Oh Briane, Briane, wherefore art thou Briane? Remembering Conservative MP’s fiction about a single mother’s $50 trucker convoy donation

It shouldn’t be forgotten in an election that Mark Strahl insisted ‘Briane’ was real and her bank account frozen, despite overwhelming evidence and an RCMP statement it was ‘false’

Has anybody seen Briane?

In the middle of a federal election, a week after trucker convoy organizers were found guilty for their involvement in that illegal occupation, I was reminded how Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre was a big fan of these criminals in 2022.

I was also reminded of Chilliwack-Hope Conservative MP Mark Strahl’s bizarre fiction that he must have known would be proven to be untrue.

The self-named ‘freedom convoy’ was, you’ll recall, not about real truckers who were on the road helping feed the country and fuel the fight against a pandemic. No, this was hundreds of Albertan mouth breathers on wheels who were scared of needles and science and democracy and had a temper tantrum in the nation's capital.

Organizers Pat King, Tamara Lich, and Chris Barber have all been found guilty of various criminal offences for their part in the far-right anti-vaxxer protest. King was given a slap on the wrist with three months house arrest, a sentence Crown intends to appeal as they asked for 10 years behind bars. Lich and Barber were just cleared of the more serious charges but convicted of mischief, which itself comes with a sentence of up to 10 years. 

One wonders if Poilievre is planning on delivering them Tim Hortons coffee now that they are convicted criminals as he did before he replaced Erin O’Toole as Conservative Party leader.

In Chilliwack, Strahl got creative and invented a character he could politicize to make headlines. The strategy might have seemed like a good idea at the time but his advisors didn’t take into account that it was a lose-lose scenario: Either he is ignored or he is taken seriously and called out for lying.

On Feb. 20, 2022, Strahl sent out a Tweet that went semi-viral, mostly because of its hilarity. A few journalists, including myself, took it seriously.

“Briane is a single mom from Chilliwack working a minimum wage job,” Strahl said. “She gave $50 to the convoy when it was 100% legal. She hasn't participated in any other way. Her bank account has now been frozen. This is who Justin Trudeau is actually targeting with his Emergencies Act orders.”

If we are generous we might conclude that Strahl was tricked and/or was just mistaken. Either that or he was lying.

“The information posted is false,” said an e-mail from an Ottawa Police Service (OPS) media relations officer mistakenly forwarded to a Globe and Mail reporter. That after an OPS constable searched the donor list and found two “Briannes,” neither of which live in B.C.

I confirmed this myself when I got my hands on the list and saw the name twice, spelled differently from Strahl’s fictional one. One was in Nova Scotia and the other Oregon. There was also a “Breanne” with a Chilliwack-area postal code but she donated just $15.

In total, the leaked list showed 225 donors from postal codes in the Chilliwack area. The vast majority were small dollar amounts, with a handful of $1,000 donations. The biggest donor by far was from a local realtor, dairy farmer, and church elder who gave $5,000 to the extremist cause. Another realtor gave just $250. I asked both of them if their accounts were frozen, only the latter responded to my question and he said it was not.

Globe and Mail columnist Andrew Coyne made light of Strahl’s lie on Twitter, pointing out that out of the 93,000 donors only about six dozen had bank accounts frozen and they were for very large donation amounts.

“76 accounts containing a combined $3.2 million, equals roughly $42k each,” Coyne Tweeted. “But yeah, it’s all single moms from Chilliwack donating their server tips…”

Strahl was asked about this discrepancy. Instead of apologizing, he doubled down.

“Briane informed me that her bank account had been frozen at the same time that the government began freezing the accounts of other freedom convoy supporters.”

That number of accounts frozen was up to 200 with $7 million a few days later but there was still zero possibility that small donors among the 93,000 had accounts frozen.

As part of the Emergencies Act passed by the government, account-freezing powers were bestowed on financial institutions with the aim of targeting those suspected of involvement in illegal acts, the “influencers” involved in the illegal protest in Ottawa, and owners and drivers of vehicles who refused to leave the area of the protest.

But Strahl’s Tweet, which should be remembered at the ballot box, that received more than 33,000 likes, suggested it was individuals donating small amounts of money who were the target of the government.

How dumb did he think his constituents are?

So, Briane, if you are out there, give me a call. Get in touch. I’d love to buy you a coffee and hear your story. Voters considering re-electing the Conservative MP who told your tale of woe would similarly love to hear all about it.

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Paul J. Henderson
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