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Trucker convoy: Police report no injuries, 'no incidents of violence' after first day of protest

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The ‘Freedom Convoy’ converging in Ottawa this weekend started in response to the federal government’s move to require that all Canadian truck drivers crossing the U.S. border be fully vaccinated. The Canadian Trucking Alliance, the main advocacy body for truckers, has disavowed the protest, saying the vast majority of its members are fully vaccinated and are continuing to work. The core organizers of the protest insist that they are not anti-vaccine but instead oppose mandates that require vaccination for people to work.

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11 p.m.

Shepherds of Good Hope harassed into feeding protesters

As night fell downtown, many of the protesters found themselves scrambling for accommodation and food. Ottawa’s Shepherds of Good Hope tweeted that earlier in the day its staff had been harassed into feeding some of the protesters, which was putting “significant” strain on the shelter’s resources.

“Earlier today, our staff and volunteers experienced harassment from convoy protestors seeking meals from our soup kitchen,” the tweet said. “The individuals were given meals to diffuse (sic) the conflict. Management was then informed of the issue and no further meals were given to protesters. Our soup kitchen is committed to providing meals to people experiencing and at risk of homelessness in Ottawa. This weekend’s events have caused significant strain to our operations at an already difficult time.”

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While many in the convoy continued to drive through the city late into the night, blaring air horns and driving downtown residents to distraction, others, with nowhere else to stay, bedded down in their vehicles. That prompted the Ottawa Fire Service to issue a warning about the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning.

“Exhaust from your, or other vehicles, portable gas heaters and generators all contain a Silent Killer-Carbon Monoxide. Ensure your shelter or vehicle is ventilated and never use gas heaters or generators inside a vehicle,” the fire service said in a media release.


8:00 p.m.

Downtown begins to clear for the night; Police report ‘no incidents of violence or injuries’

Ottawa police reported that crowds were beginning to disperse for the night, but many streets in the downtown core remained closed or impassable to vehicles. In what was expected to be their final briefing of the day at 8 p.m., police said there “have been no incidents of violence or injuries reported.”

Crowd numbers dropped as darkness fell Saturday, but some protestors still stayed in the area as fireworks occasionally went off.
Crowd numbers dropped as darkness fell Saturday, but some protestors still stayed in the area as fireworks occasionally went off. Photo by Ashley Fraser /Postmedia

Nevertheless, police continued to urge people to stay away from the downtown core and said they were working to mitigate the impact of the demonstration and the gridlock it was causing. Emergency lanes remained clear and police said they were towing any vehicles they needed to remove in order to maintain public safety.

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The Portage and Alexandra bridges remained closed, while the Champlain Bridge was open and the Macdonald-Cartier Bridge was open, but with reduced lanes. The Chaudière Bridge was open only to health care and essential workers. Anyone using it would be asked to show ID, police said.

Expect more of the same on Sunday, police said. Police were also urging demonstrators to respect national symbols and said officers and city crews would take steps to protect them. On Saturday, protesters were seen dancing on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and parking at the National War Memorial. Others placed placards and an upside-down Canadian flag on the Terry Fox statue across from Parliament Hill, acts that drew rebukes from both the Terry Fox Foundation and Brad West, mayor of Port Coquitlam, B.C., Fox’s hometown.

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Parliament Hill remained crowded with protesters as the evening wore on, while convoys of trucks and other vehicles continued to circle around on downtown streets.

Meanwhile, the city remained under an extreme cold weather advisory from Environment Canada, with a forecast overnight low of –26 C and an expected windchill of –34.


7:12 p.m.

Buses rerouted

OC Transpo said all buses that travel on downtown streets had been rerouted and passengers should expect significant delays. And don’t depend on third-party apps to tell you when the next bus would be coming. The information is likely unreliable. OC Transpo says anyone who needs to travel through downtown should take the Confederation Line.

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But some riders complained that many LRT passengers were riding unmasked.

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But there was some good news for commuters. Gatineau police tweeted that the Macdonald-Cartier Bridge, closed for much of the day, was gradually reopening to Ontario-bound traffic. The interprovincial slowdowns caught up many workers heading to Ottawa for their jobs. The Ottawa Hospital tweeted for its workers to cross at the Chaudière Bridge and to show their hospital ID badges to police in order to be let through.

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5 p.m.

Gridlock

The city advised residents to avoid downtown and warned those living in the area to “be aware of your surroundings.”

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4:50 p.m.

Frustration over display at National War Memorial

Twitter users were quick to criticize protesters seen on video shouting and drinking at the National War Memorial.

User Steven Thornton posted the video of the protesters at the site, saying the reaction was sparked after he told them about the importance of the memorial.

