Ekos Research Associates Inc. President Frank Graves is sorry — but not sorry — for calling the Freedom Convoy protesters “thugs and jihadists.”.Shockingly, he adamantly stuck to his thug accusation. But after a backlash, Graves had the wisdom to apologize profusely for the jihadist comment, during an interview with the Western Standard Thursday..These protesters would be the very people millions of Canadians euphorically cheered on. But the protesters, heroically fighting for all Canadians treated shamefully and abysmally by the government, didn’t fool him. No siree..All that patriotic flag waving? The bouncy castles and barbecues? Singing O Canada? Feeding the homeless? Cries for rights and freedoms stripped away by the federal Liberal government to be restored so people could work and feed their families?.It was a ruse, maybe even the mother of all ruses, one could be led to believe from some extreme views Graves posted on Twitter..“These thugs shut down a city based on some hallucinogenic, toxic, anti-democratic jihad. And that was the least of their enduring corrosive legacy,” tweeted Graves September 25..Now, this is not the opinion of some paranoid, conspiracy theorist chowing down on Pizza Pops in mom’s basement whilst waiting for jihadists to strike and destroy Western civilization as we know it..Graves is billed as one of Canada’s “leading applied social researchers” who has directed hundreds of diverse large-scale studies — many of them for mainstream media outlets — on Canadian issues for almost four decades..Moreso, it was Graves whom the Public Order Emergency Commission paid $5,000 to conduct a sociological analysis of the Freedom Convoy protest. He produced a report entitled Understanding The Freedom Movement: Causes, Consequences And Potential Responses..But the man the Liberals tasked with delivering impartial analysis hardly delivered impartial tweets..“My business on Kent (Street) was shuttered for three weeks thanks to the so-called Freedom Convoy,” tweeted Graves September 25, followed by the thugs and jihadist comment..What evidence does he have that the convoy was infiltrated by jihadists. Well, none, he admitted Thursday..“No, no jihadists. I wouldn’t use any of that language if I was putting remarks together today,” said Graves. “It was a stupid comment. It was a mistake. I regret putting it up, but I did remove it. I understand why they are angry. They have every right to be angry.”.Then after that mea culpa, he dug in to condemn the protesters..“But there was thuggish behaviour. There were people yelling and threatening my staff for wearing masks. There were people urinating in the street and defecting.”.Really? It seems extremely dubious that the protesters who shoveled snow and cleaned up garbage would drop their pants and poo on the sidewalk..“I’m absolutely positive it was the protesters. The street was blocked with 18-wheelers,” he insisted..Sorry, the poo thing is still really, very dubious..Graves said that “frustration” caused him to fire out tweets..“I had to shut down my offices and my staff had been insulted and threatened. It was costing me a lot of money and it was a lot of aggravation.”.The Commission pleaded ignorance about the social media comments before it paid Graves for a sociological analysis of the protest, according to Blacklock’s Reporter..“The Commission was not aware of Mr. Graves’ tweets,” said Michael Tansey, spokesperson for inquiry..Graves insisted his report to the Commission conveyed understanding for “problems that are driving this force in Canada and other countries.”.“As a sociologist in my professional work in any public forum I express myself in a fair and measured manner based on data and evidence.”.“I said this group, they’re angry, because they have been really cut loose in an economy which has not worked for them. There are other forces at work as well. Groups who are supportive of the convoy are deeply economically pessimistic. They don’t feel that they are participating in an economy which produces security. They feel that the status and identity that was associated with things they did in the economy of the past is no longer available to them.”.“They can’t afford a house, many of them. They have no secure path to retirement. So yeah, the era of shared prosperity where these individuals used to find good paying jobs… that’s all collapsed.”.He noted that depicting this as a “minority fringe” or as failed US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said “deplorable” only “adds emotion fuel to the fire.”.“There’s lots of reasons to avoid harsh rhetoric — which I failed to follow in that tweet. My report is very balanced, impartial. That’s what I should be doing instead of expressing on Twitter.”.Indeed, Graves has a history of posting inappropriate tweets and public comments. More musings from Graves on his Twitter account include:.“I am genuinely frightened about the future of the country” (January 28).“To see this throng fouling our seat of government and its cherished symbols is just too much” (January 2).“Never a great idea to be ‘negotiating’ with hallucinogenic insurrectionists” (February 13)..In 2010 Graves apologized for “incendiary” comments after admitting he advised the Liberal Party to invoke a “culture war” and accused the Conservative party of being “homophobic, racist, and autocratic.”.More recently, last April, Graves posted a series of Twitter messages criticizing the Conservative party, specifically then-leadership candidate Pierre Poilievre..“You are on notice. Going to make sure you are never going to lead my country. I don’t make idle threats.”.Odd, that this escaped the attention of a hoity-toity Commission that hired him to help it investigate and get to the bottom of truth..Graves said he has seen the error of his ways and has a plan to avoid firing out nasty tweets..“I’m going to set a machine where my Twitter feed goes off at 9 pm. 100% of my bad tweets come after 9 o’clock.”.Good idea. Decent Canadians, who suffered immeasurably and had the courage to stand up to the Liberal government’s tyranny don’t deserve to be called thugs and jihadists. Not by him. Not by anybody..Tweets can be deleted. The label sticks in the minds of the uninformed and easily duped.
