(Ottawa) Some of the participants in the “freedom convoy” two years ago plan to return to downtown Ottawa on Saturday to mark the anniversary of the police operation that dislodged the demonstrators.
At a press conference Friday afternoon, two members of this “freedom movement” announced their intention to hold a rally on Parliament Hill on Saturday.
Chris Dacey, an Ottawa resident who participated in the movement two years ago, assured that it was not a question of repeating a demonstration with vehicles, as in 2022. He declared that the group planned to hold speeches and a march Saturday afternoon.
Thousands of people took to the streets around Parliament Hill in late January 2022, blocking streets with large trucks and other vehicles and refusing to travel afterward.
The demonstrators were poorly organized: several had come to Ottawa to oppose health restrictions linked to COVID-19 – which were, for the most part, no longer in force at that point – but others hoped bring down Justin Trudeau’s government.
Many downtown businesses, including the Rideau Shopping Center, were forced to close their doors due to diesel fumes and makeshift encampments on the streets of the city center. Some residents reported being harassed and many complained that they could no longer sleep at night because of the din of horns, music and fireworks.
Other demonstrators also blocked the border crossings of Windsor, Ontario, and Coutts, Alberta.
After weeks of disruption, the Trudeau government invoked the Emergency Measures Act to grant extraordinary powers to police and provincial governments and to freeze protesters’ bank accounts.
Police officers from across Ontario and Quebec were then mobilized to clear the demonstrators from the streets of Ottawa as part of a vast operation lasting a few days, which ended on February 17, 2022 – two years ago Saturday. .
The use of this exceptional measure, which had never been used since its adoption in 1988, was subsequently examined by a federal commission, as required by law. In February 2023, the “Rouleau commission” issued 56 recommendations to police and governments. Judge Paul Rouleau also concluded that the Liberals were right to invoke this exceptional law.
But last month, Federal Court Justice Richard Mosley concluded that this use of the law had been unreasonable and violated the constitutionally guaranteed right to freedom of expression. The federal government has already indicated that it will appeal this decision to the Supreme Court.
Two of the main organizers of the “freedom convoy,” Tamara Lich and Chris Barber, are on trial for mischief and other charges in a case that has dragged on for months in Ottawa.
Furthermore, the courts have not yet ruled on a request to bring a $290 million class action against the organizers, on behalf of Ottawa residents, employees and business owners.