Harassed for wearing a mask and nearly hit by a truck: Ottawa residents revive trucker convoy protest

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The second day of the city’s public hearings on the convoy protest was dominated by people describing how they were hurt by the blockade of downtown streets last winter and frustrated by the failure of authorities to end it.

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One woman said she was nearly hit by a truck with a Fu**Trudeau flag driving down the sidewalk, while others described being harassed for wearing masks and suffering both emotionally and physically from the sound of its horn, fumes from the diesel and chaos during the three months. protest week.

Representatives from two social service organizations said services were disrupted and the city’s most vulnerable people were injured, including older people and women in a shelter who were afraid to venture out.

Ottawa Auditor General Nathalie Gougeon is investigating how residents were affected by the “Freedom Convoy” and the city’s response.

In addition to two public hearings, residents can submit comments and complete a survey.

The written submissions will not be made public because they are provided “in confidence,” a statement from the auditor general’s office said. “Information will be aggregated and thematic issues may be referenced in our report.”

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Tuesday’s Zoom audience was split between residents who opposed and supported the convoy, while most delegations for Wednesday’s final session recounted negative experiences and expressed frustration that city officials and police were unable to control the protest and protect residents.

Ottawa resident Flora Love, who said she received the mayor’s city builder award in 2013, called the protest a “siege.”

There was little action by the city to deter protesters from “engaging in dangerous public activity, irreverent behavior, vile hate speech, traumatic visual, verbal and physical assaults…” Love said.

The threatening presence of drunk people and large party groups was stressful, Love said, and she and his friends were harassed and insulted for wearing masks while walking downtown.

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“They called us “b—-” or (they said), ‘Take it off.’ rude names. Several of us had our masks ripped off. I was walking down Wellington Street and two guys jumped on me, trying to punch me in the head. I had to turn around.

Love said the incessant air horns caused people she knew to experience “physical illnesses, headaches, nausea, stress, burning sensations in the lungs, swollen and cankered tongues.”

Some residents were allergic to the rampant stench of marijuana smoke, and “several of us developed skin rashes from excessive stress,” he said.

Andrea Chandler, who has lived and worked in Ottawa for 30 years, said she couldn’t believe her eyes at the center.

“Trucks blocking all the roads… There were hate flags and anti-Semitic posters. honking diesel fumes. People were carrying fuel drums and there were lots of drums on the street.”

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During one visit, Chandler said, “a campfire was burning around Metcalfe and Slater, and a nearby parking lot reeked of urine. As I was walking down the sidewalk, heading south on Metcalfe, a truck with an F Trudeau sign pulled up onto the sidewalk and started driving down the sidewalk toward me. I stood my ground and the truck returned to the road.

“I was in the Soviet Union when it collapsed in December 1991. Walking down Wellington Street during the convoy occupation brought back memories of that experience. There were people in uniform standing around, seemingly doing nothing and not making eye contact. There was the smell of diesel, there were trucks lurking for no apparent purpose.”

Chandler said he no longer considered Ottawa a safe place to live and hoped to leave.

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“To this day, I get a sick feeling in my stomach when I see a black van, or even any truck, with a Canadian flag, the flag of the country where I was born and have lived most of my life, that I was proud to display on my backpack when I went abroad.”

A spokesman for Cornerstone Housing for Women, which operates a shelter in the city center, said the occupation caused “collective trauma across all of our services and vulnerable people in our community.”

“Residents and staff were afraid to leave the shelter, especially women of color,” said Amber Bramer.

Protesters came to the door of the shelter, “aggressively forcing us to take their donations when we respectfully declined residents who were in the shelter who did not want these donations,” he said. (In an interview, Bramer explained that protesters showed up with extra food and supplies, like granola bars and Lysol wipes, as well as money.)

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“Protesters were harassing staff to take a place in the shelter as well,” he told the hearing.

The noise of horns and trucks was “pure torture” for some residents, who experienced ringing in their ears for months, he said.

“A woman was admitted to the hospital because it was too much to bear.”

Ottawa resident Roger Soloshy said he welcomed the protesters to the city and praised former police chief Peter Sloly for maintaining good relations with them, rather than taking a confrontational approach.

On Wellington Street, the atmosphere was “joyful, with displays of patriotism, flags and unity,” said Solosky, who condemned the use of police to evict protesters and trucks.

“This was a political crisis that needed a political solution, and it is disappointing that our elected officials chose to support the use of force under emergency powers.”

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