Freedom Convoy protests [Split from All things 2019-nCoV]

[Remius]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1585263000579080195

Some interesting nuggets in this one.

 

[FormerHorseGuard]

Size of this protest, size of the OPS and what officers they could deploy were not equal.
The OPS Commander said they had a plan but wanted the Police Chief to stay out of it.
The OPS had a deal with local tow companies, for drivers, operators, offered protection and camo to hide the company names ( have you seen the custom paint jobs some of the wreckers have in this area, they are all TV stars so the paint jobs are next level), using city equipment
This enacting of the law just sped the process up, offered money and man power.

Canadians have the right to protest, suppose to be peaceful protesting, but the peace level depends what side of the protest you are on.
Was this protest peaceful? What do you consider as peaceful? Noise Levels, blocking streets and forcing the shutdown of business and making it hard to get to home and work. Sounds peaceful till it affects you on a personal level.

This protest was peaceful in the fact there were no deaths, no looting, no gun fire, and no real violence.
It could of been a lot worse, and could of turned ugly like protests in the US.

 

[mariomike]

To their credit, the police - finally - took back control of the streets.

Or, to put it another way,

All they care about was that the trash was finally taken out.

 

[Good2Golf]

To their credit, the police - finally - took back control of the streets.

…and to their credit, the majority of the demonstrators left the site.

 

[Kat Stevens]

Size of this protest, size of the OPS and what officers they could deploy were not equal.
The OPS Commander said they had a plan but wanted the Police Chief to stay out of it.
The OPS had a deal with local tow companies, for drivers, operators, offered protection and camo to hide the company names ( have you seen the custom paint jobs some of the wreckers have in this area, they are all TV stars so the paint jobs are next level), using city equipment
This enacting of the law just sped the process up, offered money and man power.

Canadians have the right to protest, suppose to be peaceful protesting, but the peace level depends what side of the protest you are on.
Was this protest peaceful? What do you consider as peaceful? Noise Levels, blocking streets and forcing the shutdown of business and making it hard to get to home and work. Sounds peaceful till it affects you on a personal level.

This protest was peaceful in the fact there were no deaths, no looting, no gun fire, and no real violence.
It could of been a lot worse, and could of turned ugly like protests in the US.

Me auntie could have been born with bollocks, but then she'd be me uncle.

 

[mariomike]

Be interesting to see if Conservative politicians embrace the freedom community, or socially distance themselves, or try to stay low key and walk a fine line down the middle come next election.

 

[Haggis]

Be interesting to see if Conservative politicians embrace the freedom community, or socially distance themselves, or try to stay low key and walk a fine line down the middle come next election.

No chance of that. The Liberals will use photos of Polievere and other CPC candidates rubbing shoulders with the truckers and all other manner of disreputable characters at every opportunity.

 

[Jarnhamar]

No chance of that. The Liberals will use photos of Polievere and other CPC candidates rubbing shoulders with the truckers and all other manner of disreputable characters at every opportunity.

Pfft, amateurs.

Let me know when Polievere has the balls to pose with an assassin.

 

[brihard]

Size of this protest, size of the OPS and what officers they could deploy were not equal.
The OPS Commander said they had a plan but wanted the Police Chief to stay out of it.
The OPS had a deal with local tow companies, for drivers, operators, offered protection and camo to hide the company names ( have you seen the custom paint jobs some of the wreckers have in this area, they are all TV stars so the paint jobs are next level), using city equipment
This enacting of the law just sped the process up, offered money and man power.

Canadians have the right to protest, suppose to be peaceful protesting, but the peace level depends what side of the protest you are on.
Was this protest peaceful? What do you consider as peaceful? Noise Levels, blocking streets and forcing the shutdown of business and making it hard to get to home and work. Sounds peaceful till it affects you on a personal level.

This protest was peaceful in the fact there were no deaths, no looting, no gun fire, and no real violence.
It could have been a lot worse, and could have turned ugly like protests in the US.

I’m still waiting for clarity on just what was going on with the tow trucks. Ottawa’s saying they got a bunch, feds are saying that arrangement fell through at the 11th hour over driver/operator demands indemnifications, and it sounds like OPP were actually handling those arrangements? I’m not very clear on it. I hope we get more clarity on just what the situation was between, who knew what, and when.

