Editor’s note: There is vulgar and potentially triggering language in this story.
A handful of supporters of the so-called Freedom Convoy have been making their presence known on the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) picket line in New Sudbury, and prompted a warning from the Sudbury & District Labour Council.
Canada’s largest federal public service union and the government failed to reach an agreement by the April 18 deadline and have been on strike since, with more than 1,000 people lining the sidewalks near the Canada Revenue Agency building in Sudbury.
And while the striking PSAC workers appreciate the support shown by passing drivers honking their horns, the appearance near the picket line of other protesters prompted the local Labour Council to issue a warning to its members on Thursday.
“Freedom convoy folks are showing up at the PSAC pickets outside CRA,” the short statement reads. “Please come to the line and show support for these striking workers. While you’re there, please DO NOT ENGAGE with the convoy protesters, who are taking advantage of this massive gathering to advance their anti-queer/anti-worker agenda.”
On Thursday, Sudbury.com spoke with D’Arcy Gauthier, president of the Sudbury & District Labour Council, who was on the line April 20. He singled out one unwanted protester in particular among the handful who showed up to counter-protest the striking workers: former Ontario Party candidate and convoy supporter Jason Laface. (Laface also uses the names Lafaci, Lafauci and Goulet, among others).
“I'm comfortable in saying that somebody like Jason does not represent workers, does not represent what the overwhelming majority of people think, and where their concerns are,” Gauthier said of Laface’s attendance.
On Thursday morning, Laface recorded a video of himself along the sidewalk circling the CRA building on Notre Dame Avenue, which he posted to social media. At first shouting, he then began using a megaphone to harangue the workers.
In the video, Laface singles out the flags some of the strikers were waving as the particular source of his ire. The flags feature the PSAC logo over a rainbow-coloured background. The rainbow flag is often associated with the 2SLGBTQ+ community, and it’s this fact that seems to have attracted Laface’s attention.
“Got a big protest here at the CRA building, waving flags for Pride,” he says in the video, referring the queer community. “You know this is a worker’s union not a f*cking Pride union, so we're going to counter-protest.”
Laface asks several people why they are waving “Pride flags” instead of Canadian flags, and is heard saying the absence of the national flag is “pretty disgusting.”
“Not one Canadian flag is flying here, but they're flying the ‘Rainbow Warrior flag’,” he says in the video, without defining what he means by warrior. “That's political, apparently that's the new flag for our nation.”
After seemingly criticizing the striking workers for not taking part in the Freedom Convoy occupation of Ottawa in January, 2022, saying the workers “won’t stand for freedoms but they’ll stand for money,” he begins to call the striking workers names, including “f*ggots,” “bumchums,” and “r*tards.”
At one point. the PSAC members turned their music louder to drown out Laface’s megaphone. One striking worker began shouting at Laface, and he responds with a threat to “f*cking smash you” should the person continue or come closer to him.
That video ends with Laface returning to his vehicle and promising to “come back after and cause some more trouble.”
While he didn’t post another video from the picket line, he did post a video three hours later in which he claims he tried to have Greater Sudbury Police or the Ontario Provincial Police break up the picket because, he believes the strikers were in violation of Ontario Bill C-100, which was enacted in the wake of the Ottawa convoy and which establishes prohibitions and enforcement mechanisms to prevent persons from impeding use of protected transportation infrastructure.
Laface said that the protesters are blocking the entrance to Pioneer Manor and preventing doctors, clients and staff from entering, although there is nothing to substantiate his claim.
BayToday.ca has reached out to striking North Bay Public Service Alliance of Canada officials to see if they are experiencing similar issues on the picket line on Shirreff Avenue in North Bay.
Jenny Lamothe covers vulnerable and marginalized communities for Sudbury.com.
