Double Standard on Display: Convoy Punished, Pro-Palestine Excused
Ottawa has just cancelled a slate of noise-bylaw fines issued to pro-Palestinian protesters—17 tickets tied to megaphones and loudspeakers—because it was deemed “in the public interest” and to preserve “limited court resources.” That same city’s own Noise By-law (No. 2017-255) ordinarily carries fines ranging from $400 to $10,000 per offence.
Contrast that leniency with how the Freedom Convoy was treated. In early 2022, an Ontario judge issued an injunction prohibiting horn-honking downtown; Ottawa Police announced enforcement immediately. Convoy organizers were ticketed for “unnecessary noise,” and beyond the municipal fines, the state escalated to criminal charges. Chris Barber was ultimately convicted of mischief—and, crucially, counselling others to disobey a court order—because he encouraged people to keep up the noise after the injunction. The Crown is now seeking up to eight years in prison for him.
The double standard doesn’t end there. The same federal government that hammers truckers has funnelled nearly a million dollars into the Canadian Anti-Hate Network (CAHN), a group that a Canadian court found “did in fact assist Antifa.” In 2022, an Ottawa small claims judge accepted evidence that CAHN published material sympathetic to Antifa tactics, including “physical disruption,” and linked to Antifa defence funds. The court also noted that CAHN board member Richard Warman had used litigation to silence critics. A subsequent appeal in 2024 was dismissed by Ontario’s Superior Court .
Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order designating Antifa as a “domestic terrorist organization” in the United States, citing dozens of violent incidents by radical left extremists . Canada has not followed suit, and Public Safety refuses to say whether Antifa-linked groups will continue to receive taxpayer funding. According to government records, Canadian Heritage granted CAHN $708,400 for “anti-hate” programming, while Public Safety handed over another $200,000 to “study the far-right landscape.”
CAHN denies any support for terrorism or violence. But the fact remains: a federally funded activist network, with documented ties to Antifa in court proceedings, has institutional protection and resources, while Canadian citizens who opposed COVID mandates with honking horns are crushed with criminal records and the threat of years in prison.
Noise penalties scrapped for one side, tax dollars for groups tied to violent leftists, and prison terms for peaceful truckers.
Blendr News/September 26, 2025