THEO VAN GOGH NEWS: U.S. Offers to Help Canada De-escalate Border Protests as Disruptions Mount

Washington offered to help Ottawa (CBC) end protests that are blocking three bridges on the U.S.-Canada border and slowing production at factories (BBC) in both countries. Canada’s so-called Freedom Convoy protests began over objections (WaPo) to a rule that cross-border truckers must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The White House did not elaborate on the details of the offer.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said last week that deploying the military is “not in the cards.” Canada’s opposition leader originally supported the protesters but said yesterday that they should pack up. The demonstrators have inspired imitators from Europe to Australia, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said in a memo that American copycats could try to disrupt (NPR) the Super Bowl on Sunday and the State of the Union address on March 1.
Analysis
“The demonstration became a big-tent rally of Canada’s growing far-right after starting as a protest against pandemic measures,” journalist Taylor C. Noakes writes for Foreign Policy.

“The explanation for the relative restraint of law enforcement in Canada so far resides in a mix of history, Canada’s distinct political culture and the jurisdiction of the police in a decentralized federal country,” the New York Times’ Dan Bilefsky and Ian Austen write.