reeking of alcohol) to find his wife and relatives aghast to see him in this avatar. They are taken aback to know that he consumed alcohol a slip in his 40 years of life. Eventually, his wife leaves him, taking away the child with her too. Life changes hereon.

Also read: Cliched, monotonous, lazy Why I Killed Gandhi is not worth the hype

At one point, you hear a dialogue: Ideology defines you. Be it political, religious, or social. You follow an ideology, you live for it and you die for it. From the films perspective, it means that there is no room for discussion and your only choice is to deal with extremists.

Years later, when Mahaan is a liquor baron reaping the fruits of his monopoly in the business, his son, Dadabhai Naoroji, returns as a police officer with the agenda of (drumroll, please) ruining his fathers life. We are told that, unlike his fathers problematic ways, Dada has chosen the right way to seek revenge.

But he is no Singham, nor is he Chulbul Pandey or Simmba. Dada is, in equal measures, a headless chicken and a raging bull. His plan of action is fuelled by rage with nothing concrete in it. He is either brooding, laughing at odd moments (meant to be maniacal), or shooting people to punish his father. In simpler terms, the character is unhinged, much like the screenplay. However, Dhruv Vikram (real-life son of Tamil superstar Vikram) plays his part to the T, a big leap from his forgettable debut in Adithya Varma (2019), a remake of the 2017 Telugu blockbuster Arjun Reddy.

Mahaan is a film driven by flawed ideologies with alcoholism being the central conflict. But at no point does one get to see the ills of alcoholism. It rather comes across as one bunch disliking the audacity of the other enjoying a drink.

Towards the end of the film, Mahaan tells his son, Freedom is not worth having if it doesnt include the freedom to make the mistakes. Very true. But in the guise of freedom, Mahaan makes one too many of those. Justifying violence and murder, reducing Gandhian ideology to just alcohol prohibition are a few. In this nearly three-hour-long debate over the right way to do things, nobody wins.

(Edited by Humra Laeeq)

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Making mistakes part of freedom but Mahaan makes one too many - ThePrint

Freedom Elementary School closed after receiving threats overnight

Updated: 7:09 AM EST Feb 7, 2022

Freedom Elementary School has announced that they are closing school Monday after receiving threats overnight."Overnight, we learned of a direct threat against our school involving a potential bomb and a shooting. The West Chester Police Department is currently investigating this threat. Because the investigation is continuing right now, and out of an abundance of caution for the safety of our students and staff, Freedom Elementary School will be closed today, Feb. 7, 2022," the school wrote in an email to parents. "If you or your students have any information that can help with this investigation, please contact the West Chester Police Department."

Freedom Elementary School has announced that they are closing school Monday after receiving threats overnight.

"Overnight, we learned of a direct threat against our school involving a potential bomb and a shooting. The West Chester Police Department is currently investigating this threat. Because the investigation is continuing right now, and out of an abundance of caution for the safety of our students and staff, Freedom Elementary School will be closed today, Feb. 7, 2022," the school wrote in an email to parents. "If you or your students have any information that can help with this investigation, please contact the West Chester Police Department."

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Freedom Elementary School closed after receiving threats overnight - WLWT Cincinnati

LOS ANGELES, CAA convoy of trucks and private vehicles has brought LA traffic to a grinding halt. This new road blockade appears to be a copycat group of the Canadian Freedom Convoy protesting vaccine mandates.

According to witnesses, hundreds of dangerous, antivax, anti-science protestors seem to have paralyzed the inner city with their large, obstructing vehicles. The nonstop honking has polluted the city with noise, even preventing the locals from sleeping at night.

The 405 Freeway is completely blocked up. They are trying to blockade our economy, our democracy and our fellow citizens daily lives! said Josh Tillerbum, a man who hadnt moved an inch of the interstate in hours. Los Angeles has become paralyzed. It has to stop!

UPDATE: Thiswas a false alarm. Neither the trucker Freedom Convoy nor any copycat group was responsible for the complete shutdown of LA traffic, as sources now say that's how traffic always is on the 405.The horrible bumper-to-bumper traffic, incessant honking, and city-wide gridlock are all naturally occurring in LA.

Experts claim that traffic is expected to lighten up later at around 2 am, enabling Californians to drive a little faster than 15 miles per hour.

Watch as this Joe Rogan fan fruitlessly tries to get Alexa to play the Joe Rogan Experience.