As an aside, the amount of documents posted on the commission website is incredible. If you want to see what the internal messaging, planning, and intelligence sharing looks like, including at the uppermost levels, a whole ton of mostly unredacted stuff has been shared. It’s so weird seeing all this info out in the public domain. Anyone with an interest in the behind the scenes could get lost in the wealth of material being shared.

 

[daftandbarmy]

Pfft, amateurs.

Let me know when Polievere has the balls to pose with an assassin.

Or invite terrorists to a dinner party

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/jaspal-atwal-invite-dinner-sophie-1.4545881

 

[Brad Sallows]

Enjoying a headline at CBC. The EA was necessary because: (drumroll...) tow trucks.

"Police needed Emergencies Act after deal to secure tow trucks fell through, federal lawyer says"

 

[lenaitch]

Whatever one's politics,

Armine Yalnizyan: Why you’ll help foot the bill for billions lost due to Ottawa protests — whatever your views

The so-called ‘working-class protest’ in Ottawa hurt the working class the most, and we’re all going to pick up the tab for the damage done, Armine Yalnizyan writes.

www.thestar.com

All major security operations in urban areas disrupt people; the difference with this one was sheer size of the number of people disrupted and the length. Thinking back to Gxx conferences, Papal visits, Royal visits, areas and roads are closed anywhere from a few minutes to a few days. Think of the business disruption and damage of the G7 a few years ago. First responder agencies get their costs covered; the general public and businesses, not so much.

 

[Good2Golf]

Enjoying a headline at CBC. The EA was necessary because: (drumroll...) tow trucks.

"Police needed Emergencies Act after deal to secure tow trucks fell through, federal lawyer says"

Other than all the OC Transpo 30t wreckers that everyone with the gift of sight saw for themselves back in February…

Beside, wasn’t the Federal Government’s justification back in February based on information provided by the CBC?

 

[brihard]

Other than all the OC Transpo 30t wreckers that everyone with the gift of sight saw for themselves back in February…

Beside, wasn’t the Federal Government’s justification back in February based on information provided by the CBC?

Honest question because I don’t know- how many did OC have at that time? I thought it was quite a low number?

 

[Good2Golf]

Honest question because I don’t know- how many did OC have at that time? I thought it was quite a low number?

I physically counted five (5) at the Industrial Ave/St.Laurent Blvd OC Transpo yard. I don’t know where else they are stationed, and I heard that some assets were moved from there to support OTrain modification tooling, but I don’t know if that included moving the wreckers elsewhere (ie. to know if there were/are more than five heavy wreckers in the OC Transpo fleet).

 

[childs56]

Size of this protest, size of the OPS and what officers they could deploy were not equal.
The OPS Commander said they had a plan but wanted the Police Chief to stay out of it.
The OPS had a deal with local tow companies, for drivers, operators, offered protection and camo to hide the company names ( have you seen the custom paint jobs some of the wreckers have in this area, they are all TV stars so the paint jobs are next level), using city equipment
This enacting of the law just sped the process up, offered money and man power.

Canadians have the right to protest,

Yes they do and they did.

suppose to be peaceful protesting, but the peace level depends what side of the protest you are on.
Was this protest peaceful? What do you consider as peaceful?

Peaceful means non violent.

Noise Levels, blocking streets

The Police blocked more streets then the protest did.

and forcing the shutdown of business

Who forced the shut down of Businesses, the Protesters or the Police?

and making it hard to get to home and work. Sounds peaceful till it affects you on a personal level.

Was there rioters?

This protest was peaceful in the fact there were no deaths, no looting, no gun fire, and no real violence.
It could of been a lot worse, and could of turned ugly like protests in the US.

Or Vancouver, Qualicum, Montreal, Toronto and the list goes on.

 

[brihard]

The Police blocked more streets then the protest did.

Who forced the shut down of Businesses, the Protesters or the Police?

You’ve been misinformed; this is incorrect info. The police didn’t shut down businesses because of the protests. Further upthread there was discussion of this, including the 175 stores in the Rideau Centre mall being closed by mall management because they did not feel they could safely open. Many other downtown businesses were in the same boat.

