Second day of protests seize Ottawa, police investigating 'desecration' incidents
One day before Parliament is set to resume, Ottawa’s downtown core surrounding Parliament Hill remains nearly impassible due to the second day of the trucker convoy rally, as protesters, vehicles and trucks gridlock parts of the city.
The city was filled with the sound of honking for the second day in a row, and fireworks were let off as the evening progressed.
Ottawa Police said in a statement Sunday evening that the financial toll in policing costs alone is more than $800,000 per day.
“We have seen multiple cases of disruptive, inappropriate and threatening behaviour from demonstrators,” the statement read.
Earlier on Sunday, police said on Twitter that “several” criminal investigations are underway in relation to acts described by police as “desecration” to several monuments in the capital as well as “threatening/illegal/intimidating behaviour to police/city workers and other individuals and damage to a city vehicle.”
Police urged the public to report any incidents directly to the authorities.
In the Sunday evening update, police stated that people should avoid travel to the downtown core on Monday, adding that those who can work from home should do so if possible.
“If your children attend school in the downtown area, please check with them to see if the school is open tomorrow,” the statement said.
Catherine McKenney, a city councillor who represents Ottawa’s core, told the Canadian Press that the presence of the convoy has been hard on residents.
"I understand to a large extent why emergency services, police services both local and national, would not want to incite this crowd," McKenney said.
"However, at some point we need assurances that we're not going to allow our city and our downtown to be seized and to push out others and make people frightened to live and move about in their own neighbourhoods.”
Road and bridge closures left many scrambling for alternate routes to and from work, including health-care workers like Cindi Jacques, a hematologist.
“I needed to get here to see the patients who need me,” she told CTV National News. “The majority of patients who are hospitalized are cancer patients.”
In an earlier statement, police acknowledged that many residents are contacting police and City of Ottawa staff for complaints related to parking, noise and inappropriate behaviour.
“Police have avoided ticketing and towing vehicle so as not to instigate confrontations with demonstrators,” the Sunday evening update stated. “Still, confrontations and the need for de-escalation has regularly been required.
“Police are working with organizers to facilitate the safe departure of individuals and vehicles and to ensure safety.”
Crowds were smaller on Sunday than on Saturday, but how long the protestors will stay in Ottawa is unclear. One protestor said Sunday that he was “prepared to stay a month.”
Ottawa Police stated that they were “aware that many demonstrators have announced their intention to stay in place.
“This will continue to cause major traffic, noise and safety issues in the downtown core.”
According to the organizers running the “freedom convoy,” more demonstrations are planned for Monday. A schedule on the Canada Unity website states that speeches will be occurring in Confederation Park on Monday.
The website also called for around 1,000 people to join them on Monday at a shopping centre to attempt to shop without masks.
Despite the convoy’s continued presence in the capital, a spokesperson for Government House Leader Mark Holland’s office told CTV News that the House is still going to reconvene tomorrow.
“We have important work to accomplish for Canadians in Parliament, and we’re looking forward to getting this done and delivering results,” the statement said, adding that some MPs will be attending virtually.
As of Sunday, a few streets remain closed, with police working to facilitate traffic for residents and businesses, while some of the protesters' actions from Saturday have dominated social media and public discussion.
‘DEEPLY DISTURBED’
Protesters who jumped on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier were unilaterally condemned by top defence officials, with Defence Minister Anita Anand calling their behaviour “beyond reprehensible.”
“I was deeply disturbed by the events yesterday at Parliament Hill and at the war memorial, I take very seriously... the fundamental values of democracy, freedom and freedom of the press…I believe we must show respect at all times to the individuals who died for our country,” Anand said at a press conference in Kyiv, Ukraine on Sunday. “I was deeply disturbed when I saw those images.”
The police statement said that national monuments would be protected and that barricades have been installed to prevent vehicle access to the path in front of the National War Memorial.
Flowers were seen placed on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Sunday. There also appeared to be urine on the base of the war memorial.
Others who adorned a statue commemorating Terry Fox with an upside-down Canadian flag and a sign opposing mandates, were called out by Ottawa mayor Jim Watson, who said their actions were “completely unacceptable.”
Ottawa Police confirmed Sunday that the incidents involving the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the Terry Fox monument are being investigated.
Some protesters were seen carrying flags with hateful imagery scrawled on them such as a swastika. Several protesters carried large flags emblazoned with “F*** Trudeau” or wore or carried signs that featured a yellow star.
“My blood was boiling when you see swastikas and you see Confederate flags,” Watson said, adding that organizers should be condemning these type of actions.
Speaking on CTV's Question Period on Sunday, Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said that “most credible trucking organizations have distanced themselves from this protest,” and that while the protest was going on there were vaccinated truckers doing their jobs delivering goods for Canadians.
The Canadian Trucking Alliance had previously estimated that only around 10 per cent of drivers were affected when vaccines became mandatory for drivers crossing the U.S. border.
And while Alghabra said he shared the frustrations about restrictions and wanted to see the end of the pandemic, he called some of the protesters' behaviour on Parliament Hill “alarming.”
“Some of the images and slogans we’re seeing …we have swastika flags, Confederate flags, and some are calling for the overthrow of the government…it is disturbing,” he said.
In a statement, the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies, a non-profit organization aimed at countering antisemitism, decried the hate symbols held by some at the protest.
“The use of Nazi symbols as a means to compare anything in our lives today here in Canada to the experience of Jews living under Nazi rule is a heinous form of Holocaust distortion,” the statement said.
HOMELESS SHELTER HARASSED
Elsewhere in the city, Shepherds of Good Hope, a shelter that works with vulnerable and homeless populations in Ottawa reported harassment by members of the convoy at a soup kitchen Saturday in a series of tweets.