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Freedom Convoy Forms In Los Angeles Blocking Freeway AndNever Mind, That's Just Normal Traffic On The 405 - The Babylon Bee

If you watched any of federal Conservative MP Pierre Poilievres video announcing his candidacy for the leadership of his party, you might have discerned a theme: freedom

Variations of the word were used nine times in his three-minute performance. If he is elected leader and is ultimately successful in becoming prime minister, Mr. Poilievre promised, among other things, to make Canadians the freest people on earth, with freedom to make your own health and vaccine choices, freedom to speak without fear.

Freedom over fear, he recently tweeted.

This is not by accident, of course.

Freedom is a word that gets bandied about a lot these days, but has mostly been co-opted by the alt-right, both here and in the U.S. During the last federal election, Peoples Party of Canada leader Maxime Bernier, the far-rights current standard-bearer in this country, was greeted with chants of freedom, freedom, at his campaign stops.

Freedom, as an ideology, has been appropriated by the Make America Great Again (MAGA) wing of the U.S. Republican party. There is a strong MAGA fan base in this country, apparently with prominent supporters such as Candice Bergen, the new interim leader of the federal Conservative Party of Canada. Undated photos circulating on social media appear to show Ms. Bergen sporting a camouflage MAGA hat.

MAGA hats and Trump signs have been ubiquitous at the Freedom Convoy occupation in Ottawa, which has attracted donations and political support from the U.S. One man rode a horse through the downtown streets carrying a flag emblazoned with the word Trump. The word freedom could be found on most signs being touted by the protesters. For many, its a word that has become code for white-identity politics and the far-rights weapon of choice in the culture wars.

Mr. Poilievre has been a strong advocate of those gathered in Ottawa, meeting with them and helping get their message out.

Hes been less vocal about the lawlessness that has taken place or the harm that the encampment has caused to commerce and downtown residents. It would appear that the presumptive favourite to win the Conservative leadership isnt prepared to jeopardize his relationship with potential supporters in the name of law and order.

This, undoubtedly, will be remembered.

Freedom, of course, has not always been a concept usurped for selfish, malicious purposes. Its been a rallying cry behind great triumphs such as the end of slavery and the civil rights movement. But others have believed freedom is about protecting property rights, even if that has to occur at the diminishment of democracy.

More recently, political leaders, and others, with an unprecedented megaphone in the form of the internet and social media, have used the call for freedom to promote bigoted, racist and anti-democratic ideas.

As Elisabeth Anker, a professor of American studies at George Washington University and author of Ugly Freedoms recently wrote in The New York Times: Today, more and more, laws, caucuses, rallies and hard-right movements use the language of freedom as a cudgel to erode democratic governance and civil rights; these laws expand the creep of authoritarianism.

Dont forget that the organizers of the Freedom Convoy have called for the overthrow of the federal government as well as the rescindment of all COVID-19 mandates across Canada.

Which brings us back to Mr. Poilievre and his courtship of these folks.

As a strategy, it does offer a fuel line of support for his leadership bid. The social conservative wing of the party would certainly applaud his freedom mantra and may be seduced into thinking that, in Mr. Poilievre, they have someone who will promote their controversial wish list (see: ban on abortions). Moreover, the freedom cry will be welcomed by the partys grassroots in rural Western Canada, a faction that is increasingly bitter and angry.

Whether Canadians more generally will feel comfortable with Mr. Poilievres adoption of language associated with Mr. Trump and the worst elements of the Republican party (Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Marjorie Taylor Greene et al) is highly doubtful. Poll after poll has shown little appetite in this country for Mr. Trumps divisive, anti-media, autocratic style of leadership.

Its also unclear how well Mr. Poilievres tactics will go down with moderates within the CPC Red Tories who dont have the slightest interest in extending empathy to those associated with the type of disorder weve witnessed in the capital for more than 10 days now.

With his wooing of the protesters, Mr. Poilievre is taking a massive gamble. Then again, as it was once written, freedoms just another word for nothing left to lose.

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Opinion: How truck convoy supporters like Pierre Poilievre have weaponized 'freedom' - The Globe and Mail

YORK, Maine Voters will be asked to add tens of thousands of dollars to theschool district's budget toaccommodatea rise in requests for school records and information.

Superintendent Lou Goscinski saidthe York School Department has already received more than twice as many Freedom of Access Act requeststhis school year than it did last year. He said nearly half of all the FOAA requests in York are directly or indirectly related to the district's policies on equity, diversity and inclusion.