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4:17  p.m.

Pockets of violence

While the crowd for Saturday’s protest was largely peaceful, there were pockets of violence.

David Galbraith, an Ottawa resident who stood downtown with a sign promoting vaccines, said one protester ripped his jacket and hurled verbal abuse toward him.

“Honestly it’s worth being there to show them that they aren’t right,” he said. “The majority of Canadians don’t agree with them. Our prime minister said they’re a fringe minority group. This is just showing, me getting my coat ripped and them setting off fireworks is just showing the lack of maturity for this argument and this movement.”

Galbraith said the protester who attacked him had called him a Nazi and a communist and used homophobic slurs before running off.

“Most of the people here are very peaceful,” Galbraith added. “While I don’t agree with their views, I commend them for being peaceful and wanting the dialogue to understand our perspective. At the same time, it’s that small group that are being violent who are just souring the experience for everyone.”

Another pro-vaccine protester who declined to give his name stood on Rideau Street with a sign that read “Vaccines save lives.” He, too, said he had been attacked earlier, when a protester knocked his sign to the ground and broke his camera.

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“I wanted to make sure that the silent majority of Canadians are represented,” he said. “The yahoos and the hooligans aren’t the ones who are going to decide the political discourse in the country just by honking their horns and waving flags.”


3:04 p.m.

Rideau Centre closed as protest continued

The Rideau Centre closed Saturday afternoon due to unmasked crowds.

Just before 3 p.m., security guards said the mall was closing because of the crowds of unmasked people inside and began trying to usher people outside.

Many protest supporters were seen maskless in the mall and some urged mall staff to take off their own masks.

“You’re free now,” one maskless man told a worker who sat at a booth. “You don’t have to wear that.”

Though many of the protesters who sat on the ground and waited in line for the bathroom appeared sullen and tired, cries of “freedom” and chants using an expletive to refer to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau were quickly taken up by the crowd and echoed through the mall.

A statement distributed on behalf of mall owner Cadillac Fairview said, “The safety of our guests, tenants and employees is our priority and, out of an abundance of caution, CF Rideau Centre will be closed for the remainder of the day.”

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2:10 p.m.

Downtown streets closed

Ottawa police shut down the downtown core to any more traffic due to gridlock shortly after 2 p.m.

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Meanwhile, Mayor Jim Watson reacted angrily when photos appeared on Twitter of upside-down Canadian flags and convoy placards being draped on the statue of Terry Fox on Wellington Street.

“This is completely unacceptable,” Watson tweeted.

“This kind of stunt by protesters does not advance their cause.”

He said he asked city staff to remove the items.

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Watson’s decision was applauded by Brad West, mayor of Port Coquitlam, B.C., Terry Fox’s home town.

“He’s our city’s hero, national inspiration and an unifier,” West tweeted. “Whatever your cause, you don’t get to appropriate his legacy and you don’t touch his statue. Ever.”


2 p.m.

Bernier: Where is Erin O’Toole?

People’s Party of Canada leader Maxime Bernier was cozying up to supporters, some of whom were wearing PPC caps or toques, during the protest on Parliament Hill.

In an interview with National Post’s Catherine Lévesque, Bernier criticized Conservative Party of Canada leader Erin O’Toole for not showing up.

“He’s not a leader! He’s afraid of people. If you want to fight for real Conservative values, you must be with the people,” Bernier said.

On Friday, O’Toole tweeted photographs of him meeting with truckers driving to Ottawa. “I support their right to be heard, and I call on Justin Trudeau to meet with these hard-working Canadians to hear their concerns. Please protest safely this weekend,” he wrote.

The prime minister was in isolation Saturday somewhere in the capital region — CBC reported the family had been relocated from Rideau Cottage — after one of his children was infected by COVID.

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1:45 p.m.

Crowd on Parliament Hill grows, moves onto street

Supporters of the convoy overflowed from the front lawn of Parliament Hill, with many spilling onto nearby Wellington Street.

The crowd was greeted with a heavy police presence, including RCMP, Parliamentary Protective Service and Ottawa police officers, as well as members from other police agencies such as the Sûreté du Québec.

Protesters set off red and white smoke signals, and some were playing drums and bongos. Parliament Hill was a sea of Canadian flags dotted with homemade signs, many criticizing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other leaders seen as overly supportive of vaccine mandates. Other signs were dismissive of the COVID vaccines or the pandemic.

Many maskless protesters were seen at the nearby Rideau Centre mall.

Groups sat on the floor and tried to escape the cold. Bathroom lineups wound across the mall and protesters set off at least one shop’s security alarm when they leaned against its closed door.

