A February tantrum convoy

Hoping both end soon

Welcome to At The End Of the Day. I’m Hannah Sung and I write this newsletter for a people-first perspective on the news. If you like what you’re reading, why not forward this to a friend?

February is the worst month but at least we can LOL

I watched a video on Twitter that made me LOL so much I’m linking it at the bottom of my newsletter like a shiny, gold gift to you. It’s a video on the topic of February, made by this man:

Kevin Killeen @KMOXKilleen

Thanks for all the very kind words about my report on February. I thought it was just me, but apparently a lot of us feel near to flickering out this month. I avoid all major decisions in February—vacuuming, haircuts, swing dance lessons. The right path will emerge by spring.

Right now, 90% of what I think about is getting through each day until it’s nicer out. Lifelines include bedroom karaoke, morning walks with the kids and group chat laughs.

However, 10% of my brain space is taken up by the convoy (and I refuse to call it a “trucker convoy” — long-haul truck drivers are a professional group who are 90% vaccinated and on the job¹, not causing terror in Ottawa²).

So what should we call it? It’s too bad the “white supremacy and anti-science convoy” doesn’t quite roll off the tongue.

Jay Baruchel @BaruchelNDG

Let’s stop calling it the freedom convoy at best it’s a sort of tantrum festival

At the end of a WTF week in Ottawa, I loved seeing this video of a small-but-mighty group of no-nonsense women saying, Get out.

cbcnews

A post shared by CBC News (@cbcnews)

And I love to see the all-too-rare action of a tech platform standing up to hate to say, You can’t do that here.

Sarah Sears @iamSas

GoFundMe says the Freedom Convoy 2022 fundraiser “is now in violation of our Terms of Service (Term 8, which prohibits the promotion of violence and harassment) and has been removed from the platform.”

Plus, there’s finally an upside to bureaucracy.

Julie S. Lalonde @JulieSLalonde

Alright, Ottawa. Let's do what we do best: Bury fuckers in paperwork ✌🏻 ctvnews.ca/politics/lawsu…

ctvnews.caLawsuit filed against convoy organizers, seeking damages on behalf of downtown Ottawa residentsOrganizers of the ‘Freedom Convoy’ that has gridlocked downtown Ottawa for the last week are facing a potential $9.8-million class-action lawsuit over continuous vehicle horn noise, filed on behalf of residents of the city’s downtown core.

And as for real truckers, workers bringing food back to Canada and trying to get home to their families but blocked by the kind of idiocy we’re seeing in Ottawa and Toronto, a happy ending to this past week’s ordeal.³

sarbjit kaur @sarbjitkaur1

Some good news and a nice message. The truckers stuck at the Coutts, Alberta border crossing are back in Canada and they would like to thank everyone for their support and assistance. 🙏🏽 See their statement. #TruckersConvoy2022 #cdnpoli #cdnmedia

I’m hoping to stay away from the downtown core in Toronto this weekend. Even so, I know the sad and scary truth is that the attitudes that power this convoy are all around us.

What to read

Like the writer here, my uncle is a professional truck driver (who has been crossing the border every week of the pandemic to haul back fresh food, fully vaxxed). If you’re trying to understand the convoy, “What’s happening in Ottawa is an assault on democracy,” is as clear-eyed as it gets.

And I fist-pumped at this, the essay I’ve been waiting all week to read. Don’t let uninformed influencers normalize white supremacy groups and anti-science. Just read this essay from Friday Things.

_fridaythings

A post shared by Friday Things (@_fridaythings)

What to do

I’ve been following Toronto Star reporter Evy Kwong’s neighbourly “war” with delight. What started as a small gesture of goodwill has become an all-out war of loving one-upmanship.

evystadium

A post shared by Evy (@evystadium)

Imagine we all tried one-upping our own neighbours with intense generosity. First of all, I already know I’d fail in an exchange with our own sweet next-door neighbour, a grandma who rapped on our door with her broomstick yesterday to pass over a steaming little pot of lentil soup. (I know – she is straight out of a storybook but I swear she is real).

What should we give back? Think up something really great. And then maybe pass it over the fence to your own neighbour.

And as for what I’m up to, I mentioned last week that I’m thrilled to be working on an At The End Of the Day podcast for you! In order to do so, I’m balancing the workload by bumping down the frequency of this newsletter for the next little while. I’ll be writing every other week.

You can always find me on Instagram and Twitter and in my inbox, I love hearing from you.

As promised, I’m leaving you with the video that made me laugh. I may need to rewatch intermittently until this month is over. Enjoy.

Sam Sanders @samsanders

My East Coast friends this month

And thanks for reading,

Hannah

✨✨✨ At The End Of the Day is edited by Laura Hensley ✨✨✨

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1. Almost one in five Canadian truckers is South Asian, but many don’t see themselves represented in the trucker convoy, The Globe and Mail

2. Women's shelter says clients, staff afraid to go outside amid protest, CBC News

3. How Calgary Dashmesh Culture Centre volunteers delivered food to stranded truckers at border crossing this week, Calgary Herald