So far in the 2021-2022 school year, the district had received 24 FOAA requests, as of Friday, Feb. 4, Goscinski said.In the 2020-2021 school year, the district received 10 requests, he said.

Before that, the district had received 14 requests in the 2019-2020 school year and 10 requests in the 2018-2019 school year.

Goscinski published a list online late last month of all the FOAA requests the district had received since February 2020.

In the interest of saving staff time and taxpayer money, I made a decision to publicize the list, he said.

Additionally, Goscinski said the cost of labor incurred by administrators responding to FOAA requests is a burdenbecause schools are able to charge only $25 per hour, a standard rate under the Maine law, and the first two hours are free.

Goscinski said another reason he chose to publish the list is becausehe has received duplicateFOAA requests for the same materials he produced for previous requests.

My only motivation to make the list public … is because of the rising costs associated with our budget for addressing the request, he said.

In an October meeting with the York Budget Committee, Goscinski saidhe included an additional $38,000 in the Fiscal Year 2023budget proposal to cover new legal fees incurred from handling FOAA requests.

I think we need to be transparent and let the taxpayers know what the true costs are for these types of requests, he said.

That budget proposal will be part of the package York voters will either accept or reject during the annual town meeting and budget referendum in May.

'Time to move on': 2 York School Committee incumbents say they will not seek reelection

Goscinski said he believes, based on conversations he has had with other superintendents during the York County Superintendents Association weekly meeting, thatYork schools have received more FOAA requests in recent years than haveother nearby districts, regardless of the size.

Jeremy Ray, the superintendent for Biddeford, Dayton and Saco schools who also serves as a member of theMaine Schools Superintendent AssociationExecutive Committee saidthe York School Departmentseems to be experiencing a higher volume of requests than most other districts in York County.

That said, Ray said he's also seeing an uptick in requests across York County and that it has contributed to a feeling of burnout amongschool administrators.

"It's such a difficult area for a superintendent because there's so much of making sure you dot every I and cross every T as you respond to those in the right timeline," Ray said."This is also coming at a point in time where superintendents are chief medical officer ... as these pieces ramp up for us, it just becomes more and more difficult."

Within his own district, Ray said the bulk of requests he's received are usually related to Critical Race Theory and curriculum.

Although people are completely within their rights to file FOAA requests for informationthey deem important, Ray urged community members to practice empathy towardschool officials.

"I think it's important for people to realize that school officials are your neighbors, your friends in the community. ... I think it's just important to realize that everyone's working their hardest to support kids and support teachers," Ray said. "The stressors in a normal time are tough."

"I think you can look at national trends of where educators are feeling and what educators are feeling right now ... at the end of the day it forces some really good people out of the profession, and that's what's sad about it," he said.

Library:York School Committee votes to keep 'It's Perfectly Normal' after bid to remove book

Goscinski believes requests related to thedistrict's policies on equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI), in some cases,are likely being usedto hinder and distract the work of school officials.

"It takes away from my ability to do other work. And we've got to comply with the law,"Goscinski said in interview late last year. "Some of the FOAA requests are nuisance requests. It's a form of harassment."

Goscinski said thecurrent debates in York overEDI, anti-bias training, COVID-19 restrictions, curriculum and school library materials are all a microcosm of a larger movement in towns and citiesnationwide.

"I believe there's a concerted effort across the country to do this in schools," he said.

Without naming any particular group, Goscinski said the language he is seeing in some FOAA requests seems to mimiclanguage provided by conservative organizations.

Some groups provide toolkits that instruct people to inundateschools with public records requests and complaints of discrimination. One example is conservative think thank, The Manhattan Institute, which last year published "Woke Schooling: A Toolkit For Concerned Parents."

Conservative groups aren't alone in using FOAA requests to put pressure on government officials. Left-leaning groups andprofessional journalism associations provideFOAA guidance to their constituents as well.

Most of the 38 requests that the York School Department has received since February 2020 were filed byjust a handful of repeat requesters, according to the log Goscinski published online. Fivepeople filed three FOAA requests apiece: York Weekly reporter Camille Fine and York residents Donald LeFante, Radka Meader, Cheryl Neiverth and Nina Wright.

The most prolific FOAA requester on the list isYork resident Julie Edminster, who has filed 11 requests to the school department in the past two years.

Edminster's requests range from information on COVID student vaccination rates to pandemic protocols, information about the district's upcoming curriculum equity audit anda list of books that the administration has removed from and added to the curriculum.