Security guards had long given up trying to get the protesters to wear masks

“There are so many people and they are very aggressive,” one security guard said.

Nearly one hundred people, mostly protesters carrying signs and flags, lined up outside the LCBO inside the mall. Some handed out beers to other protesters and appeared intoxicated and clashed with the liquor store’s security staff asking them to wear masks.

Jolly Bimbachi said she worried about the scene at the mall, where her daughter was working on Saturday.

Her daughter, she said, told her that barely anyone was wearing a mask and was instructed by her bosses to close up shop if things escalated.

Bimbachi said as a person of colour she was very “nervous” about the tone of the protests. The language and signs used by the protesters suggested there was a racial element at play, she explained.

“The Confederate flag being flown is a big sign of that,” she added.


12:30 p.m.

Reports of fireworks on the Hill, Toronto police vehicles arrive on scene

Reports of fireworks near the protest site on Wellington Street. Ottawa Police Service said they had not received any reports of fireworks, but referred questions to the Parliamentary Protective Services, which did not respond to queries.

Meanwhile, a group of Toronto police vehicles were seen entering the main protest zone, according to a Postmedia photographer.

And three of the five bridges into Ottawa from Gatineau -— the Chaudière, Alexandra and Portage crossings — were closed to vehicle traffic heading to Ottawa. Pedestrians were permitted to cross.

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Gatineau police said the closings had backed up traffic into the West Quebec city and they asked residents to avoid travelling to the area.


11:10 a.m.

Cars removed from National War Memorial, says Watson

Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson says Ottawa police had removed cars parked at the National War Memorial.

Watson called the site “sacred ground” and parking there a “sign of complete disrespect.”

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11:05 a.m.

PM moved due to security concerns, CBC reports

CBC reported the Prime Minister was hunkered down in an undisclosed location due to security concerns. His itinerary for Saturday was more vague than usual. It simply listed his location as the National Capital Region, which includes Gatineau.

Trudeau went into isolation after being exposed to COVID-19 from one of his children, but had since tested negative.

When reached for comment Saturday morning, the Prime Minister’s Office said Trudeau was continuing to “isolate in the National Capital Region and work remotely.”

“We’ve consulted Ottawa Public Health on appropriate protocols. As always, we do not comment on security matters,” the PMO statement concluded.


11 a.m.

Delays in and around Ottawa as convoy crowd grows

The Ottawa Paramedic Service had received no major injury reports related to the protest as of 11:30 a.m., spokesperson Marc-Antoine Deschamps said.

“Right now we’re just supporting police operations and our city partners and our other partners with the event,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Ontario Provincial Police warned of slowdowns on virtually all major routes into Ottawa as more convoy participants headed to the city.

The OPP has posted advisories on Twitter advising drivers to seek out alternate routes due to slowdowns caused by the convoy on Highway 17, the 417 and 416, as well as the Long Sault Bridge near Hawkesbury. Traffic was moving slow, police said, eastbound on Highway 17 and Highway 417 in areas west of Ottawa, while traffic was slow northbound on the 416 and westbound on the 417 in areas east of the capital.

In downtown Ottawa, the crowd continued to grow.

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On Rideau Street, a long procession of SUVs, sedans and a few heavy trucks lined up, heading towards Parliament Hill.

Inside the Rideau Centre, maskless patrons milled about and occasionally burst into shouts of “Freedom.”

“If they don’t have a mask on, offer them one,” one security guard explained to another. “But they don’t have to wear it.”

Ottawa By-Law disagreed strongly in a tweet:

“MASKS ARE REQUIRED INDOORS,” the agency messaged.

“Just a reminder to everyone including tourist, a mask that covers your mouth, nose and chin is required when entering indoor public settings and businesses in Ontario.”

Three officers from Parliamentary Protective Services stood outside the Senate, one of them carrying a military-style rifle.

Traffic appeared not to move near the Hill, with vehicles idling, honking and revving their engines while at a complete stop along Elgin Street and around the National War Memorial.

The site of cars parked at the memorial prompted a social media rebuke from the federal veterans affairs minister.

Lawrence MacAulay said on Twitter that, while he respected the right to protest, it was disrespectful to use that site as parking.

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11 a.m.

Organizers cancel vigil to mark anniversary of mosque shooting

Organizers cancelled a planned in-person vigil in Ottawa to mark the fifth anniversary of the Quebec City mosque shooting that left six men dead and five others seriously wounded.

A gunman shot and killed six worshippers shortly after the end of evening prayers on Jan. 29, 2017.

Canadians United Against Hate had organized an interfaith candlelight vigil for tonight at a human rights monument by Ottawa City Hall, a few blocks south of Parliament Hill.

