Front Burner - Thousands protest COVID-19 restrictions in Ottawa

Episode Date: January 31, 2022

There were raucous protests in Ottawa this weekend as thousands of protestors converged on the capital calling for an end to vaccine mandates and other pandemic restrictions. The protest was loud, filling the city's centre with the sounds of honking vehicles, and disruptive: the Rideau Centre shopping mall closed early on Saturday and will remain closed into Monday as crowds of maskless protesters showed up in defiance of public health orders. There were also some displays of disturbing imagery: swastikas and Confederate flags were spotted in the crowd, and Ottawa Police say they're investigating incidents of desecration at the National War Memorial. Today, CBC senior parliamentary reporter Travis Dhanraj is back to break down what he heard and saw on the scene.

In the Dragon's Den, a simple pitch can lead to a life-changing connection. Watch new episodes of Dragon's Den free on CBC Gem. Brought to you in part by National Angel Capital Organization, empowering Canada's entrepreneurs through angel investment and industry connections. This is a CBC Podcast. Hello, I'm Jamie Poisson. As you've probably already heard, this weekend there were raucous protests in Ottawa. We ran the Prime Minister out of town because he is too afraid to deal with the people. Thousands converged in the capital, calling for an end to vaccine mandates

and other pandemic restrictions. It was loud. People who have arrived since Friday and through the rest of the day. Disruptive. People have reached the boiling point, Centre Town, the Byward Market.

They're not just tourist attractions, they're residential neighbourhoods. And they've been upset and, you know, really put out because, quite frankly, they feel they're prisoners in their own home. Freedom! Freedom! At times, deeply disrespectful, even disturbing. Some park their cars at the tomb of the unknown soldier.

Others stuck protest signs on a Terry Fox statue. There was Nazi imagery in the crowd, like swastikas and yellow stars. Ottawa police are investigating some incidents of desecration and intimidating behavior. A local homeless shelter says one of their patrons was assaulted. behavior. A local homeless shelter says one of their patrons was assaulted. My colleague Travis Danridge has been on the scene all weekend, and he's back with us today to break down what he saw and heard. Hey, Travis, it's good to have you back. And good to be back.

It's been a busy weekend. Yes, yes. So let's get into that. Now we're talking to you Sunday evening. It's about 9.30 in Ottawa. And what's it like out there around Parliament Hill right now? Well, listen, I just got back to my place, which is about, I live in the downtown core. I'm about 15 blocks away from Parliament Hill. I can still hear, with all the doors and the windows closed, horns right now.

So the scene right now on Parliament Hill and on Wellington Street right in front is still like this weird kind of party-like atmosphere amidst all of the things that you just talked about in terms of what we have been seeing. But, you know, there were fireworks down there. There was a dance party going on. The crowd, I will say this, it is much thinner than it was yesterday night even. But the mood, it seems to be

shifting a bit as well. There was a lot more police that we saw this evening when we were out. And the folks that are there right now, they seem to be kind of the hardcore ones that are in this for the long haul. I want to talk to you more about that a little bit later in the conversation. But first, you know, you mentioned Saturday. And so that's the day that most of these protesters rolled up to Parliament Hill and the surrounding areas. Can you just give me the scene? What was it like in Ottawa on Saturday?

On Saturday, there were protesters everywhere. And there were also, you know, the convoys coming in. We were there on Friday night as well, when there were already some people camped out and they were waiting for these big convoys to come in from the east, from the west and the south. They eventually got into town and some of them got in late. But by, you know, late afternoon and into the evening, the crowd was very thick on Parliament Hill. There was a lot of drinking going on. There was a lot of partying going on. And as you mentioned, there was some vandalism. There was some, you know, pretty concerning to a lot of people, symbols and in the crowd and, you know, various things that happened and incidents. And right before we get to those, Travis, are there any numbers attached to this protest? Yes. Do we have a sense of just how many

protesters turned out after all? So we don't have any official numbers yet, but we have kind of what I would describe as kind of soft numbers. You know, I talked to police chief for the Ottawa police, Peter Slowly, today, and he said that yesterday, you know, their early estimates are around 8,000 or so. An official from the city of Ottawa said today that number is down around 3,000. That was this afternoon. so that number probably is smaller tonight and so we'll see tomorrow but they police said that they're not going to release the official estimates until everything is done until all of the demonstrations have wrapped up Okay, so now let's talk about these troubling incidents that you mentioned, starting with some of the really shocking, offensive imagery on display.