Edminster declined to comment.

'Why now?'Vision for no-cash tolls on Maine Turnpike frustrates York residents

When the FOAA documents were made public, some community members questioned whether York schools should allow people to visit and observe classrooms, which was something two community members had requested.

LeFante submitted a request in January to visit York Middle School while class is in session. LeFante also asked for all required social studies and English reading and materials which may have been recommended or suggested at the middle school this school year.

Goscinski said LeFante is not a parent of a student attendingYork,according to school records. Goscinski said the school department doesn't maintain every document or worksheet a teacher hands out.

LeFante submitted an additional request in Januaryto meet with YMS Principal Barbara Maling, visit the building and speak about the books being used for education in history and social studies and any curriculum enhancements exercised by teachers.

Goscinski said he wants to assure parents and guardians that hes not letting just anyone into the schools. The school principal and superintendent havea discussion to determine who can enter the building and make the decisionon a case-by-case basis, he said.

We don't allow people randomly to come in and randomly go to classes," he said. "It's just disruptive. It's not fair to the students, or the staff members involved in the educational setting."

Goscinski said he will not fulfill any portion of Lefante's FOAA requestsuntil a $200 feeis paid for the time it will take to collect all the educational materials that LeFante has requested.

LeFante did not respondto requests for comment.

Goscinski said schools have a process for parents to request to observe their student in the classroom. There has to be a reason why the parent would want to come in and observe, he said. There's a set time, it's pre-arranged, and the person can't record audio or video in order to protect the privacy rights of other students.

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'Form of harassment': York schools grapple with uptick in freedom of information requests - Seacoastonline.com

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After a decade of development, Flying Squirrel Entertainment will finally be releasing Battle Cry Of Freedom onto Steam on March 1st, 2022. The game throws you into the middle of third-person combat set in 19th Century America in the middle of the Civil War. The game allows you to play some of the most famous battles of the conflict as either the Union or the Confederates, allowing you to relive both sides' greatest victories and disheartening defeats. You'll be able to try the game out ahead of time as it will be a part of the Steam Next Fest happening February 21st-28th.

Load the cannons, prepare to aim, aaannnddd fire! Choose your side and play across unique maps inspired by key battle locations across the American frontier. Customize your soldier's uniform with historically accurate details, right down to the thread and button count. Become an Infantryman, Engineer, Artillerist, or even a Fiffer to turn the tide of battle in your favor! Players will be able to create their own maps for reenactments or combat by using accessible modding tools with options to configure the time of day, weather effects, custom load-outs, and seasons! Also, a new mode called Commander Battles will allow soldiers to lead their own company of AI-controlled troops with unique commands. With up to 1000 bots supported in a match, be sure to prepare for many casualties! What kind of war stories will you make?

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Battle Cry Of Freedom Is Headed To Steam On March 1st - Bleeding Cool News

Theres this little event going on in Canada right now, I dont know if youve heard about it, called the Freedom Convoy: A bunch of truckers and their supporters drove from Vancouver to Ottawa, straight across Canada, to protest COVID-19 vaccine mandates. Its turned into a whole thing, leading to the complete shutdown of Canadas capital as well as several important international border crossings.

But if you look back into Canadas past theres another protest, one that I believe holds an important lesson for people today living through historic inflation and income inequality; it was called the On-To-Ottawa Trek and it saw disenfranchised workers crossing Canada by truck, car and rail to demand a better life. But instead of getting to park around Parliamentary Hill and blare horns all day, organizers were arrested and the movement was put down by police in Regina, Saskatchewan in a bloody riot.

When Americans know anything about history, its usually broad strokes about our more successful wars. Our own rich labor history isnt taught in schools, and certainly no Canadian labor history. But the struggles that happened here are closely mirrored and intertwined with our neighbors to the north.

The Great Depression and the Dust Bowl were a double whammy of bad news in the U.S. and Canada in the 30s. The hard times drove many single men out of their family homes to look for work, but work was nowhere to be found. Many of these men ended up in unemployment relief camps set up by the Department of National Defence. These camps were rough; men were provided with a meager 20 cents a day, three meals a day, clothes, medical attention and a cot for back-breaking labor while living in poor conditions far from home. These camps were placed far out in rural areas where men built roads or airstrips.

