Canada is No Exception: The 2022 Freedom Convoy, Political Entanglement, and Identity-Driven Protest

Abstract

Canada has been relatively immune to grassroots-driven populist political forces in recent years despite global shifts toward a mainstreaming of nationalist identity-driven politics. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic coupled with other shifts in the Canadian and international political landscapes, have changed this dynamic. This article takes interest in the 2022 Freedom Convoy—also known as Convoi de la liberté in French—through the lens of Canadian political as well as science and health-based communication. The protesters’ actions, and the subsequent political response, suggest an increased political entanglement with both protest movements and identity-driven political communications and messaging.