And tell me about that. Yeah, I mean, there certainly have been some pretty startling things to see in Canada's capital outside the parliament buildings. Swastikas, a confederate flag being flown as well. I mean, these are symbols that are filled with so much hate. And to see an image of a swastika or a confederate flag with the backdrop right behind it of the parliament buildings i think to a lot of people that saw that on social media it was shocking um you know the the terry fox statue people hung an upside down canadian flag on it they put other different things on

on the statue as well last night i got a message what is your statement on the Terry Fox controversy? What controversy? Somebody put on a piece of paper on the Terry Fox statue that says mandate freedom. Terry Fox means a lot of things to many people across this country. And so I think that shocked a lot of people when they saw that. The National War Memorial, there were people urinating on the National War Memorial. There were people urinating on the wall of Parliament.

But the National War Memorial thing, I think, took a lot of people, not only by surprise, but it shocked and stunned a lot of people. You know, there have been a lot of politicians that have come out and said that that war memorial and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which somebody was dancing on, represents people that died for freedom.

And the fact that some of these protesters that were there say that they are here for freedom. It's just this contradiction. Now, I will say this. There were some reports on Sunday that some protesters, you know, took flowers and they were cleaning up beer cans and stuff like that that were left at the war memorial. But, you know, the question that I have for police chiefs slowly is like, why weren't steps taken to secure that area in advance? And he didn't really answer that question, but he said that they weren't going to set up barricades all around the city even though they kind of have yeah um and the incidents that you talked about these these are not the only incidents i understand some businesses in the area also closed including the rito mall and nearby lcbo and and why were those steps taken

and the rito center is going to be shut down tomorrow as well we just found that out that it's not going to open on monday because of safety concerns because there were crowds in there that were harassing people the lcbo which is the liquor store uh here in ontario those have been shut down they were shut down today they had to close early yesterday the beer store as well shoppers drug mart which is down the street from where I live, not shut down. I spent two hours kind of walking around yesterday looking for food. And there were most of the restaurants that were closed. I did manage to find this one Thai place and I went in and I felt so bad for the business owner because she was in there and there were all of these folks that had taken over the business that were unmasked.

And she kind of didn't know what to do to ask them politely to leave because they weren't going anywhere. The other incident that I will mention, though, is that there was a homeless shelter, the Good Shepherds of Hope in Ottawa. And this is where meals are given out to the homeless. They said yesterday on social media, I actually have a tweet here, I'll read it to you. Our soup kitchen is committed to providing meals to people experiencing at-risk homelessness in Ottawa. The speak-ins event have caused significant strain to our operations because protesters from the convoy seeking meals showed up

and our staff experienced harassment. And this is at a homeless shelter as well. So all of that to be said, there are still others that say this represents a small group of protesters. But, you know, I was listening to a commentator today who said, if you show up to a party and then tiki torches and a Confederate flag come out in the corner, do you stick around at that party? You mentioned the homeless shelter. I know one member of the shelter community was assaulted by protesters and a security guard

went to his aid and was apparently threatened and called racial slurs. So I want to ask you about that, this idea that this is the minority. You know, you mentioned that there were people cleaning up the war memorial. I know that you asked a number of protesters out there on Sunday about these incidents and what has their response been? So there have been various responses. It depends on who you ask. But, you know, most of the people that I talk to are disgusted by it. They say that it doesn't represent what they came to Ottawa to do. And that was deliver a message when it comes to vaccine mandates and when it comes to COVID restrictions, talking about the supply chain issue and all of these different concerns.

And so, you know, they've been promoting this message of peaceful protest and they feel as though the cause, which we talked about last time I was talking to you, is kind of being co-opted by outside elements. And they say that they're outside elements, but we don't know whether or not they're outside elements or not. So there are also the folks, I talked to one guy today who said, that's all you guys want to cover. You guys just pick that up and you just cover those incidents, but you're not covering like the main situation and the thousands of people that were protesting peacefully. And then there are some others that were trying to defend that, saying, well, that's part of freedom.

