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The disparity in experience shared during the first day of public consultation on Tuesday showed how polarizing the protests have become.
Publication date:
July 13, 2022 • 4 hours ago • 4 minutes read • 45 comments Ottawa’s auditor general says her review of the Freedom Convoy response will move on different grounds than the federal review of the decision to trigger the Emergency Act . Photo by Ashley Fraser/Postmedia
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Ottawa residents expressed frustration with the city’s response to the Freedom Convoy at a public discussion session Tuesday that revealed deep divisions over how the protests are perceived.
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The disparity in shared experience showed how polarizing the protests had become. For supporters, the protesters were “the most peaceful Canadians ever to gather downtown.” Meanwhile, residents haunted by honking horns or the smell of diesel in their neighborhoods described them as “white nationalists” and said they felt terrorized.
The public consultation is part of a general review of the city’s and the Ottawa Police Service’s responses to the protests, conducted by Natalie Gudgeon, Ottawa’s auditor general.
Carly Spencer, a Centertown resident, described being afraid to be on the street outside her apartment and frustrated by the lack of action by police and the city against the convoy.
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“The pandemic has made it difficult to get out of the house, and the convoy has made it seemingly impossible,” Spencer said. “The complete lack of police intervention or any intervention by anyone seemed like a horror movie where the people of Centretown were screaming and no one could hear us.”
Larry Taroff, another speaker, called the protests a “monthly act of domestic terrorism,” called their supporters white nationalists and said residents should take matters into their own hands to hasten the protest’s end amid police and city inaction.
City of Ottawa Auditor General Natalie Gudgeon is reviewing the city’s and Ottawa Police Service’s responses to the Freedom Convoy protest that occupied part of downtown for more than three weeks this past winter. TONY CALDWELL/POSTMEDIA Photo by Tony Caldwell/Postmedia
Other speakers, most of whom said they live downtown and have to contend with constant honking, fireworks and bonfires, echoed Spencer and Taroff’s sentiments. The city, several said, should have approached the situation the same way it has done natural disasters before: conducting health checks on affected residents and setting up respite centers, for example.
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But those narratives clashed sharply with those of supporters of the convoys, who described the movement as peaceful, justified and brutally removed from the streets by power-hungry politicians.
Cynthia Paquin, an Overbrook resident who said she has traveled downtown every day of the protests, said she understands it’s disruptive, “but that’s the nature of the protest.”
“The truck drivers and supporters I met were nothing like the far-right white supremacist conspiracy theorists they are being portrayed as,” Paquin said. “I met people who were hurt by the government’s response to COVID and just wanted to be heard. That’s what I saw. They came from all over Canada, men and women, young and old.
The public consultation was heard by active Freedom Convoy supporters, including Rob Stockie, a former officer with the Ottawa Police Service and a member of Police on Guard for Thee, an organization made up of police officers who disagree with some of the pandemic restrictions and encourage protests in February. Stokey downplayed the impact of the protest and said as an officer he has seen worse crowds on Canada Day.
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Zachary Boissineau, a gym owner and personal trainer who defied the lockdown orders, said the protests were blocking the city “in a beautifully organized way”. He described a joyful, relaxed environment that caused minimal inconvenience to residents or law enforcement.
“I made it a point to go up to thank every police officer I saw,” he said. “I stopped and talked to a lot of employees and asked them what their experience was. All – not most – they all said the people were friendly and it was some of the easiest shifts they’d worked.”
Another speaker, identified only as Gabriel, blamed residents for the impact and consequences of the protest. “To my fellow citizens who were upset by the protests,” he said, “you did this. You did this by allowing doctors to be censored, you did this by allowing vaccine mandates.
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At one point, the public consultation facilitator had to step in and urge participants not to use derogatory language after a speaker implied that a previous speaker was a white nationalist.
A file photo shows trucks parked in downtown Ottawa on Feb. 4 as part of the Freedom Convoy protest. Photo by DAVE CHAN / AFP via Getty Images
The consultation was attended by 12 people. Five said they were supporters of the protest, six said they were not, and one person did not appear to take a stand, explaining that he thought the protest was peaceful but had negatively affected his family.
Tuesday’s meeting was the first of two, with a total of 25 people registered to speak about their experiences of the protests. The second will be held on Wednesday at 11 am
Earlier this week, Gougeon said her review would cover various matters from the federal government’s Public Order Emergency Commission, which is looking into the circumstances that led to the invocation of the Emergency Act.
Residents who have not registered to speak at the public consultation but who would like to provide comments about their experience during the convoy protests can do so by sending a written message to protestaudit@ottawa.ca or by completing an online survey on the Auditor General’s website, oagottawa.ca.
Gougeon said more than 500 people had completed the survey as of Tuesday.
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