It was sunny Tuesday in Ottawa. The downtown streets were dead. But when I arrived on foot at the corner of Sussex and Wellington (the one that rushes towards the parliament), I became aware of the extent of the famous “freedom convoy”.
Posted at 7:00 a.m.
There were trucks as far as the eye could see, canteens that offered hot meals, rest stops for people to rest, kiosks where passing visitors were invited to make donations.
“Adopt a trucker! “, we had written on a sign.
Up to Lyon Street (near the Portage Bridge leading to Gatineau), everything is now closed and occupied by heavy goods vehicles. Trucks that were scattered on other streets in Ottawa joined those on Wellington.
This represents a distance of 1.2 kilometers. It is as if Sainte-Catherine Street, from Place des Arts to the Simons store, was completely filled with trucks and trailers.
All the rest of downtown Ottawa was deserted. The Rideau Center (which brings together 180 stores) was closed again. Can you imagine the poor traders who had just reopened their doors after weeks of closing…
I met very few policemen. The others stood apart in their cars. We really feel that the city center belongs to the demonstrators and that an immense solidarity has been created between them. After two weeks of occupation, we begin to know each other.
I slipped into a few conversations. Some were square and intimidating, but others were likeable. These men and women could be a brother-in-law, a cousin, a neighbor, a friend from CEGEP found after years.
Despite this, I constantly brought back to my memory that they are still the ones who have been putting the garnotte in the gears since the start of the pandemic. They are, in part, the ones who peddle theories and ideas that keep us from moving forward in this fight.
Speaking of ideas, it’s instructive (and dizzying) to peruse the hundreds of placards hanging from the railings of parliament. After two minutes, I no longer knew why these people were there and what their cause was.
It’s about freedom, God, the (damn) media, Trudeau who is accused of a “crime against humanity”, Gandhi, Desmond Tutu and Winston Churchill.
Some are content with a simple, well-felt “Fuck you Trudeau”, but others don’t hesitate to go all out.
Someone made his list of “historical battles”:
June 18, 1815: Waterloo
June 6, 1944: Normandy landings
January 29, 2022: Ottawa parliament
Nothing less.
The engines of the trucks were running at full speed. What makes that the cans of gasoline circulate merrily (a practice which will not be possible any more, according to the decree of the state of emergency). And smells were spreading everywhere. If these people are fighting for their “freedom”, I have understood that it is not with them that we are going to save the planet.
And through it all, there were children. Their presence is the thing that struck me the most. That and the sign “For our children, tabarnak!” »
I saw parents with their offspring. Two mothers explained to me that it was very good that way and that they found that the media did not talk about it enough. “You have to show this beautiful side,” one of them told me.
Good side? Uh… Honestly, the presence of children in this context made me very uneasy. This increased when I learned that one of the organizers of the blockade was encouraging parents to bring more children to the site in order to dissuade the police from intervening.
Let’s be clear, we are instrumentalizing the kids in this case. I saw a mother with her two sons who she had turned into sandwich men. “Freedom,” proclaimed their signs.
In the evening, we learned that the ban on bringing children or teenagers is part of the regulations that will constitute the decree which proclaims the state of emergency. This is a good thing. But a child remains the fruit of its parents…
Since Justin Trudeau invoked the Emergency Measures Actwe are witnessing an escalation of opinions on what should have been done or what has not been done to prevent the siege that has paralyzed the city of Ottawa for 19 days.
To those, I say to go for a walk in the national capital. The complexity of the situation will make them understand that the culprits are not easy to identify and should convince them that it is not tomorrow the day before that the occupants will leave the premises.
I was born in Gatineau. I worked in downtown Ottawa for about 15 years. I can tell you that I have never seen such a thing in my life in the capital. This is an absolutely exceptional situation.
Of course Jim Watson, the mayor of Ottawa, was soft, the police didn’t see it coming and Doug Ford slept on gas. You could say that. But above all, we believed that all this was not going to last. Me too, I thought so.
But the problem is this: Ottawa is, among other things, the national capital. In this case, we forgot that it was also an Ontario municipality (this often happens). The situation fell between the cracks.
Can I tell you that if the same thing had happened in Toronto, Doug Ford would have acted more quickly?
Result: it is Justin Trudeau who now finds himself managing this crisis.
There’s something I haven’t been able to hear for two days: “Yes, but in Quebec, we managed things well! Quebec has benefited from Ottawa’s experience. If a convoy of 200 trucks had first entered Montreal or Quebec and had moved to Grande-Allée or Sainte-Catherine Street to stay there, the situation would be the same.
We look at that and we say to ourselves that the federal government had no choice but to seek out the additional tools provided by the Emergency Measures Act to stop this movement. But how will he get there?
Towing? Forget that. Given the number of trucks and the way they are parked, it is absolutely impossible to remove them without creating violent clashes. These trucks are still not Tercels.
In my opinion, we are going to play the card of fines and prison sentences to discourage demonstrators.
There remains dialogue and negotiation. But with who ? This movement which is looking for a raison d’être does not even have a leader.
The people who are in Ottawa are only a few hundred. A drop of water in the ocean. Yet they are a symbol of… something. A Léger poll recently said that a third of Canadians and Quebeckers supported those who have been creating freedom convoys for the past few weeks.
Many people come to offer their support in Ottawa. I spoke with a 20-year-old Montrealer who took the bus and who has been staying at the hotel for two days in order to encourage the occupants.
I asked a few people why they are continuing this siege when health measures, both federal and provincial, are falling one after another. They continue because they have the impression that they are making governments bend. They continue because they feel like they are fighting the fight of their life.
That’s the problem with this case.
Right in the middle of Wellington Street, near Metcalfe Street, we set up a stage. This is where the speeches and announcements of the day are presented. While I was there, a pastor came to the microphone and, before delivering a fiery sermon, said, “I have some very good news for you! Ottawa’s Chief of Police has resigned! »
People applauded this “great victory”.
It seems clear to me that once the pandemic is no longer a big concern, these same people will come together again to create more blockades and come up with all kinds of theories to contradict the science.
The day when anti-gasoline car regulations come into effect or when we start banning this or that model of vehicle from the roads, these are the same people who will put the stick in the gears.
It will be easier for these people to do so. They now know that they can unite their voices, share the same bogus ideas and… make the government bend.