‘Dear Justin Trudeau… With all due respect Do you have any, you know, evidence, to back up your accusation?’
Or so tweeted Jordan Peterson yesterday following Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s comments made under oath during a public inquiry into the alleged interference of foreign interests within right-wing media.
Here
Use this@JustinTrudeau
It’s more convincing than
Whatever
You have
For sure pic.twitter.com/st8gwnTycr
— Dr Jordan B Peterson (@jordanbpeterson) October 19, 2024
The Commission on Foreign Interference was having a discussion about so-called Russian influence regarding the ‘spreading anti-vaccine’ slogans and information critical of pandemic health orders that led to the Freedom Convoy.
How could Canadian truckers possibly be upset with the government over vaccine mandates and passports?
Pinning the Freedom Convoy on the Russians has long been the goal of the political left.
The Freedom Convoy was an embarrassing event for Trudeau’s government, which faced criticism for locking bank accounts, accusing truckers of being domestic terrorists, and interfering with crowd-funding programs. It was also the first use of the 1988 Emergencies Act.
When the crowd-funding list of donors was hacked and its contents released, Russia was nowhere to be seen with over half the donations coming from America and 39 per cent originating in Canada. ‘Yes, we have seen that anti-vax messages during the [Freedom Convoy] and during the pandemic were amplified by Russian propaganda especially in the media of the right,’ said Trudeau. ‘Once Ukraine was invaded, we saw a lot of those channels become pro-Putin propaganda channels.’
?? As the Two Year Anniversary of the Freedom Convoy Approaches, Rebel News’ Ezra Levant Looks Back on the Impact The Truckers Had on the World #HonkHonk
“We had been so locked down…It was those working-class truckers who saved the country. And they went to Ottawa and Trudeau… pic.twitter.com/yONjXPKhHC
— Chief Nerd (@TheChiefNerd) January 20, 2024
Many protesters were interviewed at the time, particularly by journalists from Rebel News who were on the ground. Those asked were not Russian, they were Canadian, and their only interest was in the restoration of basic civil rights.
The protest arose organically to oppose vaccine mandates implemented by the Trudeau government and mirrored other protests around the world, including in Australia. Western governments brought in the same restrictions and received similar protest movements as a result.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Russian propaganda amplified anti-vax messages during the Freedom Convoy and funded right-wing conservative figures like Jordan Peterson and Tucker Carlson. pic.twitter.com/RreZ7yamjy
— True North (@TrueNorthCentre) October 17, 2024
This is the context in which the conversation with Justin Trudeau took place.
As reported by the Toronto Star, Mr Trudeau said (in French):
‘We’ve recently seen that Russia Today is currently funding bloggers and other YouTube personalities of the right, such as Jordan Peterson. Other names that are well known, Tucker Carlson as well, in order to amplify messages that are destabilising democracies.’
Trudeau’s remarks appear to reference a recent indictment containing unproven allegations that have been denied. In addition, Jordan Peterson is not, and never has been, involved or mentioned in this event.
The Canadian Prime Minister made his accusation without presenting corroborating evidence.
Accusations of Russia, Russia, Russia face an uphill battle following the fictitious media beat up of ‘Russia Gate’ – a story designed to damage Donald Trump which was carried by MSM for years and vanished without an apology.
Brian Peckford
Last living author and signer of the Canadian Constitutional Charter of rights sues the Canadian Government over its COVID travel ban pic.twitter.com/wCwfeqVyGr
— Raebo (@Raebo56) February 10, 2022
Speaking to the National Post, an understandably frustrated Jordan Peterson denied taking money from Russia and said that the allegation by Trudeau was ‘very serious’ and that he should have ‘done his bloody homework … if you’re going to make accusations, you should have at least got them right’.
Jordan Peterson is considering legal action against Trudeau, although he did admit that doing so was a ‘losing game’ and that he doesn’t want to be burdened down by the process.
‘I don’t think it’s reasonable for the Prime Minister of the country to basically label me a traitor,’ added Mr Peterson. ‘How I got dragged into this, I don’t know, because I haven’t been implicated in that even peripherally, but I don’t think Trudeau is informed enough to understand what the hell’s going on, period, but certainly not in the broader social media space.’
‘Maybe it’s just me,’ Mr Peterson added, ‘But looks like perhaps Justin baby identified me as a Russian agent to take the heat off himself and the Canadian Liberal Party who continue to refuse to release the names of MPs among them accused of conniving with … you guessed it … foreign agents.’
Release the names. pic.twitter.com/lbuBZtpC6f
— Pierre Poilievre (@PierrePoilievre) October 16, 2024
Mr Peterson has demanded an apology from Trudeau saying ‘a maximally public apology (that means press conference) is due’ then added, ‘Your move, sir.’
As to potential legal action, which has social media in a frenzy, Jordan Peterson said:
‘I’ve been talking to may family about … I have a moral obligation to go after him for defamation. He’s not like my neighbour, he’s the Prime Minister … it’s one thing to go after an enemy, let’s say, if you’re going to cast idiot aspersions, but it’s really not very bright to do it to someone who’s actually working to solve the bloody problem that you’re commenting on.’