Margaret Hope Braun, [1] usually Maggie Hope Braun, sometimes Maggie Braun, is a Canadian activist, who protested COVID-19 vaccine-mandates in 2022, and who was a Canadian Action Party federal candidate in 2011.
Braun was born in Bracebridge, Ontario and spent her early years in Papua New Guinea before spending her teenage years in Canada, the United States, and Saint Lucia. [2]
After graduating college with a diploma in ecosystem management from Fleming college, she moved to British Columbia. [2] [1]
Braun was Canadian Action Party's candidate for the Skeena – Bulkley Valley riding in the 2011 Canadian federal election. [3] During the campaign she spoke about the public's rejection of the Enbridge pipeline. [4] She won 164 votes (0.5% of those cast), losing to Nathan Cullen. [5]
In 2013, Braun was the Vice President of the Green Thumb Garden Society of Terrace Inc. [6]
Braun attended the Canada convoy protest in 2022. [7] She was arrested by police as they were shutting down the protest, and was warned by police, but not charged with any offences. [8] [7]
On November 4, 2022, Braun testified at the Public Order Emergency Commission, that she felt her presence at the protest was lawful. [9] She also testified that she understood the Emergencies Act to be not legally enforceable. [9]
Braun lived in Jack Pine Flats, near Terrace, British Columbia for ten years, [1] including during 2011. [3] In 2022, she lived in Peterborough, Ontario. [10] [11]
Terrace is a city located near the Skeena River in British Columbia, Canada. The community is the regional retail and service hub for the northwestern portion of British Columbia. With a current population of over 12,000 within municipal boundaries, the city services surrounding communities as well bringing the Greater Terrace Area population to over 18,000 residents.
Hazelton is a village located at the junction of the Bulkley and Skeena Rivers in northern British Columbia, Canada. It was founded in 1866 and in 2011 had a population of 305. The nearby larger community of New Hazelton is the northernmost point of the Yellowhead Highway, a major interprovincial highway which runs from Prince Rupert, British Columbia, to Portage la Prairie, Manitoba.
The Skeena River is the second-longest river entirely within British Columbia, Canada. Since ancient times, the Skeena has been an important transportation artery, particularly for the Tsimshian and the Gitxsan—whose names mean "inside the Skeena River" ,and "people of the Skeena River," respectively. The river and its basin sustain a wide variety of fish, wildlife, and vegetation, and communities native to the area depend on the health of the river. The Tsimshian migrated to the Lower Skeena River, and the Gitxsan occupy territory of the Upper Skeena.
Nathan Cullen is a Canadian politician. A member of the New Democratic Party (NDP), he is the Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Stikine in British Columbia. He has served in the Executive Council of British Columbia since 2020, currently as Minister of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship and Minister Responsible for Fisheries.
Cariboo—Prince George is a federal electoral district in the province of British Columbia, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 2004.
Skeena—Bulkley Valley is a federal electoral district in British Columbia, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 2004.
Michael G. Scott was a Reform Party of Canada and later Canadian Alliance Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of Canada from 1993 to 2000. Scott represented the riding of Skeena, in northwestern British Columbia.
Andy Burton is a Canadian politician. Burton immigrated with his family to Canada from England in 1952 at the age of 10. He grew up in Prince George, British Columbia. In the early 1960s, he worked as a highway surveyor and then as a bulk plant manager for Shell Petroleum. He began his small business in 1964, and operated it until he was elected to the House of Commons of Canada in the 2000 federal election as the Canadian Alliance Member of Parliament (MP) for Skeena riding.
Taylor Bachrach is a Canadian New Democratic Party politician who was elected to represent the riding of Skeena—Bulkley Valley in the House of Commons of Canada in the 2019 Canadian federal election. Prior to his election in the House of Commons, he served as the mayor of Smithers, British Columbia from 2011 to 2019 and as a municipal councillor in the Village of Telkwa from 2008 to 2011.
A series of protests and blockades in Canada against COVID-19 vaccine mandates and restrictions, called the Freedom Convoy by organizers, began in early 2022. The initial convoy movement was created to protest vaccine mandates for crossing the United States border, but later evolved into a protest about COVID-19 mandates in general. Beginning January 22, hundreds of vehicles formed convoys from several points and traversed Canadian provinces before converging on Ottawa on January 29, 2022, with a rally at Parliament Hill. The convoys were joined by thousands of pedestrian protesters. Several offshoot protests blockaded provincial capitals and border crossings with the United States.
The following article is a broad timeline of the course of events surrounding the Canada convoy protest, a series of protests and blockades in Canada in early 2022. The protest, which was called the Freedom Convoy by organizers, was "first aimed at a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for cross-border truckers" when the convoy of hundreds of vehicles, including semi-trailers, headed towards Ottawa, Ontario the nation's capital, starting on January 22. The protesters quickly changed their messaging to include demands that all COVID-19-related public health restrictions be lifted.
Tamara Lich is a Canadian activist who has organised for the Canada convoy protest in Ottawa, the Maverick Party, and Yellow Vest protests in Canada. She is a musician and a former logistics worker.
Benjamin Joseph Dichter was a leader in the 2022 Canadian convoy protest. He is a truck driver, author, and podcaster and a former gemologist, former print shop operator from Toronto, Canada. He is the founder of the LGBTQ conservative group LGBTory.
Brigitte Belton is a Canadian truck driver who started the Canada convoy protest.
Christopher John Barber, and usually known as Chris Barber, is a Canadian trucking company operator, and activist who co-led the Canadian convoy protest. He was arrested on 17 February 2022 and released on bail the next day.
Canada Unity is a group that campaigned against COVID-19 mask mandates and vaccine passports during the Canada convoy protest.
James Ralph Bauder is a Albertan truck driver, the cofounder of Canada Unity and an organizer of the Canada convoy protest.
Tom Marazzo is a Canadian military veteran, former teacher, and leader in the 2022 Canadian convoy protest.
Jeremy Mitchell MacKenzie is a Canadian right-wing activist, military veteran, Plaid Army podcaster, the founder of far-right group Diagolon, and a Canada convoy protester.
The Public Order Emergency Commission, also known as the Rouleau inquiry or the Inquiry into Emergencies Act was a public inquiry in Canada that investigated the invoking of the Emergencies Act on February 14, 2022 by the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during the Canada convoy protests. It was the first time the Emergencies Act had been invoked and it remained in place from February 14–23, 2022, the POEC investigated the rational for invoking the Emergencies Act and the measures taken for dealing with the emergency". The inquiry was led by commissioner Justice Paul Rouleau, who was appointed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on April 25, 2022. Justice Rouleau had a surgical intervention which delayed the inquiry from September 19, 2022 to mid-October. The inquiry is independent of the parliamentary review committee.
Margaret Hope Braun