OTTAWA, ONTARIO — A group of about 100 frustrated Ottawa residents staged a counterprotest on Sunday, upset with authorities for not doing more to shut down the Freedom Convoy, which for the third weekend in a row has brought Canada’s capital city to its knees.
“We had to do something to show that we’re not happy with how our city has been completely let down, by the police, by the city administration, by the province,” counterprotester Greg Morrow said. “It’s shocking.”
Morrow, a longtime Ottawa resident, said he’s seen the city handle protests in the past, but the enormity of the trucker demonstrations in downtown Ottawa is something new.
“We’re used to the police doing something, and that to me is the most shocking element of all,” he told CBC News. “That’s very difficult to see … How simple it would have been to prevent all of this from happening. So going forward, I hope there is a serious conversation about policing and how these things can never be allowed to happen again.”
Another counter protest at Bank and Riverside blocking a convoy #OttawaOccupied #ott #ottnews #ottawa pic.twitter.com/OYhJdYpe8w
— Natalia Goodwin CBC (@NataliaGoodwin) February 13, 2022
Nazim Khan, a Pakistani refugee who came to Canada 23 years ago, said he was going on a hunger strike and would not eat until the convoy protesters left Ottawa.
“I would rather die than see this lawlessness in the capital of this great country,” he told reporters. Khan said he was targeted by a group of protesters who told him to “go back to your effing country.” “Canada gave me a new life, Canada embraced me, and today, they are disgracing the same Canada I came to make my new home.”
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Some of the counterprotesters at Lansdowne Park carried signs that read “Go home truckers” and “Centretown neighbours deserve better.”
Others took a more hands-on approach. A group of about 20 residents began blocking an intersection demonstrators needed to make it to the core of the protests near Parliament Hill.
The protests began late last month after a group of truckers and their supporters drove from Western Canada to Ottawa to challenge a regulation that requires truckers returning from the United States to show proof of vaccination. If the truckers are not fully vaccinated, they will be subjected to COVID-19 testing and quarantine requirements. There are similar requirements on the U.S. side of the border.
Though the Ottawa protest began with the truckers, it has shifted to a wider focus that demands all COVID-19 restrictions and lockdown measures be lifted.
Over the weekend, the number of supporters easily outnumbered law enforcement patrolling the area. On Sunday afternoon, the protests showed no signs of slowing down. Hundreds of people from different backgrounds chanted for freedom, blasted music, danced, and gave speeches aimed mostly at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Others honked horns, and a few even showed up with drums.
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Some business owners at the ByWard Market cautiously opened their doors to protesters but said they were ready to lock up if things went south. Some complained about people refusing to wear masks.
ByWard Market is a collection of quirky stores in downtown Ottawa hawking homemade cookies, chocolate, cheese, and this weekend’s biggest seller: Canadian flags.
