UN planes at northern Ontario airport spark social media conspiracy theories

Two airplanes parked at North Bay’s Jack Garland Airport became infamous on social media last weekend after conspiracy theories linked them to the so-called 'Freedom Convoy' in Ottawa.

One of the planes in question has United Nations decals on it, and a viral TikTok video circulated Saturday falsely claimed UN troops or police officers from other countries landed in North Bay to head to Ottawa to break up the demonstration.

Thousands weighed in on Twitter, trying to find out why the planes were parked at the airport.

“It just goes to shows how quickly one video can go viral with misinformation,” said North Bay Deputy Mayor Tanya Vrebosch.

The aircraft in the video was actually in operation in Amman, Jordan, for more than a year and returned to Canada on Jan. 29.

Voyageur Airways, which has a maintenance facility at the airport, said one plane was grounded for regular maintenance.

“I can confirm that the aircraft has been in North Bay for several weeks for a routine aircraft maintenance heavy check event at our Voyageur North Bay facility,” said Melchior Schori, spokesperson for Chorus Aviation Inc.

Voyageur employs about 220 people in North Bay, providing aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul services for its global customer base.

Vrebosch is encouraging people to check their sources before posting claims on social media.

“People are anxious and misinformation adds to the conspiracy theories, it adds to people’s fears and the unknown,” she said.

In the last years, Voyageur Airways has provided chartered aircraft to the UN and NATO for operations in the Middle East and Africa.