The group said it would be holding a virtual vigil because of the truckers’ protest in downtown Ottawa and threats of violence emanating from some attendees.

The Ottawa event was one of several organized by community groups.

The events coincided with the first National Day of Remembrance of the Quebec City Mosque Attack and Action Against Islamophobia, which was proclaimed last April.

10:10 a.m.

More vehicles headed for Ottawa, says truck stop owner

Thousands more vehicles were set to arrive in Ottawa on Saturday, according to those who saw the convoys parked outside the city, poised to enter.

Tom Orr, owner of the Antrim truck stop in Arnprior, said his lot was full with over 120 heavy trucks and 200 or so other vehicles — and he had to turn many away.

Just after 9 a.m., Orr said people were just waking up after spending the night in their trucks or vehicles. The convoy was leaving for Ottawa at 11 a.m. and was expected to arrive around noon.

“There’ll be two or three thousand I think,” Orr said of the convoys arriving on Saturday.

Where would they go, seeing that the roads around Parliament were already jammed?

“They’ll just keep clogging them,” Orr suspected.

The crowd had been peaceful and co-operative, he added.

“I was nervous all week and I’m just glad to see everyone off without a hitch and nobody got hurt,” he said.

“I mean with this extreme cold, too, there was probably 500 or 800 people in Arnprior last night who slept in vehicles. Everything went off without a hitch. I was worried somebody would get carbon monoxide poisoning or something.”

Despite a few more extreme elements in the groups, there had been little to no tension with the group, he said.

“All of our staff have their masks on,” Orr said, “and there was five or six people that had a nice quiet, ‘You don’t need that mask,’ and then I’d say, ‘I understand, but it can’t bother you. That’s what you’re fighting for, the freedom.’ And then they’d say, ‘Oh, no, I don’t mean that.’”

The Ottawa Police Service posted instructions on their website for participants of the rally, instructing them to leave space open for emergency vehicles and to stay off of Elgin Street, Laurier Avenue and Nicholas Avenue, which had been designated as emergency routes.

The police also noted that no closed trailers were permitted on Wellington Street or near Parliament Hill.


9:25 a.m.

Downtown roadways closed as more truckers expected to arrive Saturday

Ottawa police reported Mackenzie King Bridge westbound was closed between Waller and Elgin due to the demonstration.

More members of a convoy of truckers opposing vaccine mandates were expected to arrive in Ottawa on Saturday, with the rolling protest already leading to traffic disruptions and multiple road closures in the city’s core.

The first trucks and vehicles — that supporters have called the Freedom Convoy — entered downtown Friday on Ottawa amid the din of air horns. Some drivers said they would stay until the government caved to their demands. Officials, though, expected the bulk of what could be several thousand vehicles would arrive on Saturday.

Downtown Ottawa on Friday was jammed as a couple hundred vehicles decked out in Canadian flags arrived along Wellington and Queen streets.

The Alexandra Bridge linking Ottawa and Gatineau was closed to traffic at 6 p.m. Friday until further notice. In a media release, Public Services and Procurement Canada cited “a load restriction” for the closure. The federal department also instituted lane reductions on the Macdonald-Cartier Bridge beginning at 8 p.m.

The Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway was also closed westbound between Booth and Carling, and eastbound between Island Park and Booth.

Ottawa police tweeted traffic regulations and street closures for demonstrators en route. They noted that a main consideration was a maximum weight of 32 tonnes for vehicles on city streets.

The public was being advised to avoid the downtown core if they could and to use 911 emergency service appropriately as police devotes significant resources to managing the demonstrations — and even warned about the possibility of delays and gaps in their services, depending on how the weekend’s events unroll.

Somerset Coun. Catherine McKenny, who represents downtown Ottawa on city council, said on Twitter Saturday morning that traffic impacts were “low,” but were expected to become more severe later in the day.

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While the Ottawa Police Service had been in constant communication with the main players behind the “Freedom Convoy,” Chief Peter Sloly on Friday said there were “other, parallel demonstrators who we have not been able to engage fully with” as well as social media actors “who may or may not actually come to the city to participate in the demonstrations, but who are nonetheless inciting hate, violence and in some cases, criminality to take place in our city.”

Sloly said the “core” organizers of the trucker convoy and demonstrations planned for the nation’s capital had advised city police that it would be peaceful, but warned that the weekend’s events would be “fluid, risky and significant.”

Together with partners, OPS, as the lead agency on the file, said it had done extensive planning for what could come this weekend, even as major variables like the number of trucks and demonstrators, and their end date, still couldn’t be confirmed.

The protest activities could continue into next week, Sloly said.

– With files from Matthew Lapierre, Taylor Blewett and Marco Vigliotti

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