Convoy of Truckers in Ottawa | MPs warned of security risks

(Ottawa) A few days before the start of the school year, the deputies were warned that invitations to publish their residential address had been launched on the Internet. These calls to doxing take place in the context of the arrival of the “freedom convoy”, which has made its home in the streets of the parliamentary precinct.

Melanie Marquis
The Press

Dozens of heavy trucks and vans, offensive slogans and horns. Lots of horns. As promised, protesters took to the streets of downtown Ottawa on Friday. If many vehicles rolled, maple leaves in the wind, on the arteries of Ottawa, many others had settled on Wellington Street, in front of the Parliament.

And they may still be there when the federal elected officials return, who resume the collar Monday, after the holiday break. Consequently, an alert message was sent to them on Thursday afternoon by the Sergeant-at-Arms, Patrick McDonell, one of whose main roles is to ensure the safety of all in the parliamentary precinct.

In this internal memo obtained by The Press, he writes that “invitations to distribute the residential addresses of MPs in the Ottawa-Gatineau region have been sent to Internet users”. This practice, called in English doxing, “consist[e] seeking and disclosing someone’s personal information online, usually with the intent to harm them.

The Sergeant-at-Arms takes the opportunity to recall the “best practices” to adopt in the event of a demonstration in front of a constituency office or a home: “do not intervene”, “avoid physical altercations, even in the event of provocation”, ” close and lock all exterior doors, ”he lists in his missive.

“Worrying”

MP Kristina Michaud, from the Bloc Québécois, does not deny it: there is something worrying about the note.

“It is certain that receiving a communication like this is worrying. Seeing the images we see on television and the various messages circulating on social networks is worrying. »

For his part, New Democrat Peter Julian says he does not feel “intimidated”.

What worries him more is “the general public and journalists” who could bear the brunt of the “extremists” within the convoy. “Representatives of the media were bullied, they were spat on. This is unacceptable,” he said over the phone.

“We elected officials have a job to do, we have a responsibility to be there. We will be there,” he said.

Trudeau fears violence

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is in administrative isolation until Monday inclusive, after being exposed to COVID-19. In an interview with The Canadian Press on Friday, he said he feared slippages.

Because the convoy is no longer a protest against the vaccination obligation targeting truckers, but a forum for a small minority of “very angry” people opposed to all public health measures, some of whom espouse violence, he said. he told the agency.

The Prime Minister’s itinerary for Saturday says he is “in the National Capital Region”, which suggests he is not at his home in Rideau Cottage, Ottawa.

The Conservative Party wouldn’t comment, but its leader, Erin O’Toole, posted photos on social media Friday of him chatting with truckers “en route to Ottawa.”

Some members of the party, including Deputy Leader Candice Bergen, along with MPs Andrew Scheer and Pierre Poilievre, offered warm support for the convoy, after Mr O’Toole dithered on the issue.

As for the leader of the People’s Party of Canada, Maxime Bernier, he said he was absolutely opposed to any form of violence or attempt to replace the government, a project that some participants cherish. A government, he pleaded at a press conference on Friday, is replaced by the ballot box, not by force.

Police on the lookout

Already, on Friday, the police presence was felt. All accesses leading to the three main buildings on the hill – Centre, East, West – were cordoned off, with the exception of the main gate, the one leading to the Centennial Flame.

“It’s a complex, fluid and rapidly changing situation,” Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly said in an online news conference Friday. He also invited the population to avoid the city center on Saturday and Sunday.

With the collaboration of Lila Dussault, The Press