If anything, it seems like the trucking protest was a case of American dollars and influence trying to tilt Canada towards right-wing populism. Granted, that appears to have been a grassroots fundraising campaign and not American government policy or CIA black budget money (as underwrote, e.g. the failed anti-Chavez and anti-Maduro coups Venezuela). The banking measures look like a ham-fisted, authoritarian attempt to squelch that.
I think this feels "new" to Americans because it's on our border, and because Canada looks more like the US and is assumed to be more stable and less prone to authoritarian emergency measures than e.g. Venezuela or Argentina. But similarly extreme and extra-judicial banking controls have been implemented by other governments in the hemisphere when authoritarian left-wing parties in power feel threatened by right-wing populist movements they believe are at least partly sponsored by America.
> If anything, it seems like the trucking protest was a case of American dollars and influence trying to tilt Canada towards right-wing populism
Why? Canada already has a strong conservative movement, and NAFTA makes it damn easy for US-based companies to do as they please.
This reeks of the same forces that got Trump elected. Which would be a mix of billionaires, Russian money, and anyone who has an axe to grind against Canada, e.g. China (for the Huawei, et al, conflicts).
You might have misread me. Nothing I said was contrary to this. There certainly may be billionaires, Russian money, etc. in the mix; those indeed helped to fund American right-wing groups, whose members in turn contributed to the Canadian truckers. I'm just making the point that even though it's not American policy this time, US secret services and US corporations have a long history of funding right-wing groups all over the Americas; and that this isn't the first time it's provoked left-leaning governments to respond with overt financial controls and seizures.
There was likely influence coming from Left and Right. If one gets involved, the other isn't going to sit on the sidelines. This comes as direct involvement, as well as the media spin that covers such an event.
It's difficult to understand where the legit events ends and the outside influence begins. That's not a conspiracy theory. It's simply how these things work, with so many chef's in the kitchen (and that in general, the media can't be trusted).
I think this feels "new" to Americans because it's on our border, and because Canada looks more like the US and is assumed to be more stable and less prone to authoritarian emergency measures than e.g. Venezuela or Argentina. But similarly extreme and extra-judicial banking controls have been implemented by other governments in the hemisphere when authoritarian left-wing parties in power feel threatened by right-wing populist movements they believe are at least partly sponsored by America.