
Christine Anderson is a member of the EU Parliament. On February 16th she arrives late for a press conference, her left foot in a cast. Her four-minute address begins by describing the worldwide movement of people who’ve been protesting the erosion of their basic human rights and civil liberties (beginning at 28:55 minutes on this, the original video).
Her attention soon turns to the Freedom Convoy, which by then has been in Ottawa for nearly three weeks. Of all the protests around the world, she says,
it is the Canadian truckers that stand out and shine brightest. Because it was the Canadian truckers, their boldness, their courage, their determination to stand up to their governments, and it was they who inspired so many others all over the world to finally come together and be determined to put a stop to governments tearing down the very foundation of our democracies.
And the reason I'm telling you all of this is this: While I might have given hope to people…I, too, needed hope. I, too, needed to know that I am not the only one fighting this fight. We all needed this hope, we all did. And this is what you have given us. Hope.
Hope that not all is lost yet. Hope that freedom and democracy can still be restored…Please stand up to your governments and follow the brave Canadian truckers’ lead. They did exactly the right thing.
Morals of this story:
the world was, indeed, watching Canada
the actions of ordinary people do matter
the Freedom Convoy changed history
Here’s another fiery speech by Christine to Canadian truckers, recorded earlier in February. It includes lines such as “I applaud your bravery…do not give up…many people around the world are with you.”