They felt forgotten about, pushed aside. While the men were welcome to leave at any time, where would they go? Without a home or a job, they were likely to be arrested for vagrancy. The camps were a last resort, thanks to a conservative government that did nothing to provide reasonable wage programs or unemployment relief. The government also wanted young jobless men out of the cities, thinking they were ripe for the temptations of Communist organizers. In the end it was sending these young men to the camps that would expose them to Communist ideas. The Workers Unity League (WUL) and the Relief Camp Workers Union (RCWU), Communist organizations both, would go on to organize strikers in the British Columbia camps.

Over 7,000 workers walked out of the British Columbia camp and about 1,500 marched on Vancouver in a strike in April, 1935. Their demands were simple: 50 cents a day in pay, a six-hour day, five days a week schedule, compensation for injured workers, unemployment insurance, voting rights guarantees and separating the work camps completely from the Ministry of Defence.

Strikers occupied the city for two months, but it proved useless. Once they were out of the camps the federal government washed its hands of the men. By June, a convoy of 1,000 workers headed east to Ottawa to make their grievances known on Parliamentary Hill. The mass of protesters picked up steam (literally, as workers rode on top of freight train cars) as they traveled across a country devastated by poverty, plagues of grasshoppers and drought. By the time the trains, cars and trucks rolled into Regina, Saskatchewan, the On-To-Ottawa trekkers were 2,000 strong.

The swelling numbers of the protest made the conservative Prime Minster R.B. Bennett nervous. The federal government wouldnt let them move any farther East, denying travel by train, foot or car. Negotiation with cabinet ministers went no where so the Trekkers sent eight men ahead to Ottawa to negotiate with Bennett directly while the majority peacefully stayed in Regina, their food and shelter provided by the people and government of Saskatchewan. The meeting with Bennett proved disastrous as the men returned, and organizers decided to release the strikers. It had all been a frustrating, heartbreaking failure.

Even though the strikers were disbanding, Bennett still wanted to see the organizers arrested. On July 1, Canada Day, several hundred workers met to figure out next steps when their gathering was interrupted by a policemans whistle. What came next was the worst Canadian riot of the Great Depression. The CBC interviewed striker Rob Liversedge about the event decades later:

A shrill whistle blasted out a signal, Liversedge remembered, The backs of vans were opened and out poured the Mounties, each armed with a baseball bat. In less than four minutes Market Square was a mass of writhing, groaning forms, like a battlefield.

The strikers erected barricades and threw stones, and the Mounties retaliated with their .38 revolvers.

Police fired wildly into the crowd. The strike not only failed, hundreds of rioters were injured and two people were killed in the melee a detective and an unemployed American living in Saskatchewan. At least 130 rioters were arrested.

Following the riot, Trekkers drifted away from Regina, either returning to the work camps or hopping train cars, traveling from city to city to keep from being arrested for vagrancy. But their movement wasnt quite the failure it initially seemed. Support throughout Canada was squarely with the workers. Bennett, who was elected on his promise to bring jobs back to Canada, lost his government a few months later to the liberal party. The new power in Ottawa would raise wages for workers and lay the foundation for the social safety nets Canadians enjoy to this day while conservatives would not be able to form a government in Canada for another 23 years. An inquiry into the Regina riot led to the work camps being closed in 1936 after 170,248 men had already passed through them.

It feels like were living in the exact opposite of what happened in 1935. On-To-Ottawa Trekkers fought for equal rights based on their lived experiences while the Freedom Convoy is based on conspiracy theories swirling around lifesaving vaccines at worst, or just a contrarian cause I dont wanna attitude at best. Today, we have an unpopular minority80 percent of Canadians are fully vaccinatedshutting down communities over a government actually caring about its citizens health while police do little to dissuade protesters even when they are blocking international border crossings.

Trekkers had nothing no jobs, no homes and still tried to make something of themselves while maybe, against all odds, improving life for all Canadians. They knew theyd experience violence from officials but they were largely peaceful, respectful, organized and ultimately popular even in the communities where they stayed. Even the mayor of Vancouver, who literally read strikers the Riot Act after they occupied a department store for two months, felt that the trekkers were being treated unfairly by the federal government.

To me, the men of the On-To-Ottawa strike are true patriot heroes of Canada. Theres a nobility to putting your life on the line in the quest for a more equitable future. Its a far cry from terrorizing small border towns, facing down old women in their own neighborhood streets or thinking lifesaving COVID-19 vaccines are a conspiracy to kill white people.

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Forget The Freedom Convoy: More People Need To Know About The On-To-Ottawa Trek - Jalopnik