Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 7/1/2019 (619 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Opinion

Times change, trends come and go, but some of the more annoying aspects of human nature remain alarmingly timeless: like the hundreth monkey effect.

Based on scientific research in the 1950s that involved a troupe of Japanese monkeys, the hundredth monkey effect describes the phenomenon whereby new behaviour or concepts spread from person to person through mostly unexplained means. As they spread, the behaviour or concept undergoes a transformation that renders it, many times, quite different from its original form.

Those who want an example of the current application of the hundredth monkey effect need look no further than the eruption of a "yellow vest" protest in western Manitoba this past weekend that sought to capitalize on the high-profile "gilets jaunes" protests in France.

The Manitoba protesters formed a convoy involving trucks of all sizes that travelled from Virden to Brandon Saturday afternoon. It was an attempt to replicate similar yellow vest protests held in other Canadian cities late last year.

Ironically, the truck convoy was not organized by a trucker. It was the brainchild of Damen MacGillivray, a Brandon wealth management adviser.

On his Twitter and Facebook feeds, MacGillivray describes himself as an "outspoken Canadian fed up with globalist ideology." He is clearly a strident supporter of Maxime Bernier’s People’s Party of Canada. His social media footprint includes posts that laud Bernier as a possible saviour of Canadian society and advocates for changes to immigration policy to ensure "the preservation of western culture."

In his Facebook posts from the convoy, MacGillivray is seen wearing a red "Make Trudeau a Drama Teacher Again" baseball cap that deliberately borrows the colour, style and font used in the "Make America Great Again" hats popularized by U.S. President Donald Trump.

With a mélange of issues like that swirling around the mind of its organizer, it’s hardly surprising that the protest lacked a coherent focus.

An online notice for the rally said it would protest against carbon taxes, illegal immigration, a lack of reform to the electoral system, policies on Canada’s oil industry and the federal equalization payments system. There was also a reference to "ending wasteful spending in Ottawa" and a demand that Canada withdraw from the United Nations global compact for migration. One protester told a reporter covering the event, "We want the old Canada back."

The protesters are angry about a wide range of issues that they see as incompatible with their worldview and harmful to their way of life. However, add it all together and all you have is aimless anger.

The carbon tax issue makes sense. Rural folk and those who make a living driving vehicles and machines that burn fossil fuels have far fewer alternatives to help them endure an increase in gasoline and diesel prices that comes with a carbon tax.

But there is very little coherent linkage with the other issues.

Irregular immigration and equalization payments have very little in common, save for the fact that neither play well in rural regions of Canada. But immigration and a withdrawal from the UN global migration compact? This is where the focus of the Manitoba yellow vests begins to stray.

It’s OK to be concerned about the number of migrants crossing into Canada to claim asylum. It’s a pressing issue of public policy. But opposing the current system of asylum claims does not address the underlying issue: a United States government that has become officially hostile to immigrants of all classes.

It also ignores the fact that despite efforts by the federal Conservative Party and Bernier to portray the asylum seekers as a dangerous commodity, there has been no threat to public safety from irregular migration.

The same goes for the UN compact that establishes the need to adhere to best practices in processing these migrants. Agreeing with other nations on the rules for the treatment and assessment of asylum seekers is an opportunity for us ensure that the principles of human rights are extended to anyone seeking a safe haven in Canada.

Add it up and you have a pureé of issues and ideology that strays well away from the tone and goals of the original yellow vest movement.

Born in France, the "gilets jaunes" movement saw hundreds of thousands of middle-class protesters raging against a wide range of policies introduced by President Emmanuel Macron. It was, in the French tradition, a truly grassroots movement.

Yes, it was sparked in large part by the introduction of a new carbon tax on gasoline. But the deeper message forged by the original protest focused on income inequality at a time when the cost of living in France was becoming unbearable for the middle class.

The movement sought increases to minimum wage, tax breaks for middle and lower income classes and the re-introduction of surtaxes on the wealthy. In a bid to defuse the movement, Macron has yielded to some of these demands.

In fairness, it deserves to be noted that even the original yellow vest movement has had trouble stopping some people with very dangerous ideas from claiming involvement.

In France, the origins of the movement can be traced back to a coalition of various "groupes colères" or "angry groups" which galvanized around the issue of gas taxes. However, given that anger is inherently difficult to control or define, the movement has functioned as an open invitation for anyone who is angry about almost anything.

Now, yellow vest is being donned by violent anarchists, hardcore anti-immigration populists and self-professed fascists. Environmental activists have even claimed some association with the yellow vest, despite the fact the original movement opposed a carbon tax on gas.

The definition of "yellow vest protester" is still expanding. Although those who wish to conscript its powerful symbolism should be aware that the further they get from the movement’s original goals, and the more it becomes attached to dangerous and hateful concepts, the less likely it is to be effective at changing government policy.

Which brings us back to the hundredth monkey effect.

There were some noble ideas attached to the original yellow vest movement. But as it spreads, and is bastardized and transformed, the more concerned we should be about what comes out the other end.

dan.lett@freepress.mb.ca