CALL TO ACTION !!
February 18, 2022
The Trust Network Calls for Peaceful Resolution of Planned Blockades and Nationwide Convoys
Given the threat that the blockade in Canada, popularly titled “Freedom Convoy,” can spill-over into the US, and will add fuel for partisan politics, we call on our elected and commercial leaders to follow the example of the 1978 intervention by President Jimmy Carter, who, through dialogue, addressed grievances of farmers as they protested in Washington D.C. in what was then called the “Tractorcade”!
In Brief:
Heightened political tensions and polarizing narratives accompanying them only serve to further divide communities, society and government. Lessons learned from President Carter’s approach with the AAM Protests are that de-escalation tactics are productive. Therefore, we call on our elected and commercial leaders to:
Acknowledge the legitimate grievances associated with the return of the economy since the pandemic
Acknowledge truckers’ contribution to society and the economy.
Acknowledge that these times of a continuing pandemic and on-gong need to balance public health concerns with commercial and individual livelihoods has brought about changes that, while intending to be helpful, have at times unintended consequences.
Ensure that the true voice of the trucking industry is being heard and must not be drowned out by the destructive behavior of some that serve to exacerbate and use the situation for individual gain. And with that in mind destructive violence is an unacceptable violation of the law and will not be tolerated.
Incident Summary
Background
In early 2022, a group of truckers in Canada, angry about the Canadian government’s requirement that all truckers re-entering the country from the US be vaccinated against COVID-19, staged what has been called “Freedom Convoy 2022”. In October 2021, the United States Department of Homeland Security instituted a policy requiring Canadian truckers to show proof of vaccination to enter the US. The US gave a 4-month grace period to the truckers to prevent further supply chain disruptions exacerbated by COVID. In November of that year, the Canadian government followed suit, setting a January 15, 2022 deadline for all truckers crossing the border to be vaccinated. Despite Canada having much stricter COVID policies than the United States for much of the pandemic, most health policies are delegated to its provincial territories via the Constitution Act of 1867. Initially, Canada did not mandate COVID vaccines. That changed, however, when the country got hit hard by the highly infectious Delta variant over the summer of 2021. By mid-August, a number of public and private institutions across the country had implemented vaccine mandates. Some of these mandates were challenged in federal courts; the most prominent of which was upheld.
Despite an estimated 90% of Canadian truckers being vaccinated, the cross-border mandate caused significant outrage among the remaining 10% or so who were not. To provide some background, in late 2021, Canada was hit hard by the Omicron variant of COVID-19, seeing its case counts double in less than two days, further straining its hospitals with a large number of patients (primarily the unvaccinated) needing care. Brief Background to Grievances
Organizations Supporting Canada Truckers’ Blockade
A key U.S.based organization called “Convoy to Save America” continues to coordinate several funding efforts to raise money to support Canadian truck drivers who are involved in the trucker’s protest (Cavanagh, 2022). There are campaigns to raise funds that have proven very successful. For example, a sire called Givesendgo.com raised around $8 million for truckers in Canada, while $41,000 has been raised for U.S. based truckers (O’Brien, 2022). Convoy to Save America claims to be coordinating two convoys of vehicles carrying supplies to lend their support for Canadian truckers at the Peace Bridge at the border between Buffalo N.Y. and Canada (O’Brien, 2022). Convoy to Save America sees their goals of opposing vaccine and mask mandates to align with truckers in Convoy to Ottawa.
Possibility of Trucker Protest in California
There are reports of copy-cat protests by truck drivers in Indio, California. There is a Facebook group with 64,000 members that is currently coordinating such a protest to occur on March 4th. The plan is for different convoys throughout the U.S., including from Indio, will converge on Washington D.C. in protest of mask and vaccine mandates (O’Brien, 2022). Reuters reported that there are other similar protests opposing mask and vaccine mandates in France, Australia, and New Zealand (Cavanagh, 2022).
The impact of protest convoys has disrupted the chain of supply across Canada and from Canada to the U.S. Further cities across Canada, particularly Ottawa, have been disrupted by protests accompanying the truckers’ convoy. There are reports of ties between the truckers’ convoys and the far-right movements in both Canada and the U.S. However, Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau has publicly stated that these voices are a small minority (Cavanaugh, 2022).
Carter’s Intervention in the “Tractorcade”
Background
The main grievances of farmers were twofold. Farmers were concerned with parity and that the Federal Reserve raised interest rates on loans to counter the high inflation. This meant that farmers earned less and owed more on loans, prompting many farm foreclosures (Foley, 2015). By the late 1970s, the cost born by farmers to produce crops far exceeded the market cost of a given crop. In turn, the wages of the average farmer were severely impacted – during a time when the U.S. was experiencing extremely high inflation that was compounded by the second round of oil shocks in 1978/1979 (Graefe, 2013). In the winter of 1977/ 1978, farmers protested for 100 percent parity (Robbins, 1977). Farmers argued that the U.S. government, and those at the upper echelons of the agricultural industry, were removed from the reality of the average farmer. As a result, farmers participated in the tractorcade to Washington D.C. in both 1978 and February of 1979 and calling for 100 percent parity (Brasch, 2018).
