OTTAWA – “Diagolon is a joke. It’s not even a real thing,” Freedom Convoy organizer Tom Marazzo told the inquiry Wednesday into the use of the Emergencies Act.
A Government of Canada lawyer questioned Marazzo about his relationship with Jeremy MacKenize – who is currently at the Saskatoon Correctional Centre. MacKenzie is accused of being the leader of Diagolon and a recent House of Commons report labeled Diagolon as an ideologically motivated extremist group.
“He [MacKenzie] is the creator of a fictitious meme on the Internet known as Diagolon, which I presume you’re going to ask me about,” said Marazzo, a 25-year veteran of the Canadian Armed Forces.
“The Vice President of Diagolon being a time-travelling, cocaine addicted goat that is just an Internet meme that has no meaning at all.”
Marazzo testfied that the second time he spoke with MacKenzie was when the Liberal Government was debating whether or not they should use the Emergencies Act.
“They were citing this fictitious goat that time travels, as justification for invoking the Emergencies Act.”
He added that MacKenzie and his friends were “laughing hysterically showing clips of the government actually talking about Diagolon as being a real thing.”
“Everybody knew it was a joke,” said Marazzo.
He testified that he asked MacKenzie to tell him everything there is to know about Diagolon.
“He said, ‘if you draw a diagonal line from Alaska, through Alberta, to Texas, it makes a diagonal line,’ and that’s why it’s called Diagolon. They’re the only states and provinces that don’t have mask mandates. He used it as a joke. He made the symbol for Diagolon in a second on his cell phone because it’s a joke and it’s meaningless.
“He [MacKenzie] did it to attract attention for people to come to a barbecue and to have a lot of fun, where you know people wanted to have a barbecue without masks on,” added Marazzo.
“And yet here he was watching Members of Parliament and the Liberal Party actually seriously stating that the reason for invoking the Emergencies Act was because of Diagolon. Like it was the most outrageous, ridiculous thing I had ever seen.”
The recent House of Commons report states that those in the group called Diagolon consists of former Canadian Forces members who have real combat training and capabilities, and have "grown increasingly radicalized.”
MacKenzie was arrested last month by Nova Scotia RCMP and brought to Saskatoon to face charges of assault, pointing a firearm, using a restricted weapon in a careless manner, and mischief.
MacKenzie was wanted on a Canada-wide warrant since July on charges stemming from an alleged incident in November 2021. Saskatoon RCMP says that they received a report of an assault in the R.M. of Viscount in March. In July, police charged MacKenzie with assault, pointing a firearm, using a restricted weapon in a careless manner, and mischief.
In March, he was charged with harassment and intimidation in connection with a protest outside of the home of Nova Scotia’s chief medical officer of health.
On his website, MacKenzie calls himself the “raging dissent,” and a comedian.
Saskatchewan trucker spearheads Freedom Convoy
Chris Barber, an independent trucker from Swift Current, spearheaded the Freedom Convoy with fellow Ontario trucker Brigitte Belton to protest the federal government’s cross-border vaccine mandate that came into effect Jan. 15, and meant that unvaccinated truckers would no longer be allowed to cross the border.
Tamara Lich called Barber after the Freedom Convoy started and offered to help them saying that she was a part of the 2019 United We Roll tour that saw truckers from Alberta protest in Ottawa. Barber accepted her offer to help and Lich ended up being in charge of the Convoy's fundraising efforts.
The Saskatchewan Government has standing at the inquiry into the Liberal Government’s use of the Emergencies Act.
Lawyer Mike Morris, who represents the province, gave opening remarks at the EMA in Ottawa on Oct. 13. He said that the Saskatchewan Government was concerned that resident’s rights may have been unnecessarily infringed by the feds invoking the Emergencies Act.
Morris testified that the Trudeau government didn’t discuss with Saskatchewan if the Emergencies Act should be invoked.
“The call was not so much about consulting as it was about telling.”
On Feb. 14, to stop the trucker and freedom convoy protests, the Liberal government declared a public order emergency under the Emergencies Act. This was the first time in Canada’s history that the Emergencies Act had been invoked.
Ontario Justice Paul S. Rouleau is presiding over the inquiry, which is expected to wrap up on Nov. 25. Justice Rouleau’s final report with findings and recommendations must be tabled in the House of Commons and Senate of Canada by Feb. 20, 2023.
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