Up until February 17th, police had only blocked the bare minimum necessary streets immediately surrounding the protest. In all the cases I saw when I visited the perimeter (though I didn’t see every bit of it), they closed the streets where they did because of you went further, you would be unable to then drive further because of the occupiers. E.g., MacKenzie was blocked southbound past Murray, because MacKenzie and Wellington, the next intersection, was blocked. Police, however, still allowed entry by those with lawful business, such as, in that case, vehicles going to the side parking and service entrance of the Chateau Laurier hotel. The ‘one block out’ road closures only impacted vehicles. Anyone of a mind to park outside the perimeter and walk the one block in to protest or visit a business was free to.

The much larger exclusion zone wasn’t established until February 17th, three days after the EA proclamation, and the day before the clearance operation started. That served as an outer cordon to keep reinforcements away from the occupation while public order was being restored, but again, those not involved with the convoy who had lawful business in the exclusion zone were free to enter.

 

[FormerHorseGuard]

Yes they do and they did. this went from protestor to blockade and control. Protesters go home do not move in and take over for long term. Protestors have taken a side, I do not have to agree with their side. I do not have to agree with what they say is my freedom and how they are protecting my freedoms. Or how to use my freedom. My freedom here in Canada is much better than my freedom when I lived in the USA. But does not mean I have to accept your version of freedom over what I think is my freedom.

Peaceful means non violent.Peaceful in the means no one was killed or seriously wounded. But peaceful also means you do not use intimidation as weapon in your protest. The people who live down town in the area, were being forced to listen to trucks idle all day and night. Suck in exhaust fumes because the traffic did not move. They had to put up with people using their yards, doorways as bathrooms. Sure they shoveled the snow at the National War Memorial and swept it up. But did they do damage with shovels and ice scrappers chipping the ice away? Usually not shoveled because ice and snow work as natural barrier to foot traffic and salt and ice melting chemicals on your boots can cause damage to stone and stone work. They did great PR stunts, but the rest was a lot of intimidation of their fellow Canadians who live and work down there.

The Police blocked more streets then the protest did. the company I work for owns property in the area of the protest zone, we could not get to it for trucks and cars blocking the streets. Guess you did not have to work in the area.

Who forced the shut down of Businesses, the Protesters or the Police? A local daycare was forced to close because staff could not get there to look after their clients needs. Rideau Center was closed ( people put out of work ) because protesters cause problems for staff and shoppers to get there, and then caused stoppages because of the mask policies.

Was there rioters? The final days there was protesters shoving back at the police lines, and that goes from protester to rioter, once you disobey a legal order to move that is no longer a protest when you touch a law enforcement officer.

Or Vancouver, Qualicum, Montreal, Toronto and the list goes on. this was handled well i think, but I have only been caught in one riot in my life ( Rodney King riot downtown Toronto, came out of Swiss Chatel near the old Maple Gardens, right in to the middle of the police line and the rioters). If this would have been a protest in the US, there would of been armed troops from the NG deployed, heavily armed Police and Private security companies all armed . If you actually look at it for the size of the protest and the real estate it took up, the response was very light compared to other Nations and how they would of reacted to it. No troops, no tanks, no water canons, very little CS, or pepper spray, just police and horse unit. Some injuries on both sides of the lines. No gun fire, no deaths, no looting or non I saw reported, just a big mess to clean up of trash, human waste and snow clearing afterwards.

But you have to look at the long term changes it made to the area. Long term traffic rerouting, access to Parliament Hill for the average person is now a questionable thing to do. Talking of making it more like the US Capitol district, more special police ( Parliament Hill already has a private police service now after the shooting there), road closures, might not be allowed to enjoy the park like setting of the Hill and area. It has made Ottawa and the various government departments rethinking long term access, and tourism enjoyment of the area, and how to restrict access .

 

[Brad Sallows]

What is needed is a big mall, and lots of other park-like spaces for people to assemble and gripe.

 

[FSTO]

But you have to look at the long term changes it made to the area. Long term traffic rerouting, access to Parliament Hill for the average person is now a questionable thing to do. Talking of making it more like the US Capitol district, more special police ( Parliament Hill already has a private police service now after the shooting there), road closures, might not be allowed to enjoy the park like setting of the Hill and area. It has made Ottawa and the various government departments rethinking long term access, and tourism enjoyment of the area, and how to restrict access .

I was in Ottawa a couple of weeks ago. I walked all about Parliament Hill. Not much of a change at all except for the lack of traffic on Wellington. But for pedestrians there has not been much of a change at all.