This is Jacobin Radio. I'm Suzy Weisman. On today's show, we spend the hour with the celebrated

and prolific Canadian labor historian, Brian Palmer, who helps us understand what is happening

in Ottawa, the capital. The so-called freedom convoy of truckers is holding Ottawa hostage,

clogging the streets of the city, as well as the US-Canadian border crossings all along

the border from New Brunswick to British Columbia. Brian calls this Canada's alt-right freedom

rage. While they say they're protesting state mandates related to the pandemic, their

target is the liberal government of Justin Trudeau. They're a well-funded movement with

parallels to the alt-right in the United States, what Brian calls the loop-and-heavy bourgeoisie

doing its revolting thing. We get the story from Brian Palmer when our program returns in just a moment.

This is Jacobin Radio. I'm Suzy Weisman and today we're going to talk about the so-called freedom

convoy in Canada and what has happened to it. After more than, I think, two weeks or more of

what looks like pretty chaotic protest that's blocked Ottawa, the capital, and has stifled trade and

showcased alarming weaponry in otherwise quiet Canadian neighborhoods and communities this week.

The Canadian government pushed back with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoking the

country's Emergencies Act, enabling new financial restrictions on the protests,

and signaling harsh new penalties against anyone involved. From what I understand, there were

a hundred arrested on Friday and then they promised they were going to remove the truck. So we

will find out if that did happen. And I think from most reports, it looks like this is welcomed

by most Canadians, but here in this country, right-wing supporters like Tucker Carlson have portrayed

the convoy as a working-class rebellion, and Trudeau's response has been treated as an acting

martial law, and even Elon Musk tweeted and then famously deleted a meme comparing Trudeau to

Adolf Hitler. So we're really fortunate to have the preeminent Canadian labor historian Brian Palmer

...