It may not be the main objective, but I think it was an objective.
Have people forgotten what it was like in Spring of 2020? Folks were trying to figure out what happened and how to stop the spread. The world was essentially building an airplane while flying it - we don’t have the 20/20 (heh) hindsight of now, and we can’t 100% predict what would have happened if things turned out differently.
Okay then, what do I know, I only lived through it and talked to people on the ground to see what their damage was.
The truck protests originally started in BC with Truckers out there. (they were not white racists as many believe) Many of them were doing cross border shipping, for example, they would travel over the border to get aviation fuel. Then head to Vancouver Airport fuel farm, unload and back three or so times a day. Others were delivering containers from the ship yards to storage facilities the other side of the border. Often never having person to person contact.There was no unifying issue other than general frustration, but there absolutely were clueless assholes protesting not being able to cross the US border without a vaccine.
Yet they were being forced to shut down due to the vaccine mandate imposed. Their jobs were extremely important such as delivering food and fuel. Yet they were being forced to shut down. With no compensation. Truck payments are upwards of $3000 month as is insurances. Makes life hard. There was a long list of other things that had happened that they were upset over, loading times at the federally regulated docks. , fuel costs, hours of service etc.
Those people were there before and after the actual protest. They took over some church, tried to get the GG to use their powers to remove trudeau through some rule that had nothing to do with what they were talking about. They had nothing to do with the original protest but tagged along to see if they would get more support. Turns out more then a few left their ranks when they realized it was a silly play.There also absolutely were equally clueless assholes that wanted to overthrow the government and replace them with some kind of appointed council. Remnants of said assholes are still in the city.
I was yelled at for not wearing mask, outside in my yard by some jerk. I was also chastised and ridiculed for not getting vaccinated in the first waves. It takes all kinds to make things go hmmm.Not really sure what you read, but hard to forget what some random asshole decided to yell at people in the grocery store, or the other ones while driving (dangerously) around the neighbourhood in their stupid shortbox pickup.
Most of the people who Visited Ottawa surprising were not from out west. They were locals. So figure that one out.The majority of people that I talked to were A) dumb AF B) completely misinformed and C) Loudly demonstrating both, in the most ignorant matter they could.
We wait for 30-40 min for ambulances right now there are no protests going on. It was also proven that the Police had shut down and detoured routes through out the Ottawa region.You know what isn't going to win sympathy? Slow rolling the main arteries and slowing down things like ambulances. Waited 40 minutes for an ambulance in the middle of this, and wasn't because they were stretched thin or on a call; took them that long to detour.
Many of the road blocks from the protesters allowed emergency vehicles through. Only to be blocked by the Police. It was not a great process, but the Police were responsible for much of the road chaos.
The OPS and main protest group had an agreement to move to the Park where the protests usually go to. The City council got involved and told them no. That caused some issues of political interference. Which was unfortunate.Again, you seem to not read my posts very well. I have never stated support for the acts of any protestors, though I never believed such acts reasonably amounted to some sort of existential national threat. I'm very much for the rule of law and don't believe the OPS should have directed protestors to park vehicles on city streets, then let them stay there.
Crime is getting out of hand all over. Sad to hearFor some reason you're now going on about personal anecdotes of your interactions with protestors, which are entirely separate from anything I mentioned. I bet most protests you go to will be filled with people who are inarticulate, illogical, and misunderstand the exact cause. That's not a statement on the merits of stated cause itself, however.
I've lived in downtown Ottawa too (close to Rideau St) and have plenty of anecdotes about being yelled at on the street, disturbances at grocery stores, witnessing assaults, etc... and that's not even considering any protest. Lowertown has the highest crime rates in the city, and shootings/stabbings in the Byward Market are not uncommon... so what?... Should we invoke the Emergencies Act to clean the streets since the OPS won't? Do you think such an action would be covered by Section 1 of The Charter? You've certainly made constitutional assertions before.