Tractorcade and D.C. Protests
Lawmakers were more sympathetic to the farmers’ plight in 1978 when farmers initially drove a tractorcade to Washington D. C. However, by 1979, legislators from across the political spectrum were less amenable to farmers’ demands.
Public perception of the tractorcade during the winter of 1977/1978 was more sympathetic than that of February 1979. In part, this drop in positive perception from both lawmakers and the general public resulted from two main themes. First, members of congress openly criticized that farmers were demanding too much, as the government enacted a comprehensive bill to address the issue of parity in 1977. Second, news media widely reported instances of sporadic violence, property destruction and disorganization at the 1979 tractorcade (Foley, 2015).
During the tractorcade of February 1979, the tractors caused significant traffic disruption in the metropolitan D.C. area, destruction to the National Mall where the tractors were parked, as well as police motorcades in some instances. While there were reports of sporadic violence, the protests were generally peaceful (Brasch, 2018). Incidentally, tractors were also able to help emergency services and police around D.C. due to a snowstorm that coincided with the rally.
Responses from President Carter and the U.S. Congress
In 1977, congress passed comprehensive legislation that amended law in the agriculture sector that President Jimmy Carter signed into law. However, farmers remarked that the effects of the bill would take too long to make a badly needed difference in the lives of farmers. President Carter acknowledged that while the Food and Agriculture Act of 1977 addresses farmers’ grievances, the 1977 bill would not come into effect until 1978 and that some of the bill’s measures are designed to have long-term effects rather than immediate effects (Coleman, 1977).
On December 25, 1977, President Carter met with members of the protest representing the American Agriculture Movement (AAM) to personally hear their grievances at the Carter residence in Georgia. This meeting was scheduled in response to 1,500 farmers and around 200 tractor vehicles who protested in D.C. on December 23, 1977 (Coleman, 1977).
September 1978: Q & A Session with Members of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting and President Carter (Carter, 1978).
When asked of his opinion of the protests, Carter responded in key ways that aided management of the protests and potential conflict both by acknowledging constructive elements of the protests as well as condemning elements that were not. Carter:
Acknowledged and legitimated farmers grievances
Acknowledged farmers’ contribution to society and the economy
Acknowledged that the general public and the government were slow to understand farmers’ concerns.
Acknowledged that the protests in D.C. helped garner congressional support to pass the 1977 Food and Agriculture Act.
Noted that instances of traffic blockade and sporadic violence were unacceptable violations of the law but that these were not as widespread as reported.
De-escalating measures and lessons learned in 1978:
President Carter personally met and listened to farmers concerns and engaged in constructive dialogue with leaders of the protest movement.
The President rejected polarizing narratives and sought common ground. When interviewed by the press corp., President Carter remained objective in both his condemnation of the factions of the protest that became more disruptive and sporadically violent while also acknowledging that these events did not represent the overall nature of the protest, recognizing and validating farmers’ concerns (Carter, 1978).
Action taken to address grievances of the AAM. The U.S. Congress passed, and President Carter signed, the Food and Agriculture Act of 1977 that addressed the main grievance of the American Agriculture Movement- the discrepancy between the high cost of farming and producing crops to the low cost of those same crops on the market.
References
Brasch, S. (2018, October 2). When Tractors Invaded D.C. Modern Farmer. https://modernfarmer.com/2014/02/living-legacy-d-c-tractorcade-35-years-later/
Carter, J. (1978). Interview with the President Remarks and a Question-and-Answer Session with Members of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project. https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/243595
Cavanagh, M. (2022). Behind Canada’s trucker protest, disruptions and divides. DW.COM. https://www.dw.com/en/behind-canadas-trucker-protest-disruptions-and-divides/a-60722701
Coleman, M. (1977, December 25). Carter’s Meeting With Protesting Farmers Mostly Symbol. Washington Post. Retrieved February 11, 2022, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1977/12/25/carters-meeting-with-protesting-farmers-mostly-symbol/b918687d-486e-46bc-9642-09e94114b536/
Foley, M.S. (2015). “Everyone was Pounding on Us”: Front Porch Politics and the American Farm Crisis of the 1970s and 1980s. Journal of Historical Sociology, 28(1), 104–124. https://doi.org/10.1111/johs.12064
Graefe, B. L. (2013). Oil Shock of 1978–79. Federal Reserve History. Retrieved February 11, 2022, from https://www.federalreservehistory.org/essays/oil-shock-of-1978-79
O’Brien, B. (2022, February 11). U.S.-Based Groups Plan Convoys in Support of Canadian Truckers. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/us-organizers-plan-convoys-support-canadian-truckers-2022-02-11/
Robbins, W. (1977, December 11). Tractors Carry Farmer Protest To Washington and 30 Capitals. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/1977/12/11/archives/tractors- carry-farmer-protest-to-washington-and-30-capitals.html