Fed up with far right truck drivers and other extremist supporters in their city, residents from a neighborhood in Ottawa, Ontario, confronted and disrupted several truckers who were on their way downtown to join the so-called “Freedom Convoy.”
Upon learning that the route of some trucks was located nearby, Sean Burges, a senior instructor at Carleton University, posted in a neighborhood Facebook group about a plan to protest the truckers’ arrival, according to a report by Ottawa Citizen.
Around two dozen residents of his neighborhood initially joined him at the intersection at Riverside Drive and Bronson Avenue at 9 a.m. on Sunday — but that number soon swelled to hundreds of people taking part in the protest, stopping trucks in their paths and causing them to remain unable to turn around for several hours.
“My intent was to remind the people of Ottawa that we do have power and that we can stand up for ourselves,” Burges told Ottawa Citizen about his plan.
What I hoped was that Sunday’s stand would at least raise the possibility of constructive people power in Ottawa and maybe across Canada. The goal was to spark Canadians to take action and tell the small minority that is holding us all hostage, that they are tired of being held hostage by this vocal and small group.
Local media (such as the local media) are describing the protest as a huge success. The Ottawa Citizen) as the “Battle of Billings Bridge,” named after a bridge near where it took place.
The convoy of trucks that were supposed to be there could not pass the crowd. until a “negotiated retreat” was struck between them and the protesters that stopped them.
According to the terms of the retreat truck drivers were required to remove all signs, stickers and flags that they had put on their trucks supporting the far right convoy. They also had to give up their jerrycans, making it difficult for them to refuel once downtown.
“The look on their faces when they were taking down their flags was one of defeat, not of pride,” said protest participant Andrea Harden.
“I don’t want to take away anyone’s right to protest, but I wanted them to hear that they’re having a negative impact on the citizens of Ottawa,” said another participant, Sean Devine.
The convoy of truckers that have descended upon the city, calling themselves the “Freedom Convoy,” have indeed made life difficult for residents of Canada’s capital city. A number of reports have been made detailing harassment by truckersIndividuals are targeted daily and businesses are forced to close if they do not comply with rules regarding vaccines or masks.
The convoy was organized initially after Canadian truckers were required by the federal government to get fully vaccinatedIf their routes led them to the United States. Since then, it has devolved into a far right protest of any mitigation efforts against COVID-19 that Canada has implemented, including rules regarding masking in certain areas.
Residents of the city have been harassed for leaving their homes if they’re wearing masks. Participants in the convoy have also torn down pro-vaccination signs on people’s private properties, and some have even defecated on the lawns of residents who showed support for mitigation efforts.
The “Freedom Convoy” itself This is not representative for how most truckers in Canada feel.Information about new vaccine regulations and other rules that will help to stop the spread of coronavirus. Ninety percent are fully vaccinated and the Canadian Trucking Alliance opposes the disruption of life in Ottawa.
The signage and other decorations that participants have worn show that a lot of the convoy has included far-right, racist, and fascist elements. The so-called “Freedom Convoy” was “organized by known far-right figures who have espoused Islamophobic, anti-Semitic and other hateful views,” According to the Canadian Anti-Hate Network.
“Those who support the convoy movement have lost sight of the relationship between liberty and the greater good,” Henry A. Giroux wrote for Truthout. “The convoy movement is not a struggle over freedom, it is an attempt to destroy democracy in the name of freedom.”