Ekos Research Associates Inc. President Frank Graves is sorry — but not sorry — for calling the Freedom Convoy protesters “thugs and jihadists.”.Shockingly, he adamantly stuck to his thug accusation. But after a backlash, Graves had the wisdom to apologize profusely for the jihadist comment, during an interview with the Western Standard Thursday..These protesters would be the very people millions of Canadians euphorically cheered on. But the protesters, heroically fighting for all Canadians treated shamefully and abysmally by the government, didn’t fool him. No siree..All that patriotic flag waving? The bouncy castles and barbecues? Singing O Canada? Feeding the homeless? Cries for rights and freedoms stripped away by the federal Liberal government to be restored so people could work and feed their families?.It was a ruse, maybe even the mother of all ruses, one could be led to believe from some extreme views Graves posted on Twitter..“These thugs shut down a city based on some hallucinogenic, toxic, anti-democratic jihad. And that was the least of their enduring corrosive legacy,” tweeted Graves September 25..Now, this is not the opinion of some paranoid, conspiracy theorist chowing down on Pizza Pops in mom’s basement whilst waiting for jihadists to strike and destroy Western civilization as we know it..Graves is billed as one of Canada’s “leading applied social researchers” who has directed hundreds of diverse large-scale studies — many of them for mainstream media outlets — on Canadian issues for almost four decades..Moreso, it was Graves whom the Public Order Emergency Commission paid $5,000 to conduct a sociological analysis of the Freedom Convoy protest. He produced a report entitled Understanding The Freedom Movement: Causes, Consequences And Potential Responses..But the man the Liberals tasked with delivering impartial analysis hardly delivered impartial tweets..“My business on Kent (Street) was shuttered for three weeks thanks to the so-called Freedom Convoy,” tweeted Graves September 25, followed by the thugs and jihadist comment..What evidence does he have that the convoy was infiltrated by jihadists. Well, none, he admitted Thursday..“No, no jihadists. I wouldn’t use any of that language if I was putting remarks together today,” said Graves. “It was a stupid comment. It was a mistake. I regret putting it up, but I did remove it. I understand why they are angry. They have every right to be angry.”.Then after that mea culpa, he dug in to condemn the protesters..“But there was thuggish behaviour. There were people yelling and threatening my staff for wearing masks. There were people urinating in the street and defecting.”.Really? It seems extremely dubious that the protesters who shoveled snow and cleaned up garbage would drop their pants and poo on the sidewalk..“I’m absolutely positive it was the protesters. The street was blocked with 18-wheelers,” he insisted..Sorry, the poo thing is still really, very dubious..Graves said that “frustration” caused him to fire out tweets..“I had to shut down my offices and my staff had been insulted and threatened. It was costing me a lot of money and it was a lot of aggravation.”.The Commission pleaded ignorance about the social media comments before it paid Graves for a sociological analysis of the protest, according to Blacklock’s Reporter..“The Commission was not aware of Mr. Graves’ tweets,” said Michael Tansey, spokesperson for inquiry..Graves insisted his report to the Commission conveyed understanding for “problems that are driving this force in Canada and other countries.”.“As a sociologist in my professional work in any public forum I express myself in a fair and measured manner based on data and evidence.”.“I said this group, they’re angry, because they have been really cut loose in an economy which has not worked for them. There are other forces at work as well. Groups who are supportive of the convoy are deeply economically pessimistic. They don’t feel that they are participating in an economy which produces security. They feel that the status and identity that was associated with things they did in the economy of the past is no longer available to them.”.“They can’t afford a house, many of them. They have no secure path to retirement. So yeah, the era of shared prosperity where these individuals used to find good paying jobs… that’s all collapsed.”.He noted that depicting this as a “minority fringe” or as failed US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said “deplorable” only “adds emotion fuel to the fire.”.“There’s lots of reasons to avoid harsh rhetoric — which I failed to follow in that tweet. My report is very balanced, impartial. That’s what I should be doing instead of expressing on Twitter.”.Indeed, Graves has a history of posting inappropriate tweets and public comments. More musings from Graves on his Twitter account include:.“I am genuinely frightened about the future of the country” (January 28).“To see this throng fouling our seat of government and its cherished symbols is just too much” (January 2).“Never a great idea to be ‘negotiating’ with hallucinogenic insurrectionists” (February 13)..In 2010 Graves apologized for “incendiary” comments after admitting he advised the Liberal Party to invoke a “culture war” and accused the Conservative party of being “homophobic, racist, and autocratic.”.More recently, last April, Graves posted a series of Twitter messages criticizing the Conservative party, specifically then-leadership candidate Pierre Poilievre..“You are on notice. Going to make sure you are never going to lead my country. I don’t make idle threats.”.Odd, that this escaped the attention of a hoity-toity Commission that hired him to help it investigate and get to the bottom of truth..Graves said he has seen the error of his ways and has a plan to avoid firing out nasty tweets..“I’m going to set a machine where my Twitter feed goes off at 9 pm. 100% of my bad tweets come after 9 o’clock.”.Good idea. Decent Canadians, who suffered immeasurably and had the courage to stand up to the Liberal government’s tyranny don’t deserve to be called thugs and jihadists. Not by him. Not by anybody..Tweets can be deleted. The label sticks in the minds of the uninformed and easily duped.