You know what I think about it? A lot of those incidents, obviously, I mean, they're unfortunate. I mean, on one hand, what I want to say about it is that that is kind of a benefit. You know, it's a pro and a con of freedom. Why would it be a pro? Well, it's a pro because we should be allowed to make bad decisions. That's just what freedom is about.

People being able to make decisions we don't always agree with. But here's the thing. You know, we're free to do that if we want to protest and this is the way we want to protest, then that's up to us. I saw another guy that you spoke to blamed Antifa. Yeah, he did. And I had to kind of correct him on that. It was during a live hit on CBC News Network. I was talking to you about the incidents, right?

Because there have been several. Oh, you mean the incidents done by Antifa? Why do you think it was Antifa? Why? Because Antifa even said they're coming. They're paid off by Trudeau. I mean, to be clear, there is no evidence or reason to believe that Antifa was involved. And they're also blaming the government and saying the government is funding this.

Yeah, like it's a false flag thing. They're saying it's like a false flag thing. Yeah. Yeah, 100%. So there is that out there. There are these conspiracy theories out there. Yeah, yeah. I think it's probably worth mentioning this,

this moment that I saw today. Even when protesters try and make it clear that these bad apples are representative of the group, it can also backfire on them. So I saw a video of a woman speaking into a microphone on the back of this truck saying, I need you to help me out. I'm looking for someone. I need to know what a white supremacist looks like. And I think she was trying to make the point that she wasn't seeing any, right? Like she was just saying that she was seeing freedom loving Canadians, but then actually she asked some guy, are you a white supremacist, sir? And he's like, yes. That was sort of making its way around social media today.

You know, Pat King, who is someone who has espoused white nationalist views and racist views, he has been kind of live streaming all weekend. He went and he knocked on the prime minister's office door and people were asking for selfies with him in the crowd. And he was a bit of a celebrity with some folks, you know, other folks didn't know who he was, other folks who may have known who he was, didn't want pictures,

but yeah, there is a bit of that element as well that you're talking about. I wonder if you could tell me a bit more about how the tone or the vibe changed from Saturday into Sunday as protesters settled into day two of their demonstrations. And you have this group that you were talking about at the beginning of this conversation that seems to be in it a bit more for the long haul.

How did the vibe change? Yeah. Well, I mean, remember, in a truck, when you're going across the country or across the continent, you got to have a lot of supplies. So these guys know how to prepare.

When I was walking down Bank Street a couple hours ago, I saw a big barbecue going on. I saw one guy brushing his teeth on the street. So it certainly looks like there are some folks that prepare to stay for not just a couple of days, but well over a week or maybe longer. And in fact, you know, someone told me that i'm staying i'm not leaving until the mandates are gone it's not gonna end until they do something it's not gonna end um in terms of the the mood changing it felt as though saturday night was more of a party party um tonight yeah there's the party element to it but there's um kind of a a darker tinge i don't want to i don't want to overstate that or understate that but there are

did i feel completely safe walking around saturday night yeah it felt like you know there was just a big kind of event going on in the city um but night, I don't know, as the crowd kind of thins out some more, I don't know if I would feel as safe doing that. Certainly, you know, we had a little experience when we were out filming that made me feel that even more so. Tell me about that. What happened, if you don't mind? Well, you know, we have to gather for our stories, obviously. We have to go into the crowd, and this is part of the job. You've got to cover the story. But what we did not sign up for were people following you for blocks and questioning you and peppering you with questions.

And at that point, it kind of becomes harassment. That kind of was the situation. I was filming something for the news tonight, and we did have a couple of folks that followed us from Parliament Hill back to our studios. Luckily, some team members were able to de-escalate the situation pretty quickly, but I know some other reporters have experienced that as well. And we do have folks saying fake news and this and that. That kind of comes with the territory sometimes as part of the job, And that kind of comes with the territory sometimes, part of the job. But it can be a little distressing at times.

Yeah. I saw one CTV reporter talk about how Sunday was harder. He was being yelled at, swarmed by protesters. You guys are liars. Tell the truth. Tell the truth, shitty CTV news, guys. CTV news. Tell the truth. I will say this, though.

