"Avoid counter-protests this weekend, urge seasoned activists and police"
Updated: Nov 14, 2022

Sent: February 14, 2022 1:16 PM To: kate.porter@cbc.ca; BRODIE FENLON <brodie.fenlon@cbc.ca>; CBC Ombud <ombud@cbc.ca> Cc: news@castanet.net; news@kelownanow.com; newsroom@globeandmail.ca; news@ctv.ca; viewercontactbc@globalnews.ca; rbateson@uottawa.ca Subject: "Avoid counter-protests this weekend, urge seasoned activists and police"
Dear Kate,
I read with interest the above-referenced article, posted February 5, 2022 and am wondering why you haven’t written a follow-up on this story? As you know, you cited University of Ottawa political scientist Regina Bateson (cc’d), who claimed that there would be an influx of “[p]eople who are more extreme [and] maybe have more ties to right-wing and white-supremacist movements”. In the 9 days since then, the Freedom Convoy in Ottawa has protested peacefully while reducing the amount of crime in Ottawa, cleaning, shoveling and guarding monuments, and handing out food and clothing to the homeless. The protestors have also swiftly identified and removed any potential rabble-rousers, including those planted by Mr. Trudeau and others to incite violence. Ms. Bateson also predicted the rally would become less family friendly after the first weekend of protesting. Just curious if you bothered to head downtown to validate any of Ms. Bateson’s statements? Social media shows that, as recently as yesterday, children were playing in bouncy castles, citizens were singing Oh Canada, and (God forbid) people of all ethnicities were dancing, playing hockey, socializing and laughing. And not one has dropped dead of a virus yet. Quite the deadly pandemic Canada is currently experiencing – and quite the extreme protestors as well.
I do want to point you to one group of extremists who are currently protesting in Ottawa: the counter-protestors who are attempting to block the Freedom Convoy as well as going to such despicable lengths as stealing flags from their young children. Photos on social media indicate that this group of vaccine deniers (clearly this is what they are, since they don’t believe that they are protected by their vaccination status) has been disseminating such Liberal-inclusive ideas as “Gas the Unvaccinated”, as well as questioning the Freedom Convoy’s intelligence for not wanting to be injected with an experimental treatment for a disease less deadly than the flu. Perhaps you want to write a story on the dangers of the alt-left crowd (including, of course, Antifa and BLM) who don’t believe in Canadian values such as bodily autonomy, democracy or freedom of speech?
I’m kidding, of course! The day that CBC publishes the truth about any political issue, with any objectivity, is the day we will know the Rapture has arrived. Still, I do wonder how you sleep at night, knowing that your soul has been purchased by the Liberal government at the expense of our future generations’ freedom.
Also, Regina – I am extremely disappointed that you don’t identify your pronouns on your website. Minus ten social credit virtue signaling points for you.
May you all be remembered for your contribution to the current situation, and for your contribution to destroying the journalism profession.