May 12, 2026. i/v with The Maple
You write in the Introduction to the book that the so-called ‘Freedom Convoy’ was the impetus for this project. Can you tell readers how the anti-lockdown politics of those early years of the Covid 19 pandemic influenced the right and why this inspired you to undertake this book project?
I would say that the anti-lockdown politics were part and parcel of the right, a right that was deeply influenced by conspiracy theories circulating in the US about the danger of vaccines, among other issues. Playing upon the vulnerabilities of Canadians during a confusing time, the right was following up on it smaller ‘United We Roll’ pro-pipeline convoy that had descended on Ottawa three years prior. I was aware of these conspiracy theories and had experienced a couple of antisemitic incidents which caused me to be attuned to the rise of the right. But what truly stopped me in my tracks and was the impetus to this book project, was seeing the trucks rolling into Ottawa in 2022 sporting Swastikas and Confederate flags. I was appalled felt the need to do something, somehow, to counter this movement.
At that point I began to cast about for others who might feel similarly threatened by the convoy. Over time, I came up with the list of authors found in the book – people from many different perspectives and backgrounds who were willing to answer my two main questions: How to account for the rise of the right in Canada? And what can we do collectively in our communities to resist the right’s resurgence? Essentially, that is how the book came together and it is unique in that voices from the academy are interwoven with voices from social movements to create a compelling whole.
AK: A number of contributors to the book grapple with how to mount a resistance to the resurgent right, from protest politics in the streets to building community coalitions that reshape politics more broadly.
Can you give readers a sense of how the book sees building an alternative politics that both resists the right’s influence and speaks to peoples’ real material needs?
Several of the authors speak to the need for a fundamental change in how we ‘do’ politics. For instance, Marshall Ganz, the renowned American professor and organizer, maintains that organizing is ‘relational’. Our authors allude to this point in outlining the need to work across difference. What does this mean? It means listening to others, even those with opposing views. It means making space for different viewpoints in building a coalition. We may agree on some key values, but we also need to make room for other viewpoints. A viable political program can be fashioned out of these exchanges. I would go so far as to say this is a reaction to typical left politics, where leadership believed it held the truth and this informed strategy and tactics. The politics envisaged by several of the authors in this volume is less rigid, less hierarchical.
This alternate way of doing politics is not less effective but it may a little longer to achieve our objectives. But hopefully, we get there together, with fewer of the soul-crushing fractious debates of the past.
In many communities at the present time, the cost of groceries and gas is causing undue hardship among a broad swathe of the population. Electoral politics is one means of expressing discontent, but gathering together to protest big grocery firms’ inhumane jacking up of prices, for example, is also an effective means of organizing against the right. Similarly, finding means to support the call for public grocery stores constitutes an act of resistance that may bear fruit. I believe that a new politics that respects work across difference, as well as presenting a strong and sustainable political program, may hold promise.