You know, there are others, though, that just to counter kind of balance that point. Yeah. That have come up to us. And even tonight when we were out saying, where are you from? We'll save the CBC. And I'm just kind of bracing myself for their reaction. And to my surprise, sometimes they're like, well, thank you for coming out. Your mainstream media and your voice is heard. So there's that element as well. Right.

Yeah, that's good to know. That's good to know. In the Dragon's Den, a simple pitch can lead to a life-changing connection. Watch new episodes of Dragon's Den free on CBC Gem. Brought to you in part by National Angel Capital Organization. Empowering Canada's entrepreneurs through angel investment and industry connections. Hi, it's Ramit Sethi here. You may have seen my money show on Netflix. I've been talking about money for 20 years. Angel Investment and Industry Connections. That's not a typo. 50%. That's because money is confusing. In my new book and podcast, Money for Couples, I help you and your partner create a financial vision together. To listen to this podcast, just search for Money for Couples. There was a press conference on Sunday held at Convoy Operation Head. And what what came of that? Well, first off, I will say the press didn't really get a large portion of the press didn't get any information

in terms of where this press conference was happening, or how one could dial in. And in fact, you know, what some have called the mainstream media, like CTVs, C cbc global they were not invited um and it was kind of what they described as trustworthy media so independent media that were invited to this uh media availability where they wanted to answer questions but clearly they wanted to answer select questions you know the organizers said well when they were asked about how long they were staying they said that it could be weeks. As long as you keep fueling them, they can sit there for weeks and months.

And now we have, I don't know, $8 million? And they also talked about the fact that they've got money to fuel this movement. You know, the GoFundMe now, it was up over $8 million last time I checked, probably higher now. But $1 million has been released. And that $1 million is apparently being used to feed the truckers, to get them supplies, and we'll see whether or not more money is released. But they said that they feel as though their message has gotten out, that people have heard it,

and then it's gone international, and they, you know, feel this has gone well so far, essentially. Okay, and I guess the money that they have is also, there's a direct line to sort of how long these guys can stay there, right? Yeah, the trucks need fuel to continue operating, and when you're in the dead of winter in Ottawa, you need heat in the vehicles, right? But one of the problems that they may encounter, yes, they've got money to get fuel, but logistically, it becomes more difficult because the security perimeter, like the road barricades around Parliament Hill, on Saturday, they were closer in to the hill. Now the police have expanded them further out. And that may continue to happen.

So logistically getting fuel to those trucks will become more difficult and supplies as well. Huh. Okay. Okay. Something to keep tabs on. With all these trucks, it sounds like it's very hard to get around Ottawa right now. And it does seem like by Sunday, some local Ottowans' patience was really waning with the protests. Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson said residents are reaching a boiling point. City Councillor Catherine McKinney expressed similar sentiments that on Saturday, residents were more patient and willing to accept the right to protest. But by Sunday, they were feeling sort of similar to what you've talked about today.

They were feeling nervous. You know, as things were on last night, overnight, and again today, people are becoming more and more frightened. This is a residential area. People live here. Their children go to school here. People work in small businesses. And what impact does this protest seem to be taking on those who just happen to live in the area?

Yeah, I think the mayor went further. I think the mayor said that these are neighborhoods and people feel like prisoners in their homes right now. And so he said that, you know, they obviously politicians can't direct the police, but he would like to see this end at some point. Certainly, there's been a huge impact on folks that live in the downtown core and even beyond the downtown core. You know, some of these convoys are in other areas of the city as well. And they've kind of snarled traffic in other areas, too. The police, in that latest statement that they put out this evening, are advising folks that do work downtown as well to stay home. There has already been news that one school is being shut down as well tomorrow. And, you know, I mentioned

shoppers, but like that's a drugstore. If somebody needs their medication and they don't have a vehicle, that is a problem as well. We had to do the interview with the police chief today. We couldn't get a vehicle out of the station or even hail a taxi. So we had to walk pretty far up to police headquarters. So it's having an impact. Yeah, it was kind of an annoyance for the first bit, but it is becoming more of a problem and also a safety issue as well for some people in the downtown core. So, you know, I think that you are seeing politicians express that and also residents express that as well. And they will continue to as this continues. Right. Right. I saw reports that hospital staff are having difficulties commuting with all the chaos and the traffic. It was no question that Dr. Cindy Jacques needed to get to the Gatineau Hospital this weekend. But gridlock from the downtown protests made it difficult to commute between Gatineau and Ottawa. As I approached the bridge, it was total gridlock.

