Tom Marazzo is a Canadian military veteran, former teacher, and leader in the 2022 Canadian convoy protest.

Career

Joining in September 1998 in

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353, and its census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington and Grimsby, has a population of 785,184. The city is approximately southwest of T ...

and working until 2016, Marazzo worked for the

Canadian Armed Forces } The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; french: Forces armées canadiennes, ''FAC'') are the unified military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air elements referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, and Royal Canadian Air Force. ...

as a military officer. Marazzo reached the rank of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

and worked as a construction engineer. He left the regular forces in 2015, moving to the supplemental reserves. He was never deployed internationally. Marazzo taught computer software at

Georgian College Georgian College is a College of Applied Arts and Technology in Ontario, Canada. It has 13,000 full-time students, including 4,500 international students from 85 countries, across seven campuses, the largest being in Barrie. History The colle ...

from 2019 until 2021 when he was fired after questioning his the college's COVID-19 vaccine policy. Marazzo was the

Peterborough—Kawartha Peterborough—Kawartha is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1953. Prior to the 2015 election, the riding was known as Peterborough. Geography It now consists o ...

candidate for the

Ontario Party The Ontario Party (french: Parti Ontario) is a minor social conservative, economic liberal and right-wing populist political party in the Canadian province of Ontario, founded in 2018. History The Ontario Party was founded in May 2018, during ...

in the

2022 Ontario general election The 2022 Ontario general election will be held on or before June 2, 2022, to elect Members of Provincial Parliament to serve in the 43rd Parliament of Ontario. As of December 2016, Ontario elections are held on the first Thursday in June in th ...

. He alleged that

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

mayor

Diane Therrien Diane Therrien (born 1985 or 1986) is a Canadian politician who served as the 62nd mayor of Peterborough, Ontario, Peterborough from 2018 to 2022. She was elected in the 2018 Ontario municipal elections. Prior to her mayoral election, she was a ...

pressured Peterborough police into charging the owners of burger restaurant Peterburgers under city noise bylaws. Marazzo won 1,973 votes, representing 3.8% of the votes cast, losing to Dave Smith of the Progressive Conservative Party.

Activism

Marazzo was a spokesperson and a leader in the Canada convoy protest, and he helped lead logistics and keep emergency routes on roads open. During a press conference at the Canada convoy protest, Marazzo suggested that protest organisers could collaborate with the federal opposition parties: the

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * t ...

, the

Conservative Party of Canada The Conservative Party of Canada (french: Parti conservateur du Canada), colloquially known as the Tories, is a federal political party in Canada. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of the two main right-leaning parties, the Progressive Con ...

, and the

Bloc Québécois The Bloc Québécois (BQ; , "Québécois people, Quebecer Voting bloc, Bloc") is a list of federal political parties in Canada, federal political party in Canada devoted to Quebec nationalism and the promotion of Quebec sovereignty movement, Que ...

to form a coalition against the government. On 17 June 2022, fellow protest leader

Tamara Lich Tamara Lich is a former logistics worker, and a Canadian right-wing activist known for her involvement in the Yellow Vest protests, the Wexit movement, and the Canada convoy protest in Ottawa. Lich was among the organizers of the Yellow Vest ...

was arrested for breaching bail conditions that forbade her from meeting Marazzo. Marazzo is a leader of the ''Veterans 4 Freedom'' group.

Emergency Act inquiry

While being questioned at the public enquiry into the Canadian government use of the Emergencies Act, Marazoo stated that the protest group

Diagolon Diagolon is a Canadian alt-right organization which was considered significant to the Canada convoy protest by the Government of Canada. It is led by Jeremy MacKenzie (activist), Jeremy MacKenzie. Organisation and aims Diagolon is a right wi ...

is only an internet meme and not real.

Personal life

Marazzo previously lived in

Barrie Barrie is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada, about north of Toronto. The city is within Simcoe County and located along the shores of Kempenfelt Bay, the western arm of Lake Simcoe. Although physically in Simcoe County, Barrie is politically i ...

, Ontario but moved away after losing his job at Georgian College.

References

External links