The Canadian protests are a test of whether democracy can arm itself against the far right

There is no mystery as to what kind of movement we are witnessing in Canada: it is 21st-century fascism.

Canadian truckers and their supporters continue to protest against Covid-19 vaccine mandates in Ottawa, Canada. (Photo by Patrick Doyle/Reuters.)

The mix of symbols adorning the trucks that paralysed Ottawa, Canada’s capital, is familiar to anyone who has been watching the international far right: swastikas, Confederate flags, QAnon merchandise and scrawled placards demanding “freedom” and accusing the government of treason. But not enough people have been watching.

When thousands of truckers and their supporters descended on the Canadian capital at the end of January, paralysing commerce in a city of a million people, harassing minorities and haranguing those who dared to question them, the police did nothing. Those who blocked a crucial international border crossing were hugged by police officers.