Tag Archives: Ottawa

The Associated Press reports: Police wearing helmets and shields made several arrests Friday night in Canada’s capital after facing off against protesters opposed to COVID-19 mandates. Big-rig trucks attempted to make their way to Parliament Hill as part of the “Rolling Thunder” rally, organized by Freedom Fighters Canada, a group dedicated to speaking out against COVID-19 mandates. Many of the …

CTV News reports: Tamara Lich, one of the most visible organizers behind protests against COVID-19 restrictions and the Liberal government near Parliament Hill, was denied bail Tuesday. Justice Julie Bourgeois said the convoy’s effect on the community was immense and she felt Lich was obstinate and disingenuous in her responses to the court. “I cannot be reassured that if I …

CTV News reports: In the video recorded near Parliament Hill, Sen. Michael MacDonald [above right] expressed support for the protesters who occupied Ottawa for more than three weeks. “It’s a cross-section of Canadians who have said we have had enough of the bullying, and the duplicity and the lies,” he said. Reached Sunday night, MacDonald said the video was recorded …

CTV News reports: Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson is suggesting that some of the trucks and other vehicles seized by police during a two-day operation to clear out the “Freedom Convoy” protest and occupation could be used to pay for some of the policing costs. Speaking to CTV News Ottawa, Watson said this could be a chance to recoup some of …

First, a reminder about this nutbag: The so-called “freedom convoy” – which departed for Ottawa on 23 January – was the brainchild of James Bauder, an admitted conspiracy theorist who has endorsed the QAnon movement and called Covid-19 “the biggest political scam in history”. Bauder’s group, Canada Unity, contends that vaccine mandates and passports are illegal under Canada’s constitution, the …

The New York Times reports: Canadian police officers advanced on demonstrators at gunpoint, smashing truck windows and arresting protesters in front of the country’s Parliament building, an aggressive escalation in the government’s effort to finally end the protests that have roiled the nation’s capital for three weeks. Officers in riot gear, brandishing batons and rifles, pushed to regain the area …

CTV News reports: Large numbers of police officers are moving in on protesters in downtown Ottawa and making arrests — including high profile organizers Tamara Lich, Chris Barber and Pat King — during an intense clash with the demonstrators who have so far refused to leave the area. Ottawa police say they have made 70 arrests as of Friday afternoon …

CTV News reports: Large numbers of police officers are moving in on protesters in downtown Ottawa and making arrests during an intense clash with the demonstrators who have so far refused to leave the area. Images show police moving slowly on a relatively smaller line of protesters, with some being pulled out of the group and onto the ground before …

CTV News reports: Ottawa police have begun arresting protesters encamped in the downtown core, less than two hours after the city’s interim police chief warned that action to remove “Freedom Convoy” demonstrators from the area was “imminent.” Large numbers of police officers in yellow vests have been seen downtown handing leaflets to protesters, warning them to leave or risk being …

The New York Times reports: The Ontario provincial police mobilized outside Ottawa’s city center on Thursday, in what appeared to be preparation for a promised clampdown on protesters who have paralyzed the capital of Canada for three weeks. In the early morning, police officers were seen leaving a convention center near the airport where they had gathered. Police vehicles, which …

CTV News reports: The director of communications in the Ontario ministry responsible for enforcing the law is out of a job after she was tied to a $100 donation supporting the convoy blockading Ottawa streets. Marion Isabeau-Ringuette is among several government staffers and associates under scrutiny after their names or identifying information were found in a pair of leaks of …

The CBC reports: As the pandemic protest closes in on a third full week in Ottawa, the injunction against honking loud horns in Ottawa has been extended and there are again warnings to protesters of the possible consequences of staying in or coming to the capital. On Wednesday, Ottawa police began distributing written notices to remaining protesters. “You must leave …

CTV News reports: Ottawa police chief Peter Sloly has resigned, sources confirmed to CTV News Ottawa. Sloly’s resignation comes amid criticism of his handling of the ongoing trucker protests in downtown Ottawa. The protests have reached day 19, with demonstrators encamped on Wellington Street and the surrounding area and showing no signs of leaving. In the midst of the crisis …

CTV News reports: Frustration is growing on day 17 of the “Freedom Convoy” demonstration in downtown Ottawa, with counter-protesters blocking convoys on streets and councillors calling for police and government action. The “Blue Collar Convoy” scheduled to roll into the downtown core Sunday morning was greeted by human blockades at several intersections. A Facebook page said the convoy is, “Blue-collar …

The Ottawa Citizen reports: Ottawa-Centre MPP Joel Harden urged the Ontario government to reconvene the legislature to “immediately” begin debating additional emergency measures to deal with the convoy protest. Harden asked government House Leader Paul Calandra to recall the legislature to explore “immediate action” on revoking commercial licences or insurance for protesters, and to take immediate action on building safety …

CTV News reports: Donations to an Ottawa homeless shelter have reached about three quarters of a million dollars after protesters from the ‘Freedom Convoy’ harassed staff and volunteers and demanded food from their soup kitchen. More than 13,000 people have donated about $750,000 to the Shepherds of Good Hope since Jan. 30, the head of the shelter announced Thursday. “What …

The Ottawa Citizen reports: Protestors were slowly circling the Ottawa International Airport on Thursday morning, honking their horns and obstructing traffic. In a livestream on Facebook, Pat King, one of the convoy’s key organizers urged protesters to converge in Ottawa. “We’re having a parade,” King said at about 9 a.m. on the livestream being viewed by 11,500 people. At 9:12 …

The Ottawa Citizen reports: The city wants to invoke a clause in the revised Ontario Police Services Act that would allow it to bill protesters for the extra cost of policing. The tally would be enormous: an estimated $800,000 a day (times 12 and counting), plus possibly the cost of hundreds of extra outside personnel (as many as 1,800) now …

The CBC reports: Daniel Miousse was shocked to see a photo of one of his company vehicles among the truck convoy protesters in downtown Ottawa, which was recently posted online. Miousse, who owns an industrial fence company near Montreal, said he had no idea the pickup truck or his employee were in the nation’s capital. “One of our employees took …

The CBC reports: Residents described being bombarded by relentless honking, fireworks, being choked by diesel fumes, seeing hate symbols openly displayed, subjected to racial, homophobic and transphobic slurs, attacked for wearing masks, and feeling let down by all levels of government and police since the first vehicles set up Jan. 28. “I am a Jewish woman. On top of the …