The trucks, the honking, the bouncy castles, the hot tubs. It’s all Darren today. As a resident in downtown Ottawa, he gives us his thoughts on the “freedom convoy” which has been occupying the city centre for over three weeks. Are the international stories correct? What do the protestors want, and have they really been peaceful?
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Convoy Protest
Canada convoy protest – Wikipedia
What the truckers want (and why Ottawa can’t give it to them) | National Post
Really appreciated your staightforward explanation of the past few weeks in
Ottawa. Seems common sense which unfortunately the protesters weren’t using.
Refreshing to hear some straight talking. Many thanks
In 1974, truckers from across Canada drove to Ottawa and maintained a peaceful protest over wages for 11 days. Finally, government members came to those truckers and negotiated a settlement, respectfully and peacefully. The truckers then went home.
I think that if Trudeau or Ford had done this, it would have been over. Why did Trudeau or Ford not try this first? If I was speaking to Trudeau and Ford, face-to-face, I would ask them that question directly. This has caused more divisiveness in Canada then ever.
As well, I watched CBC and CTV and they never showed any videos of the truckers asking Trudeau/Ford to sit down with them…why not (and there are videos asking them to communicate?
I am neutral with regard to both sides but I still say, there is always 2 sides to every story.
I think it is because the declared intention of this convoy was to remove the democratically elected prime minister through unconstitutional means as said in their original mou.
Protesting about wages is completely different.
Regardless, Ford’s complete absence was and still is highly problematic and he should face heavy criticism for it.
Darren:
Three things:
You mention blowing horns several times, but wasn’t it much worse than you state? My understanding was with 300 or so large trucks downtown, a lot of the “blowing horns” was large truck air horns sounding off. Much louder than just “blowing horns”.
One of the reasons that the city police did not clear out the protesters is that the heavy truck tow truck operators under contract to the city refused to tow the protesters trucks from downtown. My understanding is that it took the Emergencies Act implementation to force them to do their job. I don’t know if they supported the protesters or just feared the consequences of trying to move the trucks with all those protesters around. I suspect the latter as I noticed at least one tow truck last weekend with their logos covered, while they removed heavy trucks.
I’m surprised you didn’t mention all the businesses that felt the need to close down for three weeks, including the Rideau mall. All because of unruly behaviour by protesters that made business owners feel unsafe.
This is an interesting and important topic, but Darrin’s “speed read” made it difficult to follow. I didn’t physically check the wordspeed but it approached Seth Meyers’ notorious “speed ramble” (typically 190-300 wpm) on his Closer Look segments. Except, Darrin’s segment hardly had a pause throughout the 34 minutes. I actually had to check my iPod several times to make sure I hadn’t inadvertently hit the 1.5X button. So…great topic but please…slow it down to sub-auctioneer speed.
Great overview and analysis, Darren!