They said the harassment “caused a significant strain to their operations at an already difficult time.”
The soup kitchen usually gives out around 400 meals a day to those who are in need.
In a statement released to media on Sunday, Shepherds of Good Hope said the “verbal harassment” and pressure from protesters seeking meals from the soup kitchen “continued for several hours” and that protesters' vehicles blocked their ambulance drop-off zone for approximately 12 hours before being towed.
"We did have people who came in and were demanding meals from the staff who were harassing both staff and volunteers,” Deirdre Freiheit, president and CEO of Shepherds of Good Hope, later told CTV News.
“They were blocking the lane that paramedics used to bring people to us for care, that could have cost somebody's life, and it's just been a very chaotic, stressful experience for everybody.”
The original statement said that one of the community members who was attempting to use the soup kitchen was assaulted by protesters and when a security guard, who is a member of a visible minority, attempted to help them, they “had racist abuse hurled at them.”
“Shepherds of Good Hope had no desire to comment on this protest. However, we felt compelled to correct disinformation on protest communications channels that we were ‘happy to feed the patriots.’ This was not the case,” the statement reads.
Later on Sunday afternoon the shelter said on Twitter that their website had been inundated with donations following the news of what occurred.
“The community has been absolutely outstanding,” Freiheit said. “They have donated, they have asked how they can help.”
The trucker convoy’s GoFundMe page, which raised more than $8 million throughout the course of their journey, has listed an itinerary for Sunday which lists an 11 a.m. EST “Prayer for Unity Service” being held by Church of God Pastor Henry Hildebrandt at Parliament Hill, followed by a 1 p.m. EST press conference at an undisclosed location.
People’s Party of Canada Leader Maxime Bernier, who has been a steady presence at the protests, asked people to join the “PPC March to Parliament Hill” Sunday which began at 11 a.m. EST.
With files from CTVNews.ca's Rachel Aiello and the Canadian Press
Correction
An earlier version of this story referred to Hildebrandt as a Mennonite pastor, it has been corrected to show he belongs to the Church of God.
IN DEPTH
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
'Democracy requires constant vigilance' Trudeau testifies at inquiry into foreign election interference in Canada
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau testified Wednesday before the national public inquiry into foreign interference in Canada's electoral processes, following a day of testimony from top cabinet ministers about allegations of meddling in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections. Recap all the prime minister had to say.
As Poilievre sides with Smith on trans restrictions, former Conservative candidate says he's 'playing with fire'
Siding with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith on her proposed restrictions on transgender youth, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre confirmed Wednesday that he is against trans and non-binary minors using puberty blockers.
Supports for passengers, farmers, artists: 7 bills from MPs and Senators to watch in 2024
When parliamentarians return to Ottawa in a few weeks to kick off the 2024 sitting, there are a few bills from MPs and senators that will be worth keeping an eye on, from a 'gutted' proposal to offer a carbon tax break to farmers, to an initiative aimed at improving Canada's DNA data bank.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn’t be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Feds giving Toronto more than $104M to host 2026 FIFA World Cup
The federal government will provide Toronto just over $104 million in funding to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
More than half of Canadians say freedom of speech is under threat, new poll suggests
A new poll suggests a majority of Canadians feel their right to freedom of speech is in danger.
NEW Biscuits with possible plastic pieces, metal found in ground pork: Here are the recalls for this week
Here are the latest recalls Canadians should watch out for, according to Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
Parents of infant who died in wrong-way crash on Ontario's Hwy. 401 were in same vehicle
Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit has released new details about a wrong-way collision in Whitby on Monday night that claimed the lives of four people.
Tiger Woods gets special exemption to U.S. Open at Pinehurst
Tiger Woods accepted a special exemption for the U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2, the first time the three-time champion has needed an exemption to play.
Britney Spears 'home and safe' after paramedics responded to an incident at the Chateau Marmont, source tells CNN
A source close to singer Britney Spears tells CNN that the pop star is 'home and safe' after she had a 'major fight' with her boyfriend on Wednesday night at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood.
Wally, the emotional support alligator once denied entry to a baseball game, is missing
Emotional support animal registrations in the United States reached 115,832 last year, by an industry group’s count. But in the eyes of reptile rescuer Joie Henney, there’s only one: 'Wally Gator.'
'Bare-adise' adventure: This nude cruise is due to set sail from Miami in 2025
What do you need to pack for a cruise? When it comes to this upcoming cruise from tour and travel company Bare Necessities, the answer appears to be very little.
Drew Barrymore explains how she accidentally left a list of her romantic partners at Danny DeVito's house
Danny DeVito had the opportunity to know way more about Drew Barrymore than the rest of us.
Local Spotlight
Three Quebec men from same family father hundreds of children
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
Here's how one of Sask.'s largest power plants was knocked out for 73 days, and what it took to fix it
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
Quebec police officer anonymously donates kidney, changes schoolteacher's life
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.
Canada's oldest hat store still going strong after 90 years
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
Road closed in Oak Bay, B.C., so elephant seal can cross
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.
B.C. breweries take home awards at World Beer Cup
Out of more than 9,000 entries from over 2,000 breweries in 50 countries, a handful of B.C. brews landed on the podium at the World Beer Cup this week.
Kitchener family says their 10-year-old needs life-saving drug that cost $600,000
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.
Haida Elder suing Catholic Church and priest, hopes for 'healing and reconciliation'
The lawyer for a residential school survivor leading a proposed class-action defamation lawsuit against the Catholic Church over residential schools says the court action is a last resort.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.