Oh no, I might be in trouble.
The “Freedom Convoy” cult that operates in Burnaby has served me with multiple “liability notices” warning me that I could be in trouble for not printing the truth about COVID-19.
Each one of the notices is signed by a different person and is *checks notes* seven pages long with rambling thoughts on how the media has got everything wrong about COVID-19 and has violated our ethical codes and blah, blah, blah.
The manifesto talks about how “all sides” must be reported in the pandemic. Sorry, but if your “side” is full of incorrect conspiracy theories, then we will not be reporting on them as though they were legitimate.
Here is a key line from this manifesto: “The government claims that we are in a public health emergency. There is no evidence to substantiate this claim.”
Um, well, I beg to differ. So do the families of the millions of people who have died around the world. I think the health-care workers who have been overwhelmed by the pandemic would disagree as well, but you be you.
Imagine the time it took to compile this document. It's seven pages with references and links and more. Think of the positive things that could have been done with that time instead of yelling at clouds.
You might laugh at this, but this is the kind of garbage that journalists have had to put up with for the past two years. We’re not the only ones, health-care workers, politicians and others have been harassed by anti-vaxxers every single day. Many businesses have been targeted by folks who are angrier at them for upholding legal mandates.
My email inbox has been filled with hateful messages telling me that I will be tried one day like the Nazis were for spreading “propaganda” about COVID-19. These folks love mentioning Nuremberg.
So it’s not just the people of Ottawa who have been overtaken by this group – that’s just the most extreme example.
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry lifted most COVID-19 restrictions, but that’s not good enough for these folks. They are still raging and protesting, which makes me think it wasn’t really about the restrictions, but just a trigger for their anger about everything they don’t like.
It’s all just so exhausting and depressing as I watch my country get slowly swallowed up by paranoid theories.
Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox44.