There were red brake lights everywhere and the cars were absolutely not moving. We talked on Friday about how federal politicians like Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Conservative leader Aaron O'Toole were responding, and Conservative leader Aaron O'Toole were responding, how they were responding to the arrival of the protest. And have we heard anything more from them since we've seen how this weekend has played out, how it's unfolded? And this is all, this is important because this is all going to like personally affect a lot of them that want to go back to work, right? Because Parliament resumes and it's a hybrid model. Yes, which means some MPs will be at home, but other MPs will want to go to the West Block, will want to take their seat in Parliament as the session begins and do their job. And it's unclear at this point what kind of the security situation is going

to be and how some of these MPs are going to get in, or if more will opt to stay at home. When it comes to what we have heard over the past little while, we have heard all of the parties basically denounce what happened at the war memorial and some of these incidents, like at the Terry Fox statue, Aaron O'Toole put out a strongly worded statement, as did ministers, Liberal ministers and the government, as did the chief of the defence staff, as did Jagmeet Singh as well. So they've come out and said that that is not acceptable. But as we talked about the last time,

some conservative politicians are going to have a little bit of a tricky dance to do when they're questioned about some of these elements, which we have seen. Pierre Pallièvre has said that he's on side with the protesters. I know that he met with some of them. And so we'll see whether or not he still feels as though it's a few bad apples when he's questioned. And there are other politicians that were actually in the crowd. Ontario MPP Randy Hillier was kicked out of PC caucus. He was in the crowd. There was a social media video of him moving a barricade as well. So there are some that are supporting firmly. And then there are

others that are walking that fine line. But in terms of the prime minister, we have not heard anything yet. And there was a rumor today that he was going to speak at 1pm. I called the prime minister's office and I said, is the prime minister going to address these protests today? They said, absolutely not. Like he's not not talking today we likely will hear him for the first time on this tomorrow um because he's been at an undisclosed location for the past little while because of security and also he's not going to be back on the hill tomorrow because of course he's isolating after that covid exposure one of his kids came down with COVID. Right. But we may hear from him either outside his home or in some other location. Yeah, I don't think, Jamie, that he is going to, I don't think he's changing his message, right?

I think that his message will be what we saw in Ottawa, and he'll list some of the different incidents, was completely unacceptable. The mandate's not changing. In fact, Omar El-Gabra, the transport minister, was on CBC today talking about interprovincial vaccine mandates for truckers. So they're doubling down. As of right now, that policy is not in place, but no one should be surprised that there's work happening to get us there. So it will happen eventually? Minister Reagan announced it just last December. We campaigned on it last fall.

And the work is ongoing to get us there. I am, I will say, I'm really interested to hear what the prime minister has to say here. Because there's a lot of anger in the crowd directed at him uh specifically you can see a lot of signs and i'm not sure how he's going to address that but i'm definitely watching for it yeah the majority of the crowd i would say are very angry personally with the prime minister and And you are seeing many of those signs. But also a lot of people in that crowd don't think Aaron O'Toole is the best option and the one to advocate their views either. So it'll be interesting to see what the leader of the opposition has to say as well.

OK, Travis, thanks for this. Thank you. We really appreciate it. No problem. All right, so before we go today, some exciting news from the soccer pitch. Miller can play this long now. Adekumi in behind. The ball holds up. He's going to take it himself. Sam Adekube. It'll land.

Adekube. The Canadian men's team beat the U.S. 2-0 on Sunday in Hamilton, solidifying the team's place at the top of the CONCACAF World Cup qualifying group. With just four matches left in this final qualifying round, Canada is on its way to securing its first World Cup berth in more than 30 years. To win is all the more remarkable since the team's superstar Alphonso Davies was out. The 21-year-old was diagnosed with a mild form of myocarditis, inflammation of the heart muscle after a bout with COVID-19. That's all for today. I'm Jamie Poisson. Thanks so much for listening to FrontBurner, and we'll talk to you tomorrow.