Police chief warns of ‘risky’ protests
SLOLY ALLOWS FOR POSSIBILITY SOCIAL MEDIA WILL STIR UP VIOLENCE
Ottawa’s police chief warned Friday that this weekend’s trucker convoy demonstrations will be “unique, fluid, risky and significant.”
Peter Sloly said the police don’t have a confirmed number of how many trucks or protesters to expect or a specific end date, but that the demonstrations are “national in scope” and “massive in scale.”
He cautioned there are unknown risk factors like the impact of social media actors inciting violence.
At a Friday press conference, he said that police have been in touch with the organizers of the truck convoy who have said they plan a peaceful demonstration. But Sloly warned that there are other unnamed “parallel demonstrators” the police haven’t been able to fully engage with, and cautioned there are “lone wolf individuals who may insert themselves into the mix for various reasons.”
He said there are also “social media actors” based locally, nationally and internationally who may or may not actually come to Ottawa, “but who are nonetheless inciting hate, violence, and in some cases, criminality to take place in our city.”
The police “do not know the full impact that a demonstration of this size, scale and potential duration will have on public safety or on public health outcomes while we’re in the latest phase of the COVID pandemic,” Sloly said.
Police have already been managing small demonstrations over the past 24 hours that have been “peaceful and uneventful” but the main demonstrations will start Saturday and continue through the weekend and potentially into the next week, he said.
Sloly said there will be gridlock and “major traffic safety issues” and cautioned against visiting or travelling to the downtown core unless necessary.
He said there will “significant impacts” for those who live or work in Ottawa’s downtown, and that residents should do any necessary shopping or errands on Friday, and prepare for home delivery services to be unavailable.
“There may in fact be very limited vehicle, bicycle or even pedestrian access to the core for safety reasons,” he said.
By late Friday afternoon, dozens of trucks, pickup trucks, trailers and cars were parked on Wellington Street in front of Parliament Hill in Ottawa. Police had blocked the street from Elgin Street to Bank Street and were redirecting vehicles to the neighbouring streets.
The blocks south of Parliament were filled with a lot honking from the trucks and cars driving through downtown Ottawa, many decorated with Canadian flags and signs hostile to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. One car blared Twisted Sister’s We’re Not Gonna Take It as it drove up toward Parliament Hill.
Despite that, a fairly quiet crowd of 150 people gathered in front of Parliament buildings. It is expected that thousands more will join them on Saturday, although the specific numbers are unclear as people are coming East and West.
Protesters who spoke to the National Post said they were ready to stay as long as needed, regardless of the cold weather.
“It’ll be as long as people want. The people that are coming here, the men and women, they work outside and they’re not scared of this weather, you know. They work out of their trucks”, said Ben, a citizen living in Ottawa who declined to give his last name.
A group of four men from Gaspésie, Que., said they were prepared to stay in Ottawa for several days, maybe even more than a week, inside their recreational vehicle, to protest. “We’re staying here until things change,” they claimed.
“We’re here until Sunday, but if we can’t get out, we can’t get out,” said Leeann Thompson, a small-business owner from Barrie, Ont.
Amber, who declined to give her last name, made the trip downtown on Friday from North Gower, a small community outside Ottawa.
She was waiting outside the Parliament buildings for a group of friends who were still in the truck convoy to join her, and said her parents, who are in Florida, “wanted me to come down here and represent.”
“I’m vaccinated. I’m not like, I’m not an anti-vaxxer or anything,” she said.
She said protests were happening because people were fed up with vaccine mandates and said she does not want to live in a country where the government is imposing vaccine mandates to go to specific areas.
Leeann Thompson said she is in Ottawa to protest the vaccine mandates imposed on truckers crossing the U.s.-canada border, in honour of her late father who drove trucks for a living.
“Everyone’s saying nurses and doctors are essential. Well, these guys have been bringing the nurses, doctors, their supplies. Like we’re all literally, we’re all in this together. Why change it now?” she asked.
THESE GUYS HAVE BEEN BRINGING THE NURSES, DOCTORS, THEIR SUPPLIES.