Encore presentation: The Jewish spokesman behind the trucker convoy

A Federal Court judge has ruled that the Trudeau government broke the Charter of Rights by invoking the Emergencies Act to stop the truckers’ convoy in 2022. In today’s encore presentation of The CJN Daily (because Ellin is still sick) we revist her interview with Benjamin Dichter, who rose to fame as a spokesperson for the Freedom Convoy that overtook Ottawa (and other parts of Canada) in 2022. Since then, the Toronto resident and part time trucker has become a known quantity in conservative and right-wing media circles, appearing on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News program and earned an endorsement from Jordan Peterson for a new self-published book about his experience: Honking for Freedom: The Trucker Convoy that Gave us Hope. Dichter calls the protest a success because most provinces – and eventually the federal government – did lift their COVID vaccine mandates, and Ottawa got rid of the controversial ArriveCan app. But Dichter is still feeling the ramifications of his involvement with the convoy, including how the federal government unleashed the rarely used Emergencies Act to freeze his and other key protesters’ bank accounts. There’s still the massive lawsuit launched against the convoy leaders by residents of downtown Ottawa. Underlying his story is the fact that Dichter wasn’t just the convoy spokesperson—he’s also their biggest Jewish face. In this extensive interview with The CJN Daily, Dichter explains his decision to reveal his Jewish identity publicly, and how the convoy organizers felt about Nazi imagery in their protests.

What we talked about:

• Find Dichter's book
• Watch Dichter’s testimony before the Emergencies Act inquiry on Nov. 3, 2022 (starts at 2:32:05)
• Hear The CJN Daily's stories about the freedom convoy: Jews who supported the cause, locals who opposed it and the original outrage at the Nazi imagery within

Credits

The CJN Daily is written and hosted by Ellin Bessner (@ebessner on Twitter). Zachary Kauffman is the producer. Michael Fraiman is the executive producer. Our theme music is by Dov Beck-Levine. Our title sponsor is Metropia. We’re a member of The CJN Podcast Network. To subscribe to this podcast, please watch this video. Donate to The CJN and receive a charitable tax receipt by clicking here.