Protests linked to the ‘freedom convoy’ last winter in Ottawa and Alberta cost the federal government at least $14 million, documents obtained by The Press.
Posted at 5:00 a.m.
An itemized invoice from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), obtained under the Access to Information Actreveals that the blockade of truckers at the border crossing in Coutts, Alberta, has cost nearly 6 million so far.
Police base pay and overtime are the biggest expense in that bill, around $4.7 million.
Added to this are nearly $1 million in travel expenses. From January 29 to February 15, truckers blocked the Canada-US border crossing in the town of Coutts, in southern Alberta, to protest against the compulsory vaccination of cross-border truckers – and more broadly against all health restrictions related to COVID-19.
The bills add up in Ottawa
On the side of the federal capital, the RCMP notably disbursed more than 1.6 million between January 23 and the 1er March, while the freedom convoy in Ottawa, according to an English document also obtained under the Access to Information Act.
This amount represents the costs for overtime and travel expenses, including meals and accommodation, processed by the RCMP financial system.
Recall that in January and February, the streets of downtown Ottawa were blocked for weeks, as thousands of people converged on Parliament Hill to demand the removal of sanitary measures and demonstrate against the federal government. .
PHOTO SARAH MONGEAU-BIRKETT, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Convoy of freedom in February, in Ottawa
Police eventually managed to drive the protesters away and tow away the trucks and other vehicles that were blocking major downtown thoroughfares.
A large part of the bill is attributable to travel expenses, which amount to $1,606,175, the rest being related in particular to accommodation ($13,000) and meals ($6,720).
No other information is provided. Expenses disclosed by the police force do not include base salaries and “overhead costs, including those related to support units.”
In addition, the RCMP paid out at least $3.5 million in related costs in January and February during the protest in Ottawa.
According to a publicly available database, there are 24 government contracts granted to various catering, accommodation, transportation and tent and aircraft rental services.
PHOTO SARAH MONGEAU-BIRKETT, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
February truckers protest in Ottawa
These sums disbursed by the federal government to manage the demonstrations which shook Canada last winter are in addition to those committed by the City of Ottawa.
The 2022 truck convoy protests halted work at the Center Block and Parliamentary Visitor Center sites from January 28 to February 21, a note from Public Works and Services reads. Governments Canada (PWGSC) published in June. The costs associated with this delay “are estimated at three million dollars”.
Last June, the federal capital unveiled an estimate of the costs of the truckers’ demonstration, which would be around 37 million dollars. In that report, city officials admitted to having trouble collecting money owed under the thousands of parking tickets related to the protest.
With the collaboration of William Leclerc, The Press