A former official in charge of security for the House of Commons is calling for peaceful dialogue with participants of the truckers’ “Freedom Convoy,” as Ottawa City Council ramps up rhetoric and measures to end the protests.
In a post on Twitter, former Sergeant-at-Arms Kevin Vickers said the “Canadian Way,” which involves respectful debate and dialogue, is the way to out for the ongoing protests in Ottawa against the government’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates and other restrictions.
“There is a way to resolve this. The Canadian Way—the strength of forgiveness over the weakness of hate, listening, respecting one another, dialogue, sitting down and talking,” Vickers said in a post on Twitter on Feb. 7.
During the meeting, Watson described the truckers’ demonstration as “an aggressive and hateful occupation of our neighbourhoods,” adding that the honking of horns heard intermittently during the protests in the city’s downtown core is “tantamount to psychological warfare.”
“We will do everything in our power to take back the streets of Ottawa from the criminal activity and hooliganism that has transpired over the last nine days,” he said.
The trucker convoy encamped in Ottawa began as a protest against the federal government’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate for all truck drivers crossing the Canada-U.S. border. It soon expanded to a national movement, attracting supporters across Canada who want to see an end to COVID-19 mandates and restrictions. It has also sparked similar protests around the world.
The convoy rolled into Ottawa on Jan. 29, and organizers said they will stay in the nation’s capital until the government lifts its COVID-19 mandates.
Convoy organizers said they want to talk with the government, but so far no representatives from any level of government have contacted them.
“The first thing they’ve got to do is call us … we’re sitting here, we’re waiting by the phone,” protest organizer Benjamin Dichter said in a press conference in Ottawa on Feb. 6.
During the Ottawa city council meeting on Monday, Watson said he will ask Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to “dramatically increase our law enforcement capacity as quickly as possible.”
He said the city has also asked the chief justice of Ontario to increase fines for unlawful activities in order to assist the bylaw officers in enforcing municipal bylaws at the downtown core. He said the fines for idling would increase from $100 to $1,000, the fine for violating the noise bylaw would increase from $490 to $1,000, and the fines for encumbering a roadway would increase from $350 to $1,000.
The convoy organizers had previously raised C$10 million (US$8 million) in donations for the truckers participating in the protests in Ottawa on the crowdfunding platform GoFundMe.
On Feb. 4, GoFundMe said it would block the release of the money raised for the truckers’ convoy and would instead give it to charities of its choosing. The fundraising platform later said the donors could request a refund, but on Feb. 5 it said the funds will be automatically reimbursed.
After GoFundMe pulled the funds, Watson thanked the company for “listening to the plea made by the City and the Ottawa Police to no longer provide funds to the convoy organizers.”
On Monday, Peter Sloly, the chief of police with the Ottawa Police Service, said at the city council meeting that the end of the GoFundMe was a “successful effort,” while noting the need to prevent new fundraisers being set up for the truckers’ protests.
“As of this morning, I can report the following activities and efforts over the weekend: the end of the GoFundMe, part of almost $10 million denied to the demonstrations,” Sloly said. “I just want to advise, while that effort was successful, almost immediately other efforts to fundraise [on] other platforms around which funds were made available have popped up.”
“[It’s] a significant success between the city and the service in ending the GoFundMe, but there needs to be ongoing efforts at all levels of government to deny funding for the unlawful demonstrations.”
