Canada convoy: Truckers ban media as Trudeau refuses meeting and calls protest an ‘insult to truth’

Canadian truckers convoy protest continues

Ottawa mayor condemns desecration of National War Memorial, Terry Fox statue

As the truckers’ convoy that descended on Ottawa a few days ago shows no sign of departing, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced he has tested positive for Covid-19.

“This morning, I tested positive for Covid-19,” he tweeted. “I’m feeling fine – and I’ll continue to work remotely this week while following public health guidelines. Everyone, please get vaccinated and get boosted.”

On Monday, in an address to the nation, Mr Trudeau said Canadians were disgusted by the behaviour of some of the protesters.

“We are not intimidated by those who hurl abuse at small business workers and steal food from the homeless,” he said. “We won’t give in to those who fly racist flags. We won’t cave to those who engage in vandalism.”

Ottawa police say the number of protestors and vehicles has significantly reduced in the past 12 hours and there have been no deaths or injuries reported.

They have launched multiple investigations into the ‘desecration’ of monuments by the Freedom Convoy protesters, of hate crimes, and of other illegal behaviour. A hotline is being set up for residents to report any incidents to the authorities.

Key Points

• Protesters say they are not leaving Ottawa
• Ottawa major says residents feel like ‘prisoners’ in own city
• Ottawa Police launch investigations into Convoy ‘desecration’ and ‘illegal’ behaviour
• Trudeau blasts ‘fringe minority’ behind trucking convoy

[31 January 2022 15:05 · Andrew Naughtie]

Sean O’Grady writes that for all their talk of “freedom”, the truckers locking up Ottawa with their protest are not, in fact, upholding everyone’s rights in the way they claim...

The Freedom Convoy may have had some romantic, folksy appeal to Canadians when it got going, but if the Freedom Convoy does spiral into disorder and violence, it will end up alienating decent peace-loving Canadians and actually strengthening the case for vaccine mandates, purely out of a sense of disgust at the lawlessness.

In an ironic way, the Ottawa protest, like 6 January Capitol riot, may soon come to be seen as a symbol of a selfish minority seeking to impose its will and on the majority – the Anti-Freedom Convoy.

Read the full article below.

[31 January 2022 15:10 · Andrew Naughtie]

Justin Trudeau tests positive for Covid-19

As he shelters in a secure location with his family during the anti-mandate protests, Justin Trudeau has shared the news of a positive Covid-19 diagnosis.

[31 January 2022 15:55 · Andrew Naughtie]

As seen on the street

With trucks still parked in and around the city centre, Ottawa’s Monday is very much underway:

[31 January 2022 16:22 · Andrew Naughtie]

CBC reports on stress and fatigue among Ottawa residents

The CBC’s Ben Andrews and Avanthika Anand have this report on the atmosphere in Ottawa after the weekend’s events.

Sarah Mahmoud, who works at a Happy Goat Coffee Company location inside a Slater Street hotel, said the café was abnormally busy Sunday and ran out of food early. She added that while most patrons were pleasant, few wore masks inside. “They’re disrespecting me. They’re disrespecting all the staff inside of the hotel,” Mahmoud said. “They’re disrespecting everybody around them, because they don’t care about anybody else’s safety.”

[31 January 2022 16:56 · Andrew Naughtie]

The trouble with “peaceful protest"

The trucker convoy that has arrived in Ottawa has widely been described as a “peaceful” demonstration – but as the evacuation of Justin Trudeau and his family indicates, there has in fact been plenty of concern that it could lead to violence.

As events continue, there is increasing concern among observers that by describing the event as a “peaceful protest”, much of the coverage is overlooking the threats it poses.

[31 January 2022 17:19 · Andrew Naughtie]

Ottawa councillor: "Residents report being fearful and intimidated”

The grim knock-on effects of the trucker protests for Ottawa residents are becoming clearer. Mathieu Fleury, a councillor representing the city’s Rideau-Vanier Ward, has said he wants funds raised for the protest via GoFundMe to be used to offset the expense and lost earnings the truckers have caused.

[31 January 2022 17:32 · Oliver O'Connell]

Trudeau slams disrespect of science and will not meet protest organisers

In a virtual news conference, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau weighed in on protest convoy currently in the capital Ottawa.

He says the behaviour by some of the participants has to stop and there is no place in Canada for the threats, violence, hatred Canadians have witnessed.

Mr Trudeau says Canadians have a right to protest but they don’t have a right to threaten or intimidate others. He adds that anyone who joined the convoy but does not agree with the symbols of hatred that were on display should stand with other Canadians against them.

When asked if he would speak with protest organisers the prime minister says he has chosen not go anywhere near protests that have expressed hateful rhetoric, violence toward fellow citizens and a disrespect to science and frontline health workers and 90 per cent of truckers.

[31 January 2022 17:50 · Oliver O'Connell]

‘We won’t give in to those who fly racist flags’ says Trudeau

“Over the past few days, Canadians were shocked and frankly, disgusted by the behaviour displayed by some people protesting in our nation’s capital,” Mr Trudeau said.

“I want to be very clear, we are not intimidated by those who hurl insults and abuse at small business workers, and steal food from the homeless. We won’t give in to those who fly racist flags. We won’t cave to those who engage in vandalism or dishonor the memory of our veterans.”

He added: “Freedom of expression, assembly, and association are cornerstones of democracy. But Nazi symbolism, racist imagery, and desecration of war memorials are not. It is an insult to memory and truth. Hate can never be the answer.”

[31 January 2022 18:15 · Oliver O'Connell]

Trucker convoy organisers ban mainstream media from press conference

On Sunday, the Freedom Convoy 2022 held its first press conference with organisers Tamara Lich, Benjamin Dichter, and Chris Barber. They banned traditional mainstream media and only took questions from independent journalists.

Mr Dichter said: “This is also why we omitted certain news agencies from this press conference, including the Toronto Star and the CBC who are banned from this press conference. And the reason they were banned is twofold. First, this entire week the CBC, Toronto Star – Yahoo News were retweeting and reposting with a few others – kept putting stories out that our GoFundMe was frozen or suspended because of nefarious reasons. You know ‘right-wing truckers,’ ‘dangerous people,’ and it was hysterical, me and Tamara were talking.”

He added: “So we know if we had invited the Toronto Star, CBC, all of these mainstream news organizations they will do what they always do. … They’ll come in with five people and they will have these giant cameras and they’ll take up half the floor space and bully everybody else. That is not what this is about; this is about us coming together, talking to one another, answering any questions that you have. If we have the answer we will tell you, if we don’t have the answer we will tell you ‘we don’t know’ and just have a nice conversation with each other and go from there.”

[31 January 2022 18:40 · Oliver O'Connell]

Trudeau accuses Canada truckers of ‘hate, abuse and racism’

Canadian Prime Minister blasted a convoy of truckers protesting vaccine mandates as showing “disrespect to science” and championing “hate, abuse and racism” hours after announcing he had tested positive for Covid-19.

Mr Trudeau delivered fiery remarks at a virtual press conference on Monday afternoon after he was evacuated to a safe location over the weekend as thousands of truckers descended on Ottawa to block roadways.