The first set of testimony as part of the Public Order Emergency Commission’s investigation into the federal government’s use of the Emergency Measures Act to end the ‘Freedom Convoy’ protests took place on October 14.
The day’s hearings focused on the lived and largely traumatic experience of downtown Ottawa residents, the concerns of business groups in their dealings with the city and the police, and the views of councilors locals whose neighborhoods were occupied by protesters and transport trucks last winter. After providing their initial testimony, the witnesses were then cross-examined.
Here are some key quotes from the witnesses who appeared.
RESIDENTS OF DOWNTOWN OTTAWA
“The impact on my physical well-being is quite significant. I certainly had difficulty sleeping during the experience. I had an effect on my lungs and throat due to the fumes and other odors. And I also have long term effects… Hearing loss, loss of balance, some dizziness, triggered by the sound of any horn now… and a physical trigger when I smell gas… J I had also had a phantom horn experience for several weeks afterwards… I felt trapped and helpless,” testified Victoria De La Ronde, a resident of downtown Ottawa who is blind to the law.
“It was unpleasant to say the least to leave my house… And when I did, I was often harassed for wearing a mask… And I think what was one of the worst things was every time I chose not to engage with the people occupying my neighborhood, they blasted their horns at me with a smile on their faces, and then they clapped in unison and almost took joy in my flinch, my recoil in front of the noise I had basically felt non-stop for the duration of the events that transpired… The snow was often yellow or brown in color due to public urination and defecation taking place for free… I remember just to have felt like it was such a surreal sight… And that feeling of chaos and breaking the rules and the law increased as things went on,” said Zexi Li, a downtown resident e of Ottawa, which is one of the lead plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit against convoy organizers.
CORPORATE ASSOCIATION DEFENDANTS
“In the beginning, you know, they were selling a lot of stuff, they were selling gas tanks and they were selling rope and you know, all the kind of stuff that I think you would buy if you were camping… The protesters had placarded posters all over the store that looked like public health posters but said things like “masks are stupid” or “masks are not necessary”… The most terrifying call I got was the last one, the third weekend, where the manager was talking to me and he was like, “You know, Natalie, I don’t know if this is something, but I feel like I should tell you, we sold our knives and our bear spray this weekend.’ And that’s something I reported immediately,” said Nathalie Carrier, executive director of the Quartier Vanier BIA Business Improvement Association, sharing anecdotes of his conversations with the staff of a Canadian Tire near the camp. t of Coventry Road which has become a main staging area for truckers. east of downtown.
“Being on Sparks Street for almost a decade now, I’ve witnessed thousands of activations on Parliament Hill. I mean, you could put 15,000 people on that hill, and you wouldn’t even have no idea if you’re a block away The difference was we had…blocking roads and access to businesses, and terrorizing residents with you know, first honking, then just speeding engines and you know, stupid mischievous type stuff… We can talk about decibels and things like that and the occasional air horn but if you ever sit there listening and feeling the roar of a dozen diesel engines, it’s a different feeling. It can roll through your body in a disturbing way. And again for our area to be subjected to, was horrible,” said Kevin McHale, executive director of the Sparks Street Business Improvement Association. , to journalists during s of a scrum after his testimony.
COUNCILLORS
“There was fear. Certainly the people that first weekend who were reporting to me and calling me and emailing me were afraid, but they were prepared for it. And, you know, we told them it would end on Monday and they were expecting that So after Monday when it didn’t end it just became in the words of people who were calling me and talking to me, they felt very threatened. felt threatened when they walked into a grocery store as residents couldn’t get out of their apartment Had to help a couple out of downtown with a police escort the first weekend There was a pride flag at their window, their apartment was targeted, someone had defecated on the back step.And then later that night a van with angry people came back and was harassing them and yelling at them… was, you know, a general feeling of fear and terror and dismay that they felt abandoned their city and their police,” said Ottawa City Councilor and mayoral candidate Catherine McKenney, who represents Somerset Ward, which encompasses most of the downtown district and the area around the Parliament Hill.
“There were several incidents where bus detours had to be made and we had communications with residents who, for example, were waiting for a Para Transpo — Para Transpo is Ottawa’s accessible bus — couldn’t to get to their cancer treatment, because the bus couldn’t get there and they weren’t mobile… We were getting a lot of complaints from business operators and neighborhood residents about the smells and intoxication that these odors… The cumulative effect of noise, odors, presences, the inability for people to walk on the sidewalk in certain areas, to walk safely at a crosswalk,” said the city councilor of Ottawa Mathieu Fleury, who represents the Rideau-Vanier neighborhood, which includes parts of the protest zone and where the Rideau Center is located, which has been closed for a long time due to the convoy.